Compatibility notes - audigy card

[screetch]

It seems people are getting lots of problems with audigy2 cards, due to driver bugs. The following steps may solve your problems :

* You might have to set the Sound Hardware acceleration to low (using dxdiag.exe, the sound tab, set the sound hardware acceleration to the lowest level).

* If you play the game with 3D sound try to use stereo sound instead.

[Mister-X]

Hi,

i've got still problems with the sound. Background-music is fine. Sound while movies is fine, too. But in game the sound of the activated soldates is "flickering". (If i order them to go to a positon or something like that, so that they give me an answer)

My hardware: GB-7NNXP with AMD 2400+, 768 MB RAM, Asus Radeon 9600 SE, SB live 5.1 digital. All this with Win XP Prof. + SP2. AoW is NOT patched.

I hope my english is good enough.

Regards, Mister-X

/edit: Problem is gone. I changed from 2 speakers to 5.1 in creatives surround mixer. That was all.

[sdack]

Please help!

Many mainboards now come with 6 channel audio these days and even most people don't really need it, the boards even come with their own codec chips and with special support for these coming from the chipset. I.e. I have a nForce2 board with a Realtek 655 chip on it and can either choose a driver from nVidia or Realtek for it.
Since I only connect 2 speakers to my system, I wonder why people still go for sound cards. The most common argument is performance.

Why is this so important? People tell me their system runs faster, i.e. games give several FPS more when a soundcard like the Audigy ZS 2 is installed. This appears to be independent from their speaker configuration.

And I also hear, just like the sticky tells us, that hardware acceleration should be turned down.

Some say the sound gets better ... Is this the old argument which centers around the fact that some sound solutions simply filter too much of the analog signal? Or is it a matter of todays digital signal processing algorithms?

It does not give any sense to me! I'm lacking alot of details here and if anyone knows them, I would be a lot happier!

Sven

[Kiev_Axe]

i have a sb live 5.1
Im running 4.1 sound (ie 4 sat speakers and a subwoofer).

It wouldnt be the same on an onbaord sound card. I wouldnt be able to use EAX and simlar features, which do present a sgnificant increase in quality and atmosphere, as well as taking a load of your system to render sound.

[Ubatz]

I also bought a new sound card, it was last year before X-Mas. Of course, I chose the Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS, Creative simply dominates this business with their sound cards and it was the best around these days with 85 €; yes, I live in Europe.

I don't experience problems with my sound in Act of War (also after patching); no, it's completely the opposite: the sound is comming fluently out of my 5.1 System whereas the graphics sometimes/often (at very high details) make problems by lagging at specific ingame scenes.

Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS :tup:

And I wonder why guys have problems with this card in Act of War :weirdblue


@sdack
You've already listed the most things:
- much more performance, CPU doesn't have to take over the work of audio (the sound card's own APU (audio processing unit) is working for that now)
- better sound comparing them to OnBoard-Sound (for sound-enthusiasts like me it's generally "better" especially listening to my deep-bassed music it is fun :coolred: )

Well, like Kiev_Axe already said, the BIG difference in having a good sound card or an OnBoard card comes to light when you play games designed for EAX (i.e. Splinter Cell, Thief - Deadly Shadows). You'll get crazy if you hear clear, realistic and shoking sound like in this games.

My reason for buying a seperate sound card? None of them listed above: My Operation Flashpoint just locked up everytime with a bluescreen saying that the OnBoard sound card (yes, I had also had one) drivers would be the problem. That's why I bought this sound card (Sorry, I'm so happy :bounce: ).

[sdack]

@sdack
You've already listed the most things:
- much more performance, CPU doesn't have to take over the work of audio (the sound card's own APU (audio processing unit) is working for that now)
- better sound comparing them to OnBoard-Sound (for sound-enthusiasts like me it's generally "better" especially listening to my deep-bassed music it is fun :coolred: )

Okay okay. I will put one on my wish list. Even though I only have two small desktop speakers ...

Sven

[Ubatz]

Well, there has to be a proper speaker system, too, at least 4.1 but 7.1 is of course the best bet.

... or you might not get into this sound feeling with your desktop stereo speakers. :o:

[sdack]

Well, there has to be a proper speaker system, too, at least 4.1 but 7.1 is of course the best bet.

... or you might not get into this sound feeling with your desktop stereo speakers. :o:
I cannot afford more than two speakers. My room is not big enough for that. I thought that with a card like that I could get better stereo sound. Usually when you change a sound setting to stereo you really just get left and right (no phase shifting or perhaps doppler shifts). With a sound card like that you should get much better stereo sound but with a CPU load that is proportional to what you get (opposed to a hugh load with a minimal improvement). I can run EAX 2.0 with my on-board sound but never can tell any difference to a plain stereo setting. The only time I can see a difference is with 3DMark when it tests 24 channels versus no sound. That usually costs 20-30% in FPS. Can you tell what 3DMark03 produces, when one uses an audigy card? I really do not know if I would gain anything from such a sound card. More facts would help me in what I should be wishing for.

