Wich PCI sound card .........?

[Redwine]

Hi all....

Please, can you tell wich PCI sound card are you using and if it works fine and with no sound bugs into SH3 ?

I was using an onboard SoundMax from my Asus motherboard, it works fine, no bugs, but it take too much CPU resourses.

Then i decide to back to my old Creative Sound Blaster 1024 Live! Gamer.
It works better because i have more FPS, but has some sound bugs, extremelly anoying sopunds, i was enforced to reduce hardware acelleration and change the default SB Live! Synthesizer by SB Live! SW Synthesizer into the settings.

The mnather is i understand SW means Soft Ware, then it not use sound board hardware acelleration and back to use my CPU resources.

Is there a good sound card to buy, PCI slot wich works fine with SH3, and if posible ready for DX 10 ?

Any help will be welcome....

Thanks in advance. :up:


PD :

This is my card, i found this article on the web, aparently there was many people with problems with this card, due to it was an OEM and Creative DO NOT provide drivers for this card to end users....

Look how the autor tells "Drivers Hell"

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/sblive/live_ct4830.shtml

I have another old one, wich do not use EAX (Enviromental Audio) instead it uses AVx (Aureal Vortex) wich in my opinion is so much better than EAX, but it is so old, only 324 voices.

I need to buy a new one but i need comments about the cards on stores and feedback from users confirming they works properly on SH3 .

Many thanks in advance....

[CWorth]

Well the one I am using is a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamers card and SH3 sounds awsome with it.Hooked up with a 5.1 speaker set and SH3 really comes to life.I personally have never had any problems with it.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=4915

[Redwine]

Well the one I am using is a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamers card and SH3 sounds awsome with it.Hooked up with a 5.1 speaker set and SH3 really comes to life.I personally have never had any problems with it.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=4915


Thanks a lot CWorth, i will take a look on it.

Let me to know... has it a dedicated headphone set connector ?

[DanCanovas]

im using a Creative SB Audigy 4 and it works fine.

[CWorth]

Well the one I am using is a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamers card and SH3 sounds awsome with it.Hooked up with a 5.1 speaker set and SH3 really comes to life.I personally have never had any problems with it.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=4915


Thanks a lot CWorth, i will take a look on it.

Let me to know... has it a dedicated headphone set connector ?

Yes it does

[Redwine]

im using a Creative SB Audigy 4 and it works fine.

Many thanks for you data Dan canovas ! :up:



Yes it does

Why i ask.... my card has not, then i need to set it into 4 speakers and use the rear speekers to plug-in the headphones.

Previously when i was using my onboard SoundMax, there was not problem i link the motherboard conectors to my computer case conectors and i was able to have the headphones pluged-in at any time.

I need only to lower the volume and take the headphones.

I was looking you Audigy 2 ZS, looks fine, and has excellent comments, i was looking the manual graphics..... but i cant see any headphone connector at the board, it has only, if you made the trick to plug-in them into the rear speakers plugs.

But i lose my rear speakers in that way.

Can you teach me about this fact ? :up:

[DanCanovas]

i forgot to add I use very expensive headphones too with that card. you cant beat the atmosphere on expensive headphones!

[Redwine]

Hi CWorth ....

May be the HeadPhone jack is the "Line Out 1 Jack", Point 4 in the following graphic ?

Do you use them, the central/front speakers to plug in the headphones ?

But you need to have the board set at 7.1 then ?

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1849/audigy2zsur1.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=audigy2zsur1.jpg)

[CWorth]

It may not have one..Now that I looked I dont think it has a dedicated jack.I just assumed it did.You may be able to use both though by means of a splitter cable.I had to do that once on my old sound card and it worked like a charm.I will have to find my manual and see where it recommends using the headphones.

I never bothered to look as I use a seperate headphone jack on my speaker control box on my Altec Lansings.So when my headphones get plugged into the box it automatically cuts out my speakers so no sound comes through them.

These are the speakers I use
http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details_VS3151_discontinued.asp

[Redwine]

Beautiful Speakers, i use a combo from Creative.

I cant believe the sound cards builders dont think about to include a dedicated Headphone set jack.... unbeliable really.

I have the headphones working in the described way, i plug them into the rear speakers jack, but i lose my rear spekers set.

