Some questions about setting up X-Fi

Okay, was playing around with mine this weekend and noticed in WinDVD that is I chose spdif and let the X-FI decode instead of Windvd the volume is a bit lower when I play via 5.1 speakers, Otherwise sounds great so was wondering what other's think the best choice for DVD playback.

Also is there someplace a guide for configureing games like HL2 and D3 to get the most out them soundwise using CL features?

D3 is easy. Install the 1.3 patch (off the X-Fi disc or downloaded - they are the same). Enable EAX 4.0 in the game config. Switch the X-Fi to "Game mode". Obviously, set the Creative speaker settings to correspond to whatever you are using; the in-game stereo/surround setting for D3 is meaningless IF you have EAX 4.0 enabled. You can adjust the level of EAX effects with the slider. If you are using headphones or 2 or 4 speakers, you should turn on CMSS3D, and you'll also have the option of turning on MacroFX and "Elevation Filter". You probably wan't "Elevation Filter" on, and probably MacroFX as well, although you can experiment with it on and off.

HL2 is more complicated. What you should do depends on your speaker setup. What kinds of speakers do you use? Do you ever use headphones?

Opps sorry forgot to say. Have an okay 5.1 analog set by Altec. I do also use headphones

Dolby is Dolby, DTS is DTS. It dosent matter if your soundcard does the decoding or if WinDVD does the decoding, it will sound exactly the same assuming it's being decoded properly.. it's a standard see. Use whatever is louder.

Regards,
Mike

Ok.

First back to Doom 3, I left something out. If you have 5.1 speakers, you may want to experiment with 4.1 as well. The reason is that the X-Fi only does CMSS3D virtual 3D spatialization on headphones, 2 speakers, or 4 speakers. On 5.1 or more speakers it just does straight panning. Assuming you have your speakers positioned and calibrated correctly, and assuming that you are sitting in the "sweet spot" between all 4 speakers, you SHOULD get a more enveloping surround effect with 4 speakers in OpenAL and DirectSound3D games. Side placement will be better and you can turn on "Elevation Filter".

For HL2, you have a few different options as well. The HL2 sound engine is software based and creates a mix of 2 (2 speaker or headphones), 4, or 5 channels. If snd_digital_surround is set to 0 (default), it uses DirectSound3D to map these 2/4/5 channels to 3D coordinates. The result is that the 2/4/5 channels go through a final DirectSound3D mixing phase. The 2 channel output DOES NOT include any special virtual spatialization processing for headphones. I don't really understand why they did it this way, but that is the story. Maybe they didn't know how to do direct multi-channel output, although that is hard to believe.

If snd_digital_surround is set to 1, instead of using DirectSound3D, the engine sends the 2/4/5 channels DIRECTLY to the associated channels. This mode was added in a patch some time after release. For some reason, doing it this way instead of through DirectSound3D fixed some problems for Soundstorm users with DD encoding to a 5.1 receiver, hence the name of the variable snd_digital_surround even though it REALLY has to do with DirectSound3D. You don't need a Soundstorm to turn on this feature and get 2/4/5 direct channels instead of going through DirectSound3D.

So, for a 5.1 setup you probably wan't to be in "Game Mode". Set both the game and Creative speaker settings to 5.1. Now you have 2 options; you can set snd_digital_surround to 0 or 1 and see which you like best. I'm guessing most people with 5.1 setups prefer setting it to 1.

For a headphone setup, I'd recommend experiementing between 3 different settings. As a common setup for all 3, first you have to untick "Synchronize with Control Panel". Then set the game to 5.1 mode and set the Creative panel to Headphones. Make sure you enable CMSS3D and set MacroFX and ElevationFilter to Auto or Off. Now for the options:

1.) Set snd_digital_surround to 0 (default). The engine will map the 5 channels to DirectSound3D hardware voices and your X-Fi will virtualize this for headphones.

