[SaLX]

Tried to post Feg - I'm in the same boat posting wise there (grrrr). Hopefully somebody else can help this poor guy. Hopefully somebody can design better forums for Creative too... they haven't changed in years, you can't search for anything with any accuracy, it looks terrible. Basically Creative's Forum is crap.

 

[domoaligato]

I could not post on creative either so I sent him/her a pm on there boards and refered him here and told him/her to uninstall and reinstall the drivers.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Yeah, or even fresh install (as it was the only solution in my case).
 
Anyway, for all interested in DACs. Did you check out the news about Asus new DAC/AMP?
 
http://www.techpowerup.com/192647/asus-launches-essence-iii-preamplifier-usb-dac-and-headphone-amplifier.html
 
I had the Essence One for a time and it was quite good for its price.

 

[DJINFERNO806]

Ya they also apparently are launching the new Essence STU which is pretty much based on their STX but as an external unit.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7441/asus-launches-xonar-essence-stu-usb-dac

I had thought the essence III was more promising until I realized it was probably going to be around the same price as the essence one, $1000?

The STU will be roughly $400 however I do understand they are aimed at different customers so its hard to compare the 2 solely on each other. Its also hard to justify $400 as well when you realize they are using similar components(albeit a better power delivery method) to the STX but for double the price. Something about using $5 headphone amps(at least thats what price I could find online) and charging that much doesn't sit right with me. It will probably still be limited in its power for headphones since it uses the same headamp and still have the same higher than desired output impedence.

.....$1000 eh?... lol

 

[watsaname]

Just tried getting Alchemy to work with Black Mesa, didn't really seem to improve anything IF it did anything. Might be doing it wrong, but I added it the way the guy who did the Portal 2 tutorial. I tried both the actual path for Black Mesa, then I tried the path for source mod 2007.

 

[SaLX]

The whole question about being able to use Headphone mode was answered all along in this rather cryptic FAQ from Creative:
 
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=76771.
 
If I'm reading it right that is. Got an another email back from Creative after a long pause which totally bewildered me....
 

Me: (abridged) SBZ (Headphone Mode not Stereo Mode) > Optical/SPDIF > external DAC/AMP > Stereo headphones with surround?
 
Creative: Yes you can select headphone as output, However please note that headphone option will only work if your headset is connected to the Line in/ Mic in port.

???

 

[DJINFERNO806]

Lol wut? Another amazing response from creative reps?

Even the FAQ was a little strange. Enabling spdif as default results in no signal out if encoding is used? What? Is this real life? Chart B....

Even after reading the whole thing I still couldn't get the answer we needed. It just said which ports are disabled.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

 

[watsaname]

Yeah, I don't know who they hired for their support team. It seems like they just have their customer support read the back of the box and just tell the customer w/e they read from the box.

 

[SaLX]

FYI - This is the preceding email I got from them last week:

Thank you for getting back to us.

Yes the setup is possible, However please take note of the following:

- Since this is an OEM soundcard we may not provide full support. (Like giving me shoddy and contradictory advice?)
- If you are using a 5.1 headset you will only achieve virtual surround. (I SAID I HAD STEREO HEADPHONES!!!)
- Since you will be using an OEM version of the Soundblaster the software used may be different, Just make sure that the surround options is activated. (There is no difference in the software between the OEM and the standard Z afaik)
 

 
Well, I wanted official confirmation from them that's all.  Don't know if any of you want to try and ask them for a laugh (tip.. make it as simple a question as possible).
 
http://uk.creative.com/contactus/ (select product enquiry dropdown) or if you own one (use the tech support enquiry) - think you'll need the serial.

 

[Bloodflowerz]

  The whole question about being able to use Headphone mode was answered all along in this rather cryptic FAQ from Creative:
 
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=76771.
 
If I'm reading it right that is. Got an another email back from Creative after a long pause which totally bewildered me....
 
???

 
The link is down, they must be getting too many requests for this particular page, more than their bandwidth can handle lol

 

[SaLX]

This seems to work. http://us.creative.com/contactus But actually DON'T get in touch with them... it's not worth your sanity.
 
Also found this over at HardForum (posted by Farkle):
 

I also agree with InnervateD that the Recon3D is probably the biggest disappointment since the Audigy LS. But if you do toslink out from the Recon3D, to a well implemented budget DAC that exceeds the performance levels of the ZxR (ESS Sabre32 and AD based DAC come to mind) you're going to be under the ZxR's asking price, with the same gaming features from the Recon3D and Z at your fingertips (with the exception of having to constantly change the bit-rate in the playback device properties in Windows, to match the stereo mix to your output which could be solved with a driver update.) That at least covers the 2.1 stereo and headphone crowd for positional DSP.

 

[DJINFERNO806]

Did the recon3d get updated to sbx pro studio now and no more thx?


I though we already confirmed that headphone hrtf works with digital out?

Its quite easy to tell via listening tests in games or surround files... They will sound completely different in positioning.

 

[Fegefeuer]

It's like the Titanium HD where I hooked it up via optical as well for CMSS-3D (games) and THX (Movies). 

 

[SaLX]

I though we already confirmed that headphone hrtf works with digital out?

Sorry DJ, got spooked by Creative's response.....