I'll start things off with a list of games which use EAX that made an impression on me. It is by no means the "ultimate" game collection, just some of my favorites and their use of EAX.

EAX 1.0

The original Baldur's Gate mostly used EAX1 to create echoes in caves and dungeons. The game came out in 1998, shortly after the API was first established, and it had a fairly basic but still interesting implementation. Essentially, all of the voices and combat sounds of your party members would echo appropriately whenever they entered a cave or a dungeon. Simple, but quite effective. I recommend playing this under Win9x using VxD drivers, as WDM drivers seem to lack some of the more intricate EAX effects in this game.

EAX 2.0

When I think of EAX2 the first game that comes to mind is Thief II: The Metal Age. As a stealth game, it made excellent use of positional audio, both over headphones and via surround speakers. It also used EAX2 to convey how loud and echoey your footsteps are, as well as to provide occlusion effects for characters talking behind closed doors and such. You could also lean onto a door to hear the conversation more clearly.

EAX 3.0

My standout showpieces for EAX3 are the first three Splinter Cell games. In particular, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory makes excellent use of this API. For a demonstration, play the very first level of the game, go to the area with a bunch of tents, enter one of them, and then listen to the raindrops falling onto the roof. With a pair of good headphones using EAX and CMSS-3D, it feels like you're actually there.

EAX 4.0

Two games really stand out for me with their use of EAX4. Those are Doom 3 and Thief: Deadly Shadows. Both of these titles use the EAX functionality in interesting ways, and it immensely enhances their atmosphere. For a full blown demonstration, I recommend playing "Robbing the Cradle" level of Thief: Deadly Shadows with headphones on. It's a horror themed level so be wary of jump scares and such. Similarly, just walking around the first level of Doom 3 using surround sound speakers is a great experience.

EAX 5.0

Battlefield 2 with the X-Fi sound renderer at the Ultra High quality preset. That's my go to game for showcasing EAX5. Even while playing single-player with bots, it really shows how much effort was put into the audio design. Being able to locate your opponents by sound alone is extremely helpful in these types of competitive games.

I'm a recent convert, I realized how good EAX actually can be only less than year ago. Back in the day when I turned from console gamer to PC around 2001 I used integrated sound chips on my motherboards and a 2.0 stereo speaker setup, the motherboard I used from late 2002 / early 2003 to around 2008 (some model of Abit NF7) had a nvidia SoundStorm sound chip that supported EAX 2.0. It never impressed me, it either had overboard echo effect and/or just made sounds too distant with a 2.0 stereo setup in a way I didn't like.

So I got it in my head that EAX is gimmicky and useless and went on ignoring it for, sheesh nearly twenty years now that I think about it. Around 2014 I switched from stereo speakers to quality headphones after a revelation just how much better they can sound and then I also started to appreciate virtual surround while still completely ignoring the existence of EAX when I built my first retro PC later.

I settled on the integrated sound card on that system just like I had before, all the way until around last summer when I stumbled on a cheap X-Fi card which I got out of curiosity. After dealing with some annoying compatibility issues with the motherboard it turned out EAX can sound pretty damn great with headphones, 2.0 stereo setup definitely isn't the optimal environment for EAX. Now all my systems have EAX capable sound cards and I keep it enabled almost always, only disabling it if the designers have gone totally overboard with echo effect or something like that.

I think the biggest difference I've personally experienced so far has actually been in Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit which uses just EAX 1.0 I believe, the game sounds really flat and boring without hardware accelerated EAX, turning it on makes a night and day difference as you can suddenly hear the direction and distance of the sounds your opponents make around you, the difference is huge.

Sombrero wrote on 2023-05-10, 04:32:

I'm a recent convert, I realized how good EAX actually can be only less than year ago. Back in the day when I turned from console gamer to PC around 2001 I used integrated sound chips on my motherboards and a 2.0 stereo speaker setup, the motherboard I used from late 2002 / early 2003 to around 2008 (some model of Abit NF7) had a nvidia SoundStorm sound chip that supported EAX 2.0. It never impressed me, it either had overboard echo effect and/or just made sounds too distant with a 2.0 stereo setup in a way I didn't like.

