I have XP+Creative X-Fi and tested Splinter Cell PT + EAX. There is no difference from what i've heard.

daniel_u wrote:

I have XP+Creative X-Fi and tested Splinter Cell PT + EAX. There is no difference from what i've heard.

Thing is that, I'm sure your hearing can be as sharp as a bat and your memory as longstanding as a elephant (or was it turtles?), but no human could remember all the "shades" of sound.

This is why the only viable way to ensure of this I saw was recording both audio outputs (in raw PCM) and comparing their "waves".

ABX testing is what you should do to get meaningful statistics of what the difference is.

ZellSF wrote:

ABX testing is what you should do to get meaningful statistics of what the difference is.

But that's exactly what I wanted to avoid. I mean, I was looking for an objective comparison, it won't be a double blind test that will rule out differences between original good old times with XP and X-Fis and these with Windows 7/8 and ALchemy.

Well, a data comparison might be objective in telling you if there is a difference... but it won't tell you if the difference matters in any way.

If you do a data comparison and you find the output of the test setups to be different, it might mean three things:

1: The sound quality of the modern computer running ALchemy is better.
2: The sound quality of the old computer running EAX natively is better.
3: The sound quality of both setups is identical.

I think finding out which of those three is true is more interesting than just knowing if there is a difference.

ZellSF wrote:

Well, a data comparison might be objective in telling you if there is a difference... but it won't tell you if the difference ma […]
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Well, a data comparison might be objective in telling you if there is a difference... but it won't tell you if the difference matters in any way.

If you do a data comparison and you find the output of the test setups to be different, it might mean three things:

1: The sound quality of the modern computer running ALchemy is better.
2: The sound quality of the old computer running EAX natively is better.
3: The sound quality of both setups is identical.

I think finding out which of those three is true is more interesting than just knowing if there is a difference.

Of course.
But if you just trust your hears, you'll never be sure whether you couldn't have miss something.

With a so strict comparison instead, you can spot the points where the difference is actual. And with some repetitive listenings you might be able to tell whether that is an improvement, a worsening or just an inaudible thing.

mirh wrote:

daniel_u wrote:

I have XP+Creative X-Fi and tested Splinter Cell PT + EAX. There is no difference from what i've heard.

Thing is that, I'm sure your hearing can be as sharp as a bat and your memory as longstanding as a elephant (or was it turtles?), but no human could remember all the "shades" of sound.

This is why the only viable way to ensure of this I saw was recording both audio outputs (in raw PCM) and comparing their "waves".

What i meant is that i tested, the same game, in Win XP and Win 7, and i didnt saw/hear differences.
This is a raw comparison. 😀 Well...you know, i may have some hearing problems.😀)

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