Thanks for help....:up:

[spork542]

I use an X-Fi Fatal1ty. Yeah, it's a bit overkill for this game. :-? I recommend an Audigy 4, it can't sound much worse than an X-Fi. If you don't have a stereo speaker system, I recommend getting stereo headphones. If you don't have stereo anything, the upgrade will not likely be very worth it.

[Redwine]

I use an X-Fi Fatal1ty. Yeah, it's a bit overkill for this game. :-? I recommend an Audigy 4, it can't sound much worse than an X-Fi. If you don't have a stereo speaker system, I recommend getting stereo headphones. If you don't have stereo anything, the upgrade will not likely be very worth it.

Many thanks Spork for data about the X-Fi, i will take a look to that card, the matter is i am not an audiophilo, play music and complex things about audio are not my behaviour, then i dont want a complex sound card with lot of Controllers and Drivers taking my CPU resources, any way i seen there is a satandar model of your card, the X-Fi Xtrememusic.
I have a quadraphoninc speaker set installed and an stero headset.

:up:

[Reece]

Hi Red, I have an Asus A7V600 with Soundmax & yes you are correct about it using too much resources, what I did was to run msconfig.exe - goto services - untick "Soundmax Agent sevices" then restart.:D If you have done this but still find it to be using too much resources then get a new card!:rotfl:

[Redwine]

Hi Red, I have an Asus A7V600 with Soundmax & yes you are correct about it using too much resources, what I did was to run msconfig.exe - goto services - untick "Soundmax Agent sevices" then restart.:D If you have done this but still find it to be using too much resources then get a new card!:rotfl:

Many Thanks Reece :up: , well, not exactly, i had disabled all realted with SoundMax but from Start Tab, not in Services, and in that condition, it take too much CPU resources.... look

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4670/soundmaxto4.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soundmaxto4.jpg)

[Reece]

Yes there are a lot of things in services that use resources & they do not apply to a lot of peoples needs such as "Uninteruptable power supply" or "wirless zero configuration", if I need them I will tick them!!:D Some others I have unticked:
Automatic updates.
Both Smart card resources.
I am running ATI card so have unticked:
ATI Hotkey poller.
I will have to download info later on the various resources to see what else I can untick!!;)
Let me know how you go!
Cheers.

[Grrbob25]

The Creative X-fi, is supposed to be really good, but there is suppost to be whining in some cases, but some people dont realize thats them overdriving there speakers. For a great set of speakers, you will hear great reviews about Altec Lansings, and pretty much anything in the Altec line-up thats over 100 bucks, will have superior sound quality to almost anything in a compareable price range, I use a pair of really old Altecs on my Gaming pc, these were seriously the speakers on my first computer (I'm looking to get new ones, but only because these dont match with my pc) and they have outlasted every piece of hardware on my pc and they still sound great, but their being supported by a horrible Turtle Beach Montago Bay 2 sound card, that sounds moderatly good, but is so old nothing supports it :damn:

[bunkerratt]

i run a creative x-fi extreame music...and all i can say is awsome...i run it with 5.1 logitec speakers...with 3 modes it sounds sweet in sh3 ...

[Redwine]

Yes there are a lot of things in services that use resources & they do not apply to a lot of peoples needs such as "Uninteruptable power supply" or "wirless zero configuration", if I need them I will tick them!!:D Some others I have unticked:
Automatic updates.
Both Smart card resources.
I am running ATI card so have unticked:
ATI Hotkey poller.
I will have to download info later on the various resources to see what else I can untick!!;)
Let me know how you go!
Cheers.

Yes... Reece, i always attempt to disable all uneeded process and services.

I use Security task manager, it is great, you can see all process runing and if you dont know wich is each one, you can light up it with the mouse, and click on a button in the prgram, called "Goggle" and you are redirected to a page where is an explanation of the process and comments of meny users.

Then you can kill the process with more security.

I have another one Cprocess, it is similar, but have not the web data button.

Plus i use End It All prior to ruin any simulator.



Thanks Grrbob25 and Bunkerratt for data about the X-Fi Xtrememusic.

