Switched to integrated VIA VT2020 - any good X-Fi MB alternative?

S

stop!theradio

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 13, 2007
Messages
3,523
So I've used my X-Fi Platinum (PCI version) with front I/O bay for the last 2 years, and I've just gotten sick of the random driver issues and such as well as the ever so slight input lag when recording the line in/mic connections. My motherboard is an ASRock 890gx and it has a VIA VT2020 vinyl HD audio bla bla bla integrated chip, which I switched to today. Good drivers so far and no input lag.

The only thing I miss is the clearly better audio quality in games when using the X-Fi card. I had the creative software set to my liking with the crystalizer turned on to 25% and eax/3D surround stuff enabled and I loved how immersive games sounded. I'm using headphones, btw (JVC HA-RX900). Anyways, my motherboard software disc came with some Creative X-Fi MB software which basically adds EAX, Crystalizer and other X-Fi features that the integrated audio can take advantage of - and sure enough, it works well, and definitely improves gaming audio quality. The only issue, though, is that it's 30 day trial software and a license costs $25. There's no way in hell I'm paying that. I already paid the money for the Dolby Digital Live functionality for the X-Fi Platinum card and if their product support didn't suck then I'd still be using the X-Fi hardware that I paid for.

Obviously I'm not looking for an activation key for the X-Fi MB software (unless anyone has an unused license and feels like making a donation! :p ) My question is this: is there any good software or modded drivers out there that any of you know about that can mimic the features of Creative software? I'm thinking there's GOTTA be some kind of open-source solution that can make my games sound immersive again. Help is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
What effects are you looking for? You shouldn't need eax for gaming anymore, it's pretty much obsolete.
 
I think he meant the CMSS-3D feature, not EAX exactly. I'm looking for an eventual replacement on mine, and the CMSS-3D upmixing, Crystalizer, and the SVM function (smart volume (normalizing)) are the three things I'm look for in any replacement.

Between my speaker set and the X-Fi itself, I'm quite pleased with the combination. My only problem is Creative's driver support.
 
Yeah I'm looking for a CMSS-3D sort of function as well as the a Crystalizer-type of feature that can work with onboard audio. The X-Fi MB software does it but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay another $25 for that. For now I've just stuck with having the both the X-Fi and onboard audio active with the X-Fi set as default for gaming and just switch to the onboard stuff when I need to record. It's alright for now I guess, but I'd like to know - for future reference - if anyone has any ideas about what I'm looking for.
 
I guess you're in my boat, where you've gotten so used to the minor perks of the card that all you can look forward to is the upcoming Recon3D. Maybe Creative will write better drivers this time, since Win7 is so firmly entrenched, as well as x64 versions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top