[Mad Lust Envy]

Anyone have a CMSS-3D usb device they'd wanna lend me? Its the only main virtual surround DSP I havent fully tested yet....

 

[SDub]

I've never been a fan of legacy products, due to their lack of support. What about the Creative Sound Blaster Z? However, the article mentioned that the FMODEx implementation doesn't allow the creative to be as good as they can be, is that still true and should I be considering a ASUS card because of that?
 
You know how w/foobar2000 you can bypass windows sampling? Can something similar be done with video games? Would that solve the software mixing that FMODEx does? 

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

Anyone have a CMSS-3D usb device they'd wanna lend me? Its the only main virtual surround DSP I havent fully tested yet....

 
I have an X-Fi Go! (non-Pro), but it's a bit crippled for software-mixed titles because it doesn't have a 5.1/7.1 speaker option for Windows to use.
 
The only one that wouldn't suffer too much is Battlefield 3, but that's just because of Enhanced Stereo Mode. CMSS-3D Headphone still wouldn't be of much use for comparison without the ability to set Windows to 5.1/7.1.
 
I need to hunt down one of the older X-Fi Surround USB devices that actually do have 5.1 output capability and CMSS-3D Headphone instead of the THX TruStudio feature suite.
 
Quote:

I've never been a fan of legacy products, due to their lack of support. What about the Creative Sound Blaster Z? However, the article mentioned that the FMODEx implementation doesn't allow the creative to be as good as they can be, is that still true and should I be considering a ASUS card because of that?
 
You know how w/foobar2000 you can bypass windows sampling? Can something similar be done with video games? Would that solve the software mixing that FMODEx does? 

 
Too bad Creative's newest cards are already revealing a lot of drawbacks for a lot of games I still play now and then...and that's setting aside the CMSS-3D vs. SBX preference.
 
The thing about FMOD Ex-or any software-mixed implementation of game audio, really-is that all the sound card gets in the end is a pre-mixed 5.1/7.1 signal at most. That's why CMSS-3D Headphone can't really show off its true potential. Mind you, it still works really well for those games, but if you actually play something with DirectSound3D or OpenAL...it's a night-and-day difference, immensely better.
 
As for bypassing Windows sampling...that's not happening with a software-mixed game. DS3D and OAL do it by default because they're talking directly to the sound card drivers (or a software audio renderer like Rapture3D that has ASIO support in its most expensive incarnation), but good luck finding a recent game that uses OpenAL and isn't Amnesia or DiRT.

 

[SDub]

So you would suggest a Titanium as opposed to a Sound Blaster Z it sounds like? 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So you would suggest a Titanium as opposed to a Sound Blaster Z it sounds like? 

The Titanium (non-HD) does not have a headphone amplifier and it's DAC chip is not as good as the Z series DAC chip.
But the Titanium (non-HD) can pass headphone surround sound thru is S/PDIF optical output
So you can connect any external optical input DAC (and amp) you like.
 
Or just could just use the Titanium (non-HD) by itself.
 
A Titanium HD paired with an external amp should provide some good quality sound.
(you can plug the external amp. straight to the Titanium HD's RCA outputs and still get headphone surround sound)

 

[SDub]

I'm not an audiophile by any means. Just looking to dominate some noobs in video games! 

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

So you would suggest a Titanium as opposed to a Sound Blaster Z it sounds like? 

 
Personally, yes, I would.
 
Not everyone will agree with me there, but that's the audio market for you.

 

[CFGamescape]

[quote name="PurpleAngel"
A Titanium HD paired with an external amp should provide some good quality sound.
(you can plug the external amp. straight to the Titanium HD's RCA outputs and still get headphone surround sound)
[/quote]

Is that the preferred way to connect this setup?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

[quote name="PurpleAngel"
A Titanium HD paired with an external amp should provide some good quality sound.
(you can plug the external amp. straight to the Titanium HD's RCA outputs and still get headphone surround sound)

Is that the preferred way to connect this setup?[/quote]

The T-HD (Titanium HD) audio processor seems to have lots of hardware features and the T-HD comes with a nice DAC (PCM1794) chip.
It's headphone output seems to be fairly decent, for something that does not come with a "true" headphone amplifier.
As the T-HD can send processed headphone surround sound out it's RCA jacks, you can hook just about any external headphone amplifier you like to the T-HD's RCA outputs.
Also when output analog audio thru the RCA jacks, all three op-amps are being used, where only two op-amps are used for the headphone output.
The "third" op-amp (used for RCA output) is slightly better then the two other op-amps.
The T-HD's RCA outputs should provide a cleaner analog audio signal, compared to the T-HD's headphone output.

 

[pox67]

The Titanium (non-HD) does not have a headphone amplifier and it's DAC chip is not as good as the Z series DAC chip.
But the Titanium (non-HD) can pass headphone surround sound thru is S/PDIF optical output
So you can connect any external optical input DAC (and amp) you like.

Interesting. I just picked up a X-Fi Titanium to use with a 5.1 speaker setup but I was wondering what to do about headphones. From what you have said though something like the Audioengine D1 Premium 24-Bit DAC plugged in to the optical out would be OK?

 

[Tato23]

Any place to buy the U7 on the cheaper end without going to EBay? Also do you recommend this u7 with an internal sound card? Or Can this do just as well working off on board sound? 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Interesting. I just picked up a X-Fi Titanium to use with a 5.1 speaker setup but I was wondering what to do about headphones. From what you have said though something like the Audioengine D1 Premium 24-Bit DAC plugged in to the optical out would be OK?

The AudioEngine D1 should plug right into the Titanium's optical jack, so should work fine.

 

[SDub]

So I picked up the Sound Blaster Z. Couple things:
 
1. Installation process was the worst thing ever.
2. In C3 (FMOD middleware) there is no spacial awareness
3. Sound of Music has changed, but I 'm not sure if its better or worse. 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So I picked up the Sound Blaster Z. Couple things:
 
1. Installation process was the worst thing ever.
2. In C3 (FMOD middleware) there is no spacial awareness
3. Sound of Music has changed, but I 'm not sure if its better or worse. 

Did you "disable" the on-board audio? (in the BIOS).

 

[SDub]

Yes, I did. I just want to clarify, there is spatial awareness, but it's almost the exact same as w/my Realtek onboard.