Need an X-Fi replacement without mode switching

[dderidex]

After years of dealing with the poor support of the X-Fi's mode switching with a multi-user environment (first on Windows XP, then on Windows Vista, and still atrocious support on Windows 7), I'm really just tired of it.

I've seen a lot of new cards coming on the market recently, though, so it has my hopes up.

What I'm looking for would be:

• EAX HD support up to version 4/5
• A pretty good HRTF algorithm. The X-Fi definitely does this very well with its 'CMSS-3d Headphone', and I do game using headphones most the time (don't have surround speakers, anyway).
• No mode switching (or, at least, mode switching that works in a multi-user environment when multiple users who may be administrators, regular users, or 'guest' accounts alternate between who is logged on)
• Front panel audio header support

 

[Worminater]

If your just annoyed with mode switching; why not just set it somewhere everyone will be happy and leave it?

 

[Liver]

OP, whatever works for you. Only you can decide.

My 2 cents. All the modes and CMSS-3D applications are nice, but ultimately a gimmick. I play with headphones 100% of the time.

I just decided to get a budget USB-DAC and headphone amp. Cost was a bit more than a dedicated card, but I can re use it in a future build and I get away from software crappola.

I am not a X-Fi hater, I have been using my Elite Pro for a number of years with great results. It needed to be replaced, and this solution works for me.

Just posting as an alternative.

 

[Gmok Bonecrusha]

OP, whatever works for you. Only you can decide.
My 2 cents. All the modes and CMSS-3D applications are nice, but ultimately a gimmick. I play with headphones 100% of the time.

CMSS-3D I will defend. I have found that paired with headphones, it gives me the best positional audio out there in gaming. Heck, it's the only reason I stick with Creative at this point.

 

[dderidex]

CMSS-3D I will defend. I have found that paired with headphones, it gives me the best positional audio out there in gaming. Heck, it's the only reason I stick with Creative at this point.

That's basically where I'm at.

When I want EAX5 in games with CMSS-3D Headphone, I need to be in 'Game' mode.

But when I want 24/96 audio playback, I need to be in 'Entertainment' or 'Audio Creation' mode ('Game' mode doesn't support it). And this mode switch is just as handy a time to switch between CMSS-3D on (which I want when gaming) and off (which is more appropriate for everything else)...so I leave CMSS-3D enabled in 'game' mode and turned off in the other two.

However, 'Entertainment' and 'Audio Creation' don't support anything over EAX2, so...

 

[spaceman]

Most games do not have eax anymore. The game I play the most is bfbc2 and I just use audio creation mode w/ digital bit perfect playback at 44.1khz 16bit into my receiver. Sound is cleaner than game mode. Of course, I have a somewhat high end stereo. That makes a bit of a difference.

Point is that these days, you may not need to switch modes.

 

[SirMaster]

EAX support ended and creative deprecated it in 2006.

Anything since then either uses an in-house audio engine or OpenAL.

Alchemy allows EAX support for old titles by translating their calls into OpenAL.

 

[dderidex]

EAX support ended and creative deprecated it in 2006.

Anything since then either uses an in-house audio engine or OpenAL.

Alchemy allows EAX support for old titles by translating their calls into OpenAL.

That's kind of the reverse of what is going on.

Basically, EAX was developed by Creative as an API extension to DirectSound, taking advantage of functions they built into their hardware to manipulate sound based on a lotta different things (by EAX 5, it was handling manipulations like sound sources in a room of one type, echoing down a hallway of another type, with obstructions, blending seemlessly with other audio sources equally manipulated).

It's pretty hella awesome when done right (see: Bioshock). But it's just an API extension tapping into their hardware.

As such, EAX works with DirectSound3d, OpenAL, possibly others, same as other API extensions such as Aureal-3d. However, Microsoft famously disabled the ability for DirectSound3d calls to have low-level access to the soundcard hardware, which Creative needs to do its EAX mojo, so Creative started pushing the OpenAL standard as a way to still get EAX function calls able to have low-level hardware access. (Both EAX or A3D would sit on top of DirectSound3d or OpenAL which sits on top of the audio driver which has hardware access. EAX needs direct hardware access, and since Microsoft shut then off with DirectSound in Vista, Creative simply switched their preference over to a DirectSound competitor. Same EAX, same features...just a different middle-man.)

ALchemy, of course, allows older DirectSound-only games to keep having EAX effects by simply translating the original DirectSound calls over to OpenAL calls. Hence, the name. 'AL'chemy. It's still all EAX, though.

 

[ibbeebee]

Another possibility Auzintech X-FI Forte Has all of the X-FI goodness but less hassles.

There hasn't been much progress in computer sound in the last decade.

I'm still using a Boston Acoustics BA7500 5.1 set that Iv'e had for about 8 years.
There not fabulous but there doesn't seem to be anything better being made for the computer now.

my next set up will probably be with headphones for this reason.

Has anyone on here used the Orbs that I seem to see advertised on almost every Computer HiFi Forum these days?