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X-Fi Headphone - activating surround?

D

Dario D.

Gawd
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
582
Anyone know how you're supposed to activate the X-Fi's headphone surround feature (for stereo headphones)?

I just got some new headphones, booted up some games, and realized that none of them have that fake surround effect enabled, even when I set the sound driver to "Headphones" mode, and turn on Hardware Sound + EAX in all the games. (it works when I test it in the audio control panel, but not in games)

I tried UT2004, Quake Live, and Battlefield 2 (which recognizes X-Fi specifically)...
 
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Thanks for the link.

Man, I wonder how the average user figures this stuff out.

Update: blarg, it's still only working in the audio control panel.
 
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Dario D. said:
Thanks for the link.

Man, I wonder how the average user figures this stuff out.
Click to expand...

they dont. i've seen a thousand posts of how the x-fi suround doesnt work or eax doesnt happen,etc,etc
non pc-savvy peeps can get shafted when the options get too complicated
 
Dario D. said:
Update: blarg, it's still only working in the audio control panel.
Click to expand...

There are still odd things that happen from time to time.. If I have 2 speakers chosen in Entertainment mode and then change to Game mode and launch TF2 the game thinks I have 2.1 speakers.. so it needs to be changed every time I play. It's probably best to just leave it in gaming mode and select 5.1 in the Windows panel.

Generally this method should work though.. selecting 5.1 in Windows and "CMSS-3d headphone" in the Creative/Auzen gaming panel. Some older games may need Alchemy to work properly and that as well can be a bit of a gamble.
 
Just tried it with cod4 (set to 5.1 ingame) and the positioning is excellent. But it sounds slightly muffled compared to the regular 2 channel audio. I remember doing this a long time ago with source games, and I preferred the headphone audio setting to 5.1 + CMSS-3D.
I think I prefer a good hrtf to creative's solution.

I also think it could use some work in movies too, because I really enjoy watching with dolby headphone. Using CMSS-3D kinda kills the immersion.... :(
 
proooooof said:
Just tried it with cod4 (set to 5.1 ingame) and the positioning is excellent. But it sounds slightly muffled compared to the regular 2 channel audio. I remember doing this a long time ago with source games, and I preferred the headphone audio setting to 5.1 + CMSS-3D.
I think I prefer a good hrtf to creative's solution.

I also think it could use some work in movies too, because I really enjoy watching with dolby headphone. Using CMSS-3D kinda kills the immersion.... :(
Click to expand...

creative labs has a great hrtf. arguably the best. try a game that uses the x-fi's features like ut3 of bf2142. source games and cod4 dont have 3d sound. they have surround multichannel sound. cmss-3d = dolby headphone. they do the same thing and sound identical. they take surround sound and convert it to 3d sound.

and all 3d sound solutions mess with the sound. muffled sound, borked bass, lousy treble. all can happen. i find the latest x-fi drivers mess with the bass more than the old driver i was using
 
i actually combined the old and new drivers in an amateurish way and got the bass back when 3d sound is activated
 
My real question is... To those of you that switch from headphones to a 2.1/2.0 speaker setup or from headphones to a 5.1 speaker setup even, do you go in and manually change these settings whenever you're done gaming and you're gonna listen to music, etc.? 'Cuz I know CMSS-3D would just make music sound like crap no? And you'd have to change that plus the speaker config in the Creative panel and/or the Windows pane as well? Ugh... Isn't there a way to streamline the process?

Edit: Unless you're using the front-panel connection and it's auto-sensing and switching 'least the Creative panel to headphones on it's own, but still, you're still left w/the Windows speaker setting and CMSS-3D to switch constantly... Why didn't Creative implement some sorta Profiles app? It'd make it so much easier to compare settings on the fly too (provided you could switch profiles with a hotkey or something). I guess I'm forgetting who we're talking about here.
 
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Yes, when gaming (or doing sound-related work), I often have to go in to the Audio Console, and change the speaker-mode back and forth from 5.1 to Headphones. (my speakers are Logitech X-530's, so the headphones can go into a slot on the front-right speaker. There's NO way I'm crawling under my desk twice a day to battle with wires every time I want to use headphones... I don't have the front connector-panel either. Only the rich are good enough for that kind of convenience)

I never turn off CMSS3D though... it sounds great for music (in 5.1 - haven't tried it with headphones), because it turns stereo music into 5.1 surround (by sending certain sounds to certain speakers).
 
Dario D. said:
Yes, when gaming (or doing sound-related work), I often have to go in to the Audio Console, and change the speaker-mode back and forth from 5.1 to Headphones. (my speakers are Logitech X-530's, so the headphones can go into a slot on the front-right speaker. There's NO way I'm crawling under my desk twice a day to battle with wires every time I want to use headphones... I don't have the front connector-panel either. Only the rich are good enough for that kind of convenience)

I never turn off CMSS3D though... it sounds great for music (in 5.1 - haven't tried it with headphones), because it turns stereo music into 5.1 surround (by sending certain sounds to certain speakers).
Click to expand...

I've run extensions from the rear of my Forte to my desktop area for headphones and it looks like I'll have to switch the console back and forth because detection doesn't work on the rear jack (really, really lame IMO)....

For processing music, I prefer DTS:Neo to CMSS3D if I feel the need to do something with music. I've always felt it more natural. My Audigy2ZS could only do it if using Creative's MediaSource player (perhaps it was in software) and I haven't really evaluated how good a job the Forte does.
 
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