X-Fi functionality on any Realtek HDA Codec

[Ketxxx]

This thread has come about due to the old one being fucked up by trolls. So a notice to all trolls, you WILL BE KILLED ON-SITE!

Right, to business. This new thread in this very post will contain all current information, observations, facts, and user experiences about this modded driver I have to hand.

What YOU need to know

There is nothing special about this driver, no magic pixies are suddenly going to sprinkle their magical dust on your on-board Realtek chip and have it sounding like a Asus Xonar D2X. The purpose in this driver is to simply squeeze every last bit of performance there may be out of the Realtek HDA Codecs.

All I have done is what KainXS asked me to do based on his research, nothing more.

Is what your doing illegal?

Not in the slightest, and heres why;

1. I'm not asking any money for this.
2. I'm not changing any DLL files or the like.
3. What I'm doing to enable this stuff is just text file editing .
4. I'm not "stealing" anything. (How can you steal whats volintarily and readily available as free downloads?)
5. Its not Creative drivers I'm messing with, just Realteks own drivers.
6. The crapative software suit is available as free download from gigabyte.

Where do you get the knowledge to mod these drivers?

I'm a hacker of sorts and can patch most things. My skills come from modding games mostly (compiling, decompiling, editing, etc) For more specific tasks I talk to people I know who are real software gearheads, namely, their the super clever people who are responsible for such things as the software for retina security devices. As such they can do this kind of stuff with their eyes closed

Facts

1. This modded driver is a larger install vs. a vanilla Realtek driver install for what are currently unknown reasons. In my case a generic Realtek driver install shows as around the 5MB mark in Add/Remove programs for my Realtek ALC1200 Codec, whereas the modded driver install is 60MB.

2. The X-Fi MB software works in Win XP, not Vista. I've heard of a modded X-Fi MB software package that works in Vista, but from what I know this supposed modded software package still does not work for people using Vista.

3. I do NOT have a key for the X-Fi MB software, your on your own there.

4. People using Realtek Codecs complain of partly broken EAX 2.0 implementation in Realteks drivers, my modded drivers do not appear to suffer from semi-broken EAX 2.0 implementation. (Tested with Bioshock)

5. RMAA tests have been done comparing a modded driver to stock Realtek drivers and clearly show improvements.

6. The driver works in Windows 7

7. CPU usage with the modded driver is 5-11%, up from 4-6% with the stock Realtek driver.

8. Placing a Aluminium or Copper heatsink on your on-board audio IC will help reduce EMI and electronic crosstalk, resulting in a little audio improvement.

9. KainXS and myself came up with these Realtek X-Fi modded drivers first. The original release was 03-08-2009, 06:15 PM Linky. So if anyone trys saying we didn't, you know thats not true.

User experiences & observations

Listed in no particular order are snippets taken from the old thread from various users running XP or Vista 32/64bit regarding JUST the modded driver.

Originally Posted by Shadowfold

Well my volume now is a lot louder so I think it worked. I used to have a X-Fi platinum and it sounded like this so I think it worked.

(Different post)

Oh yes, these work fo shooo. My friend's telling me my mic sounds a lot clearer and I can tell the audio is a lot higher quality.

Originally Posted by KieranD

Eitherway with just the modded driver its too good makes my headphones sound MUCH better and the speakers ive yet to try but must sound better

i didnt know if the voices were dull due to the headphones or the pc but its a software thing i guess coz its all clear now

THANKS A BUNCH

(Different post)

the drivers do sound good and i had the latest drivers too 2.16

Originally Posted by devguy

I'd like to chime in that this worked great for me with a less than a week old install of Server2008 x64 and the realtek 889A chipset. It is recognized as Realtek X-Fi in device manager now, and I have a noticeable increase in sound quality.

Originally Posted by Supreme0verlord

Wow, these driver's are awesome, I never knew my onboard sound could sound so good, I can tell a big difference! Thanks Ket!

Originally Posted by Mussels

just to add to this:

The creative driver has improved audio in analogue, for a lot of users. microphone users are claiming things are louder and clearer.

