[NamelessPFG]

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

 
This is the important part. Without that, Source engine games use software audio mixing, no DS3D.
 
Only with it enabled can ALchemy do its job right.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Tigerdirect has the SB-ZxR for $150, after rebates.
Looks like the rebate expires Thursday night.

 

[TwoEars]

  Tigerdirect has the SB-ZxR for $150, after rebates.
Looks like the rebate expires Thursday night.

 
That's a steal. Great card.
 
So much engineering and music for the money!

 

[PoWn3d0704]

I hate to be this guy, but I read through the thread a little bit and I need some advice.

I'm a gamer, but I've suddenly realized how much marketing has been influencing me. I'm currently using an HT Omega Claro PCI card that I bought on Craigslist for $30. That is paired with a set of Razer Timat 7.1's and a Logitech 5.1 analog speaker set. 

My mic died on the Timats, so I bought an AntLion ModMic. I expect to replace the headphone within the year, but my HT Omega card has been acting funny and needs to go I think. (Plus the PCI port is between my two monster GPUs, so the sound card has had a rough life.) Would love to move to PCI-E 1x.

I'm not an audiophile, yet, but I want the best. Budget is like $250-$300 for a sound card. Though the headphones and speakers are surround, its not a necceity for me, esp if stereo sounds so much better.

 

[EarwaxDAC]

Welcome to the new marketing. You are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[PoWn3d0704]

Welcome to the new marketing. You are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

I hear you. The real issue is that my sound card is dying and I need to replace it. I'm just looking for a sound card that would be an upgrade over current HT Omega Claro.

Probably just going to get that high end sound blaster. The one that's $100 off right now on TD

 

[EarwaxDAC]

I'm a bit jaded, if you didn't determine that on your own. 
 
I owned a TitaniumHD and returned it due to lack of mic amp. I also owned a ZxR and returned it due to EMI bus noise being introduced into my mic during high GPU load. In the end, for my purposes, a regular consumer onboard codec with comfortable headphones is all I really need.
 
Both are really nice kit. The ZxR is one of the best I've seen for this market. Personally, I think the panacea of 3d sound most folks is after is long gone and years from coming back. Maybe someday AMD mantle will deliver. If you don't care about 3d I recommend you externalize the amp element and go with something else that you can easily move between builds.
 
Just my $0.02 

 

[LeonFi]

Hi,
 
I have tried to read as much of this thread as I could, along with several others, and I will admit that I am unusually confused still. I'm building my own PC (most likely windows 8.1) that will be used for gaming (non-competitive) amongst other things. I really want to get as immersive experience as possible with headphones. I'll mostly be playing Arma 2 & 3 in the near future.
 
This is roughly summary of what I have gathered, but it is hard to tell what information is now out of date, or just plain wrong:
- Positional audio with headphones can be simulated by a number of ways? CMSS-3D Headphone may be the best for positioning, but affects the tonality and cuts the bass?
- SBX? A newer version of CMSS-3D? Or something entirely different?
- Dolby Headphone?
 
I listened to examples of these online, but my current headphones are really crappy, so that is probably a major bottleneck in comparing these properly. I don't know how much difference I should be expecting. The CMSS-3D Headphone example definitely provided better positioning than the straight stereo, and the Dolby sounded weird. The SBX didn't sound much different from the CMSS on my headphones. Is CMSS-3D Headphone available on the Z, Zx & ZxR, or is is just for older cards (I have heard endless bad things about the drivers though)?
 
My intended motherboard is the MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 (with Sound Blaster Cinema) I can see a screenshot of something with SBX PRO STUDIO on the MSI website for the motherboard. Is this going to provide a similar gaming experience to the Z, Zx or ZxR? Benbenkr said earlier that “SBX Surround built into software form on motherboards indeed do work — but only properly through line-out. Optical out does not work entirely well.”
 
So, can anyone help me understand what the current situation is? If I prefer the sound of CMSS-3D Headphone, what do I really need to get that to work on my PC? I gather I need to buy an X-Fi (any model?), that means a trip to ebay, which is fine by me, or should I be looking at of the Z/Zx/ZxR? Is that going to be a pain with windows 8.1?
 
If CMSS-3D Headphone is not available on the newer cards, is the SBX PRO thing a decent alternative, and is that available on those cards? Is it going to be much different from what is included with the MSI motherboard I mentioned? Is there anything else I've overlooked?
 
Thanks!
 
L

 

[hittnswitches]

Hey All,

I've been experimenting using a 3rd party 20 band eq with my Z (disabling sbx eq) and have had significant success hearing out DS users in Ghosts. I can set the number of frequencies (1-20), the frequencies I want to adjust (5400, 8000 etc.) and Q factor, which is great.

Although I can hear enemies better, the game doeasn't sound as immersive as when I used the sbx eq. I've had very limited time calibrating, so could be a factor. Doesn't matter that much to me though as long as I don't get snuck up on.

