Hi all, I posted this before but not many people got to read it as I was a bit late. Originally posted Feb 24th. Creative have not responded to ANY support email since then and I am left in the cold without fully working equipment::: I've just had the most dreadful experience with Creatives technical support. I feel everyone should know what you have to deal with if you get sent the wrong parts in the box. I cannot purchase a Creative product again, nor recommend them after this. My next purchase was to be an Audigy 2ZS, but no longer, They have shot themselves in the foot! Quite astonishing, at the conclusion of the ‘support´ they gave, they asked me to perform a blatant breach of security with my credit card!!! (yes, they want me to pay to make my product work) 2.5 years ago I bought an Audigy1 Ex (the one with a desktop breakout box) and couldn´t work out how to get 5.1 sound with it in games using the Creative (Cambridge Soundworks) DTT3500 5.1 speaker system. It turns out the only way to connect them for true 5.1 in games is via the 3 channel SPDif connections. Two things are required to make this work, a 3 channel lead to the amp and a 3.5mm Jack to 3 channel SPDif connector that plugs between the sound card and the lead. This connector was missing. (there are no 5.1 analogue inputs to this amp, only 4.0) After a bit of banter with tech support, they sent me a connector and happily I had sound working via the digital interface. (NOTE: You can turn on a simulated 5.1 sound by enabling CMSS mode of operation. Please dont be fooled that this is true gaming 5.1 sound, it is an upmix of the front stereo channels by the sound card but didn´t work for my problem anyway) It took me a short while to realise that something wasn´t right with the sound and noticed there was no sound from the centre speaker still. So I checked out Creative and a few other forums to see if I was doing anything wrong. It seems there are many reasons why you may not be able to get the centre speaker working. I tried contacting Creative using the web support interface at least twice to get some help, but there was no response (I can´t backup this claim I tried to contact them via the web interface, everything else I have proof of). I tried everything I came across to get 5.1 sound in games, and believed that the cure was out there, after all I had all the hardware I needed sat here and plugged in correctly? 2.5 years after I bought it (bought end of 2001), I had some time on my hands and decided to have another go getting the centre speaker working. I decided to trace the connections from the soundcard to the DTT3500 amp and found one of the SPDif channels (a stereo connection) was not connected. I traced this back to the connector I was sent by Creative labs, 2 years ago. The connector was for a 4.0 system not a 5.1 system, the connection for to the last 2 channels isn´t part of this connector! I contacted Creative again and my case was picked up by the same person (I will withhold names to save embarrassment, its not their fault they don´t know the products! ?). His response included: "The original Jack to Digital Din cable supplied with the DTT 3500 (now obsolete) can't prevent to get the central speaker. If this cable is properly connected, it all depends on your decoder settings : Creative Multi Speaker Surround : MUSIC Input Selection, MutliChannel : Digital DIN" I now know the connector is still used in current products, isn´t obsolete and he claims this connector cannot affect any problem with the Centre speaker. I sent him photos of my connector as proof it was only a Stereo Plug 3 pole (3 connections = 2 Channel SPDif and Earth) and is not a 4 pole connector as is needed. Also sent at this time (using the same case number and case details) was an email telling them I had moved: "Hi my address has changed. On confirmation of you sending me the connector, I will supply the details." His reply was: "The center speaker issue is always a setting issue is related to 5.1 analog speaker system where the CMSS feature of the soundcard is never activated. The DTT3500 is digital and relies on specific configuration of the decoder." I followed what he meant after a bit of reading and laughing (what a reply!), but it wasnt relevant as I do not want CMSS, analogue and I know how to configure the amp as 4.0 sound works fine, the same settings as 5.1. He did however agree in the same email to send me the correct connector, so I didn´t continue discussing it. Sadly, he sent the connector to my old address despite having specifically instructed him not to. He told me there were no more connectors and I asked him to keep an eye out for one which he agreed and it all ended on a very friendly note. After resigning to the fact I couldn´t get a connector, I decided to make my own. While researching how to make my own connector I discovered that Creative are still selling the Audigy 1 on their website! It still uses the 5.1 connector I