[Grrbob25]

just a reminder, if your want the Creative X-fi, dont get one if you have any nforce4 motherboard, as this results in severe errors and many system f**k ups

[Redwine]

just a reminder, if your want the Creative X-fi, dont get one if you have any nforce4 motherboard, as this results in severe errors and many system f**k ups

Many thanks GrrBob, i was in a travel to europe this weekend, sadly i was no able to read you recomendation prior to departure.

I buy a X-Fi, because Audigy series was unavailable at many stores i visited.

I buyed an ExtremeMusic one, luckily, i have not a nForce Chipset !!!

there was another top line cards with their own RAM memory, the Fatality with 64 Mb RAM included, but was much more expensive, and i was not sure if it will be working good in my system, then i decide to buy the ExtremeMusic, the dealer saw me, there will be not too much diference in FPS and tere was lot of diference in money.

I installed it and game works fine even in noisy missions as Biskmark mission, no bugs with the sound quality and hardware acceleration sliders at full :up: , and i have more FPS now.

I will comment any new in behaviour.:up:

[Steeltrap]

I've got a Sound Blaster® X-Fi Platinum with Boston Acoustics digitals and sub-woofer.

[3Jane]

Well the one I am using is a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamers card and SH3 sounds awsome with it.Hooked up with a 5.1 speaker set and SH3 really comes to life.I personally have never had any problems with it.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=4915

Thanks a lot CWorth, i will take a look on it.

Let me to know... has it a dedicated headphone set connector ?

You can use the rear mini-jack (on the card) for headphones, but it's far more convenient with the Audigy 2 front drive bay that I have.

[Redwine]

You can use the rear mini-jack (on the card) for headphones, but it's far more convenient with the Audigy 2 front drive bay that I have.

I note into the options in the card control panel, there is a checkbox for "automatically detect headphones", but i cant discover how it works.

I am making the same as before, i plug the headphones into the 2 rear speakers jack, but it has a problem.

The 3D positional audio is inverted, because it is the rear outlet, normally, when you look at a noisy thing, you have a higer volume than when you have this thing at your back..... but as the headphones are conected to the rear oulet, then a crew spech sound as more volume when it is at my back :rotfl: .

I cant believe the designers and builders dont put a dedicated jack for headphones in a expensive card.

I buyed an "Y" connector plug to put the headphones in parallel with the front speakers, but :damn: , when i do it, i lose my front right speaker, i cant understand....

[Slick Rick]

I have the Audigy 2 ZS sound card also....but I am running just your plain run of the mill creative speakers with sub woofer.....is there that much of a difference when going to a digital speaker?

[stabiz]

I have never had a pci sound card, only use the internal ones. Right now I have a Abit KN8 SLI motherboard. Is there a notisable difference in sound?

[Redwine]

I have the Audigy 2 ZS sound card also....but I am running just your plain run of the mill creative speakers with sub woofer.....is there that much of a difference when going to a digital speaker?

I never used digital conection.... may it is more clear of parasit noises. Some times i pick-up a radio station in the speakers.
May be some bocy can help.



I have never had a pci sound card, only use the internal ones. Right now I have a Abit KN8 SLI motherboard. Is there a notisable difference in sound?

My onboard SoundMax woks fine with no sound bugs, but takes lot of CPU resources, and the 3D positional audio is not noticeable.

With the SB ExtremeMusic, i have no noticeable bugs, more FPS, and the 3D positional auduio is very noticeable.

[stabiz]

Okay, thanks. :up: I have to check this out.

[Slick Rick]

Ok...I am a little confused here....maybe you AV gurus can help me out...I have the Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS gamers sound card...I also have the Klipsch2.1 pro media speakers....2 satellites with sub.....when I try and plug into the digital out jack on the sound card...I get nothing but static...it seems it will only work on the analog jack....I thought these were digital speakers....am I wrong?? Why wont it work out of the digital jack??

[Redwine]

Well, today i experienced the first bug on the Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic.

This bug was reported for another users in the past, i was submerged and i can hear the storm wind sound.

Plus the 3D positional audio is too exagerated, all things at my back has a very very low volume, it is very anoying.

[Slick Rick]

I had that same issue once....I disabled or turned down the acceleration and it was fine after that.....

[Redwine]

I had that same issue once....I disabled or turned down the acceleration and it was fine after that.....

Are you talking about the sound of the storm wind when submergrd ?

Or the 3D positional audio ?

