[SoFGR]

more problems since I got my hands on even better gear ( AKG K601, beyerdynamic DT150 DAC19mk3 and C2C headamp )

A) cmss3d passes through spdif ONLY on windows XP, i tried win7 64 bit and latest creative drivers in dual boot and i just could not hear any difference with cmss3d on and off unless i was using the analog output of the card instead of my DAC

B) sometimes i use game mode - EAX off - speakers 2.0/2.1 - cmss3d off in the creative audio panel so i can hear the game sounds in BF2 with maximum fidelity (while sacrifing a little bit of reliable 3d sound positioning of course ), problem is that there is something really weird going on with the windows mixer sound settings, wave and master volume are set to 100% but the SQ is kinda bad, some sounds are pretty harsh to the ear and artillery strikes are a freaking joke, when i set master volume to 80% while keeping wave at 100% artillery sounds awesome on my dt150, bass and impact are there like sticking your ear to a subwoofer

With Master volume at 100% there's no bass at all during explosions, just clipping and craptastic SQ, is this normal ? Is there any scientific evidence that x-fi forte is a better transport ? does it try to amplify the signal while i'm using spdif coaxial output and everything is set to 100% ( it should be 100%, right ? ) like the stupid x-fi does ? what about the drivers ?

 

[SoFGR]

*double post* delete plz

 

[unclepauly]

Well, the forte definitely passes cmss 3d through spdif. That I know. I'm with you on the cmss distortion thing too, sound quality has always taken a hit for me with it on. On my old extreme music and now my forte. Each card has it's own sound signature but that distortion is exactly the same. So I'm convinced it's due to the implementation of the software. It's something we have to deal with or go full 5.1 I guess

 

[43st]

There are a few old tricks, I'm not sure how valid they are currently but it might be worth checking out. I notice the largest drop in audio quality by using 'game mode', but no decrease with CMSS-3d, eq, etc.

- Disable all unused features in the BIOS to free up bandwidth for the audio card. I've actually heard line noise decrease as I tested this, this was with the original X-fi fatality on XP.

- Slightly lower wave volume so it's not hitting the dsp as a square wave. (not sure how this is done on Vista/7.

- Zero out, or disable, all unused input and output options.

 

[forciano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toby M /img/forum/go_quote.gif They two aren't necessarily linked in Vista either. I have my X-fi set to 5.1 in Windows sound settings and headphone in the X-fi control panel. The headphone mode won't work unless the game and windows are sending a 5.1 signal to the soundcard, which then downmixes it to the two channel simulated 3d headphone mode.

I have tested this and that is absolutly wrong, the only difference if you have 5.1 or 2 speakers enabled in windows is the size of the soundstage.

Test it yourself and you will see that even with 2 speakers selected and headphone mode, you can still hear sounds coming from behind you.

 

[renugaid]

CMSS-3D actually has some of the best 3D positional audio available. Comparing it to Silent Cinema using Dolby Digital/DTS/Dolby Pro Logic I & II, you have much more spacial awareness and pinpoint sound accuracy. The effect it has on the audio is not so much about quality but a filter being used over it. Think of a fish-eye lens for a camera, You see a wider range over a smaller space. Are you more aware of whats around? Yes. Does it look the way it originally looked? No. Silent Cinema as well as Dolby Headphone both have similar sound alterations that disrupt the original sound. Maybe not as greatly as CMSS-3D but at the same time it isn't as good as CMSS-3D for games. For movies don't even touch CMSS-3D.

If you want the best 3D audio over headphones tho, Smyth SVS Realiser anyone?

 

[westies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFGR /img/forum/go_quote.gif A) cmss3d passes through spdif ONLY on windows XP, i tried win7 64 bit and latest creative drivers in dual boot and i just could not hear any difference with cmss3d on and off unless i was using the analog output of the card instead of my DAC

Are you sure it's not the game you tested? Since Vista, in order to get hardware accelerated audio in older DirectSound games you have to use Creative's ALchemy.

edit: Just re-read this now and noticed I kinda skimmed over what you said and misunderstood (was under the assumption that CMSS3D wasnt wokring at all,) sorry. I will add, however, that I'm using s/pdif out and Win 7 x64 and CMSS3D does work.

 

[SoFGR]

i guess it was my fault after all, cmss3d headphone + 100% master volume do not give me any distortion in windows 7, cmss3d passes just fine through toslink, i just had to set "speakers" as the default device instead of "spdif out".

I guess it's finally time to boot more often in win7 instead of XP

 

[Necrolic]

I used to notice this, are your drivers up to date? I was using the stock drivers from the CD, updating them completely eliminated the issue.

Also, DO NOT EVER use the "Headphone" setting of your X-Fi, set it to "2.0/2.1 Speakers". The quality improves a shocking amount.

 

[SoFGR]

My drivers on 7 are the latest ones, i tried the same set of drivers on XP some time ago but I had problems with the mic and the "headphone cmss3d in creative panel - 5.1 in windows control panel / game " configuration so i had to go back to those that were released on march.

Even tho i still have the problem with the 80% master volume cap in XP i'm still glad that i can switch between the 2 OS's anytime i want, because some things that can be done on XP cannot be done on 7 and vica versa, for example i can't get EAX to work in cs 1.6 while in 7 even if i use creative alchemy, heck i can't even keep a steady 100fps like XP :S

On the other hand music playback in windows 7 is a good step up from XP imo, i use media monkey + otachan asio + !shibatch mpg decoder on both operating systems but I still think that my equipment sounds a bit more musical, involving clearer and somehow louder (?!?!)

Here's one thing that i observed, if i set "speakers" to 24bit 192khz in windows 7 control panel and "spdif out" to 24bit 96khz then i can only choose "stereo" in the "speaker configuration" ( that kind of speaker configuration "lock" applies to both windows 7 control panel AND creative audio panel it seems )

If i set "speakers" back to 24bit 96khz I can select the 5.1 configuration for my games with no problems,thing is, do these settings really change the output of my soundcard or my DAC ?

I usually listen to CDs flac and mp3s with my x-fi set to bitmatched playback and 2/2.1 speakers mode ( hexedited to use 90/90 angles in THX panel instead of 60/60 ) so my master sampling rate in audio control panel is se to 44.1khz, should i set the same rates to my devices in the windows control panel ? or keep them at 24bit 96khz ? what if i watch a dvd rip encoded at 48khz ? should i change anything then ?

 

[43st]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, DO NOT EVER use the "Headphone" setting of your X-Fi, set it to "2.0/2.1 Speakers". The quality improves a shocking amount.

I get a lot of hard panning if I do this. Headphone mode is much smoother, and maybe I'm missing something, but the quality isn't that far off. (Certainly a much larger quality hit going from audio creation mode to gaming mode)

 

[unclepauly]

Yeah same here not much diff going from 2.0 to hp.