(Different post)

well i noticed a change in SPDIF in vista - previously my Z5500's would turn off "no signal" when notihng was using audio, but this caused erratic sounds (like people signing in to MSN) to only get the last half of the audio being played, so it sounded like arse.

Going from 2.17 to kets 2.17, to the x-fi, it no longer does that and remains on - no more cut off audio.

I got improvements using digital audio, albeit small ones. its not JUST looks.

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Thank you Ket. I noticed a difference right away

(Different post)

I myself thank you so much for this also. I have noticed a higher minimum fps in games at a more cpu related res. Basically 1680x1050. So far improvements I have noticed mainly was in GRID. Minimum FPS was increased by 5-8.

Originally Posted by DanishDevil

Sounds a LOT better! Consider yourself thanked.

Originally Posted by WarEagleAU

Sweet it works for me and I can tell a difference with the audio

Originally Posted by LittleLizard

i noticed better sound but not much better, but thats probably because i have SHITTY SPEAKERS

Originally Posted by cdawall

great job ket works on all my mobo's

Originally Posted by Aklass

Nice Drivers I thought my speakers were holding it back so I upgraded to these *pic of some massive wood speakers*

Originally Posted by Black Hades

I have to admit I was half skeptical about this driver modding thing.

I'm currently using the 2.17 X-Fi-ed drivers on windows 7 and I expected a certain placebo to beggin with, but damn.... Using standard 2.17 drivers for comparisson in dual boot vista.

Let's just say my old Audigy 1394 SB00090 Platinum migrated to my girlfriend's pc.

Congrats on the discovery Ketxxx

Originally Posted by shivansps

I noticed a diference in the maxium sample rate and bit rate that i can choose, for the Audigy was 24bit 48000hz, with the ALC1200 is 24 bit 192000hz

Originally Posted by Basard

it's working fine for me, on xp pro 64-bit.... everything sounds a lil better

Originally Posted by Ongaku

works good for me too on ALC862 Sounds crisper that's for sure! Even increased a few FPS in Oblivion Good work and thanks a lot~

Originally Posted by SCARed

as my headphones are of ... inferior quality, i didn't notice BIG differences, though. stills sounds a little better!

Originally Posted by mudkip

Hello,

props! good work.. maby trying to add support voor vista and this will be perfect.

I've the 889A realtek chip btw.

Originally Posted by kenkickr

I just wanna give a big thanks to you Ketxxx for these x-fi drivers. I was working on a guys system last night and noticed the "usual" realtek garbel on his system, which is used for sound editing and recording. I tried updating to the newest Realtek HD drivers that would clean it up a little but every now and then I would still here garbage. Tried your newest HD x-fi modded drivers and it solved the issue. We recorded a little last night and they just made everything AWESOME!!! Thanks again for these drivers!

Originally Posted by pdxer1

So after updating to R2.21, no problems, smooth install. Still sounds better than the original Realtek driver.


EDIT: I was getting noticeably better response in the mic test, both from windows and from the realtek CP.

Thanks always,
Mark

Originally Posted by andreidi

Hi !

First of all, I want to thank you for the driver, it sounds much better on my HP dv9500 notebook.

Originally Posted by Wetbehindtheears

Well it worked for me (onboard) therefore I can't knock it and my sound output is louder! so thumbs up from me!

21 people can't all be suffering from the plecebo effect


Chewing the fat

1. Apparently, the Microsoft driver for HDA audio installs a Creative filter by default. However, one possible explanation to account for peoples claims of much better audio quality with these modded drivers is that due to the namechange incorporating "X-Fi" into the name, the Microsoft driver package for HDA audio, could, in fact, have 2 filters built into one. One of the filter paths would be for "generic" audio (Realtek, ADI, Via codecs) while the other path is for "Creative" audio. Same principle as for video cards, developers often create specific ATi / nVidia codepaths based on what hardware is detected.

2. Its possible that due to the namechange in the driver that the Realtek installer detects the hardware slightly differently, resulting in Creative-esk audio, which would also explain why EAX 2.0 seems to work fine with the modded driver, and not with stock Realtek drivers.

