Audigy 2 NX and subwoofer, whats the deal?

**jedi7001** · 05-08-2005, 10:07 PM

OK, so it seems there is a problem getting the Audigy 2 Nx working on a 4.1 style car stereo. I have read many posts and can not get the answer I am looking for. Here is what I am trying to do...

Run 4.1 stereo audion from my Audigy 2 NX external card.
I have a 4 channel amp for the fronts and rear
I also have a 2 channel amp for two subs in the trunk.
Epia M10000 board
no stereo headunit

I am trying to figure out why the heck I can not get the sub to take the sub frequency. It seems it is feeding the center/subwoofer channel all to the sub. I am using a stereo red/white 1/8th adapter from the audigy. I have meesed with CMSS, 5.1,6.1,7.1, LPF slider, bass management... Nothing. I think I need to go to a mono Y RCA splitter. I dont car about 5.1 nor to I want to upconvert , I do not want to loose bass to my front and rears either. Any thoughts? I thought this would be an easy step but getting frusterated not having thumps in the trunk. Any ideas? I have seen some people sucessful, can you guys help? What cable are you running on the sub line out from teh audigy? Do you have to set to 5.1 in the mixer? I dont want to loose quality from the fronts and rears if I do this.

**sivart321** · 05-08-2005, 11:35 PM

I think you only need to use one of the 2 rca plugs to feed the 2 channel sub amp. Not sure if thats an option on your amp, but I know my mono amp has a mono or stereo selection option. The front/sub channel from the audigy feeds out via 2 channel mini phono to 2 channels (L for sub & R for front speakers for example, not sure if L is sub or not though). Essentially sending out a mono signal to the front speakers and mono signal to the sub.

There is also an option to output stereo sound to the 5.1 speakers in the audigy control panel somewhere (refered to as upmixing I guess?). I have read that this option resets upon restart and/or standby/hibernate. This mode should still send bass out to your front and rear speakers. It does just what a home theatre reciever would do (most retain the lower frequencies, or have an option to set speaker size).

I do not currently own an audigy NX, but had one for a few weeks and returned it because of some issues I have read about. Not sure where I am going to go next. The problem of it not keeping the setting after shutdown/standby seems really annoying to me.

Anyone with more experience, please correct me if I am wrong.

**jedi7001** · 05-09-2005, 12:11 AM

I think my amp may not accept the MONO setup on two subs. I have an Infinity Beta Digital 300 (300x2 RMS). It has a switch for Stereo or Bridged. I am wondering if I need to switch teh wiring around.

If not, any good replacements for teh Audigy 2 NX? Just need front, rear, and sub outs in stereo. I guess I should check if teh M10000 onboard does this...

**sivart321** · 05-09-2005, 12:21 AM

I would first try a mono rca splitter. a single rca mono cable that splits into two mono rca cables. That would convert the mono sub signal into 2 channel mono. You would need to use the cable you have now (mini 1/8" stereo phone to male rca L+R, and then a different mono rca female to dual mono rca male y-cable)

HOWEVER, if you are not getting any sound from the subs with the current configuration, you have some setting wrong in the audigy control panel (or the incorrect cable in the first place, which doesnt seem to be the case). The sub should at least have 1 of 2 channels if you have the mini phono to rca cable plugged into the sub (using both RCAs) and should make noise at the very least.

Also, you can always simply split up the standard 2 channel output of any regula soundcar if you HAVE to. Some 4-channel amps also have a pre-amp output that essentially sends the rca signal it is recieving straight back out to another amp. SO, you would have the 1/8" mini phono to rca cable going into your 4 channel (which should have the ability to take a 2 channel input and send it to all 4 speakers) and then another rca to rca cable to go from your 4-channel to your sub amp. Hope this makes sens.

**jedi7001** · 05-09-2005, 12:31 AM

thanks for teh reply. I am going to try the y splitters. What I get now is in 5.1 mode....I can hear the lady say "FRONT CENTER" when I test the channels. No major bass from the sub though. I tried teh bass redirect but no go. I am going to check my cables and try the RCA thing. I will report back tomorrow afternoon.

**strohj** · 05-09-2005, 09:18 AM

Bridged mode.. is MONO on your amp...

**ming** · 05-09-2005, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by strohj

Bridged mode.. is MONO on your amp...

actually it's not same thing. the output is mixed left and right channels, so you still have to disconnect the RCA for center channel.

you have need to make sure the amp is 2Ohm stable if you wire the sub in parallel.

**jedi7001** · 05-09-2005, 10:48 AM

Ya, the amp is actually 1000 x 1 bridged at 4 ohms. Woudl this mean 2 x 500 if I run two speakers? Amy suggestions on the wiring?

**n8scstm** · 05-09-2005, 11:01 AM

I have the same setup but my subs wont be in till saturday and even then my truck is getting painted so I won't have it back for a while. I hope I don't have the same difficulties. If you solve it, post the sollution so that I'll know what I need to do. Thanks.

**shakes** · 05-09-2005, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by jedi7001

Ya, the amp is actually 1000 x 1 bridged at 2 ohms. Woudl this mean 2 x 500 if I run two speakers?

one might think it would be like that but it's not. check your amp specs but it will be lower than 500w x 2 ...

as for wiring the answer is what has been stated to you. On 5.1 sound cards the center and sub signals are sent out the same mini jack. So you need to take the left channel from that output, and use an RCA splitter to plug it into the left and right inputs on your amp.

wrap some electrical tape around the right channel coming from your sound card and just let it sit there.