Source Engine Games - How To Enable Hardware Sound

Soldato
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Here's one for those of you with X-Fi (and possibly Xonar and other) cards who have been thinking positional audio in Left4Dead 2 and other source games isn't as good as it could be - Especially if you're using surround sound (including headphone based surround like CMSS-3D Headphone or external virtualisation on reciever). I've just tried the tweak and found it significantly improves my ability to hear the location of in-game opponents - especially at close quarters (other cards may not have as marked a difference as X-Fi due to differing features).

**Edit: Game audio doesn't work perfectly in L4D2 with hardware sound. A lot of the in-game music doesn't seem to work**

Most source games use the Miles Sound System - a software based API that directly programs each channel of your sound system. That means none of the more advanced features of your soundcard are utilised.

Before enabling DirectSound3D in a source engine game X-Fi users will need to run Alchemy and point it to the location of your game's .exe. For L4D2 in Windows 7 this is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2.exe. Set Buffers to 5 and duration to 10. (If you use a Xonar this might work if you just turn on DS3D-GX, Realtek follow a similar process to Alchemy with 3DSoundBack, C-Media enable XEar3D etc).

Best results will come from ensuring that the X-Fi is in game mode before launching the game. CMSS-3D options for MacroFX and Elevation Filter should be set to Auto (options not available for 5.1 or 7.1 - see later).

Set the audio options in game and Windows to match the speakers / channels you intend to use.

Then to actually get DirectSound3D working you will need to run a console command. In L4D2 you need to first enable the developer console in the in-game Options. Start a campaign (preferably single player) and bring up the console (usually the ` key). Then enter the following: "snd_legacy_surround 1" (if you have any problems repeat the process with "snd_legacy_surround 0" to turn it back to normal). You will get a message saying 3d sound activated.

At this point my game went silent and I needed to restart it. Once back in game - Voila! The superb positional sound I'm used to for hardware based games running in L4D2 - Marvellous!

If you run a surround sound system or CMSS-3D Headphone with an X-Fi I would advise sticking to 4 channels maximum. This allows MacroFX and Elevation Filter to work, which improves 3D positioning considerably when using hardware sound. On any other current card - I don't expect this will make any difference so feel free to go with 5.1 or 7.1.

Just stumbled across this as it bothered me that I didn't appear to be able to hear close quarters directions very well in L4D2. That reminded me of AngelRex's comments regarding CSS and Dolby Headphone so I thought I'd have a play and see if I could change anything. Turns out there's a whole other fully-functional audio engine under the hood. Very nice! Having said that I'm not convinced that environmental effects are as good with hardware as with the Miles Sound System. Maybe I can confirm with further testing.

I've confirmed this works on an X-Fi Prelude in Windows 7. It might work on any soundcard that has legacy support for DirectSound3D (Xonar, Realtek, C-Media or other Creative such as Audigy Series). Please can you post to confirm if you get it working and I'll update the original post.

For anyone using the standard 2 channel headphone mode - I would stick with miles rather than hardware as the Miles Headphone mode is pretty advanced. If you use CMSS-3D Headphone or Dolby Headphone it's definitely worth doing.
 
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Hmm. Just tried it with TF2 and it sounds muffled compared to the standard sound with CMSS-3D.

Using an older X-Fi Fatality + Beyer DT770.
 
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Not sure about positioning though - might have been slightly better but I only tested it quickly on 2Fort (too noisy and chaotic really) and walking near a sentry on an empty map.
 
I'll just add that my initial test was with an external Dolby Headphone receiver (SU-DH1) and 4 speaker CMSS-3D (vs 4.0 / 5.1 in Miles Sound System). Was using Goldring DR150s. I'll try with CMSS-3D Headphone later, as it will be more representative of X-Fis in general.

I will say that I find the Miles Sound System stereo headphone mode pretty good for positioning but find the various filters it uses rather artificial sounding.
 
Ahh might explain why the multi driver headphones I have sound better ONLY in CSS, l4d2 & source games over DH.

Cheers for that, I might have a play, you know what its like though... you spend weeks getting the sound right and can never quite remember what you did if you undo it... :p

BTW Uriel,

I found what speakers are used in the gainwards I have, doent mean much to me but i'll post them here :

Product Specs (SoundXPlosion):
Technical Specifications

* Subwoofer: 40mm Ø, 2 pieces with 100mW @ 4 OHMS
* Front/Rear: 30mm Ø, 2 pieces with 30mW @ 32 OHMS
* Centre: 30mm Ø, 4 pieces with 30mW @ 64 OHMS

Frequency Response:
* Subwoofer: 50-400Hz
* Front/Rear: 250Hz-17KHz
* Centre: 180Hz-14KHz


EDIT:- One thing I will note is that the positional audio for me in CSS, L4d & L4d2 is all superb, I can hear a pin drop and know where it came from. As we already discussed the sound from DH & dr50/dr150 produces a more natural sound, but positional is the key for me in these games only.

when you hear a sound from rear left in real life you can hear in both ears, just stronger in one ear, obviously with the gainwards you only hear rear left in the left ear which is an advantage in css & l4d2 games.
 
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Product Specs (SoundXPlosion):
Technical Specifications

* Subwoofer: 40mm Ø, 2 pieces with 100mW @ 4 OHMS
* Front/Rear: 30mm Ø, 2 pieces with 30mW @ 32 OHMS
* Centre: 30mm Ø, 4 pieces with 30mW @ 64 OHMS

Frequency Response:
* Subwoofer: 50-400Hz
* Front/Rear: 250Hz-17KHz
* Centre: 180Hz-14KHz

Odd specifications there but it's refreshing to see them published for a multi-driver headset. Do they plug into the soundcard directly or have a dedicated amp?
 
Odd specifications there but it's refreshing to see them published for a multi-driver headset. Do they plug into the soundcard directly or have a dedicated amp?

They are analogue so plug the 3 x 3.5mm jacks into my D1 sound card (orange, green & black).

settings I have with the gainward in windows xp - 5.1, xonar control panel, 5.1, pcm 192khz, dolby prologic II ticked.

with the dr50's xp - 5.1, xonar CP headphone, DH ticked with DH2 & pro logic II ticked and top slider bar slid to the right to cover front and centre speakers.
 
I am going to have a go at this, this week hopefully. If not, at the weekend. I have to say though, I find positional sound in L4D games with CMSS 3D and DH, to be great. Will be interesting to see, or hear as it were, what the differences are. :)
 
OK - a little more to report. With up to 4 channels this works well but 5.1 and 7.1 seem to be broken. If I enable either the in game music stops working.

A word of caution - although direction seems to be improved some sounds are quieter - notably footsteps. That could be a deal-breaker for some.
 
OK - a little more to report. With up to 4 channels this works well but 5.1 and 7.1 seem to be broken. If I enable either the in game music stops working.

A word of caution - although direction seems to be improved some sounds are quieter - notably footsteps. That could be a deal-breaker for some.

yeah, footsteps are the key to css, u can judge how fast some one is travelling and at what point they will come around the corner, just by their footsteps :D

thanks anyhoo^^
 
A further note on L4D2 - with hardware sound enabled some of the in-game music doesn't work. Shame really...
 
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