Has anyone else tried something similar?

 

[benbenkr]

Hey All,

I've been experimenting using a 3rd party 20 band eq with my Z (disabling sbx eq) and have had significant success hearing out DS users in Ghosts. I can set the number of frequencies (1-20), the frequencies I want to adjust (5400, 8000 etc.) and Q factor, which is great.

Although I can hear enemies better, the game doeasn't sound as immersive as when I used the sbx eq. I've had very limited time calibrating, so could be a factor. Doesn't matter that much to me though as long as I don't get snuck up on.

Has anyone else tried something similar?

 
Well, this is the classic example of when a software EQ can only do so much before hitting a brickwall.
 
You can't have everything in audio unfortunately. Either get a different headphone closest to the type of soung signature you like (in this case, it sounds like an AKG K612) or just deal with it.
 
You could continue to tweak your EQ further, but I generally believe that software EQ can't do much before completely altering a headphone's flavor into something else, which at that point makes the headphone meaningless.

 

[hittnswitches]

 
Well, this is the classic example of when a software EQ can only do so much before hitting a brickwall.
 
You can't have everything in audio unfortunately. Either get a different headphone closest to the type of soung signature you like (in this case, it sounds like an AKG K612) or just deal with it.
 
You could continue to tweak your EQ further, but I generally believe that software EQ can't do much before completely altering a headphone's flavor into something else, which at that point makes the headphone meaningless.

 


I have the AT AD700x headphones, which have a great soundstage and already pick up the sounds I want. My setup is strictly for gaming. You're right though, I'm trying to get every ounce of audio I can sweeze out of a software eq to pwn, which I know aren't as good as hardware eqs, and only go so far. If I go external, I lose the surround and other benefits of the SBZ software for gaming, so this is the best option as far as I know.

If anyone else has a better suggestion, I'm all ears!

 

[benbenkr]

 

   
Well, this is the classic example of when a software EQ can only do so much before hitting a brickwall.
 
You can't have everything in audio unfortunately. Either get a different headphone closest to the type of soung signature you like (in this case, it sounds like an AKG K612) or just deal with it.
 
You could continue to tweak your EQ further, but I generally believe that software EQ can't do much before completely altering a headphone's flavor into something else, which at that point makes the headphone meaningless.

 


I have the AT AD700x headphones, which have a great soundstage and already pick up the sounds I want. My setup is strictly for gaming. You're right though, I'm trying to get every ounce of audio I can sweeze out of a software eq to pwn, which I know aren't as good as hardware eqs, and only go so far. If I go external, I lose the surround and other benefits of the SBZ software for gaming, so this is the best option as far as I know.

If anyone else has a better suggestion, I'm all ears!

 
You could always get an external DAC + amp (yes more money) that has an optical input to go along with your SBZ and not lose any features you're using. This is what many has been doing on this thread.
 
Otherwise, the more logical step-up from the AD700x is the AGK K612 Pro. The soundstage is a slight step back although detail remains largely the same, but what you get is that fun immersive factor that you are trying to get from an EQ now. 

 

[hittnswitches]

Ok, 2 questions:
 
 - These amp/dacs have eqs?
 - They are great for gaming?
 
Thanks

 

[NCSUZoSo]

   
You could always get an external DAC + amp (yes more money) that has an optical input to go along with your SBZ and not lose any features you're using. This is what many has been doing on this thread.
 
Otherwise, the more logical step-up from the AD700x is the AGK K612 Pro. The soundstage is a slight step back although detail remains largely the same, but what you get is that fun immersive factor that you are trying to get from an EQ now. 

lol, a lot of us don't even have the daughter card inside the PC.  I have been trying to figure out a way to box it externally outside of the PC, the pin pattern is simple so that wouldn't be an issue if I need to custom make a longer cable.  It just ruins the inside of a PC for those of us that do have windowed sides and do care about cable management to have that wide cable draping over (GPUs normally).  I don't know why Creative thought that was a good solution, I would have kept looking for another way.

 

[benbenkr]

  Ok, 2 questions:
 
 - These amp/dacs have eqs?
 - They are great for gaming?
 
Thanks

 
1) Depending on the DAC, some comes with EQ.
2) Good audio is good audio, that's it. Can be great for anything. It's not rocket science.
 
 

 
lol, a lot of us don't even have the daughter card inside the PC.  I have been trying to figure out a way to box it externally outside of the PC, the pin pattern is simple so that wouldn't be an issue if I need to custom make a longer cable.  It just ruins the inside of a PC for those of us that do have windowed sides and do care about cable management to have that wide cable draping over (GPUs normally).  I don't know why Creative thought that was a good solution, I would have kept looking for another way.

 
Uh... I'm talking about the Z, not the ZxR....