[GrayRaven]

   
I believe the optical IN only accepts 2 channel audio (not DD 5.1), so it would be upscaled/interpolated surround - not worth doing IMO.

 
I see what creative did there. thanks.

 

[SaLX]

Is it worth upgrading to Windows 8 (or 8.1) now for any discernible improvement over Windows 7 with the SB Z line of cards; or even any more general improvements audio wise?
 
Thanks for any replies.

 

[Evshrug]

I see what creative did there. thanks.

Yeah, the ONLY creative product I know of that accepts DDL input and produces headphone surround output was the Recon3D USB.

I...
I...
I was going to say something else, but after getting this far during my break and now being ready to go home, I have no idea what else I was going to say. Cuz you all needed to know. SOUND BLASTER BWAAAP BWAAAP BWAAAP!!!!

 

[chicolom]

  Is it worth upgrading to Windows 8 (or 8.1) now for any discernible improvement over Windows 7 with the SB Z line of cards; or even any more general improvements audio wise?
 
Thanks for any replies.

 
Not sure, as I've only used it on Windows 8.1.  If your reformatting anyways though, it would make sense to put Windows 8.1 on just to be up-to-date.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Is it worth upgrading to Windows 8 (or 8.1) now for any discernible improvement over Windows 7 with the SB Z line of cards; or even any more general improvements audio wise?
 
Thanks for any replies.

I've been using Win 8.1 with a SB-Z.
I use the program Classic Shell to make my Win 8.1 look like Win 7, so I can't really see a good reason for upgrading to Win 8.1.
As a matter of fact, I might need to replace my motherboard, might go back to Win 7 at the same time.

 

[SaLX]

I read 'somewhere' that Windows 8 handles audio in a different manner..... would that be correct .. or is it just a fresh coat of paint?

 

[DJINFERNO806]

Windows 8 audio stack was slightly rewritten to include audio hardware acceleration again.  The wasapi module is now able to offload streams directly to a hardware layer and bypass the software mixer.  Nothing I have heard of or seen has used this yet though so its interesting to see how it will play out.
 
 
 
WINDOWS 7 Audio Stack
 

 
WINDOWS 8 AUDIO STACK
 

 
 
 
 
But just in general there were quite a few changes to 8 and 8.1 on the kernel side of things and optimizations to the memory management system.  I noticed it did run a bit faster in certain situations in the desktop environment especially with SSD's.  Also gaming wise there was a few fps difference in some of the titles but few and far between.  BF4 had a big benefit in that it was more stable and ran faster in WIN 8.  Not sure if it was due to its DX11.2 optimization that the devs were touting or not.
 
But just in general its a quicker OS that uses less resources and has better latency across different hardware.  And like Chicolom said, there is no point not to have 8.1 if you are reformatting.  Contrary to popular belief and Gaben fanboys(ughh...) Windows 8 is a good OS if you overlook the metro UI and install classic start.  8,1 brought back the start button somewhat although classic start is still the better alternative as its more robust.
 

 

[SaLX]

+1 and many thanks for that comprehensive response DJ. How about the windows volume mixer? Is it still as scatty as Win 7: I'm having a hell of a time even after a complete reinstall - still getting bizarre clipping trying to balance it all..... and that's on the SBZ alone, optical out to my DAC, the onboard audio AND another USB headset... grrr.  I'm using the DPC latency checker and that checks out. Anyway.. don't want to bang on about it and this isn't the place.
 
On a plus note I'm about to get BF4 soon so why the hell not - moar FPS is always good.
 

 
OK, this is another soundcard.. but I get this from my SBZ (on it's own). I know all, like all the things that have been suggested to correct the weird volume crap with Windows. At this setting (fresh install)  it's at medium volume, but it's all compressed, clipped and not right at all. Any body else having this problem?

 

[DJINFERNO806]

The volume mixer hasn't changed in the wasapi shared state as far as I know. But then again I've never really had any issues with it even in 7 so I can't really be of much help there.

Usually I'd look at the high pass filter settings(full or limited range speaker settings) for clipping problems or latency issues for popping and crackling. Other than that its hard to tell.

Might as well do a full format and install 8.1 and see if that helps. I am running 8.1 without issues currently. And that's with the latest driver.

Ohhh bf4... My time has been wasted on that lately lmao.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Gaben Fanboys. Nice. Almost every NeoGAF PC thread is full of that annoying worship. 
 
Anyway, what will Creative do? So far they have nothing to offer against True Audio or anything else. They just don't care enough, not even the slightest Middleware support. No, nothing.
 
Well, they are shrinking anyway...

 

[SaLX]

Full range speakers.. on or off for the SBZ range? I've seen posts from various contributors who have offered up contrary opinions on the matter, and I know at least it's to do with compression, but what does it do exactly ?
 
You'd think enabling it would be the thing to do... any consensus here???

 

[DJINFERNO806]

From my knowledge of the windows audio stack(taken from ms documents and audio stack engineer videos), its a simple high pass software filter. I don't remember reading anywhere about any dynamic range compression filter though.

I know that a lot of speakers and subs will use a hardware dynamic range compression filter on top of high pass filter and crossover to help out the frequency response from feeling anaemic or hollow I guess the term would be.

I don't know if the z's high pass filter includes compression either. Its not stated anywhere. But its possible. It would benefit owners of low end speakers that would normally sound unimpressive in the high and low end of the response curve.

@feg

Neogaf in general is a fanboy hotspot and needs to be shut down. Many a flame war have been started there. But then again so is ign and ganetrailers lol. Oh well what can you do.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

Is there something similar to WASPI for Windows in general instead of plugins for specific applications like Foobar?

 

[DJINFERNO806]

Wasapi exclusive shouldn't require any plugins. Its available as a system resource in most programs.

Your only other option is asio but that's a plugin usually and a separate driver.

 

[SaLX]

J River works very well with the SBZ, Prefer it to Foobar for no other reason than it's easier to use. Some nice filters come as default, although I'm sure Foobar will do the same thing.