Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 on iMac 10.7

I just wanted to "give back" after trolling for weeks on getting my (external) USB Creative X-Fi Surround working on my iMac.

Issue: I wanted to use my Logitech THX speakers on my 27" iMac but the X-5300's don't have TOSLink inputs and I still like my Z-5300's. I also wanted to keep sound coming out of the built-in speakers on my iMac, so I knew I had to go the USB soundcard route. I never found all this information in the same place, so I wanted to share what I finally worked out.

My surround solution: Frys had refurbushed USB Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 units for $15 over the holidays, so I picked up one hoping it would be the solution.

My MAC detected the X-Fi USB soundcard but I had the same problems others had reported (5.1 sound didn't work) and I couldn't get the built-in speakers working at the same time.

Here's what I did, and now I have 5.1 sound working correctly AND I have sound coming from my built-in speakers simultaneously.

To get 5.1 Surround sound working:

*) You must connect your surround speakers to the Green/Yellow/Black 3.5mm connections on the X-Fi Surround 5.1 device!!!

1) Utilities >> Audio MIDI Setup >> Audio Devices ... find " SB X-Fi Surround 5.1" output device (you likely have two listed, one will be input only and the other is output)

2) Set the Source to "External Digital Audio Interface" and make sure the encoding is one of the 6ch options "6ch-16bit Integer" or "6ch-24bit Integer"

3) Click Configure Speakers button, select Multichannel and then "5.1 Surround" from the drop down list on the right and click apply

(be sure you verify each speaker, my Logitech z-5300 channels didn't match up with the defaults)

4) Once you click done, double or right click the "SB X-Fi Surround 5.1" and select the bottom two options to use the X-Fi Surround device

5) Once this is done fire up iTunes or your favorite music app and you should have standard audio coming from the speakers hooked up to the X-Fi plus you will have 5.1 surround audio for surround-enabled audio sources

To get more than one audio output device going simultaneously (ie X-Fi Surround + Built-in Speakers):

1) Utilities >> Audio MIDI Setup >> "+" on the lower left and select "Create Multi-Output Device"

2) Set the Master Device to the "Built-in Output" {trust me} and check the "use" boxes for your USB soundcard and the Built-in Output audio devices

3) Click "Configure Speakers..." and be sure it is set to "Multichannel" "Stereo" and apply it -- this is pushes sound to selected audio devices simultaneously

4) Click on the > beside "Multi-Output Device" to expand the details on the associated devices and verify the settings for the audio devices (make sure the X-Fi is still 6ch-24bit Integer and the speaker channels are correct)

4a) You may want to adjust the volume of the built-in speakers by sliding the volume level for ch1/2 to your desired setting

5) Once you are satisfied with the settings, double or right-click the "Multi-Output Device" and set it as the sound device and enjoy sound from your surround speakers and the built-in speakers at the same time!

5a) You can alternatively select this new audio device from the Sounds menu in System Preferences.

Observations:

The volume knob on the X-Fi doesn't work in OSX as advertised. I push up the volume on the built-in speakers inside the multi-output audio device to a level that lets me still hear iTunes and system sounds when I turn off the Logitech Z-5300 speakers. This lets me still manage the sound volume and have all the speakers working as desired.

I have noticed in a couple of movies that I've watched that I had to switch to the dedicated SB X-Fi Surround device to get actual surround sound. Looks like it's a function of which Dolby/THX encoding is used on the movie I am watching. Pretty easy to toggle back and forth and I don't have to restart anything to change the audio output.

--

Hopefully this helps some who might have been trying to get something similiar setup on their MAC.

I really like some of the SPDIF/TOSLink DAC's out there, but this setup worked for what I was trying to do and it only cost me the X-Fi Surround USB "card".

Please pardon any typos or gaffes

-- Vegas