Does EAX actually help you?

Eax helpful?

  • Hell yes!

    Votes: 52 26.3%

  • Hell no!

    Votes: 43 21.7%

  • I can't tell...:(

    Votes: 54 27.3%

  • Shit I use onboard...

    Votes: 49 24.7%
  • Total voters
    198
i am sure msot people, no, but most people who bought a creative card will say "yes" to juasitufy their purchase....


do you knw what does help you, in most games, is head phones...

a good 2.0 stereo headphones, screw this 5.1 crap... a good 2.0 system will give you such good sound and distance you dont need anything else..since most games seems to be made in 2.0 and most "surround" seems to be emulated..



i use a pair of Sein 595's and the onboard sound of a Asus p5Q-E and i have used Sound blasters and other crap and it all sounds the same...

now going out via S/PDIF to a reeive then out to my headphones made things more clear,but even still, i personally found 5.1+ to be so off and bad that 2.0 was awsome to be down to pin point accuracy, at l;east in FPS,m's for me
 
EAX is nice in RPG's and other ambient heavy games with it's effects. On the other hand, I doubt I would ever notice the difference in a fps type game.
 
I think it is somewhat of a gimmick. Like that 5-hour energy bs. lol.

I tried it on my friends PC. Could not tell the difference at all. (btw, I use a usb 2.0 Logitech headset)
 
My A3D card helped me, I have yet to hear a Creative product match it... but I haven't tried the X-FI yet.
 
It used to a couple years back. It sometimes offered a very noticeable improvement in the immersion factor for the audio in some games. These days, I am hard pressed to tell the difference between EAX and non EAX sound in games. Many on board solutions do actually offer some level of EAX any way. And EAX is not required for 3d positional audio either, though many seem to think it is.

Do Creative cards tend to sound better than on board solutions in games? Over analog, usually yes. But not because of EAX. It's the DACs. I am still using an Audigy 2 in one pc and an Xfie in another, but I don't attribute their better sound over what is soldered to my mobo to anything other than the fact that those cards have superior DACs compared to what is integrated into my current mobos.
 
haadij404 said:
isnt eax dead on vista?

how do i even find out if im making use of it?
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Download Alchemy from Creative and run it, it will then show a list of games it can translate from EAX to OpenAL, enable the games in the list and you will have EAX back on Vista for those games that have EAX option.
 
If you're talking about multichannel audio such as 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, you don't need EAX for that. EAX simply increases how lifelike the sounds are with some additional effects, EAX on it's own doesn't really help increase your ability to frag, especially if it's EAX on a stereo or 2.1 setup which most gamers have.

EAX doesn't directly work in Vista onwards, as Klob said the Alchemy software creative released translates EAX into OpenAL which essentially mimics the original EAX features.
 
soulesschild said:
Intensify your gaming experience, help you frag more, basically everything EAX claims it can do for you vs if you didn't have it.
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Then the answer is "no" :)

IcedEmotion said:
My A3D card helped me, I have yet to hear a Creative product match it... but I haven't tried the X-FI yet.
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It's funny that in ten years, Creative hasn't come up with anything to surpass, let alone match the wavetracing engine used on the original Vortex cards, even though they've owned all of Aureal's old technologies for years. Weird, huh?

Frostex said:
EAX doesn't directly work in Vista onwards, as Klob said the Alchemy software creative released translates EAX into OpenAL which essentially mimics the original EAX features.
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Sort of. EAX still works with OpenAL games in Vista: Doom 3, Prey, BioShock, etc. Only when a game uses the DirectSound API and EAX is ALchemy necessary, and it translates DirectSound calls into OpenAL calls so that the extension layer can run via OpenAL in hardware.
 
For multiplayer FPS, I don't think it does you any good. But for single-player, it can make the game more immersive.

I don't know if this is EAX or not, but in HL2 the sound of combine firing at you from a long distance over the water was amazing. Alot of the sounds in HL2 were quite nice actually. Also, the echo from exploding barrels was a very nice touch.

For RPGs, the purpose of EAX is somewhat diminished. Reason being that often the action is taken to cutscenes. In many instances it would be better if EAX were not used and the sounds were just recorded in the same environment they are placed in game.

ie: you stumble across a wounded person in a canyon running toward you and screaming for help. That would best be done by actually having someone do that and recording it, not by simulating a canyon reverb and having someone talk into a microphone in a studio, as well as simulating doppler etc...

Of course flying somone out in a helicopter to a canyon that closely mimics the canyon in the game is probably a bit more trouble than most devs are willing to go through just for that one scene.
 
PiratePowWow said:
I don't know if this is EAX or not, but in HL2 the sound of combine firing at you from a long distance over the water was amazing. Alot of the sounds in HL2 were quite nice actually.
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In HL2, all of that's done in software.

PiratePowWow said:
Of course flying somone out in a helicopter to a canyon that closely mimics the canyon in the game is probably a bit more trouble than most devs are willing to go through just for that one scene.
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Actually, all you really need for that is an impulse response.
 
