Xonar dx 7.1 woes

Uriel · 23 Feb 2011 at 23:04

joeyjojo said:
I like hearing it as intended. No DSP's, no mess.

That's where I get picky. Most audio is intended for speakers not headphones - ergo HRTF virtualisation (as long as it's decent and works for you) is actually closer to how the audio was intended.

However - some people just like the sound of headphones...

Auraomega · 24 Feb 2011 at 00:39

Uriel said:
That's where I get picky. Most audio is intended for speakers not headphones - ergo HRTF virtualisation (as long as it's decent and works for you) is actually closer to how the audio was intended.

I agree, but DH just doesn't work for me. There is a nice plugin for Foobar2000 that works a treat, "Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural DSP", it retains that 'headphone sound' while slightly overlapping each channel, it's the best of both worlds, the immediacy of headphones without the fatigue. Obviously this only works with music but it's a start.

silverlai3 · 24 Feb 2011 at 05:26

bigjimmyauk said:
Got my soundcard installed latest drivers etc vut for some reason beknown to me it's extremely echoey

Have you tried to reset the effects in the effects setting page?
There are some effects like bathroom, cave etc, I trust must be the settings there doing the funny things.

Check it out and try again.

Uriel · 24 Feb 2011 at 08:09

Auraomega said:
I agree, but DH just doesn't work for me. There is a nice plugin for Foobar2000 that works a treat, "Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural DSP", it retains that 'headphone sound' while slightly overlapping each channel, it's the best of both worlds, the immediacy of headphones without the fatigue. Obviously this only works with music but it's a start.

Ok. I must confess that one of the things I like about DH is the removal of the immediacy of headphones. I've always thought of headphones as a compromise and wanted a speaker-like experience - something that doesn't sound like headphones very much at all.

I've tried the Bauer DSP and it doesn't do that for me.

Maybe we're just looking for different things?

Auraomega · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:09

Definitely, as you said some people just like the sound of headphones.

Angel_Rex · 24 Feb 2011 at 13:18

when using the 5.1 headphones I have in CSS the channels clearly define where some one is coming from, ie a specific point in the cup where they are walking from. All other ambient is evenly spread.

the d2 DH setting and my goldring dr50's give more of an 'outdoor' feeling to them, you dont hear sound with ears from a little whisper behind ur ear, but more bounced around you. For anyother game other than CSS i prefer the dolby headphone.

Uriel · 24 Feb 2011 at 13:51

Angel_Rex said:
when using the 5.1 headphones I have in CSS the channels clearly define where some one is coming from, ie a specific point in the cup where they are walking from. All other ambient is evenly spread.

the d2 DH setting and my goldring dr50's give more of an 'outdoor' feeling to them, you dont hear sound with ears from a little whisper behind ur ear, but more bounced around you. For anyother game other than CSS i prefer the dolby headphone.

Both X-Fi and higher end C-Media cards like Xonar have something called macroFX (n.b. I didn't know C-Media had this until recently). It's for simulating sounds close to the listener when using speakers but it's applied over Dolby Headphone too. Without it, games are not particularly good at simulating sounds within 3 game units (1 unit usually is equivalent to 1m) of the listener. Ideally it could simulate someone whispering in your ear when using surround speakers (whether it actually works this well is debatable). X-Fis only apply it with 4 channel surround or less. I'm not sure whether it's restricted in the same way for C-Media or if 5.1 or 7.1 are also included.

As CSS uses a software based, rather than hardware based, audio engine it doesn't do MacroFX. Some software based game audio does it's own equivalent but I'm not sure if the Miles Audio Engine (as per most source games) does.

This could be the reason why CSS, where close quarters audio is important, works better for you with surround headphones. There is no need to virtualise close quarters audio when using headphones. There is when using or simulating speakers (as with Dolby Headphone and most games with CMSS-3D).

Interesting - that's probably the first theoretical advantage I've thought of where surround headphones would have an advantage over Dolby Headphone in a game.

On Metro2033 - it seems that there is a known problem with surround sound not working on some sytems (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18189210). It might be that is the problem that bigjimmyauk is experiencing. I have metro2033 but not got around to playing it (steam sale). I'll have to experiment with it at some point.

Edit: Bioshock uses a weird combination of FMOD and OpenAL. I think the positioning is done in FMOD so no macroFX there either. I don't know what audio API Metro2033 uses.