I have used the Creative Inspire 5.1 5300 surround sound unit with two desktop pc's, one windows 7 with Creative Audigy original version sound card and the second a windows 10 OS and a Creative Audigy FX 5.1 PCIE OEM sound card. The win 7 pc worked fine for years until recently. On connecting the 5300 unit to the win 10 machine with FX5.1 sound card the audio amplitude now seems to vary. I have checked the connections of speakers etc and had a look at the decoder pcb in the bass woofer/audio distribution unit and it visually seems fine. The remote vol/fader desktop unit and cable check out ok. I have looked for a circuit diagram of the 5300 unit to no avail. Since both pc's now exhibit the same fault I conclude there must be a fault with 5300 's decoder. Unfortunately the only test equipment I have is a multimeter. Has anyone any ideas or have had the same problem. Creative say it is too old and to upgrade. Thanking you in anticipation.

 

... the audio amplitude now seems to vary.

Describe that a bit more. Does it jump suddenly, suggesting an intermittent connection, or does it wander around while listening, or does it change volume from one session to another? When it goes low, are all the speakers affected equally or is it perhaps some speakers going silent entirely?

 

Describe that a bit more. Does it jump suddenly, suggesting an intermittent connection, or does it wander around while listening, or does it change volume from one session to another? When it goes low, are all the speakers affected equally or is it perhaps some speakers going silent entirely?

Hi Wayneh.It seems to wander around whilst listening, not jumping as such,I have to keep turning volume down one minute and up the next.The centre speaker is louder than the others. I have tried various sources,pre recorded cd's,self recorded cd's and even Spotify.Spotify is the worst, I am not sure of the quality of their recordings. I hope this helps.

 

It sounds more like there’s an issue with the source than with the audio system, or possibly an interaction of the two.

You might want to get some audio test or setup files to run from your computer. There are many out there and they can do things like identify which channel is going to which speaker, help you calibrate the levels, and so on.

I can’t help but think you may have a problem with the way your computer handles putting two channels into 5.1 and that sort of thing. It would be nice to test with other inputs, maybe a CD player, an iPod, a DVD player and so on.

 

Hi Wayneh.It seems to wander around whilst listening, not jumping as such,I have to keep turning volume down one minute and up the next.The centre speaker is louder than the others. I have tried various sources,pre recorded cd's,self recorded cd's and even Spotify.Spotify is the worst, I am not sure of the quality of their recordings. I hope this helps.[/QUOTi listened to a 1,2 & 3 Khz sinewave from the internet and the level was stable and mainly from the centre speaker.Not sure if a single tone tests the system capabilities.

 

I meant something like this:
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-...48496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html

That's just an example. I haven't used that particular tool and there are many others. Here's something similar:
https://www.amazon.com/Surround-Sound-Test-DTS-Lasertrak/dp/B00HWXBA48

 

I meant something like this:
https://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-...48496-avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration.html

That's just an example. I haven't used that particular tool and there are many others. Here's something similar:
https://www.amazon.com/Surround-Sound-Test-DTS-Lasertrak/dp/B00HWXBA48

Thanks for all your help, it is very much appreciated.
I have tried various surround sounds testing sites and the results are fine. As you suspected the 5300 is not the problem.

 

As you suspected the 5300 is not the problem.

That's good news I guess. Now you have "just" a software problem.