vortex 2 still worth buying

[avion]

Hello everyone.
This has been one of my favorite sites, along with anand and toms for a long time...
I wish to build an athlon 700/A7V or KT7 class game machine. I have heard the vortex 2 was superior for 3d sound. Unfortunately the SB live will be/is more compatible? Will drivers and support even be there? With Aureal demise will games even use its codec? Etc. Thank you, [email protected]

[JonmaTifa]

The wavetracing technology in the Vortext 2 is (for lack of a better word) superior to Creative Labs EAX. EAX is mearly reverb presets, but after playing around with the settings and playing a few games, it's more amazing than it seems at first.

Vortex 2 takes far more CPU power (simply because the wavetracing technology takes a lot of CPU cycles to compute as compared to simple reverb settings that can take little to no CPU power.) than EAX. Also The SB Live is a slightly better card overall. Furthermore quadrophonic sound is better in the SB Live in 3D mode. If I was stuck between the two, I would just go with the SB Live.

But If I felt like I had to have A3D. I might get one. (I have an MX300, I got it before A3D went under.)

Another thing is most games these days that support one, support both API's. So A3D is better for old games (like half-life) where you can afford the CPU loss for the superoir 3D sound. But on newer games, you won't even turn A3D on ever because frame rates will decrese so much. So what's the point? Newer games you will enjoy EAX far more.

[delakhan]

unfortunately, the A3D will probably never be upgraded from it's current version (3.0, right?), but 3rd party companies (Turtle Beach) will have opportunites to refine the drivers, possibly building new features if they feel it's worth the effort. Personally, I think A3D pisses on EAX, but they're not exactly aiming at the same audience, so it wouldn't be fair. I love it for gaming because of the positional ability. It's pretty good with environmental sounds, but obviously EAX specializes with that. Anyway, even if you do get an A3D card, you'll get some flavor of EAX in the upcoming DirectX versions. If we're lucky, Creative will keep some or all of the A3D technology after the buy out.

[nova]

I would almost expext creative to somehow merge the a3d tech with eax. It seems a waste to throw something that good away. I have an mx300 I also got before aureal went under and I love it. The A3D plugin for winamp really makes the music stand out instead of just being there. I would really hate to see A3D disappear.

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Remember, its only a dream!

[chrisXtreme]

DONT get a Vortex. My had the choice of a vortex2 or sb live! x-gamer and he is hitting himself in the face for getting the vortex.
They have lack of driver support, they havnt developed a new driver in over a year, and well the Windows 2000 Beta drivers dont work worth ****, they are a ***** to install, offer less base, and dont even work with some games like Diablo II...

SB Live! X-Gamer is the best choice!

[Althor]

Originally posted by delakhan:
unfortunately, the A3D will probably never be upgraded from it's current version (3.0, right?), but 3rd party companies (Turtle Beach) will have opportunites to refine the drivers, possibly building new features if they feel it's worth the effort. Personally, I think A3D pisses on EAX, but they're not exactly aiming at the same audience, so it wouldn't be fair. I love it for gaming because of the positional ability. It's pretty good with environmental sounds, but obviously EAX specializes with that. Anyway, even if you do get an A3D card, you'll get some flavor of EAX in the upcoming DirectX versions. If we're lucky, Creative will keep some or all of the A3D technology after the buy out.

Most people won't hear the quality of A3D because the average Computerspeaker is a mess. The correct position of the speakers is also a problem.


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Althor

[blppt]

I upgraded to a SBLive from a Vortex 1 and have never looked back. Drivers are finally separate from LiveWare so you dont have to download 30megs of crap to get the card working. Add that to the fact that Creative will probably never develop any new drivers for the Vortex chipsets (that would give Diamond, a rival, something to help them), your only *real* option is to go with a SBLive, and hey, you can get one for ~$35 online.

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Pat D.

Visit a music site I write for:
http://members.xoom.com/Awake600

[Althor]

I also upgraded to SBlive from Vortex1.
Just for the reason of increased performance and driver/game support.
Any game (except Q3)supports EAX or DS3D but not too much games support A3D (which I don't understand, 'cause A3D is pretty good).
The environment and reverb effects of EAX are really cool and I don't want to miss 'em.
Especially in games like Rogue Spear which offer EAX2.0 support with superior environment and directional echo effects.
Also the phase manipulation fx in EAX2.0 offer superb positional audio qualities.

