X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

[EarlZ]

This started happening when I got my 5.1 speaker system ( Logitech Z-5500 ) sometimes I would lose all sound from the right channel ( both front and rear and sometimes including center ) and sometimes the volume is at an extremely low level even if the sound card output is at 100% now fixing this is either a reboot or a change of audio mode Game to Ent ( vice versa ) Is creative working on a permanent fix for this one ? Im using X-Fi Extreme Music and Windows 7 64bit 8GB of ram

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

This started happening when I got my 5.1 speaker system ( Logitech Z-5500 ) sometimes I would lose all sound from the right channel ( both front and rear and sometimes including center ) and sometimes the volume is at an extremely low level even if the sound card output is at 100% now fixing this is either a reboot or a change of audio mode Game to Ent ( vice versa ) Is creative working on a permanent fix for this one ? Im using X-Fi Extreme Music and Windows 7 64bit 8GB of ram

honestly, creative would just tell you its the speakers, go f**k yourself, buy our latest card.

[EarlZ]

Well its clearly not the speakers since switching modes on the sound card fixes the issue, never had this problem when I was in 2.0 mode though.

Anyway for my previous post about the volume in gaming, is this an expected issue when your speaker setup is running in 5.1 mode , since I never had this volume problem back when I was using 2.1 I already reset all the volume levels and placed WMP/Winamp at 100% volume on their own settings, my sound card volume is at 25% while gaming i need to increase my Z-5500 volume to 75% to hear anything.. gonna try 2.0 mode later on and see if its just a 5.1 issue.

[Mussels]

to be honest, the only times when volume appears 'low' in 5.1 over 2.0, is when you've missed a channel/wired it incorrectly.

You know, missing the center channel would sound normal most of the time, except voices would be quiet (as they appear somewhat on the front channels, it'd be quiet, not silent)

[Reefer86]

sounds like the same issues i used to have in the early drivers in vista, ive had no problems at all running under windows 7

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Well its clearly not the speakers since switching modes on the sound card fixes the issue, never had this problem when I was in 2.0 mode though.

Anyway for my previous post about the volume in gaming, is this an expected issue when your speaker setup is running in 5.1 mode , since I never had this volume problem back when I was using 2.1 I already reset all the volume levels and placed WMP/Winamp at 100% volume on their own settings, my sound card volume is at 25% while gaming i need to increase my Z-5500 volume to 75% to hear anything.. gonna try 2.0 mode later on and see if its just a 5.1 issue.

Do you have the latest version of OpenAL installed? It's a semi-"critical" API for both Vista and WIN7 - most games and apps support OpenAL (to an extent), and if they don't they can still make use of it (as the audio card drivers will can and will make use of it). It allows for proper channel mixing from an application through the OS kernel . . . if the game or app is being forced to go through WIN's kernal APIs, channel downmixing will occur, and possibly even be routed to the wrong output. Usually, the downmixing will retain LF/RF, while cutting everything else. The only apps that aren't affected by this "phenomena" are those that are "imbeded" into the OS - think apps like WIN Media Player. If it's a MS app, you won't have to worry about it being a problem.

Yeah, it sucks, and has been one of my only major gripes with Vista and WIN7, but nothing we can do about it . . . XP wasn't affected by this tripe, as applications could directly access the hardware. They can't with Vista/WIN7, the audio calls must be passed through the OS kernel and "translated" by the API . . .

[EarlZ]

Yes i have OpenAL installed, its just that the volume is extremely low when gaming no sound is dropped every thing is ultra crisp i just need to boost the volume from 25% to 75%-95%

So to avoid me constantly changing volumes I lowered Winamp and WMP's own volume, Winamp is now at about 15% software volume while WMP is between 50% to 100% coz some movies really have ultra low volumes that im aware of.

[imperialreign]

Double check the individual channel settings in WIN's audio control panel. It doesn't always synch to the X-Fi control panel properly . . . which can leave some channels quieter than others when you make adjustments.

[EarlZ]

All channels are on the same sound level.. Probably Winamp just has a very loud software volume ?

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

All channels are on the same sound level.. Probably Winamp just has a very loud software volume ?

It's possible . . .

Vista as well is a bit louder than XP is, and I'm still not 100% sure why that is . . . it's quite annoying, as volume adjustments made in Vista are not exactly the same needed in XP.

[T3kl0rd]

Love my X-Fi XtremeMusic Card and the clarity it brings to my PC's sound. I can hear the difference when EAX is enabled for sure. Takes cycles off my already overloaded P4, so this is a must have for me. Creative has a monopoly with the EAX function, so you are really shoehorned into getting X-Fi if you want the best sound.