Sven

[Ubatz]

I can run EAX 2.0 with my on-board sound but never can tell any difference to a plain stereo setting.

:rolleyes:

Let me tell you first, EAX on on-board sound cards is often software emulated, meaning non-hardware and also a decrease of performance.

Well, I can't give you facts, why ? It's clear that there's a speed gain if you have a proper sound card like Audigy compared to a CPU which has to calculate the audio information given from the running program. Even if the estimated speed gains are little, there are some.

Look, it's completely the same like on-board graphic cards: They also need the CPU to work out the graphic details for example for a game like Act of War and this slows down the machine even more than comparing it to "CPU > on-board sound".

You don't need a sound system, I gave you a tip. Besides, they aren't expensive like the sound cards ... well, you don't have to buy a studio sound system immediately. :D

[sdack]

You don't need a sound system, I gave you a tip. Besides, they aren't expensive like the sound cards ... well, you don't have to buy a studio sound system immediately. :D
Since you do not have any more facts, I'll leave it on my wish list. IMHO, when you enable EAX 2.0 but with only 2 speakers, some drivers simply stay with plain stereo. That is how it appears to me. I do not see any drop in performance nor do I hear better sound. Only someone who knows the difference could really tell.

Sven

[Ubatz]

IMHO, when you enable EAX 2.0 but with only 2 speakers, some drivers simply stay with plain stereo.
Well, I think it is also possible to hear clear EAX sound with two plain stereo speakers but if you can't hear, I don't know what to do.

By the way, what is EAX? EAX is simply a process which uses several audio schemes, often from the background (for example you stand in a forest), and calculates them in that way that the result is a realistic sound which is being reflected from almost every building or object (often used in tunnels, big halls, rooms etc.).
Not only from the background but also from your actions in the fore, for example if you shot a gun it might also be reflected by the walls in a room.

EAX keeps getting better, Creative is working on patches or even new EAX versions. To me, I must say here, sound is almost more important than graphics of a game. With sound you can better be a part of it.

Two desktop speakers are also able to play EAX but not around you, since you've got no sound system. Of course the best is my beloved subwoofer, to the others I would say they are sub-speakers (y'understand? :) )

I do not see any drop in performance nor do I hear better sound. Only someone who knows the difference could really tell.

On games which push your PC to the limit the difference could be gigantic comparing on-board sound with seperate (and powerful) sound card. Especially games which use the latest sound process EAX, the sound card with hardware support is superior in rendering the data to the software-emulated on-board sound card.

You don't hear any difference? Then you didn't experience the matter like I did, so I'm gonna tell you a story:
I continuously used an on-board sound card in my PC whole 8 months, played a lot of games, listened to a lot of music. At first, it was just amazing to listen to the sound coming around you, surrounding you, and of course the bass which makes songs and explosions more intensive.

Then you start looking at the negative aspects: Often the PC is not responding, locking up, you wonder why your new PC is having problems. Bluescreens tell you the problem is the on-board sound card driver so you decide upgrading your files ... but the problem keeps existing no matter if you install a new driver or an older driver. You're getting crazy, your favorite game isn't running properly (in my case: Operation Flashpoint) and then you tell your problem customer support, straight to the manufacturer of the sound card. BUT they didn't respont ! Althought I've described my problem very exactly so to hell with them, i tell ya. :madred:

"There must be a solution", i thought. A new sound card, a proper sound card of course, a better one must be in my system. So I've decided to buy from the dominating manufacturer Creative, the expensiveness of this card was worth it.

First time playing with my Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS, my Operation Flashpoint runs properly, and EVEN more:
- Great better sound, the bass-sound is also surrounding you instead of coming only from one direction like it did with my on-board sound card.
- Much more audio pipelines (also a very important aspect), especially in Mafia you could hear every audio source while you're in a shoot-out or on the street walking beside talking people looking at passing cars with excellent car sound. That wasn't possible with my on-board sound at all.
- More performance ... well, you don't believe me I think but I've to say it again that there WAS a speed gain in most of the games.
Besides, I started playing EAX games and these only work properly with good sound cards. Software-emulated on-board sound is having problems in that case, with both the performance and the EAX emulation.

Listening to music it's also very nice. The driver menu of the sound card is supporting much more settings like acoustic or a better DVD audio and more, much more, I tell ya.
Well, the only thing I don't try so far is working, modifying and making music on the PC but of course the sound card is also made for that kind of project. For pro-music cutting, mixing and modifying you'll need the more expensive sound cards (they are ending with Pro, Platinum and similar) with an own sound box in place of your CD/DVD-ROM-drive.

Well, I notice I'm listening like a Creative guy trying to convince you buying this product but that isn't the thing I want. :rolleyes:
Well, let's end my essay ... There ARE differences especially when listening to their qualities of both the on-board and the sound card. I noticed them very strongly.
It's up to you, buy a new sound card if you really set store by sound like I do. Or save your money for a new graphic card, or for new RAM. It's all your decision ...

If you've got question, tell them ! :tup: