[fonkydevil]

Well, I think I understood that for 3D sound it is mandatory (or at least highly recommended) to have a dedicated DSP chip, which the Modi is not. So in order to achieve it I'd have to have DSP (SBZ or ZXR) optical out to modi to magni/vali. Maybe I'm wrong though.
 
The X7 seems to offer the same possibilities (with only 1 device), with equivalent audio quality, for cheaper. Also it gives hi-fi audio in addition to gaming/headphone audio. The problem is it is Creative, and totally dependent on whatever drivers they assent to provide, as long as they see fit.
 
I wonder if there are other (cheaper) options ? And which way to go ?

 

[Corundum]

It is not necessary to have a hardware DSP for headphone surround.  Creative MB3 allows you to have software-based SBX Pro Studio.  I'm not sure if they require you to have a device that has a setting for 7.1, but if they do, you can use VB-Audio Virtual Cable to give you a virtual 7.1 device that can be routed to your actual 2.0 DAC.

 

[dutch19]

Hello, recently i purchased a k701 with a soundblaster z to improve my pc gaming experience. This thread has been very helpful deciding what to buy. Im quite satisfied with my setup, however think it still could be improved. I play RTS and Fps, headphones only. I appriciate huge  soundstage and detailed audio positioning  Therefore i was wondering:
 
Will a dac/amp improve my game experience even further? If yes, how? And what can be recommended to my current setup?
 
I was also wondering whether the use of Rapture3D would increase my game experience significantly. What are the pros and cons using this on my setup?
 
Cheers

 

[BlueNinja0]

Originally Posted by dfwallace /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
We are disappointed with the 'surround'/directionality of the sound from the headset playing games, including the FPS Battlefield 4.

 
Are you using any kind of surround sound virtualization? Are the settings in Battlefield 4 and Windows set for surround?
 
 

  It is not necessary to have a hardware DSP for headphone surround.  Creative MB3 allows you to have software-based SBX Pro Studio.  I'm not sure if they require you to have a device that has a setting for 7.1, but if they do, you can use VB-Audio Virtual Cable to give you a virtual 7.1 device that can be routed to your actual 2.0 DAC.

 
That is VERY interesting. I think Creative doesn't support external DACs like the ODAC because they show up as 2.0 devices on Windows. But that virtual cable thing might solve the problem altogether.
Anyone tried, or is willing to try this combo? I don't feel like wasting $30 just to find out it doesn't work. X-Fi MB3 should have at least a trial...

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

I don't know why I am having such a hard time grasping this. I have been using the Mixamp for console gaming for 6 years now. 
 
I just built a new PC gaming rig and I am switching over to PC gaming. 
So I have a z710 Gigabyte Gaming 3 motherboard. I installed the realtek audio drivers. I installed the Sound Blaster X-fi M83 software package (which as far as I can tell also installs the sound blaster drivers). I have SBX turned on. 
 
I have audio going out to a USB o2 stack. Thats it? I'm good to go as far as surround gaming sound goes? 

 

[BlueNinja0]

  I don't know why I am having such a hard time grasping this. I have been using the Mixamp for console gaming for 6 years now. 
 
I just built a new PC gaming rig and I am switching over to PC gaming. 
So I have a z710 Gigabyte Gaming 3 motherboard. I installed the realtek audio drivers. I installed the Sound Blaster X-fi M83 software package (which as far as I can tell also installs the sound blaster drivers). I have SBX turned on. 
 
I have audio going out to a USB o2 stack. Thats it? I'm good to go as far as surround gaming sound goes? 

 
It should be. The problem is that Creative is incompetent enough to make the X-Fi MB3 incompatible with 2.0 output devices (such as the O2/ODAC).
Now, Corundum, posted an interesting suggestion about using those virtual audio cables but the problem is we can't try it out on the X-Fi MB3 to see if it works unless we cough up $30 to try it.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

It seems to be working. The demo works. I don't have any games installed right now that I know has any surround sound to test. I think Serious Sam HD does. 
Is there any program or website I can use to test it. 

 

[BlueNinja0]

  It seems to be working. The demo works. I don't have any games installed right now that I know has any surround sound to test. I think Serious Sam HD does. 
Is there any program or website I can use to test it. 

Try a free game like Team Fortress 2 or something to test it.

 

[liraop]

Hi all, I will now write down my story. It may help someone.

I got a Xonar DG and a schiit stack (modi2u,magni2u). My goal was to be able to play/watch movies with surround sound and listen some music on hi-fi status.

Cons:
1) When I set passthrough device, from xonar to modi2, I get BSOD;
2) I have to manually set on DH and others enhancements for 3D surround sound;
3) DAC section of modi2u and Xonar DG are quite similar, so probably isn't a good deal to buy modi2u if you don't need the extra inputs.;
4) xonar dg is unable to reach its full potential under linux.
 
Pros:
1) Immersive sound on games like skyrim, fallout:NV, UT2K4 (EAX makes some difference ;
2) Modi2u gives me more flexibility on inputs;
3) Modi2u using ASIO on foobar is superb -- (I've been downloading some good quality recordings on rutracker. I'd suggest the same).