I run a professional audio interface with studio monitor headphones. Echo Audiofire, and AKG 240MkII phones. (I compose music as well as play games.) Needless to say, this interface doesn't support EAX. I've never heard games sounds as good as they do with this setup. EAX used to provide some decent effects for (as someone else said) atmosphere-heavy games, (though I'd include many FPSes in that group,) as did Aureal's tech. (which if I'm not mistaken, Creative purchased and rolled into their own drivers) These days though, I think companies are doing a great job of doing audio without needing additional APIs or hardware support. Perhaps we need another poll option for "It had its day."
 
EAX is one of those things where once you use it you never want to switch back. Kind of like Modem to DSL/Cable internet.. or 4:3 monitor to Wide Screen. Anyways i wish all games supported EAX or at least 5.1 audio.
 
Dion said:
EAX is one of those things where once you use it you never want to switch back. Kind of like Modem to DSL/Cable internet.. or 4:3 monitor to Wide Screen. Anyways i wish all games supported EAX or at least 5.1 audio.
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Hmm, I went from EAX with "computer speakers" to quality 2.0 active monitors and a really nice DAC and I will never go back.
 
I can tell the difference between EAX on and off. Does that help me? Not really. It just sounds different.
 
Klob said:
Download Alchemy from Creative and run it, it will then show a list of games it can translate from EAX to OpenAL, enable the games in the list and you will have EAX back on Vista for those games that have EAX option.
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The auto detected list is pretty small. Buuut, you can manually add any game by pointing Alchemy to the folder that contains the .exe
 
After reading about Bioshock and EAX I turned mine on and yes, it does sound amazing! :D
 
It is not so much EAX as it is CMSS 3D headphone that improves my gaming experience. With both on however I can pinpoint the exact location of someone. So yes, it does help.
 
Klob said:
Download Alchemy from Creative and run it, it will then show a list of games it can translate from EAX to OpenAL, enable the games in the list and you will have EAX back on Vista for those games that have EAX option.
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Ahh thank you!!!

I don't think it helps me, but i have it so why not use it? we need more poll options here
 
The most notable game that I played with EAX support was Hitman 2. The difference with and without EAX (my soundcard came with a special enhanced EAX 2.0 edition) was night and day. It was enough to make me replay the entire game!

EAX in't as widely used as it is today. I miss having a high-quality sound-card =\
 
Well one of the reasons I ask is because I have a choice of either buying another Creative card mainly to benefit from EAX or getting a nice sounding card like the HT Claro Halo.
 
soulesschild said:
Well one of the reasons I ask is because I have a choice of either buying another Creative card mainly to benefit from EAX or getting a nice sounding card like the HT Claro Halo.
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Its all about what you are looking for from an audio system, and what type of speakers you will be using.

If you want (IMHO gimmicky) positional audio for a arguable "better" gaming experience and plan to use a 5.1/7.1 sound system consisting of really small satellites and a subwoofer (something like the Logicrap Z5500), then a "gaming" soundcard with all that EAX stuff is probably what you want.

OTOH, if you are looking for absolute high-fidelity audio from a quality built 2.0 or 2.1 setup, then a soundcard that caters to high quality audio would suit you better. If you go that route, the Claro's are nice, but my personal favorite is the M-Audio Audiophile 2496, or the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2. Both have suburb analog RCA outs to feed a pair of active monitors.
 
Bop said:
It is not so much EAX as it is CMSS 3D headphone that improves my gaming experience. With both on however I can pinpoint the exact location of someone. So yes, it does help.
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EAX has nothing to do with positional audio - it is Environmental Audio and handles stuff like reverb (so gunshots sound different in a tile hallway, for instance). If done properly it can enhance the game, as others have said, but really not a deal-maker any longer.
 
It hasn't helped me much at all. It makes some of my RPGs sound much better, but FPS games ... Not so much.
 
I have no idea if it makes a difference now. But when I bought an Audigy 2 ZS back in like 2003 or something it boosted my frames per second a whole bunch.
 
Ron FTL said:
I think it is somewhat of a gimmick. Like that 5-hour energy bs. lol.

I tried it on my friends PC. Could not tell the difference at all. (btw, I use a usb 2.0 Logitech headset)
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5 hour energy works for me!
 
There is definitely a difference. It helps with ambiance in games, but as far as "quality" it doesn't improve anything.
 
criccio said:
Hmm, I went from EAX with "computer speakers" to quality 2.0 active monitors and a really nice DAC and I will never go back.
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EAX has nothing to do with sound quality. only accurate sound.
 
Dion said:
EAX has nothing to do with sound quality. only accurate sound.
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Thanks, I didn't know that.... :rolleyes:

I was making a point that quality audio with a DAC and good speakers (even a 2.0/1 setup) gave me a much more enthralling experience then with an EAX soundcard with 5.1 computer speakers.
 
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