2.) With the X-Fi in "Game Mode", set snd_digital_surround to 1. The engine will send 5 channels directly to the X-Fi, bypassing DirectSound3D, and these will be virtualized for headphones. The difference is that when sending to the X-Fi as raw channels, the X-Fi will use it's own pre-determined locations for the virtual speakers it is trying to simulate. When in DirectSound3D mode, the game controls these positions. They are certainly different, but I don't know exactly what the positions are in each case.

3.) With X-Fi in "Entertainment Mode", set snd_digital_surround to 1. This is similar to option 2, but the X-Fi will add a little extra processing to simulate the behavior of speakers in a virtual room (slight reflections, etc.). I find that this externalizes the sound image a bit more, but you may feel that it interferes with the game's own environmental effects.

wow great post man.

TYVM Tomase, this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. With my old card I never really bothered too much, I found a setting that sounded pretty good and left it like that. The new toy has soo many new things to play with & I actually have a bit of fun messing with it. Wonder how much I missed 1st time I played both of these from not makeing the effort to set sound up right.

Elderblaze, I realize that DD/DTS is the same thru either method, just thought it was odd that the actual hardware decoders volume was a tad lower than if I let WinDVD decode it in software and then sending it to the soundcard. Im kind of used to sw not working as good as dedicated hw but I guess things are always changing.The only thing I don't like about CL's decoding is I get that lil pop up dolby sign for a cpl sec's.

Again thx for all the info both of you
Jess

Okay, one more silly question. I installed rmark & played around with headphones in game mode and all I can say is woot! Entertainment modes settings dont seem to do as well, positioning wise, when I tried listening via headphones. Is this a limit to entertainment mode on the card and the only way to get the effect I saw in rmark would be by setting system to 4 speaker entertainment mode and then using CMSS or am I missing a headphones setting?

bratboy said:

Okay, was playing around with mine this weekend and noticed in WinDVD that is I chose spdif and let the X-FI decode instead of Windvd the volume is a bit lower when I play via 5.1 speakers, Otherwise sounds great so was wondering what other's think the best choice for DVD playback.

Also is there someplace a guide for configureing games like HL2 and D3 to get the most out them soundwise using CL features?

Click to expand...

You want to let X-Fi decode for Analog speakers. Disable CMSS 3DS and only use it for Headphones or 2 ch sources. Use the Crystalizer but "to taste" or test it on or off. Set Flexijack-SPDIF to MIC or anything but Digital Out. Set the Bass redirection to Enabled and then set the speakers to Small for more bass, some or all to Large for less bass.
No EQ but I'm using a receiver. Set yours and test it for your own tastes.

The only thing I use the SPDIF for is 24bit/96KHz 2ch Music goodness.

Donnie27

To keep from posting yet another topic, Ill ask in here.

Has anyone hear any newes on x64 drivers?

fallguy said:

To keep from posting yet another topic, Ill ask in here.

Has anyone hear any newes on x64 drivers?

Click to expand...

Some guy had a link from Creative's FAQ's saying Q4-05 or in Oct. I really don't know though.

Donnie27

Speaker settings are independent of which "mode" you are in. You should be able to select Headphones in all 3 modes.

When going from "Game Mode" to "Entertainment Mode", you lose multiple environment support in EAX. For For DirectSound3D/OpenAL, CMSS3D-Headphone (Headphones selected and CMSS3D enabled) should result in positioning that is the same in "Entertainment Mode" compared to "Game Mode", EXCEPT you won't get MacroFX or ElevationFilter. For multichannel to headphone virtualization, "Entertaiment Mode" will add virtual acoustics (lacking in game mode) in order to improve externalization.

Think of it this way:

DirectSound3D/OpenAL is concerned with creating the illusion of sound from ANY position in 3D space. This combined with in-game EAX is intended to convey the illusion of virtual sound sources corresponding to actual objects in terms of angle, distance, velocity (doppler effect), occlusion (blocking walls), obstruction (blocking objects), environment size, environment material, etc.

Multichannel to headphone downmix is concerned with creating the illusion of listening to multiple speakers set up in a room. The virtual acoustics simulates reflections of sound off of the walls in this virtual room.

bump for some good info.