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Althor

[delakhan]

Originally posted by Althor:
I also upgraded to SBlive from Vortex1.
Just for the reason of increased performance and driver/game support.
Any game (except Q3)supports EAX or DS3D but not too much games support A3D (which I don't understand, 'cause A3D is pretty good).
The environment and reverb effects of EAX are really cool and I don't want to miss 'em.
Especially in games like Rogue Spear which offer EAX2.0 support with superior environment and directional echo effects.
Also the phase manipulation fx in EAX2.0 offer superb positional audio qualities.

why compare vortex 1 to eax? they're not even the same ballfield. vortex 1 used A3D 1.0, which didn't have wavetracing or other advanced positional. A3D 2.0 uses wavetracing for positioning, and the last drivers released can use EAX extensions for games, and they do work, I use them for Counter Strike. Turtle Beach (the card I have) is still refinng the drivers for their A3D supported products with fully functional W2K drivers.
People, don't forget. Yeah Aureal is dead, but some other companies put a **** load of money into using the Aureal technology. Their not gonna let it go to waste, especially Turtle Beach.
Plus, it's true that Aureal drivers haven't been upgraded in a while, but then again, so what? If you're getting all of the functionality of the card then you're doing great. Everyone knows that A3D 2.0 is gonna take a hit on the CPU no matter what, and there's no way to get around this without having an onbaord processor (Santa Cruz), refined drivers won't make that much of a difference no matter what.

[blppt]

Originally posted by delakhan:
why compare vortex 1 to eax? they're not even the same ballfield. vortex 1 used A3D 1.0, which didn't have wavetracing or other advanced positional. A3D 2.0 uses wavetracing for positioning, and the last drivers released can use EAX extensions for games, and they do work, I use them for Counter Strike. Turtle Beach (the card I have) is still refinng the drivers for their A3D supported products with fully functional W2K drivers.
People, don't forget. Yeah Aureal is dead, but some other companies put a **** load of money into using the Aureal technology. Their not gonna let it go to waste, especially Turtle Beach.
Plus, it's true that Aureal drivers haven't been upgraded in a while, but then again, so what? If you're getting all of the functionality of the card then you're doing great. Everyone knows that A3D 2.0 is gonna take a hit on the CPU no matter what, and there's no way to get around this without having an onbaord processor (Santa Cruz), refined drivers won't make that much of a difference no matter what.

Yes, but who's to say a certain compatibility or performance problem with a particular game wont crop up in the future, and then what are you going to do? ;-)

Also I apologize if it sounded like i was comparing the Vortex1's capabilites with the sblive. I was just comparing the driver support, which of course is nonexistant right now for Aureal. Also, i dont use positional or EAX audio usually anyways, so i cant compare the vortex and sblive that way anyways.

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Pat D.

Visit a music site I write for:
http://members.xoom.com/Awake600

[delakhan]

Originally posted by blppt:
Yes, but who's to say a certain compatibility or performance problem with a particular game wont crop up in the future, and then what are you going to do? ;-)

Also I apologize if it sounded like i was comparing the Vortex1's capabilites with the sblive. I was just comparing the driver support, which of course is nonexistant right now for Aureal. Also, i dont use positional or EAX audio usually anyways, so i cant compare the vortex and sblive that way anyways.

good point
i'm sure 3rd party companies can take care of compatiblity problems, but any Aureal (Vortex) cards are gonna be shot to hell.

[Geforce25]

Originally posted by avion:
I have heard the vortex 2 was superior for 3d sound. Unfortunately the SB live will be/is more compatible?

All I can say is that I picked up a new in the box Vortex 2 for $29

At that price it absolutely wallops the SB-live.

I have them side by side, and frankly the SB-Live with 5 speakers has better 3d Sound than the Vortex with 3. With rear speakers, who knows.

The SB-Live is worthless for 3d sound with only 3 speakers (2+sub-woofer) so I guess the Vortex is the better card.

[Agrippa]

Don't get either, get a Videologic SonicFury/Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or a Terratec DMX. Both are far superior to the Creative cards and as a bonus they have drivers which will install and uninstall properly instead of completely buggering your system!!

Agrippa

[Agrippa]

Don't get either, get a Videologic SonicFury/Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or a Terratec DMX. Both are far superior to the Creative cards and as a bonus they have drivers which will install and uninstall properly instead of completely buggering your system!!

Agrippa

[Agrippa]

Don't get either, get a Videologic SonicFury/Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or a Terratec DMX. Both are far superior to the Creative cards, support every standard under the sun and as a bonus they have drivers which will install and uninstall properly instead of completely buggering your system!!

Agrippa

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