Is there a way... (computery Q)

[Ben Gramain]

... Of feeding a digital signal from a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro to the RME Fireface directly for all purpose (i.e. including gaming) use?

Let me explain. On all of my PC's at the moment used seriously for any sort of audio use I run both an RME Fireface 800 and a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro. The Elite Pro handles gaming audio and is the default audio interface in Windows. Anything music or media orientated gets squirted through the Fireface. I've standardised on J.River Media Center for that purpose, along with the Algorithmix PEQ bundle of linear phase DirectX EQ's. All that then goes out either to Headroom Max's acting as headphone / pre amp, or Crane Song Avocets connected to monitors.

How is the X-Fi connected to the Fireface so that both go through the same audio chain? Analog. The Line Out from the X-Fi goes into the inputs of the Fireface. The Fireface is the only output for whatever amp I'm using, be it digital or analog.

The Firefaces are usually clocked at 176.4K or 44.1K in Media Center. The problem is that the X-Fi's can only be clocked at 48K if in gaming mode, so going SPDIF > SPDIF doesn't work very well. Being the nit-picker, I'm looking to remove that analog conversion from the chain. I can't pretend to know everything about either audio interface so there is perhaps a solution I haven't considered.

Any resolutions to this conundrum gratefully received.