cosmicnut on 14/9/2006 at 12:18

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The enchanted one is correct. It's basically a way of adding environmental effects to audio without using the CPU.

For positional audio (sounds from the left coming from the left speaker). You need something thats directsound compatable (if your a windows user).

I think I remember some of the old DOS drivers supported it, mainly on SoundBlaster cards.

Here's a quik wiki
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_audio_extensions)

oh, and Bomb Bloke. The current max for gaming is 7.1 audio. & speaker (front left/right, side left/right, rear left/right, front centre and a bass box). Having said that most games only support 5.1 (front left/right, rear left/right, front centre and a bass box) at the mo.

It gets really scary when your listening to a log and there's this moan behind you from the rear speakers followed by that sickening thud of pipe on flesh!

cosmicnut on 14/9/2006 at 13:29

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How EAX settings effect games depends on the engine.
Adding echo effects to sounds is quite processor intensive. Instead of asking the CPU to change the sounds, the games engine sends the sounds and a setting of what sound profile to use (hall, corridor, cave, etc) and the sound card alters the sounds in hardware.
Without EAX style hardware, these effects are normally turned off as they would slow down the PC too much in comparison to what you gain.

I doubt SS2 would run faster with an EAX card that without. However, with EAX running, you would hear the echoes of your footfalls nut just dull thuds.

For an a game that relies on atmosphere, it does add a lot to the experience.

The only problem is that I usually find I ignore all the cool effects and don't notice them. It's still in the subconcious though

june gloom on 14/9/2006 at 17:02

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i notice source engine games manage to pull off stuff like this rather well without EAX (as far as i know, my soundcard does not support EAX).

example, someone in the distance is firing a weapon- the sounds are muted and distant, much more so than they would be if the person was standing 5 feet away.

Bomb Bloke on 15/9/2006 at 00:44

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Distant sounds are not EAX. That's positional sound, and it's a basic feature of stereo. Been around since the good old Dos days.

Which is why I went to such great lengths to run my game consoles through a stereo system. TV speakers just don't cut it.

I doubt the Realtek hardware supports EAX, as those sound cards are usually onboard jobs (ie Most of the work is done by the CPU anyway). Only way that card'll do it is if the drivers can provide some sort of software emulation, which again, means the CPU has to take the strain.

Edit: I googled around a bit, and it seems that the chip can do it, but the feature is poorly supported. One person suggested using the (http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_audio_4.62_win2kxp.html) nForce driver.

cosmicnut on 15/9/2006 at 08:24

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The effects in positional audio have improved greatly.
Newer DirectX cards have better abilities and effects.

Non EAX cards will still sound good when it comes to positional audio. Don't forget that EAX is a creative technology. The are other formats and version created by different card manufacturers. However, like the wonderfull SoundBlaster of old, most programmers choose the creative technology as it's added to far more cards/chipsets than the other tech.