Heh, I was in a similar situation. During the mid 2000s, I used an integrated sound solution (from Realtek) which had up to EAX 2.0 support. I even hooked it up to a set of 5.1 speakers, but was still kinda disappointed with the results. Positional audio was a bit messy and EAX sounded noisy and crunchy in games. Like you, I figured that's all there was to EAX and moved on.

It was only a few years back, when I started (re)building my retro rigs, that I began to appreciate proper EAX support. I think the biggest revelation was when I put an Audigy 2 ZS into my old WinXP rig, which had that on-board Realtek solution, and made a direct comparison between the two. The difference was huge, so I started researching EAX a bit more thoroughly. Eventually, I got myself an X-Fi Titanium, along with a few other Audigy and SBLive cards for my various retro systems.

I think the biggest difference I've personally experienced so far has actually been in Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit which uses just EAX 1.0 I believe, the game sounds really flat and boring without hardware accelerated EAX, turning it on makes a night and day difference as you can suddenly hear the direction and distance of the sounds your opponents make around you, the difference is huge.

Ah yes, that's a good example. If I recall correctly, EAX support in NFS3 works best with VxD drivers, and the game exhibits some audio issues if WDM drivers are used instead. I noticed this type of behavior with a few other games which were made before 2001 or so. For example, Baldur's Gate 2 loses some occlusion effects when WDM drivers are used.

In contrast, games made in 2003 and later seem to expect WDM drivers, and may not work correctly if VxD drivers are installed. Examples include Colin McRae Rally 04 and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. My rule of thumb is, if a game is made before 2001, play it under Win9x. For anything newer than that, use WinXP.

Perhaps I overlooked it, but is there an overview somewhere to see which cards support which versions of EAX?

What I get from Wiki is a rough indication:
EAX 1.0/2.0: Sound Blaster Live! and newer
EAX 3.0: E-mu 10K-based products (Sound Blaster Audigy and newer)
EAX 4.0: Sound Blaster Audigy 2
EAX 5.0: E-mu 20K-based products (Sound Blaster X-Fi)

Scali wrote on 2023-05-10, 09:13:

Perhaps I overlooked it, but is there an overview somewhere to see which cards support which versions of EAX? […]
Show full quote

Perhaps I overlooked it, but is there an overview somewhere to see which cards support which versions of EAX?

What I get from Wiki is a rough indication:
EAX 1.0/2.0: Sound Blaster Live! and newer
EAX 3.0: E-mu 10K-based products (Sound Blaster Audigy and newer)
EAX 4.0: Sound Blaster Audigy 2
EAX 5.0: E-mu 20K-based products (Sound Blaster X-Fi)

That is mostly correct. It should be noted that newer drivers add EAX 4.0 functionality to Audigy 1 cards as well. Additionally, it appears that you need to use WDM drivers on any Audigy card for EAX4 to work correctly. This only impacts Win9x systems of course, where people commonly install VxD drivers for better compatibility with older games.

Lastly, there are also those neutered SE/LS Audigy variants and the infamous X-Fi Xtreme Audio cards. From what I gather, those only support EAX in software, and I'm not sure which versions exactly. In short, avoid those cards.

So I went from a 486 to a P2 400 with onboard AudioPCI
After about a year I got a Live! which means I'd only been playing windows games for about a year.
Need for Speed 3, 4 and Porsche are the games I really noticed the difference as well. I even used a spare set of 2.0 speakers as the rear speakers for those games.

Since then I've primarily used computers with EAX support. In my experience Diablo 2 gets a small improvement, GTA 3, VC, SA makes a big difference.
That's all the EAX supported games I play with any regularity!? Never noticed it was such a short list!

I'll still keep including EAX cards with builds though as even if I don't play that many games its nice to have it for the few that do and everything else benefits from better sound then crappy onboard AC97 of the era

Always being in low budget, I never bothered with improving audio back in the day and even now, all my money went to collecting various voodoo and matrox cards, tualatins, etc and I always wanted to start messing with better audio but never knew where to start and what to aim for.

So as far as speakers and headphones are concerned, how necessary is it to have more than two speaker configuration to take advantage of EAX? And what about headphones? Is a good stereo headphones model enough, or are there any real 5.1 headphones with 3 seperate audio cables for front,rear and center that are needed to take advantage of EAX?

