dnewhous wrote:

If EAX is Soundblaster specific, how is it my sound card (not Soundblaster) adds reverb when I activate the EAX switch in a game (Baldur's Gate I and II)?...(more)...

Ah. I stand corrected then. I haven't worked in a PC store in almost two years now, and am a little out of the loop. My current SB Live!, which was the first card (so far as I know) that supported EAX, claimed EAX was a Creative innovation, so that's why I said it.

And in some respects, I was right - because sound card manufacturers who want their cards to support EAX have to license the technology from Creative. And as you said, they therefore may not necessarily get the best implementation of it, as Creative controls the technology and wants their cards to have the advantage.

Whoops. Sorry. 9:00 AM, my brain's still struggling to boot up properly. Of course, sometimes my brain's power supply voltages drift out of tolerance and this happens: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?sci … b;en-us;Q261186

Hehehe.

It's a small world, after all...

Stiletto wrote:

Whoops. Sorry. 9:00 AM, my brain's still struggling to boot up properly. Of course, sometimes my brain's power supply voltages drift out of tolerance and this happens: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?sci … b;en-us;Q261186

Hehehe.

It's a small world, after all...

Lol. 😀 A smal, SMALL world indeed.

BTW, Colin, are you sure it's the hardware that's broken? Sounds like a really crappy driver. Made by Creative as well, of course, but still... There are freeware third-party (non-Creative) drivers by audio enthusiast, for Windows, out on the web (don't know if they cover Audigy). May try to use those. 😁

V.

It is mostly the W2K/XP drivers, which are completely fucked up, but I can't help but think at least some of the problems are hardware-related. (For example, the dual-codec on the front speakers blows and the "24-bit" processing doesn't exist. Period.) I've looked into alternative drivers, but they are really immature and don't provide nearly as many options as the Creative ones do (even if the Creative ones kill the system).

That support question amuses me. A lot. *snicker* :p

My support request to Creative:

Tell Us About the Problem You Are Experiencing
Please tell us about the problem you are experiencing with your product by completing the appropriate information below.

Describe your problem in detail:

Where to start...

Well, let's see. EAX doesn't work. When I try to run CTEAXSPL.EXE, I get "Error loading type library/DLL." [This started about a month ago.] Following suit, only EAX "FX" and "EQ" settings work. ("ENV" doesn't.)
S/PDIF (RCA) input doesn't work. [This has been this way for a long time.]
AC-3 decoding is lagged and stutters, rendering it unusable. [I don't know when this started.]
My surround speakers no longer play, no matter what my settings either in Windows' Sound and Multimedia CPL or the Creative Mixer. [This started after installing Service Pack 3.]

This card really has been nothing but trouble for me. I would really appreciate a prompt response. I don't enjoy making threats, but unless this gets resolved, I'm never buying another Creative card again. Ever.

Have you received any error messages? If so, please enter the exact error message:

Only when running CTEAXSPL.EXE, which was mentioned above, tells me "Error loading type library/DLL."

What steps have you taken to troubleshoot the problem?

Uninstalled and reinstalled drivers from CD. Updated drivers from web. Checked connections. Removed and reseated card in motherboard. Fiddled with settings. Checked all help documents. (They weren't much help at all.)

The two problems may not be related. Plugging "CTEAXSPL.EXE" into Google told me that the application is just a splash screen, which you can certainly disable.

You may also want to try their forums, either here:
(Americas)[url]news://news.creative.com/[/url]
or here
(Europe) http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/forums/ … ome.asp?shct=13

It appears that most problems have fixed themselves upon reinstalling the drivers and restarting (probably the tenth time I've reinstalled them). S/PDIF still doesn't work, AC-3 is still fucked up, but all speakers output audio now and EAX works. *shrug* Go figure.

Just wish now that I could load Fluid3. (It's too big, apparently.)

Only install the creative drivers manually. I have learned this from years of experience with Live? ( 😉 )/Audigy use. The Creative software will KILL your system 7 times out of 10.

Way to bring up old stuff.
Reinstalled Windows. Some problems fixed. I'm happy now. Software is necessary or I can't config stuff, which is annoying. I only installed the AudioHQ stuff, however.

Besides, the installer has an option for "Drivers only". Not what I used, but, you could...

The updated drivers I got that had a REALLY WEIRD way of installing themselves (I don't even want to get into that...) don't fix any problems with Bink. Interstate '82 still dies. But at least AC-3 input/decoding/output is working properly now. (And so is that splash screen. 😀)

Creative hasn't known what they're doing since they shifted to PCI technology. The reason seems to be that all (or most) of their recent "innovations" are the result of buying other companies (like Ensoniq). I've owned a PCI128 and Live and have been disappointed with the shoddy drivers and support software, and I hear the Audigy is just as bad. Creative is slow to release new drivers for their hardware as well, and they aren't responsive to customer complaints, whether via email or newsgroups. They've also been known to point the finger too readily at motherboard/chipset manufacturers (such as VIA) instead of admitting the possibility that their own hardware or drivers may be a source of problems.

In short, they're riding on their name and it's not going to last long (I hope). I personally plan to try other brands when I get around to building a new system (maybe Hercules or Turtle Beach?). EAX support is becoming less popular in games, and most other companies have some kind of EAX support in their cards anyways, so the only thing I'd miss really is SoundFont support for MIDI.

I'd better stop ranting and rambilng now 🤣

Last I checked Soundfont was a standard -- at least the DLS (DownLoadable Soundfont) is. I can't imagine other card manufacturers not having the ability to use other soundfonts. For example, the crappy ESS Maestro-2E on this computer allows me to select between a 2MB and 4MB soundfont for the wavetable MIDI (although it does not allow me to specify a specific file). In any case it'll only be a matter of time before someone documents the Soundfont specifications well enough to create a chip with identical function. However, from what I've read, it seems that Creative *finally* got it right with their Audigy 2.

Snover wrote:

Last I checked Soundfont was a standard -- at least the DLS (DownLoadable Soundfont) is. I can't imagine other card manufacturers not having the ability to use other soundfonts.

Maybe - I don't know much about the history of soundfonts, although I thought they were a proprietary thing invented by E-mu. When I'm ready to buy another card I'll definitely look for Soundfont support as a feature.

For example, the crappy ESS Maestro-2E on this computer allows me to select between a 2MB and 4MB soundfont for the wavetable MIDI (although it does not allow me to specify a specific file).

You're sure it's a soundfont and not an Ensoniq sound bank? I remember my SB PCI128 used Ensoniq sound banks, which were in no way compatable with soundfonts (although they were similar).

However, from what I've read, it seems that Creative *finally* got it right with their Audigy 2.

After what I've seen and been through, I'm not willing to take the chance again. Even if the hardware and driver support is halfway decent, their customer support and relations probably still stink.

Could be Ensoniq. Dunno. In any case I DO know that DLS will work with everything and its mother.