I came across this front panel that looks slightly different (left) to the usually one (right). Anyone know the story behind it? Recon3D version?

C0deHunter wrote on 2025-12-27, 09:25:

Is Recon3D Fatal1ty Champion, even considered a good contender for X-Fi PCIe?

There are persistent rumours that "Recon" is short for "Reconquista" - Creative's latest attempt to enter the on-board sound market and squeeze out Realtek.
When motherboard manufacturers didn't want to get involved, Creative started producing its own sound cards because it had manufactured a large number of chips.

zuldan wrote on 2025-12-27, 10:35:

I came across this front panel that looks slightly different (left) to the usually one (right). Anyone know the story behind it? Recon3D version?

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The one with the white markings are from a recon 3d. The other, an xfi fatality c. E.

The buttons are labeled differently. The recon has thx trustdio, headphones and speakers. The other has cmss, crystalizer and something else.

They're probably compatible apart from the mislabelling if you use the wrong card, but I'm not sure.

I used a later live drive 2 (or later, not sure which one) with an Audigy 1, (I upgraded the drive for the 2 ZS and X-fi because it's incompatible with the Live/Audigy 1)2 zs and later an x-fi extreme music. All 3 drives had the same io ports and used a differently wired ide cable the same cable with the same pin out. It was an ide cable with non-standard wiring.

shevalier wrote on 2025-12-27, 10:40:

C0deHunter wrote on 2025-12-27, 09:25:

Is Recon3D Fatal1ty Champion, even considered a good contender for X-Fi PCIe?

There are persistent rumours that "Recon" is short for "Reconquista" - Creative's latest attempt to enter the on-board sound market and squeeze out Realtek.
When motherboard manufacturers didn't want to get involved, Creative started producing its own sound cards because it had manufactured a large number of chips.

Maybe, but Creative sells a Realtek based card Audigy FX V1/V2 with software EAX, that is officially supported by Alchemy, unlike the poor old Audigy 5/RX, which has to use the cracked version.

I would say Realtek won that war.

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-27, 10:50:

I used a later live drive 2 (or later, not sure which one) with an Audigy 1, 2 zs and later an x-fi extreme music. All 3 drives had the same io ports and used a differently wired ide cable the same cable with the same pin out. It was an ide cable with non-standard wiring.

There have been some discussions about that on this forum. If I'm remembering it correctly, the pinout for the SBLive and Audigy 1 front panel is the same, so those drives can be used with either card. Likewise, the front panel pinout of the Audigy 2 and the X-Fi (PCI version) is the same.

But you can't put a SBLive front panel on an X-Fi or Audigy 2 card. Nor can an Audigy 2 front panel be hooked up to a SBLive card. Those pinouts are not compatible, despite looking similar physically.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-27, 11:14:

sharangad wrote on 2025-12-27, 10:50:

I used a later live drive 2 (or later, not sure which one) with an Audigy 1, 2 zs and later an x-fi extreme music. All 3 drives had the same io ports and used a differently wired ide cable the same cable with the same pin out. It was an ide cable with non-standard wiring.

There have been some discussions about that on this forum. If I'm remembering it correctly, the pinout for the SBLive and Audigy 1 front panel is the same, so those drives can be used with either card. Likewise, the front panel pinout of the Audigy 2 and the X-Fi (PCI version) is the same.

But you can't put a SBLive front panel on an X-Fi or Audigy 2 card. Nor can an Audigy 2 front panel be hooked up to a SBLive card. Those pinouts are not compatible, despite looking similar physically.

I did manage it OR maybe I upgraded the drive, can't remember. I must've upgraded the drive. I don't have the kit anymore, but I do remember I transitioned from the Live to Audigy 1 and later the Audigy 2 ZS to the X-Fi. I *might've* upgraded the drive.

[EDIT] Yup, just found the receipt. I bought the 2 ZS drive bay from the Creative online store. Sorry for spreading misinformation.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-12-26, 08:15:

As its name implies, OpenAL was originally open source, but then Creative made it proprietary at some point. Basically, it's an […]
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C0deHunter wrote on 2025-12-23, 18:18:

What is the difference between the OpenAL, ALchemy and EAX Unified?

As its name implies, OpenAL was originally open source, but then Creative made it proprietary at some point. Basically, it's an API which delivers 3D positional audio, and provides an alternative to DirectSound3D. From a retro gaming perspective, the main difference is that OpenAL works on Vista and above, while DirectSound3D doesn't. Therefore, games which use OpenAL can utilize hardware accelerated EAX even on newer Windows versions. More info can be found here.

Creative ALchemy is a wrapper which translates DirectSound3D to OpenAL on Vista and up. Without ALchemy, most games which use 3D sound acceleration won't work on Vista because it has no hardware DirectSound3D support (Microsoft deliberately removed it). Same goes for all newer Windows versions. You can read more about that on Creative's ALchemy FAQ page.

EAX Unified is a tool made by Creative, which allows sound cards with EAX 2.0 capabilities to partially utilize EAX 3.0 and EAX 4.0 in games which support it. Not all functionality of the higher EAX versions is retained, but it's better than nothing. During the mid 2000s, most on-board audio solutions (Realtek and such) only supported up to EAX 2.0. For that reason, EAX Unified was useful to developers who wanted their games to work well enough on those systems. Also, some games require EAX Unified to be installed, and won't let you enable 3D audio if it's missing. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is one such example.

Thanks for the explanation, but if Windows XP does not need OpenAL and ALchemy, why are we still required to install them on XP? (per your own Guide: Installing Windows XP drivers on PCIe X-Fi Titanium sound cards (version 1.2)?)

C0deHunter wrote on Yesterday, 11:54:

Thanks for the explanation, but if Windows XP does not need OpenAL and ALchemy, why are we still required to install them on XP? (per your own Guide: Installing Windows XP drivers on PCIe X-Fi Titanium sound cards (version 1.2)?)

You misunderstood what I said. OpenAL works on both WinXP and Vista. It's used by many games from the WinXP era, such as Unreal 2 and Doom 3.

Creative ALchemy is only intended for Vista and up. It's a separate tool entirely, and can't be installed on WinXP. And while ALchemy needs OpenAL in order to function, the opposite isn't true.

Rightmark 3D positioning tests on Audigy RX, Win11. You'll need to disable all processing on your audio device including virtual surround and listen through headphones:
https://youtu.be/kaPNaqFd5y0

Someone with an X-Fi should probably post a comparison because the X-Fi had Sensaura tech for the headphones and sounded a lot better.