Destroyer HD audio subwoofer problem

[msuguy71]

Anyone with a Destroyer notice a problem in 5.1 surround with the subwoofer output going to the rear speakers? All the other speakers (front, center, and rears) output correctly.

Below is my saga so far. I must say Foxconn is pretty quick in replying to problems so far I hope they can figure this out. I hope it is not a hardware defect.


The story thus far...

UPDATE 3: Foxconn replied (pretty quickly I might add) and suggested that I disconnect the front audio header connection which I did but it did not help in either Windows 7 Beta or in Windows XP Pro. Here is my reply back:

Thanks for the fast reply. I removed the front audio header connection and verified the correct speaker connections. I have Front speakers to green, Rear speakers to black, and center/sub to orange. All my other speakers work correctly, including the center speaker. It is just the subwoofer output that is misdirected. It keeps going to the rear speakers. If I select the swap center/sub option in the realtek control panel then the center channel goes to the rear speakers and the subwoofer output gets directed to the center speaker. I also tried selecting just the enable bass management but I do not see any options to change anything once that is selected and the subwoofer output still goes to the rear speakers. I am using the latest WinXP 32 bit drivers from the realtek site (R2.14 released 1/9/2009) driver version 5.10.0.5772 dated 1/6/2009.


UPDATE 2: I emailed Foxconn and they would not help because the MB is not certified for Windows 7 beta. They suggested I try Windows XP or Vista. So, I installed my old Windows XP Pro 32 bit (do not have a 64 bit version). The problem is still there under Windows XP. Seems to me that this is a defect in the Realtek drivers (I hope at least and not a hardware/design defect). I will be building another computer exactly like mine so I will be able to see if it happens on another Destroyer motherboard (I suspect it will). I re-emailed Foxconn to see if they would help now that I tried it under Windows XP and I also emailed Realtek.


UPDATE 1: I installed the drivers from the Realtek site (2.14) and now I have speaker configuration available but I get subwoofer output from my front speakers. I have the subwoofer/center channel speaker plugged into the orange connector on the motherboard and have the correct port mapping selected for the orange port. I tried selecting various things like bass management and swap center/subwoofer, etc. but nothing comes out of the subwoofer.


THE BEGINNING: I am having problems with realtek HD audio in Windows 7 beta. The Realtek HD control panel would not show any speaker configurations. Also, I get subwoofer sound through my front speakers. If I enable speaker fill and bass management I still get sound from the right front speaker. The speakers worked fine a couple of hours ago under Windows XP on my old motherboard with the Creative Audigy 2 ZS card. I have the Klipsch 5.1 ultras and the Foxconn Destroyer motherboard. I am using the updated drivers (R1.91) from Foxconn's site.

[msuguy71]

UPDATE 4: Foxconn replied again and suggested I try reassigning the ports and moving the wires to the new ports. Doing so made no difference. When the orange center/subwoofer wire was plugged into the newly assigned center/subwoofer port, I still get the center channel playing through the physical center and the subwoofer channel playing though the front two speakers and not the subwoofer as it should. This makes me think it is a driver issue and not a hardware issue.

Here is my tests and their results:

Test 1:

Ports assigned as default in book:

Green=Fronts but orange center/sub wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical center speaker
Clicking the R front speaker outputs through both the fronts and not the physical subwoofer as it should

Orange=Center/Subwoofer but green fronts wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the center speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L front speaker
Clicking the subwoofer in the control panel outputs through the physical R front speaker

Black=Rears and black rears wire left plugged into this port:
Clicking the L rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L rear speaker
Clicking the R rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R rear speaker

Ports reassigned as follows:

Green=Center/Subwoofer and orange center/sub wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the center speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical center speaker
Clicking the subwoofer outputs through both the fronts and not the physical subwoofer as it should

Orange=Fronts and green fronts wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L front speaker
Clicking the R front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R front speaker

Black=Rears and black rears wire left plugged into this port:
Clicking the L rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L rear speaker
Clicking the R rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R rear speaker


Test 2:

Ports assigned as default in book:

Green=Fronts and green fronts wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L front speaker
Clicking the R front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R front speaker

Orange=Center/Subwoofer but black rears wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the center speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L rear speaker
Clicking the subwoofer in the control panel outputs through the physical R rear speaker

Black=Rears but orange center/sub wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical center speaker
Clicking the R rear speaker outputs through both the fronts and not the physical subwoofer as it should

Ports reassigned as follows:

Green=Fronts and green fronts wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L front speaker
Clicking the R front speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R front speaker

Orange=Rears and black rears wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the L rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical L rear speaker
Clicking the R rear speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical R rear speaker

Black= Center/Subwoofer and orange center/sub wire plugged into this port:
Clicking the center speaker in the control panel outputs through the physical center speaker
Clicking the subwoofer outputs through both the fronts and not the physical subwoofer as it should

Summary:

Basically, no matter where I plug the orange center/subwoofer wire into and reassign that port to be the center/subwoofer port, the center channel works as it should and plays through the physical center speaker, but the subwoofer output goes to both front speakers instead of the subwoofer as it should.

If I leave the default port assignments as they are listed in the manual and simply change the wires, the problem moves to whatever control panel speaker pair is assigned to the physical center/subwoofer speakers and the L control panel speaker (front or rear) plays through the physical center speaker and the R control panel speaker(front or rear) plays through both of the physical speakers (front or rear) that the control panel pair is assigned and not the subwoofer as it should.

To me it seems as though the subwoofer channel output is assigned to the two front channels and not to a separate subwoofer channel by itself at the driver level.