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Anybody using the nVidia Sound Storm ?

Oct 20, 2004 at 1:05 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 28
Neville

Neville

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I know its a great feature on Asus motherboards and was wondering if anybody is using the onboard Sound Storm instead of a dedicated pci card like the EMU404 ?

Thanks
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 1:25 PM Post #2 of 28
I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe and used the onboard audio for a while (still do with crappy speakers). After a short period of having my ATH-500s I bought a Chaintech AV-710 and noticed a rather substantial improvement. The biggest thing was less noise and static, but every aspect of the music was also improved.
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 2:20 PM Post #3 of 28
i am using both emu-1212m and the nvidia APU, the former for foobar and the latter for games and anime. the most apparant difference is harsh treble and lack of lushness EMU has. not bad considering its free and does well in games
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 2:37 PM Post #4 of 28
I don't particularly hear a difference between mine and my emu.
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 4:17 PM Post #6 of 28
If you are using analog outputs, do your ears a favor and use a dedicated sound card. I have tested and used many different types of nForce boards. I couldn't find a single nforce 2 or nforce 3 board with reasonable analog outputs. The quality depends on the model, manufacturer, and manufacturing run. I have encountered two boards of the same model with drastic differences in sound quality.

Try turning off the microphone channel in the software. That will stop a lot of hiss and pops.

If you are using the digital outputs in Windows, you might be ok. SPDIF is a lot better than the analog channels.
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 4:21 PM Post #7 of 28
Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville
I have seen Creative Labs market an EMU404. Is this the exact same card the the one EMU is selling on their website ? It is also available at Compusa.


EMU is Creative Labs' "Pro-Audio" division, so yes they're the same card.
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 10:03 PM Post #8 of 28
Quote:

Originally Posted by MikoLayer
i am using both emu-1212m and the nvidia APU, the former for foobar and the latter for games and anime. the most apparant difference is harsh treble and lack of lushness EMU has. not bad considering its free and does well in games
smily_headphones1.gif



I am going to be using this identical setup tonight after work. Can you explain how you have your devices setup? Are you using digital out of the Sound Storm into the 1212M so you can have all outputs going to one source? Or do you have speakers going to Soundstorm and headphones going to 1212M? Any driver conflicts? Any tips?
 
Oct 20, 2004 at 11:22 PM Post #9 of 28
it would be the latter. before i had my ppx3, i only used the emu as my DIY zen amp takes both RCA and stereo mini inputs. after the acquisition of the singlepower amp, i ran out of RCA cables i could use. to make matters worse, i ended up getting a headphile cable 1/4 mono - RCA cable which elimiates the possibility of splitting out from the sound card. so far its been running quite well, no known driver conflicts.

as far as my gaming experience goes
UT2004 - works fine with both
America's Army - works fine with both
counterstrike - works fine with both
diablo ii - works fine with both
starcraft - works fine with both
melty blood - works fine with both
EFZ - works fine with both
Party's Breaker - works fine with the emu, stuttering music with the soundstorm
ayanami ikusei keikaku - crackling voice and stuttering music with both, had to turn down d3d acceleration on emu to work it right. still doesnt work right with the soundstorm

there are many more games i wouldnt bother listing here, but they utilize standard directsound (2d) and all work fine with both.
 
Oct 21, 2004 at 1:03 AM Post #11 of 28
Quote:

Originally Posted by MikoLayer
it would be the latter. before i had my ppx3, i only used the emu as my DIY zen amp takes both RCA and stereo mini inputs. after the acquisition of the singlepower amp, i ran out of RCA cables i could use. to make matters worse, i ended up getting a headphile cable 1/4 mono - RCA cable which elimiates the possibility of splitting out from the sound card. so far its been running quite well, no known driver conflicts.



I am a bit confused here. Before you had the PPX3, you used the EMU soundcard exclusively because your Zen took both RCA and Stereo Mini inputs. But the EMU does not have stereo output, so how does this help you? Then you got a 1/4 to RCA cable so now you use the EMU with the amp. Why don't you use the Mini to Mini cable and connect that to your onboard?
 
Oct 21, 2004 at 3:11 AM Post #12 of 28
I've been using Soundstorm w/digital out to my Logitech Z-680s for over a year now. I use it for general purpose stuff and informal music listening when I'm puttering around the house without headphones.

When I feel like listening to some serious music, I flip the switch on my Melos and select my EMU patch setting and groove. It's the perfect "marrage".

The Z-680s do a great job with the Soundstorm output for what I use it for. It does "faux EAX" processing in games very well with no noticable loss of frame rates. Movies are immersive with clarity, punch and plenty of power. All in all, a great sound.
 
Oct 21, 2004 at 3:21 AM Post #13 of 28
Quote:

Originally Posted by Budley007
It does "faux EAX" processing in games very well with no noticable loss of frame rates.


Actually, SoundStorm is hardware accelerated up to EAX 2 I believe (EAX 3 and 4 are currently only supported on the Audigy).
 
Oct 21, 2004 at 4:28 AM Post #14 of 28
Quote:

Originally Posted by sygyzy
I am a bit confused here. Before you had the PPX3, you used the EMU soundcard exclusively because your Zen took both RCA and Stereo Mini inputs. But the EMU does not have stereo output, so how does this help you? Then you got a 1/4 to RCA cable so now you use the EMU with the amp. Why don't you use the Mini to Mini cable and connect that to your onboard?


ok i will try to clarify.

cables i have in possesion : 1 RCA-RCA, 1 RCA-stereo mini, 1 POS RCA-RCA
*the POS cable made speakers sound horrendous too, couldnt bear with that setup
frown.gif


the setup i had before ppx3
EMU + ratshack mono1/4 to dual RCA
1) midiland s2 4100 (takes rca input only) connected via rca - rca cable
2) zen (takes both rca and stereo mini input) connected via rca - stereo mini

the setup i had before i got the headphile silver
EMU + ratshack mono1/4 to dual RCA
1) midiland s2 4100 (takes rca input only) connected via POS rca - rca cable
2) ppx3 (takes rca input only) connected via rca - rca cable

the setup i have now
EMU - headphile silver - ppx3
soundstorm - s2 4100
 
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