Originally Posted by imperialreign

..as in, how much "breathing room" is part of the drivers . . . I don't think there'd be a difference in hardware quality, but the drivers themselves could influence differently how the audio streams are processed, which could result in a cleaner sound.

(Different post)

reading that alone, and asusming you're testing is accurate . . . the only thing the driver pack is changing - in regards to the percieved audio quality - is how the hardware handles processing the output audio stream.

Frequency response - which, in brief, is the full range of the audio spectrum the hardware is able to reproduce . . . hasn't changed.

Noise level / Dynamic range - basically represents the difference between the strength of the audio signal to that of the stream's noise floor . . . there appears to be a general improvement in two key areas: 16b/44k (which is the standard for 99% of games) and 24b/96k (which is standard for most DVD-quality playback) . . . I'm assuming, then, that the hardware is being directed to process each output channel a bit more seperately, and possibly even being run through the low-pass and high-pass filters a couple of times, possibly as well some changes to the hardware equalizer to achieve a cleaner tone . . .

. . . then again, it's also possible that a echo/reverb/EQ effect is being applied to the output stream, which would affect those values and cause a "false" percieved improvement in audio quality . . . even moreso considering the values for 16b/96k and 24b/44k aren't changed. If it was a definite tweak in how the hardware handles the audio output, I'd expect to see a change with all playback bit-depths and frequencies . . .


THD / IMD+n - no change, except for a slight THD bump in 16b/96k, 24b/44k - possibly from a hardware equalizer change via the driver, or applied audio effect . . . these two values, though, have the biggest major impact on audio quality - and there is absolutely no change here . . . leading me to think that it's quite possible the percieved audio improvement might simply be an effect applied to the output streams played back at preset frequencies . . .


Stereo Crosstalk - somewhat noticeable improvement again in 16b/44k and 24b/96k which should result in less bleed-through between output channel pairs . . . as with Noise Level / Dynamic range, it's safe to assume that the drivers are instructing the hardware to process the audio much differently . . . or that an EQ/filter effect is being applied to eliminate certain "overlapping" frequencies


Extremelly interesting to see these kinds of results - and how much of an effect this software has on RealTek's (IMHO) sub-par hardware. It can easily be assumed that RealTek themselves could improve the audio output quality via better drivers, too . . . as could probably the user themself using a software-based EQ - I do truly wonder, though, what -if any - reverb/echo/EQ effects are possibly applied to the output stream via this pack (which could create a "false" percieved improvement to audio quality).

Hmmm . . . very interesting! Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Uber Noob

the whole idea is brilliant, i have been trying to do the same thing on my own with my laptop, although it has a stac 9200 chip from idt. I realised all this was possible when i realised the soundcraper upgrade for my laptop that was masqueraded as hardware turned out to be nothing more than some creative marketing. It was nothing more than some dlls running on top of somone elses hardware.

I realised then that lots of chips can handle plenty of dsp theese days and so all they do is virtualize the hardware with the device driver to make all of its functions visible to software then all the magic happens up in user mode.

What i would really like to see is some documentation on what you did and what you learned so we can start fishing and not gettin our fish handed to us. Knowedge is power, enable us and it will be batter for us all. Cause really right now the game is monopolized. And this will bring the power to the people and force the big guys to make good stuff and not sell use "soundcards"
that are nothing morethen some dlls. and a wrapper.

I think that covers everything. I will edit / updat this post as needed.

[Ketxxx]

This post is where you can find all the download links along with any need to know tips and advice.

Install size variations

All Realtek HDA codecs are different in some way, thus your final modded driver install size may vary from mine (60MB), but rest assured the modded driver install size will be bigger than a generic Realtek install and sound quality *WILL be quite significantly better.

* Overall sound quality improvements will be subject to how good your speakers / headphones are.

