desktop dual channel sound

[GUVNA]

Hi guys
Ok i already have a mobile setup of a vci-100 and external soundcard and laptop.But at home i would prefer to use my desktop (i dont have much space) and not have to use the external soundcard.My desktops soundcard is onboard 5.1 optical out, which i much prefer over analogue for home, as i use logitech z-5500 speakers.How can i add a channel for cueing? i dont want to use left channel.If i buy a pci soundcard will i be able to use onboard for master and the pci soundcard for cueing? This would be ideal if it would work as its a cheap fix.I have traktor le but most of the time at home i use VDJ for recording, which i believe is still missing from traktor 3 le.

thanks in advance.

[hoxoboxo]

You don't need to buy another soundcard. You can split any soundcard into different channels with a program called asio4all. I use my pci souncard for master out and cueing, but it works with 18ms latency.

[JeRK]

+1 for Asio4All.

Just have to config it correctly in your sound devices. Depends on your pc, but i get around 10ms latency.

[charo]

to answer ur question, yes you could add a second card and using asio4all use both cards.

you can also do like suggested with the single card.

[GUVNA]

Ah nice info guys i will check out asio4all
Just incase anyone else was wondering, i did canabalise an old soundcard, and used 2 one for master one cue, it works BUT you get different latency (im mean a lot)from both so impossible to beatmatch.I will use asio4all, and maybe get a Maya pci card for better connectivity later.The reason i wanted to use 2 was that when i set my soundcard to 5.1 my speaker system has a great decoder that gives such good quality, but you loose some of that when splitting, front master, rear cue.


My desktop
Alienware
3.2g dual core AMD
24bit 192Hz digital optical soundcard 5.1
8800GTX 768mb video card
2x500gb seagate barracuda HD 7200rpm 32mb chache
4gig pc6400 ram @ 900mhz

[Jester]

+1 ASIO4ALL.
can u change the s/c settings to 4 channel? mine is 5.1 but you have a few options with the setup. I have monitored off the s/c but i found it to be too quiet so just rune 2 into the mixer and go off that atm. Much louder
e.g outputs 1 & 2 master, outputs 3 & 4 monitor (set to mono)
I use asio4all in fl studio but didn't click onto using it in traktor till recently. I was running at 40.5ms and with ASIO we were down to 13.5. Big and noticeable difference.

[GUVNA]

What i did was instead of selecting 5.1 in the i/o select 4 speakers.Then i have the option of selecting which connection uses front, rear ect.So i have front as master and rear as cue, plug my headphones into the corresponding colour connection for rear.And the actual master comes out of the optical port to my speakers, which i set to play the same from each speaker as theyre 5.1 (5 speakers an a sub).But you could use the analogue but for me its an extra wire thats not needed.But even though im using the optical port its not digital sound, when you get used to 96hz digital surround its hard to go back.I have the logitech z-5500 speakers 500watt 1000wattpeak with optical+spdif+line in+3seperate line ins you can use as analogue 5.1 combined.So i had to sacrifice stereo, but it works ok, its a great speaker set for home use, very loud lotsa bass(180watt sub 5x65watt satalites).Games movies mp3 players n dj'ing, does it all.

For some reason everytime i switch i/o i have to disconnect an then reconnect the headphones.I use my desktop for gaming mostly, so i use 5.1 or a headset so i change settings as an when needed.Mines not quiet on cue though, i just max my volume on the pc, i have a inline volume on the phones, and my speakers are more than enough for home use, my neighbours really hate me lol.