Ketxxx
Heedless Psychic
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Messages
- 11,521 (1.64/day)
- Location
- Kingdom of gods
| System Name | Ravens Talon |
|---|---|
| Processor | AMD R7 3700X @ 4.4GHz 1.3v |
| Motherboard | MSI X570 Tomahawk |
| Cooling | Modded 240mm Coolermaster Liquidmaster |
| Memory | 2x16GB Klevv BoltX 3600MHz & custom timings |
| Video Card(s) | Powercolor 6800XT Red Devil |
| Storage | 250GB Asgard SSD, 1TB Integral SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda |
| Display(s) | 27" BenQ Mobiuz |
| Case | NZXT Phantom 530 |
| Audio Device(s) | Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-E |
| Power Supply | 1000w Supernova |
| Software | Windows 10 x64 |
| Benchmark Scores | Fast. I don't need epeen. |
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.
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.
I think that covers everything. I will edit / updat this post as needed.
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.
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!
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.
imperialreign said:..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!
Uber Noob said:
I think that covers everything. I will edit / updat this post as needed.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
For some reason that made me lol! Funniest thing I read all day 