Are there any EAX (or any other audio API) games that really play a sound eg only from the rear right speaker because that's where the enemy approaches you from or have I got it wrong and it only has to do with general audio quality and echos etc?

Johnylyr wrote on 2023-05-10, 13:39:

So as far as speakers and headphones are concerned, how necessary is it to have more than two speaker configuration to take advantage of EAX? And what about headphones? Is a good stereo headphones model enough, or are there any real 5.1 headphones with 3 seperate audio cables for front,rear and center that are needed to take advantage of EAX?

The effects can be 'faked' with just two speakers, but a proper 5.1 setup will be more convincing.

Johnylyr wrote on 2023-05-10, 13:39:

Are there any EAX (or any other audio API) games that really play a sound eg only from the rear right speaker because that's where the enemy approaches you from or have I got it wrong and it only has to do with general audio quality and echos etc?

Positional audio itself is already taken care of by basic DirectSound3D, and will work with any soundcard that supports it (basically anything that supports more than 2 speakers).
EAX is an extension of DS3D, which is mainly for adding effects to the sound (such as echo/reverb), so you simulate more of an 'environment' rather than just positioning audio in 3D (eg sound in a cave sounds different than outdoors, or inside a house).

Johnylyr wrote on 2023-05-10, 13:39:

So as far as speakers and headphones are concerned, how necessary is it to have more than two speaker configuration to take advantage of EAX? And what about headphones? Is a good stereo headphones model enough, or are there any real 5.1 headphones with 3 seperate audio cables for front,rear and center that are needed to take advantage of EAX?

Stereo speakers may be enough, but a good pair of quality headphones is better. That's because positional audio is more accurate over headphones than when using stereo speakers. And you don't need any fancy 5.1 headphones or whatever. Normal stereo headphones will do just fine, as long as they are of decent quality.

Are there any EAX (or any other audio API) games that really play a sound eg only from the rear right speaker because that's where the enemy approaches you from or have I got it wrong and it only has to do with general audio quality and echos etc?

Positional audio is definitively a big part of the EAX experience. How well it's implemented depends on the game of course, but many of them use it quite effectively. To get the full benefit of this, you should turn on CMSS-3D when using headphones. Note that you need a good X-Fi card running under WinXP to get the most out of that configuration.

Surround speakers are a good choice too, if you have enough space to set them up correctly. I most often use a 5.1 speaker setup, and it's really great when you hear someone's footsteps coming from behind you. But you don't really lose anything by going with headphones, as long as you configure your games and sound card correctly.

Scali wrote on 2023-05-10, 14:07:

Positional audio itself is already taken care of by basic DirectSound3D, and will work with any soundcard that supports it (basically anything that supports more than 2 speakers).

Something unique to EAX 5.0 is that it can send sounds to each speaker individually, including the subwoofer. Creative called this "EAX Pure Path".

There's some info about it here. I think this mostly refers to the improved use of the subwoofer, but it might also increase the overall precision of positional audio.

chinny22 wrote on 2023-05-10, 11:45:

Need for Speed 3, 4 and Porsche are the games I really noticed the difference as well. I even used a spare set of 2.0 speakers as the rear speakers for those games.

It really surprised me how well NFS: High Stakes supports surround sound, despite being released in early 1999. There's even a button in the options menu which can test each speaker in a 5.1 setup individually. That's some next level functionality for the time!

Anyway, nice to hear about your experiences with this. I haven't played some of the games that you mentioned (most notably the GTA series) so I'm looking forward to them even more knowing that they make good use of EAX.

Here are a couple of gameplay videos that were recorded with EAX and sometimes also CMSS-3D enabled. The best way to listen to these is to use a pair of regular stereo headphones, so you can properly experience the positional audio.

• F.E.A.R. (EAX 4.0)
• Prey (EAX 5.0)
• Doom 3 (EAX 4.0)
• Battlefield 2142 (EAX 5.0)
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (EAX 2.0)

FYI, these are not my recordings. I just found them on YouTube and thought they might be useful for showcasing EAX to people who haven't had a chance to experience it in person.

It's a pity that modern windows actively rejects eax support.

