Introducing HDA Digital X-Mystique 7.1 (Dolby Digital Live PCI)

[chicken-]

The only games it has issues with EAX (that I have found) are those using Creatives "XFi" or EAX5 or wtf they are calling it. Anything using EAX 1.0 / 2.0 or D3D-HW, is fine on it.

This means you can't play BF2 with Hardware AND high quality sound enabled.
You either have to go Software and High, or Hardware and Medium, or BF2 will force XFi and give out crappy sound... it sounds fine to me with Hardware and Medium.

[seevip]

Which uses less Cpu, hardware and medium or software and high. I know theoretically its hardware and medium, but jsut to make sure?

[chicken-]

Hardware and Medium seems to give slightly more fps, but not by much (it also enables eax2.0 so it should theoretically sound better than Software and High...)

[seevip]

but the Mystique will sound better on medium hardware than aduigy 2 full anwyays right? LIE TO ME!

[chicken-]

No Idea, the last Creative card I used was a SBLive!24, I guess if Creative add XFi support to the older Audigys instead of just their new card, then the Audigy might sound better. The HDA is still the only pci card that can encode 5.1 through digital out though.

[seevip]

Yeah i guess, im planning to buy z5500 anyway


Are there any audiphile headphones that are digital (stereo even, but digital)?

[chicken-]

Originally Posted by seevip

Yeah i guess, im planning to buy z5500 anyway


Are there any audiphile headphones that are digital (stereo even, but digital)?

Yes, the brilliant (and expensive) Audio-Technica ATH-D1000 (Review) headphones have optical in.


Bluetin.com has em for AU$539+postage.
*edit* fixed price

[Melbas]

Originally Posted by chicken-

The only games it has issues with EAX (that I have found) are those using Creatives "XFi" or EAX5 or wtf they are calling it. Anything using EAX 1.0 / 2.0 or D3D-HW, is fine on it.

This means you can't play BF2 with Hardware AND high quality sound enabled.
You either have to go Software and High, or Hardware and Medium, or BF2 will force XFi and give out crappy sound... it sounds fine to me with Hardware and Medium.

Battlefield 2 for me only works on Software and High. Both Hardware and high and hardware and medium give me terrible sound chopping. I'm using optical PCM 2 channel digital out to my stereo, from which I plug in my headphones into the headphone jack on the Pioneer amp.

Chicken, what are your settings in the "Main setting" of the Xear 3D control panel?

Im praying that HDA will one day release updated drivers which support EAX 4.0 & 5.0.

Cheers.

[Borgod]

Originally Posted by Melbas

Battlefield 2 for me only works on Software and High. Both Hardware and high and hardware and medium give me terrible sound chopping.

Well then it doesn't look like I'll be getting one of these cards then

Originally Posted by Melbas

Im praying that HDA will one day release updated drivers which support EAX 4.0 & 5.0.

Within the next few weeks and they'll have a new customer.

[chicken-]

No one but Creative can put EAX 4.0/5.0 on their cards, Creative refuse to license anything above EAX 2.0 to any other soundcard maker. (Which is why I wish game companies would use something else, like Dolby, Miles or even D3DHW.)

[Azsen]

IMHO EAX is just a gimmick. I ran an Audigy 2 ZS for months with EAX 4 games and didn't notice a difference from EAX 2. I can conclude this card sounds miles better even though only EAX 2. Really, how much importance can you place on "environmental effects". It's the game sound quality and the coding in behind it that will make the sounds really good, not just EAX.

I think the Mystique sounds quite awesome in BF2, specifically the jets, missiles, bombs, artillery and the TV-Missile explosion. Nothing like a good thunderous roar as a jet screams overhead. Although the infantry guns sound tinny and crap, they always will no matter how good the sound card because the game was coded like that.

Anyone know what the differences are from EAX 2 to EAX 5?

Battlefield 2 for me only works on Software and High. Both Hardware and high and hardware and medium give me terrible sound chopping.

Yep, a few pages back in the thread you'll see HDA responded to this saying to use medium setting because "high" setting was Advanced HD? or something and I'm not sure even Creative have cards that can do that yet.

[chicken-]

You're right, Creative got BF2 to include XFi (AdvanceHD/Eax5.0) but they don't even have any XFi hardware out yet. Really, I'd like someone to try and find what the hell Creative changed after EAX2.0, there's been 3 revisions to EAX since 2.0 came out, but have any really added anything?

[Melbas]

Originally Posted by Azsen

Yep, a few pages back in the thread you'll see HDA responded to this saying to use medium setting because "high" setting was Advanced HD? or something and I'm not sure even Creative have cards that can do that yet.

My HDA X-Mystique doesn't like Hardware with medium - I get the same choppy sound as with the high setting.

Chicken and others who are running their HDA X-Mystique with BF2 on Hardware and medium, are you using the latest HDA drivers, and also what are your settings in the Xear 3D control panel (on the "main setting" tab)?

[Azsen]

Theoretically we should be able to do hardware, but I run software on medium. Software setting on high sometimes works as well, but not 'perfect' like medium like I noticed some strange crackling maybe once every 5mins or something.

[seevip]

I just got the card and plugged it to my logitech 560s, it sounds ike its unamplified, very very low volume even thougth everything is up high, not only that when i turn it up, the bass starts distoring badly at a tiny volume whats going on, si soemthign turned off?

These are working loud when i plug it into anythign else, is there an option im missing somewhere for this soundcard, im using latest dirvers fromt he website.