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How much of a difference?

E

ElektronikSeraph

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
1,663
How much of a difference does EAX make in gaming?

Presently I'm running a Chaintech AV710, and I love it for music, but I'm getting back into FPS gaming and I'm considering an X-Fi for the EAX/headphone surround features.

So I wonder. How nice are the surround features? How much do they add to the gameplay in terms of immersion and in terms of being a performance aide? And will I be losing any stereo audio quality coming from my Chaintech AV710?

Performance really isn't an issue for me. My system is powerful enough, and I'm leniant enough, that I can't justify more than the Xtreme Music edition in order to gain a few frames per second.

Presently I have Monsoon PlanarMedia 2.1 speakers, and my main headphones are Grado SR60s for music and HD-280 Pros for gaming, which run through a MisterX MINT amplifier.
 
EAX actually does add some cool environment sound effects. In games like UT2004, the EAX effects are nice. If im in a long metal tube, it will add an echo effect, if I have a water fall to my side, it will sound like its spread out, instead of a point source of sound.

I recommend the upgrade

~Hope this helps
 
EAX is good but I wouldn't spend a lot of money just to get it. The reverbs and such can add atmosphere and give audio more depth but it isn't the be all end all.

Also EAX does not mean positional audio. This is becoming less of a misconception as time goes on but I still from time to time find people that use EAX and positional audio interchangably. Only in cases where Creative cuts some kind of ridiculous deal with a game publisher do you need EAX for directional audio.

Most people aren't even aware some games don't support EAX, I had a friend who got an Audigy 2 back in early 2005 tell me how much better Half-Life 2 is with "EAX Advanced". Half-Life 2 doesn't even support EAX. Hence neither does Counter-Strike : Source so you get no benefit other than maybe a clearly signal over onboard audio.
 
Svperstar said:
EAX is good but I wouldn't spend a lot of money just to get it. The reverbs and such can add atmosphere and give audio more depth but it isn't the be all end all.

Also EAX does not mean positional audio. This is becoming less of a misconception as time goes on but I still from time to time find people that use EAX and positional audio interchangably. Only in cases where Creative cuts some kind of ridiculous deal with a game publisher do you need EAX for directional audio.

Most people aren't even aware some games don't support EAX, I had a friend who got an Audigy 2 back in early 2005 tell me how much better Half-Life 2 is with "EAX Advanced". Half-Life 2 doesn't even support EAX. Hence neither does Counter-Strike : Source so you get no benefit other than maybe a clearly signal over onboard audio.
Click to expand...

I am aware that EAX is just environmental audio effects - occlusion, room reverberations/acoustics, etc. - the surround references I made were primarily referring to the software headphone surround nonsense that's in the X-Fi drivers.
 
Anyone else have any feedback on this? Are the game features and headphone surround support worth the money for an X-Fi?
 
For the game sound, not enough to dump a lot of money at.

The headphone surround sound is good. I believe it is worth it. There were times in Q4 that I switched to headphone mode vs 5.1 so I could better figure out were things were coming from. I also watch my DVDs with headphones on a lot.

A note on headphones, have a decent pair of cans. Otherwise you may be disappointed.
 
Get a Audigy 2 ZS (can be had for 40$) and see if you like EAX. Then see if you really want an X-fi
 
rcf1987 said:
Get a Audigy 2 ZS (can be had for 40$) and see if you like EAX. Then see if you really want an X-fi
Click to expand...

1. An Audigy 2 ZS would be a significant drop in stereo audio quality from my Chaintech AV710.

2. It doesn't have the virtual headphone surround support.

3. If I spend $40 on that, and then decide I want an X-Fi, I'll have spent $40 more than I should have.
 
I use a stereo system for my computer and CMSS Virtual creates a very convincing surround experience in all games that support any kind of 3d sound, so I think it's worth getting a X-fi Music card. Just make sure that you have placed the speakers optimally (distance between speakers should be the same as their distance from you).
 
rcf1987 said:
Get a Audigy 2 ZS (can be had for 40$) and see if you like EAX. Then see if you really want an X-fi
Click to expand...

I looked up the Audigy 2 ZS on Newegg and all I could find is a laptop sound card and that was 90$.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178.... i just bought this sound card a week ago.... im sure they will have more soon... i love it... made a massive difference in sound quality overall over onboard no cracklin and just crisp clear sound.... and i gained 3 FPS performance gain on games with no SMP support.. lol.. not much but hey its a plus... :) i just dont like creative's support especially in drivers.. dont loose the CD!!!
 
I don't think buying an Audigy 2 ZS just to test is a very good idea, since the X-fi does everything a notch better. The virtual surround with the Audigy series doesn't stand a chance to what the X-fi cards offer.
 
ElektronikSeraph said:
1. An Audigy 2 ZS would be a significant drop in stereo audio quality from my Chaintech AV710.
Click to expand...

1. You could always run two soundcards if you have the room for it. Audigy 2 ZS for games and the Chaintech for music.
 
synergyo1 said:
1. You could always run two soundcards if you have the room for it. Audigy 2 ZS for games and the Chaintech for music.
Click to expand...

This is true, yes. But if the Audigy 2 ZS is ~$75 (according to that newegg link), and the base X-Fi can be had for ~$100, I'd rather just spend the extra for better quality and skip the dual soundcards.

I'm really looking for more feedback on the headphone surround quality and functionality, as I do the majority of my gaming with headphones on (and some with 2.1 speakers).
 
I'm curious too, as I'm about to buy an Audigy 2 ZS that'll go with my Sennheiser PC160's.
 
i dunno guys... i went form onboard audio and an audigy 2 ZS is like cadilac compared to a nissan... i mean really it eliminates hissing and crackling.. and overall boosted ever bit of my sound quality on my homemade makeshift 3.1 surround..
 
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