Cigam on 4/10/2018 at 00:26
My understanding is that Creative allow any manufacturer to support EAX 1 and 2, but EAX 3 to 5 remains exclusive to their own cards (though things might have changed in the several years since I heard this, and assuming this information was correct in the first place :) ). So no surprise that your MB chip supports EAX 1, which is what Theif uses.
Anyway, I always use EAX. I love the fuller more echo-y sound. Makes places such as the pridon level in Cragscleft mre immerive IMO.
Kaleid on 4/10/2018 at 06:41
If you have a Creative card then EAX should be on.. any other brands that I have tried sound very weird, be it M-audio, Terratec, Asus or onboard. They don't do EAX justice, as they sort of only emulate it.
GORT on 4/10/2018 at 08:28
Another note about EAX on different sound cards other than creative ones...
Some of you may already know this, but I have a video that compares one of the EAX settings between the on-board Realtek and a PCI Creative SB X-FI Extream Music.
Here the video...
[video=youtube;pOjMrJwgxwY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOjMrJwgxwY[/video]
You'll notice that on the PCI card it will have some pitch curving. That is also how it sounds on the Sound Blaster Live! cards.
Cigam on 4/10/2018 at 11:47
Does that video apply to OpenAL or is it a demo of hardware EAX from the pre-Vista days? Surely OpenAL would sound roughly the same whatever is playing it?
Also where is that section? I have a Creative SB Z and I've never heard a ringing metal echo like in the in first half of the video.
GORT on 5/10/2018 at 08:44
This was done on Windows 10 64-bit. Also, I've tested OpenAL on both of them. The results are still the same between the two. The only difference on the PCI Creative SB X-FI Extream Music sound card is that OpenAL will be a bit louder than the original EAX setting.
Cigam on 5/10/2018 at 19:56
So OpenAL it was. Just wondering where that section is from? Is it from an OM? Would like to go there and see if I can hear that ringing on my setup.
Valet2 on 6/10/2018 at 01:44
Well, I remember I played SS2 with eax just because my soundcard of the day supported it. Sounded so so cool! After moving to Win7 with no directsound and working drivers for Audigy I've found out that there's a hacked version of ALchemy with disabled hardware check, so it could be used with any sound device in your system (I've tried it with on-board Realtek HD and usb M-Audio). What's cool is if you use surround system (5.1 in my case) you will get a surround positional sound in those old games WITH eax! I've never felt the power of a swinging wrench in a tunnel of HL Opposing Force. That's really something you should hear!
After that I've learnt that X-fi Titanium (not hd version) have nice drivers and support newer versions of ALchemy. So I got one and feel really happy.
I've uploaded all versions of ALchemy and related stuff that I've collected here: (
ftp://ftp.valet2.com/alchemy)
The one which doesn't require a creative hardware is ALchemy Universal (ALUNI_PCVTAPP_LB_1_00_8.exe)
What about OpenAL vs ALchemy + EAX - I don't know. Both are really good, but very different. I've played with both options but can't prefer one or another.
There's another option to improve the sound positioning if you use headphones - HRTF plugin for OpenAL, the procedure is described here: (
https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=8371.0)
In short, you will be able to localize sounds coming from various vertical directions. I've tried it, but didn't have a wow effect sadly.
Offtopic, but I have to mention it. The best in-game sound that I've experienced was in Alien Isolation. The actual reflections comes from the surfaces, so if you face a wall the sound will reflect from it, and you will feel like it's really there. But after I tried it in VR... my brain simply believed I'm in there. The most realistic experience in my life, no kidding.
vfig on 6/10/2018 at 08:13
Oh! Thanks for the link, Valet! I've just tried out the OpenAL Soft HRTF settings you linked, then found the HRTF that works well for my head, and have 3D sound in Thief now with OpenAL! It's pretty damn great :D
GORT on 6/10/2018 at 08:19
@ Cigam
That video actually takes place in the hidden mission "Garrett's Nightmare" of the FM "The Rebellion Of The Builder 2". One of these days I think I'll make a video that will have all of the EAX effects comparisons. For the most of the common ones, they are pretty much the same. But, there are some like the psychotic one that have noticeable differences.
ticky on 7/10/2018 at 09:29
The Sound Blaster Zxr works nice with OpenAl, however, EAX in Thief is a bit "distant" and "underwater" but still great quality.