Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
functionality. This change meant that Windows Vista and Windows 7 no longer support
DirectX 3D audio.
Fortunately,anewopen-source3DAPIenablesWindowsVistaandWindows7toprovide
accelerated 3D audio for games written for DirectX 9 and earlier versions. OpenAL was
originally developed as a joint venture between Creative Labs and the now-defunct Loki
Software to help port Windows games to Linux distros. As the name suggests, OpenAL
is an open-source 3D audio API that is available for Windows 7 and earlier versions,
MacOS X, and Linux, and is supported by many popular games and game engines.
OpenALissupportednativelyonSoundBlasterAudigyandX-Ficards,andrunsinasoft-
ware mode on other cards. To learn more about OpenAL, see the OpenAL website at
ht-
Tip
Because of the changes in 3D audio in Windows Vista and Windows 7, many sound cards
designed for DirectX 9 lose most of their 3D functionality when playing games that use Dir-
ectX 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 cards and add-on hardware, download and install the latest version of
Creative ALchemy from
www.creative.com/soundblaster/alchemy/
.
For custom settings for
some games, see
http://connect.creativelabs.com/alchemy/Lists/Games/AllItems.aspx
.
ForsoundcardsbasedonRealtekcodecs,downloadandinstall3DSoundbackfromtheReal-
tek 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