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by T3kl0rd

Love my X-Fi XtremeMusic Card and the clarity it brings to my PC's sound. I can hear the difference when EAX is enabled for sure. Takes cycles off my already overloaded P4, so this is a must have for me. Creative has a monopoly with the EAX function, so you are really shoehorned into getting X-Fi if you want the best sound.

Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

[Mussels]

winamp at 50% volume = unboosted.

Past that, it amplifies the sound internally.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by Mussels

winamp at 50% volume = unboosted.

Past that, it amplifies the sound internally.

Actually, the last time I used Winamp, it's volume slider did nothing but change the Windows main volume. It's part of the reason I switched to Foobar2000. Open the Windows slider and change WinAmp's volume, and see if it still does it.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Wile E

Actually, the last time I used Winamp, it's volume slider did nothing but change the Windows main volume. It's part of the reason I switched to Foobar2000. Open the Windows slider and change WinAmp's volume, and see if it still does it.

i've seen it do both - i think its related to what output mode its using (directsound/waveout?)

[ToTTenTranz]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

Truth be told, game devs are too lazy with everything that's not console-related.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

----

Ive been with Asus Xonars since November or last year & honestly i have to say that I miss my creative Fata1ty becase Asus's DS3DGX engine thats similar to creative alchemy still needs a fair bit of work & i had a fair few CTD's while gaming because of it.

creative drivers did take a lot of time to mature though but Asus's drivers are a bit of a laugh - theyve only released 2-3 drivers since windows 7 was in beta & they probably wont release another update until the end of the year.

[kenkickr]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

----

Ive been with Asus Xonars since November or last year & honestly i have to say that I miss my creative Fata1ty becase Asus's DS3DGX engine thats similar to creative alchemy still needs a fair bit of work & i had a fair few CTD's while gaming because of it.

creative drivers did take a lot of time to mature though but Asus's drivers are a bit of a laugh - theyve only released 2-3 drivers since windows 7 was in beta & they probably wont release another update until the end of the year.

I wish I would have seen this before I purchased a Xonar D2X a couple days ago

[ToTTenTranz]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

As imperialreign said, if you stick to OpenAL routines, no one has to pay anything to Creative.

[brandonwh64]

does a SupremeFX X-Fi count to be in the club?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

does a SupremeFX X-Fi count to be in the club?

having a realtek X-fi lets me talk in here :P

[brandonwh64]

so if its onboard then it doesnt count?

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by kenkickr

I wish I would have seen this before I purchased a Xonar D2X a couple days ago

the Xonar is a great card! its just let down by driver support. games still work great on it. but a few games might have issues with the D3DGX engine - otherwise it works fine for most games

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by ToTTenTranz

Truth be told, game devs are too lazy with everything that's not console-related.

Agreed - to an extent . . . depends on the dev team. Some go to amazing lengths with their work (ID, Raven, CryTech, etc.), others just seem to get by with very little . . .

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

As ToT pointed out, no one has to pay licensing fees for OpenAL. It's completely open source and freely available, and whatever features it supports are free to impliment . . . think of it like the OpenGL of the audio world.

Originally Posted by Mussels

having a realtek X-fi lets me talk in here :P

I think the "mod" status might have something to do with it

Seriously, though, any X-Fi is welcome . . . hell, any audio discussion is welcome, no matter what hardware you're running - so long as it's not Creative bashing (there are other forums for such antics) . . . we're even open to USB device users . . .

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

the Xonar is a great card! its just let down by driver support. games still work great on it. but a few games might have issues with the D3DGX engine - otherwise it works fine for most games

Agreed - I've only heard increasing complaints from ASUS' drivers, and it seems complaints about Creative's are dwindling. The Xonar series are great cards, just hampered by poor support . . .

Especially regarding ASUS' driver issues, I refer back to an earlier statement of mine where I had said that the larger their customer base gets, the more issues we'll see come out of the wood-work. Audio hardware is some of the pickiest and sensitive hardware in a PC, that fact hasn't changed at all over the last 20 years . . . instead, we've seen even more issues arise as other hardware has become faster and more powerful . . .

Same goes for Auzentech and their non-XFi cards - if their customer base continues to grow, we'll see more issues crop up with their drivers as well. Their X-Fi supported cards tend to follow the same route that Creative's go . . .

[FreedomEclipse]

Im tempted to pick up another creative card in the future - just because it has less issues since the drivers have matured