I have 5.1 sound setup, now what?

[Beefster39]

Originally posted by soupnazi
Some games have EAX, some don't. It'll usually tell you in the readme file, the box, or the in-game options. If the game has EAX, leave CMSS off. If the game doesn't have EAX, feel free to experiment with CMSS. When a game has EAX and CMSS is disabled, you'll get sound out of the rear speakers. If there's no sound from the rear, then either something is wrong or it is not an EAX game. If you use CMSS with EAX games, you should get sound out of the rear speakers but it will be a blend of EAX and CMSS. This is not favorable. (bad sound effect imaging/placement)

Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I leave CMSS2 on at all time. The benefits of CMSS1 or 2 is only apparent on multichannel setups... obviously. To me, CMSS1 really sounds distorted and without bass but that is another topic. I don't know about you, but CMSS2 does not mess up games or DVD's. I turned off CMSS completly and tried to play CS (which does use EAX) but sound was only coming out of two channels... same thing happened in BF1942 (EAX again). Once I enabled CMSS2 again, sound was coming out of all speakers and the imaging and placement was there again. Same thing goes for DVD's... CMSS2 does not mess up the sound placement when I play DVD's. Then again, I could be doing something wrong .

[soupnazi]

That's odd. I'm able get sound coming from the rear speakers with CMSS off in BF1942. Have you clicked on the sound option, "enable hardware acceleration"?

Are you using an Audigy 2 with the latest drivers? (0.383)

PS. If EAX is working in BF1942 with CMSS disabled, you should be hearing engine effects (if driving a tank) in the rear channels, but no music in the rear channels. That is normal.