Upgrading to 5.1 for HALF LIFE 2: Lowdown please

[TwIce]

I have a good gaming PC with an Audigy 2, decent speakers and a standard 2 in front, 2 behind and subwoofer setup plus mic/headset with speaker/headset toggle switch.

I'm vaguely thinking of upgrading to 5.1 but do not know what it involves or how much of my stuff (speakers, cables, sound card, software) would need to be replaced.

It's not such a straight-ahead decision as a vid card upgrade. CALL OF DUTY made good use of my rear speakers but both that game and SPLINTER CELL (which seems not to distribute sound to the rear pair) took a big frame hit from EAX so I disabled that option. DOOM 3 does not appear to use EAX and as far as I can tell does not utilise my rear speakers. I do not believe HALF LIFE 2 uses EAX. What is the relationship between EAX and 5.1? I'm not a huge audio purist but it does seem that my rear speakers are neglected in most apps.

I guess what I'm asking (apart from the practical question about what it takes to upgrade) is whether 5.1 assures a "surround sound" in all games regardless of EAX. Finally, my workspace is not optimal for speaker-distribution, it's not like I'm siting in the middle of an uncluttered room. I might have some difficulty shoehorning another speaker into a rear space that makes sense.

Can someone offer me some entry-level advice? Thanks.

P4 2.8 Ghz
Audigy 2
Ati Radeon 9800 NP
1 GB RAM
Win XP SP2

[soupnazi]

EAX is a format much like direct sound from MS. You can specify any amount of channels and it will take advantage of what you have. Make sure you have your speakers set to "quad" in windows and "4.1" in the Creative mixer. Turn off CMSS in the Creative mixer. Also make sure the game supports EAX.

Since you already have a 4.1 system, a 5.1 system won't make much difference unless there's alot of dialogue which would come from the center channel. To answer your question, getting a 5.1 system does NOT guarantee "surround sound" in all games, EAX or no EAX. Some games are just in stereo. Eg. NFS: Underground, NbaLive, MVP Baseball

Doom 3 uses a proprietary system thats all done in software by the CPU. 4.1 users have to set their windows speakers to "surround speakers"(5.0), in order to allow "surround sound" to be enabled in the game. (a bug; ID's fault)

HL1/CS used EAX and HL2 will probably support it as well.

PS. What's the model & brand of your speakers?

[thrawn86]

meh, I just gave up. headphones sound better anyway

[TwIce]

Soupnazi, thanks for your helpful response.

I have four identical Dell/Altec Lansings plus subwoofer which, from what I can recall were an upgrade from the standard XPS package of about nine months ago. I'd have to go home to get specific model numbers as I can no longer access my invoice on Dell's site.

Those settings you specified for EAX: Would I be correct in assuming that non-EAX games would require most of those settings to be reversed/altered every time I play? If that is the case, is there a viable group of settings for Windows/Creative mixer that would optimise my sound for all four speakers (in games that support them all) regardless of EAX? Is it worth even bothering with EAX?

Does the fact that I have four speakers make my sound setup 4.1 by default? I must be mistaken here as I always thought 4.1/5.1 systems were somehow proprietary.

If you can be of assistance in suggesting settings that will deliver a reasonable assurance of four-speaker support without having to be tweaked for every different game (excluding DOOM 3 I guess) I'd be most grateful.

[soupnazi]

Np! Yup, your speaker system is 4.1/quad.

The settings I mentioned above will work fine on ALL games, EAX or not. In non EAX games, you'll just have stereo sound. In EAX games, you don't have to enable EAX in the Creative mixer just the game itself.

This program will allow you to have "simulated surround" in non EAX games and doesn't have to be disabled for EAX games. (just set it to stereo surround and forget it)
http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...tereo+surround

In summary, set your speakers to 4.1 in the Creative Mixer, set them to quad in windows, and use stereo surround in the above program.

