I picked one up. Couldn't resist. I can always bring it back if I decide that my current Audigy 2 ZS is good enough for now.
I use it pretty much for games with headphones exclusively. First, the HRTF is better than than the Audigy 2, but not mind-blowingly better. Definitely noticable, but evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The elevation in particular is most noticably better than the Audigy 2; it seems more on par with Sensaura's implementation. I don't know of a good way to compare the effect of MacroFX on/off... any ideas will be appreciated. Also, there is no calibration for headphones simlar to the Audigy 2 that allows you to tweak side positioning based on your head size. I believe this basically adjusted IID and ITD with the Audigy 2, and I'd like to know why its missing here.
I have been leaving the Crystalizer off, especially since the verdict seems to be that it only improves things when you have crappy equipment. I hope my A500s aren't considered crappy. For games, it FEELS like it only applies a bit of EQ, but I suppose I can experiment more.
I don't have BF2, but the best implementation of EAX in a game that I own is Call of Duty. It sounds better to me. The positioning is obviously improved and there is less distortion. Also, there is no more clicking and popping when the effects engine is heavily loaded. Finally, it could be my imagination, but I feel like occlusion is a bit different, in a good way. Maybe this is "Environment Occlusion" in action, although that would suggest it's supported transparently. I'm probably just hearing things... Anyone else have any comments?
In game mode, there is a slider that controls the relative level (in dB) of EAX effects. It defaults to 0dB, but you can make it a bit louder than normal, or turn it all the way down such that it is effectively turned off. I'd imagine that this is some kind of global scalar that is applied to all of the EAX parameters in order to tone down (or up) the effect. This could be really nice for those who complain about EAX reverb in games being a bit over the top. However, its unclear to me if the slider also effects elements of EAX other than reverb, such as occlusion filters.
Regarding music. although the Crystalizer doesn't do much for me, I DO like Entertainment mode with CMSS-Headphone and the surround slider at 100%. In general, the new CMSS seems to have less distortion for music compared to the Audigy 2 implementation. If the original recording doesn't have great soundstaging, CMSS-Headphone seems like a good way to create it artifically. Also, its a bit less fatiging. On the other hand, if you have a proper binaural recording, CMSS-Headphone is a no-no.
Finally, you CAN set the master sample rate to 44.1KHz in Creation mode, but my feable ears can't detect a difference between this and resampled to 48KHz.