I might have some other thoughts but the beer don't let me remember all of it.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

Sorry, what is DH. Did you mean DG as in Xonar DG? 

 

[Evshrug]

DH = Dolby Headphone. It's special processing that allows your typical stereo headphones make sounds that seem to come from in front of you, behind, or from the sides. I quite like it, and feel partially blinded in first person games if I don't have some kind of virtual surround.

 

[liraop]

  Sorry, what is DH. Did you mean DG as in Xonar DG? 

yes, da, sim!

 

[StudioSound]

  It should be. The problem is that Creative is incompetent enough to make the X-Fi MB3 incompatible with 2.0 output devices (such as the O2/ODAC).
Now, Corundum, posted an interesting suggestion about using those virtual audio cables but the problem is we can't try it out on the X-Fi MB3 to see if it works unless we cough up $30 to try it.

It is not "incompetence". X-Fi MB3 is designed to only work with specific on-board audio hardware.
Even if you use a 5.1 or 7.1 audio device - physical or virtual - if it's not on the hardware whitelist you're not getting virtual surround.
 
X-Fi MB3 worked just fine with my motherboard's Realtek hardware, and the output could then be forwarded over its optical connection to have an external DAC handle the conversion to analog.
However there were a few usability issues that I had with it, that led me to uninstall the software.
If you're wanting to run all audio through it, it should work fine. If you have multiple sound devices you switch between which are set to specific volume levels rather than everything at 100%, it was very frustrating to use, as the MB3 software kept changing the volume settings for my devices.
 
The best option for surround/virtual surround in old games, is an X-Fi 20K1 (PCI) or 20K2 (PCIe) card. Works great even on Windows 10 in 99% of the games I have tried, so long as you use the daniel_k "X-Fi Series Support Pack" drivers. (latest version is currently v3.8)
The best option for virtual surround in modern games is probably Creative's Sound BlasterX G5 since that gives you 7.1 SBX Surround. I say probably, because I haven't used one myself - I'm still using my Sound Blaster Z. (5.1 SBX)
 
If you want to connect an external DAC via optical, use the "Play stereo mix using digital output" option in the sound card's control panel, don't use the "listen to this device" option on the "What U Hear" recording device.
If you're using an optical DAC and want to quickly switch between stereo and virtual surround, switch the default output device in Windows between the X-Fi and the S/PDIF device. I use AudioSwitch for this.

 

[Corundum]

So, in my specific case, I am utilizing a slightly different method than the one I mentioned using virtual cables.  I am running THX TruStudio Pro, which I believe is the same as SBX Pro Studio with a different badge.  Since THX TruStudio is bundled with my onboard sound, it can only use that device as the output device.
 
I set THX TruStudio to "headphones" mode, and my onboard sound to 7.1 and use it as my default playback device.  Then, I use the "Stereo Mix" recording device, which automatically captures the output of my onboard sound, and set it to play back through my USB DAC.  This gives me the same virtual surround effect as if I had plugged my headphones directly into my mobo's headphone port.  The pipeline looks like this:
 
Media/Game => Onboard Sound (7.1) + THX TruStudio => Stereo Mix (2.0) => USB DAC (2.0)
 
The technique I mentioned using X-Fi MB3 is for users who do not have any bundled CMSS/THX/SBX virtual surround software, as based on my impression of the product page, it should work with any playback device, since it is not bundled with any hardware.  The MB3 software would fill in for the bundled software you don't have.  That is also why I mention the need for virtual cables, as I believe the virtual surround algorithm only works if the Media/Game is outputting surround sound, and that only happens if it is told to output to a surround sound device.  If your existing playback device is capable of discrete surround sound output, and it has a feature similar to stereo mix, then you don't need virtual cables.  This pipeline looks like this:
 
Media/Game => Virtual Cables Input (7.1)/Existing Surround Device + X-Fi MB3 => Virtual Cables Output (2.0)/Existing Stereo Mix => USB DAC (2.0)
 
It's not that Creative is incompetent because MB3 is incompatible with stereo devices, it's perfectly capable of working with them.  It's that your media/game will not send surround sound information if you tell it that your playback device is stereo.  What Creative could have done is provide a virtual playback device with their MB3 software that mimics a surround sound playback device.
 
I believe the virtual playback device approach is what the Creative Sound Blaster E5 and Sound BlasterX G5 do, as they appear, to your system, to be surround sound devices, when in reality they only have stereo outputs.
 
However, having never purchased and tried the MB3 software, I do not know if it already implements this approach.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

Sorry. I am feeling REALLY dense. Can we just take one step back for me please. 
I want virtual surround sound for my games through my 2.0 headphones. 
I have realtek audio and creative  X-Fi MB3. What is creating the virtual signal. SBX in  X-Fi MB3? 
 
Right now I have my audio coming out of the USB to an ODAC. So there is no virtual SBX coming through? If I plug my motherboard optical out into an optical DAC I will be able to get virtual signal to my headphones? 
 
What if I plug my headphones into my motherboard? Because they sound like they are dipped in dog #$%#$ 3 inches thick when they are running through my mobo.