Install issues

If your having trouble installing the modded driver ensure that;

- Your onboard codec is a Realtek chip and that it is *HDA capable
- Be SURE the Realtek codec is set to work in *HDA in your BIOS
- Disable digital signing in Vista

* HDA = High Definition Audio
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X-Fi MB Software 138MB (recompressed for much smaller DL size) - This is a completely optional extra. It is not required for the better audio people report. This software is the vanilla software downloadable from Gigabytes own website, and thus does not work in Vista.

Realtek XP X-Fi mod R2.21 32/64bit 16MB
Realtek Vista / Win7 X-Fi mod R2.21 32/64bit 15MB

As usual, let me know how it all works for you. RMAA Before and After tests would be fantastic to lay the argument to rest once and for all if these modded drivers improve audio or not.

[Ketxxx]

What? I'm not pissed at all. Mussels has everything working, good for him. No sarcasm in it. Lack of forum smilies made my last post less obvious than it could have been.

[Fitseries3]

geeez. let it die already. it works or it doesnt. none of us really care who made it happen... we just know it wasnt creative.


now....


i can get this to install the drivers on V64 and it now says "X-fi audio device" but it will not let me install the software.

whats the deal with that?

[Scrizz]

thx ketxxx

[Ketxxx]

Well its painfully obvious who WC64Hw. I'm sure the mods already know.

ED - The drivers work fine in Vista, the quotes are from people running a mix of XP and Vista 32/64bit.

[Fitseries3]

so what do i need for v64 exactly?

[Boneface]

I installed the software no problem on vista 64 but when i go to click on it its says trial is over.

[BrooksyX]

So is this limited by the 30 day trial or whatever that it originally had? Also will this allow me to get rid of my sound card? Only reason I am currently using it is for sound in Bioshock. So I guess in other words will this give me sound in bioshock? I sure would like that extra pci space back.

[morpha]

This thread was started because the old one dissolved into that.
please PLEASE refrain from making useless posts that do not bring anything into this discussion.
I WILL be using the report feature of these forums...

[Mussels]

how about i make it nice and simple.

Ketxxx wants a thread for his OWN modded drivers, and his OWN work. he does not want to deal with questions and troubleshooting for daniel_K's drivers.

Anyone who wants to spam threads about daniel_K's drivers, START A NEW THREAD. Kets work fine in XP, DK's work in vista... but they *are* made by two different people, and only one of those people is here to offer help.

[morpha]

LINK to thread for Daniel_K's X-Fi drivers.

[Scrizz]

so the drivers work on XP and Vista.
software works on XP, but YMMV on Vista. Correct?

[Mussels]

Kets drivers work on XP and vista. Software works on kets drivers under XP - NOT under vista.

DK's drivers work WITH the software under vista.

IMO as a vista user, DK's drivers are superior. That doesnt change the fact that ket doesnt need his thread cluttered up with a million posts about DK's driv ers.

[Ketxxx]

Already have. Its amasing how some people are moronic enough to keep trying to spread crap even after I've said I never intended on getting the crapative software working in Vista, I done just the driver and left the crapative software as a optional extra. The crapative software is in no way mandatory for the better audio experience.

[erocker]

Thread has been sanitized. Get rid of your posts in response to people that are now vapor.

[Mussels]

and can you stop calling creative crapative. it sounds retarded.

[Ketxxx]

Originally Posted by erocker

Thread has been sanitized. Get rid of your posts in response to people that are now vapor.

For some reason that made me lol! Funniest thing I read all day

[Fitseries3]

i''ve tried both and neither work.

what now?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Fitseries3

i''ve tried both and neither work.

what now?

make sad faces, its possible your card isnt fully supported.

[Fitseries3]

2 machines that are both on the supported list... i think not.

onboard on both my DFI x58 and maximus formula

[Mussels]

well its all working for me on ALC885

[Ketxxx]

Hey Mussels you haven't done your cleansing yet

[erocker]

Originally Posted by Fitseries3

2 machines that are both on the supported list... i think not.

onboard on both my DFI x58 and maximus formula

Doesn't the DFI use a Bernstein module and the Maximus a Soundmax PCI-E card?

[Fitseries3]

yes but both use a realtek ALC888/889 chip and driver