[Slick Rick]

The wind and sea gulls when submerged.....although I am now experiencing the spatial thing ....although I thought it was just normal.....

[CybaGirl]

Im using an AVLabs Audacity AVL300D and SH3 sounds fantastic with my Logitech z680's :). This sound card uses Dolby Digital Live technology which is something the Creative cards dont have.

Dolby Digital Live (DDL) is a real-time encoding technology for interactive media such as video games. It converts any audio signals on a PC or game console into the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital format and transports it via a single S/PDIF cable.

If you want to know what Dolby Digital Live is and find out what you have been missing out on all this time you can read up about it here: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/dolby_live.html

Also Turtle Beach and Auzentech make Dolby Digital Live sound cards to. Im waiting patiently for the new AuzenTech HDA X-Meridian 7.1 to be released and I will be upgrading to this sound card. As this sound card will have it all :).

[Redwine]

Interesting job....

I was having a problem, if i want to have the headphones without to unplug the speakers, i was enforced to use 4.1 channels( or 5.1...or more) to plug in the headphones into the rear speakers out.

But SH3 doesnt works fine in 4.1 or more, it works better in 2.1, so i need to plug and unplug the headphones.

In this web page, the autor discover the pins assignement to connect the headphones directly to the sound board, into the connectors used for the frontal pannel.

may be interesting for some body, the job is for an Audigy card, but i tested it on a X-Fi XtremeMusic and works fine....

http://audigy2zshowto.blogspot.com/

[stabiz]

Well, today i experienced the first bug on the Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic.

This bug was reported for another users in the past, i was submerged and i can hear the storm wind sound.

Plus the 3D positional audio is too exagerated, all things at my back has a very very low volume, it is very anoying.
Redwine, I dont think this has anything to do with your soundcard. It has happened to me too a couple of times, and I suspect it sometimes occur if you minimize the game to check some mail or whatever.

Oh, and I am still using onboard realtek sound.

[Redwine]

Redwine, I dont think this has anything to do with your soundcard. It has happened to me too a couple of times, and I suspect it sometimes occur if you minimize the game to check some mail or whatever.

I dont experienced it any more, may be due to an extensive use of the game testing mods, without rebbot, may be a fragmented memory....

I need to reboot the PC after play 2 or 3 missions if not the game hangs up when load the mission..... i have 3Gb RAM for that, but no way.... SH3 seems to eats my memory.:hmm:

[Steeltrap]

I'm using these speakers:

http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details_intl.asp?pID=MX5021&region=asiapac&country_code=au

....and this card:

SoundBlaster X-Fi Platinum

It sounds great.....also has front connection for headphones.

Both the speaker set AND the soundcard have remotes, which seesm a tad extreme.

As for the problem with the 3D positional thing, I had that too. I went in and checked my sound device setup and changed it and had no further probs. Can't remember what I changed, sorry!

[Potoroo]

just a reminder, if your want the Creative X-fi, dont get one if you have any nforce4 motherboard, as this results in severe errors and many system f**k ups
My XFi-Platinum works just fine on my Nforce4-based ASUS A8N-SLI Premium. The XFi crackling problem is a 1% problem - it affects no more than 1% of users - but it got so much bad press because of Creative's dominance of this market segment. Some motherboard manufacturers who used the Nforce4 chipset made BIOS fixes that sorted the problem after consultation with Creative. Nforce4-based motherboards do seem to figure more heavily among people complaining of popping but since it's the most popular chipset for gamers I don't think that's necessarily surprising. The problem is certainly not exclusive to the NForce4.
but some people dont realize thats them overdriving there speakers.
Well done, that man! One reason I hardly ever go to the Creative forums anymore is the sheer number of idiots trying to drive their cheap and nasty 5.1 speakers with everything turned up to 100% and then blaming Creative for the clipping (distortion) they've induced.
For a great set of speakers, you will hear great reviews about Altec Lansings, and pretty much anything in the Altec line-up thats over 100 bucks, will have superior sound quality to almost anything in a compareable price range
I'll second that. That's exactly the reason I bought my Altec Lansing 630s.
i always attempt to disable all uneeded process and services.

That, my friends, is why I have a dual-core CPU. I never have to disable anything to run SH3 (or any other game).