[TwoEars]

Yes, that's a bit of a bummer. Did you try outputting it over USB as discussed above?

 

[benbenkr]

  Yes, that's a bit of a bummer. Did you try outputting it over USB as discussed above?

 
Through "What U Hear"? Not yet. But I'll give it a go later on and see if it works fine.
 
 
*EDIT*
It doesn't work. That's because there's no "What U Hear" as SB Cinema is a software layer not a driver per se.

 

[MaxKohler]

Hi guys, I haven't been following this thread for a bit but I was thinking that the mixed reviews on this card are likely because some people are using Alchemy with xfi cards. In this setup CMSS3D runs on top of the Alchemy hardware acceleration. Whereas the ZXR's SBX can not run on top of Alchemy. If you use Alchemy it automatically disables SBX surround.
 
So basically if you don't use Alchemy with a game then SBX will make it sound much better. But if you're already using Alchemy & an xfi card with CMSS3D, then going to the ZXR with SBX will be a downgrade.

 

[NoOneLt]

  Hi guys, I haven't been following this thread for a bit but I was thinking that the mixed reviews on this card are likely because some people are using Alchemy with xfi cards. In this setup CMSS3D runs on top of the Alchemy hardware acceleration. Whereas the ZXR's SBX can not run on top of Alchemy. If you use Alchemy it automatically disables SBX surround.
 
So basically if you don't use Alchemy with a game then SBX will make it sound much better. But if you're already using Alchemy & an xfi card with CMSS3D, then going to the ZXR with SBX will be a downgrade.

Tell us please about what current game titles that needs Alchemy You are talking about? EAX is dead, no need in Alchemy because of this anymore, of course there is some GOG titles, but is it worth it, You will be playing GOG for the rest of life?
 
ZxR is superior in SQ than any Creative product out there, SBX surround superior over CMSS3D for my ears at least. Alchemy/EAX not the topic to discuss in 2014.

 

[MaxKohler]

  Tell us please about what current game titles that needs Alchemy You are talking about? EAX is dead, no need in Alchemy because of this anymore, of course there is some GOG titles, but is it worth it, You will be playing GOG for the rest of life?
 
ZxR is superior in SQ than any Creative product out there, SBX surround superior over CMSS3D for my ears at least. Alchemy/EAX not the topic to discuss in 2014.

Counter-strike 1.6 & Counter-strike: source both benefit from Alchemy. CS 1.6 is still in the top 10 most played games on Steam. There is a massive list of other games that benefit from Alchemy: http://archive.today/5xpC - this list hasn't been updated recently though, so there's probably a lot more.
 
I heard that Borderlands benefits from it, and that's a new game.
 
EAX isn't even used in CS 1.6, yet the difference between Alchemy vs no Alchemy is very big.
 
I only marginally know what GOG is. It's not something I use.

 

[Meduseld]

Is it true that surround sound bug in valve games ?

 

[genclaymore]

  Counter-strike 1.6 & Counter-strike: source both benefit from Alchemy. CS 1.6 is still in the top 10 most played games on Steam. There is a massive list of other games that benefit from Alchemy: http://archive.today/5xpC - this list hasn't been updated recently though, so there's probably a lot more.
 
I heard that Borderlands benefits from it, and that's a new game.
 
EAX isn't even used in CS 1.6, yet the difference between Alchemy vs no Alchemy is very big.
 
I only marginally know what GOG is. It's not something I use.

Borderlands 1 and 2 do not benefit from it, they both has the option to use OpenAL by changing the Xaudio2 device line in the engine.ini to ALAudio.ALAudioDevice and that will make both BL1 and 2 use OpenAL. There A bunch of UE3 games that can be changed as well to ALAudio.ALAudioDevice. Even Serious Sam BFE has the function to switch to OpenAL from Xaudio2.

 

[MaxKohler]

 
Borderlands 1 and 2 do not benefit from it, they both has the option to use OpenAL by changing the Xaudio2 device line in the engine.ini to ALAudio.ALAudioDevice and that will make both BL1 and 2 use OpenAL. There A bunch of UE3 games that can be changed as well to ALAudio.ALAudioDevice. Even Serious Sam BFE has the function to switch to OpenAL from Xaudio2.

Do you know why they would chose the worse option as default?

 

[genclaymore]

I have no idea, it would save me time if they use OpenAL by default or at-least have a option to select it from within the game. An long side the maxvoices setting.

 

[Fegefeuer]

  Is it true that surround sound bug in valve games ?

 
Which do you mean?
 
A few games like L4D2 don't work properly via OpenAL. The distance is wrongly processed plus the sound tends to fade out quickly after a specific distance. 

 

[Meduseld]

   
Which do you mean?
 
A few games like L4D2 don't work properly via OpenAL. The distance is wrongly processed plus the sound tends to fade out quickly after a specific distance. 

 
CS:GO 
 
this video demonstrates the problem, and i talk about all surround softares. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjad_V8ZAHo&feature=youtu.be
 
is what other valve games have this problem ?

 

[watsaname]

Is he using a virtual surround dsp? If he isn't, that is probably why there is that "deadzone"... I noticed that in some games when you have 5.1 sound on and no virtual surround on the sounds are oriented very left, right, front, and rear. There isn't necessarily a front-right or front-left. Another game I noticed this phenomenon in is Bioshock Infinite, specifically the Burial at Sea pt.1.

 

[NamelessPFG]

If the deadzone problem is rooted in the game engine's audio mixing, no virtual surround DSP is going to fix that. The sound driver won't receive any more sound from the game just because you ticked virtual surround on.

About all I can suggest is to try out the usual Source engine DirectSound3D + ALchemy trick. That will inherently cause CS:GO to mix the audio differently.

 

[MaxKohler]

If the deadzone problem is rooted in the game engine's audio mixing, no virtual surround DSP is going to fix that. The sound driver won't receive any more sound from the game just because you ticked virtual surround on.

About all I can suggest is to try out the usual Source engine DirectSound3D + ALchemy trick. That will inherently cause CS:GO to mix the audio differently.

Are you sure CSGO uses DirectSound3D? When I tried to use Alchemy with it, it didn't work...
 
I know there are changes in the engine from CS:S to CSGO.

 

[Fegefeuer]

did you setup "snd_legacy_surround 1" either via config or autoexec.cfg?