Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
designed for DirectX 9 lose most of their 3D functionality when playing games that use
DirectX DirectSound 3D. To restore full 3D functionality for a wide variety of games, you can
download programs collectively known as DirectSound wrappers. For a variety of Creative
Labs SoundBlaster Audigy and X-Fi cards, download and install the latest version of Creative
ALchemy from
http://connect.creativelabs.com/alchemy/ALchemy/Home.aspx
.
For custom
settings for some games, see
For sound cards based on Realtek codecs, download and install 3D Soundback from the
Realtek website (
www.realtek.com.tw
)
.
The most common 3D audio effects standard on both integrated audio and sound cards is
environmental audio extensions (EAX), which was originally developed by Creative Labs. HD
Audio and most AC'97 integrated audio and non-Creative Labs sound cards support EAX 1.0 and
EAX 2.0, which were released as public specifications by Creative Labs. However, EAX 3.0, EAX
HD 4.0, and EAX HD 5.0 support is exclusive to recent cards from Creative Labs and Auzentech
(which also uses Creative audio processors).
Table 13.1
compares the major features of EAX
versions.
Table 13.1. EAX Features by Version
Creative now recommends use of the open-source OpenAL 3D API for both 3D positioning and sound
effects.
Legacy Audio Support Through Virtualization
What about legacy software users? If you still enjoy playing MS-DOS-based games, then current
audio adapters, chipsets, and integrated audio solutions still might present a compatibility challenge
to you because of fundamental hardware differences between the Industry Standard Architecture
(ISA) expansion slots used by classic Creative Labs and other sound cards and current audio
hardware, which uses PCI or PCIe slots, chipsets, and integrated audio.
At one time, the only way to achieve reliable audio compatibility with legacy games was to use a
legacy OS such as MS-DOS 6.x (with Windows 3.1 if needed) and a Sound Blaster Pro-compatible
ISA audio card. Some early PCI audio sound cards provided fairly good emulation of the Sound
Blaster Pro but required additional audio drivers or proprietary patch cables to provide emulation.
Modern audio hardware is geared toward supporting Windows and often is not capable of providing
legacy audio support if a legacy application is run directly in Windows XP or later.