For Doom 3, you just have to change your speakers to "surround speakers" in windows. (drag the "sounds and devices" icon to your desktop for a quick shortcut) In Doom 3, make sure you enable "surround speakers" too. When you're done playing Doom 3, turn it back to "quad" in windows. If you don't some game's sounds will be messed up. I believe it to goes back to quad after a windows reboot/shutdown automatically.

[TwIce]

Soupnazi, this is very helpful, many thanks. Just a couple of dopey questions:

- The program you linked me to installed a little audio control panel but did not appear to install a program per se. I saw no "Stereo Surround" option in that panel. Can you advise?

- What should I set "CMSS 3D Selection" to?

- Interestingly, there is no "surround speakers" option in Windows Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices/Volume/Speaker Settings/Advanced/Speakers/Speaker Setup (currently set to Quad). There is a "Surround Sound Speakers" option. Is this what you meant or have I got the wrong path?

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by TwIce
1. What should I set "CMSS 3D Selection" to?

2. Interestingly, there is no "surround speakers" option in Windows Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices/Volume/Speaker Settings/Advanced/Speakers/Speaker Setup (currently set to Quad). There is a "Surround Sound Speakers" option. Is this what you meant or have I got the wrong path?

1. Set CMSS3D Selection to "stereo surround" in that program.

2. Yup, that's what I meant. I was just going off my memory...hehe.

I'm off to bed...I'll be back in the morning...lol.

[TwIce]

Originally posted by soupnazi
1. Set CMSS3D Selection to "stereo surround" in that program.

That's odd. The only options it gives me under "CMSS 3D Selection" are "CMSS Off", "CMSS 1" and "CMSS 2"

Whoops, just realised that you specify the latest WDM 0.441(EAX4.0) drivers in the post you linked. I don't have 'em. That must be the reason for the lack of "Stereo Surround" in that drop-down menu, right? Or not?

[soupnazi]

Yup, that must be it. "Stereo surround" should be right below "CMSS off" in that drop down box.

Also make sure you go into the Creative Surround mixer and turn off CMSS, so you don't have conflicts between the two programs. Have you installed the applications/drivers that came with the Audigy 2 CD?

[TwIce]

Originally posted by soupnazi
Have you installed the applications/drivers that came with the Audigy 2 CD?

Well, these Dells (I know, I know...) come with audio software preinstalled. Since then I've updated the drivers but obviously I need to do it again with the most recently released files listed under "Drivers" on the Creative d/l site here (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and Audigy 2 ZS Driver Update
SBA2-WEBUP-W7-LB, dated July 29 04). Do you think that will do it?

By the way, last question, do the Audigy drivers automatically replace the last version when the installation exe is run, or is there some sort of driver-cleaner process recommended to avoid problems?

[soupnazi]

I think the newer drivers should give you this functionality.

Does your preloaded Dell soundcard software look like this?

[TwIce]

Originally posted by soupnazi
I think the newer drivers should give you this functionality.

Does your preloaded Dell soundcard software look like this?

Not quite. The device is listed in the top panel as "SB Audigy [CF00]" and I do not appear to have that context-sensitive menu in your screenshot.

Now I feel foolish. Does this mean that I do not have the Audigy 2 I thought I had been sold? I'm not too concerned but it would be good to know if my hardware limitations will prevent the utilisation of Stereo Surround in the CTPanel.

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by TwIce
Not quite. The device is listed in the top panel as "SB Audigy [CF00]" and I do not appear to have that context-sensitive menu in your screenshot.

Now I feel foolish. Does this mean that I do not have the Audigy 2 I thought I had been sold? I'm not too concerned but it would be good to know if my hardware limitations will prevent the utilisation of Stereo Surround in the CTPanel.

That sounds normal. With the ordinary drivers, my Audigy 2 was recognized just as an Audigy as well.

But does your software look similar to the pic though?

I'd update your drivers and then see if that works.

[TwIce]

Yes, apart from the different device listing and the lack of a context-sensitive menu, the software looks identical.

I'm going to d/l the drivers now. Thanks for all your help.

[soupnazi]

That's a good sign. Let me know how things go.