My Audigy Rx has real EAX support, but I can't enable it in these games because of windows.

I tried alchemy, replacing directx dll, but nothing worked

dontbugster wrote on 2023-05-10, 21:24:

It's a pity that modern windows actively rejects eax support.

My Audigy Rx has real EAX support, but I can't enable it in these games because of windows.

I tried alchemy, replacing directx dll, but nothing worked

Have you tried using DanielK's Audigy driver pack? Some folks have had better luck with those than with official drivers, or so I hear.

That said, I switched to Linux several years back, so I have no personal experience with using EAX on modern Windows versions. But maybe someone else can chime in and provide some additional advice.

All audio positioning and post-effects, such as EAX, are based on frequency response filters and delays.
And well-controlled channel separation.

Therefore
1. Without headphones, this is a profanation.
2. Without natural-sounding headphones, this is a profanation.

PS. A flat frequency response for headphones is considered not linear, but the Harmon curve
Thus, listening to 3D sound from EAX without headphones, at a level lower than the Sennheiser HD5xx series, is absolutely pointless.

shevalier wrote on 2023-05-11, 05:59:

PS. A flat frequency response for headphones is considered not linear, but the Harmon curve
Thus, listening to 3D sound from EAX without headphones, at a level lower than the Sennheiser HD5xx series, is absolutely pointless.

You will get the best results from EAX when using high-end equipment, no argument there. But I respectfully disagree that playing on decent (but non-premium) components is "pointless". You can still enjoy the benefits that EAX brings, even on such a setup, at the expense of some sound clarity of course.

But I'd rather not have this thread devolve into that kind of audio discussion. Most of the people here (myself included) are not audio elitists, and just want to have fun with old games using sound cards that we dreamt of having back in the day.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-05-11, 07:03:

shevalier wrote on 2023-05-11, 05:59:

PS. A flat frequency response for headphones is considered not linear, but the Harmon curve
Thus, listening to 3D sound from EAX without headphones, at a level lower than the Sennheiser HD5xx series, is absolutely pointless.

You will get the best results from EAX when using high-end equipment, no argument there. But I respectfully disagree that playing on decent (but non-premium) components is "pointless". You can still enjoy the benefits that EAX brings, even on such a setup, at the expense of some sound clarity of course.

But I'd rather not have this thread devolve into that kind of audio discussion. Most of the people here (myself included) are not audio elitists, and just want to have fun with old games using sound cards that we dreamt of having back in the day.

All analogies lie, but I'll try.
Discussing 3D sound and EAX without proper headphones is like discussing design while looking at a 640*480 monochrome monitor connected via D-Sub.

Unreal tournament 2004 + x-fi patch (created by Creative itself) in normal headphones allows you to determine the direction in the entire sphere and understand what kind of environment the sound sources have.
Without neutral headphones, top/bottom positioning is impossible. Not to mention closer/further.
And applying EAX effects, such as Occlusion, turns the sound into a mess.
Just like Borderlands - a colorful cartoon. Everything flickers and bangs, fun, but unrealistic.

shevalier wrote on 2023-05-11, 08:18:

All analogies lie, but I'll try.
Discussing 3D sound and EAX without proper headphones is like discussing design while looking at a 640*480 monochrome monitor connected via D-Sub.

Not sure if you're joking or deliberately over exaggerating. Monochrome monitor? Seriously?

Without neutral headphones, top/bottom positioning is impossible. Not to mention closer/further.
And applying EAX effects, such as Occlusion, turns the sound into a mess.

By those high standards, pretty much no one during the mid 2000s could appreciate EAX at all. And that simply wasn't the case. You've made your point about higher quality equipment, and I agree with that. But to say that people who don't have premium gear absolutely cannot find any enjoyment in EAX, is something that I simply cannot agree with.

Late 90's-early 2000's EAX was just fine with good desktop speakers. I know, because I was there and nobody can tell me otherwise. It wasn't until you got to the end of EAX, in the days of Windows XP, that headphones were absolutely necessary, though many were jumping straight into surround sound speaker setups. If you were lucky enough - and I was, for a brief time - to have A3D hardware in the late 90's, you definitely wanted to use headphones for maximum effect.