need and the Audigy 2 uses a 7.1 channel version of the connector which would also work fine! I sent a long explanatory email of the complete circumstances to Creative support, asking them to send me the correct connector as they are not rare and they do have stock. Bear in mind I have had this product 2.5 years and never had the proper use of it. The reason I bought it was to have 5.1 sound in games! The reply came from another engineer who didn´t read the case notes and insisted I tell him everything from scratch, despite the case notes all being included with every email. “Dear What do you use the dtt 3500 for? (games, dvd,....) Do you know that there are very few 5.1 games, all of them have 4 channels + the sub? What type of connection do you want to do? (jack to coaxial; jack to din) I might be able to help you if I know more about what you want to do. Please retain all the previous correspondence when replying to this email.” His questions had already been thoroughly explained, so I went at length to explain again. What I found incredible was his statement: “Do you know that there are very few 5.1 games, all of them have 4 channels + the sub?” What kind of support tries to tell you that what you bought isn´t properly supported by hardly any games, especially as it is 2.5 years old! He is also wrong. I asked him how he thought EAX worked and what it was used for. I explained to him again that my sound system doesn´t give 5.1 sound with the many games that DO support 5.1 sound with this card. Why did he ask me what I want to use it for? They sell it, they know what its used for. It´s a soundcard and speakers that they make and support! If he had tried even a little bit to read what I have sent, he would know. His reply came: “Dear Surround sound means 4 speakers. Only games with EAX version 3 are 5.1 CMSS est une emulation de 5.1 which means that the created channels are copies of the stereo channels. CMSS is very good to get sound coming out of the speakers but as you can imagine it is not a real 5.1 (or even surround). Real surround or 5.1 are only achieved when playing a file which adresses each channel separatly. I think your best chances to get the 5 speakers + the sub to give you some sounds (not 5.1) with games is to: - use the digital din input of the dtt 3500, - select digital din multichanel as input selection, - select fourpoint/5.1 din - select 5.1 in the speakers settings of your sound card. Regarding DVDs go to our knowledgebase and in the field "Enter your query below:" type 2278 and tick the "Check if searching for a Solution ID" case. This case is title "Sound Blaster Audigy with Multi Speaker Systems". “ He again tries to tell me that this card doesn´t support surround sound in games (Audigy 2 drivers on the Audigy 1 give EAX 3 and 4, so even that argument is mute). His talk of CMSS is pointless and nothing to do with this case. Then (laughably) he asks me to connect my system as it is already connected up to get 5.1 sound. Not sure why he starts talking about DVD surround sound as that works. (movies only use 1 SPDif channel to give 5.1 sound using AC3). Having already demonstrated that the connector I have cannot possibly give 5.1 sound, why he is still trying to work out why it doesn´t work. It makes you feel like you´re talking to a brick wall. The problem has already been diagnosed! I told him it didn´t work and explained again that I have the wrong connector and asked him to send the right connector. After a bit more banter, he informed me I have to pay for it. I agreed to, explaining I couldn´t possibly buy another creative product after this support. But then I got this: “So we agreed on 15 euro for the din to din cable (green to green) and the mini jack to Din adaptor (orange to green). To give your credit card details you can either call us on the 00353 1 43 33 200 or give them to me by e-mail. type of the card: name of its owner: card number: expiration date: Otherwise call us with, give your customer number, there is a not in your file. And give the details of your credit card. “ I have no idea what a “jack to Din adaptor (orange to green)” is, so have had to ask for that to be explained. Then I realised he had tried to entice me into sending my credit card details to him via email !!! I am shocked. It´s a good thing I would never do that as I know the risks. A less savvy customer might just do as he asked. I have emailed again asking to speak to a senior member of staff. Strewth!

As they say you live and learn. I too have used Creative most of my PC days. They had to try very hard to make me dislike them but they managed it. They really do not care and their staff dont know their own products! I will stand by every word I have written. I now have Nforce2 with Soundstorm and boy does my PC run smoother without all Creatives stuff. Is far easier to setup and use the Sound (card?) too. Just my experiences :) and hopefully make the public aware of how bad they are.