Help Audigy (2 ZS)!: If "EAX effects" are enabled, will I only hear them in games or will they affect everything?!..

[Dance123]

Hi,

I need some info regarding the Audigy 2 ZS settings. I am rather confused about those EAX effects in the EAX Console. If you enable them, will they only become active when a certain game asks for them or will they be active all the time, meaning that you will hear them on everything, like when playing audio or video files with Windows Media Player, making music in Cubase SX,..

How does that work with those EAX effects, as I only would like to hear them if a game asks for it and not on anything else like when I play audio/video files (mp3, avi, mpeg, etc..) or when I making music in Cubase SX, etc.. Does that mean you have to go to the EAX console and enable/disable them all the time depending whether you play a game or want to play audio/video files or make music, etc.. How does that work exactly?!

Thank in advance for all good feedback!

Cheers,

Mike.

 

[joecool]

hmm, really good question. i just got an audigy2 zs and the wealth of settings is cool but overwhelming and not well explained anywhere. anybody have an answer to this one?

 

[zephyrprime]

Only in games unless you select an effect like "auditorium". They're pretty useless so just leave them off. A game will still be able to use them as needed.

EAX is environmental audio. It simulates the effects on sound produced by being in different physical environments - e.g. being outdoors, indoors, underground, etc. People and things sound different when they are in a underground cave than they do when they are outdoors. They sound different when they are in a concrete building than they do when they are in a wooden building. Environmental audio recreates these differences for games. Without it environmental audio, sound has a flat sound-room quality in games.

Since videos are recorded in a physically simulated environment (the studio set), they don't need EA or they have EA put into them already by the SFX guys at the movie studio. Music, on the other hand, is usuallys supposed to have the clean sound-room sound to it so EA is also useless there.

 

[Dance123]

Hi,

I am still very much confused about how to setup those EAX effects. If you go to the EAX console and choose effects you can make settings for Environment, Special FX, Advanced EQ, Custom, Studio and Karaoke. Now, how do you have to set those things up to only hear them in the games that need them and not on anything else?! Why is "auditorium" that was mentioned global and other effects not, etc..

Could anybody please explain those EAX effect settings a bit more in depth cause I don't understand anything about how those EAX effects work and when if on, what they affect and what not?! All very confusing.. Thanks very much to anybody who can clarify this!!

 

[Demo24]

you enalbe EAX for games in the games audio properties. in just regualr windows listneing to music you cna play around with the EAx console. htough the effects you use in windows will not be the ones in the game. like if you have a echoy effect for music it wont do that in the game

 

[Dance123]

Hi,

1/ So if I understand it right, ALL the effect settings that you make in the "EAX Console" have nothing to do with how EAX will sound in games, but only in general windows apps like I suppose Windows Media Player, Winamp and those kind of things, is that correct?!

2/ So if I want to have effects in games but not in anything else, I should simply disable everything in the EAX console?! So even with all settings in the EAX console disabled, EAX will work in games somehow, is it like that?!

3/ And if you want EAX effects in games, this "games audio properties" that was mentioned, what exactly is that?! Is that something you set in Windows XP for all/certain games?! I don't have XP yet, therefore my question? What are "games audio properties"?!

4/ oh, in the EAX Console you also have other settings like "CMSS 3D" etc.. if you enable/disable it, will this have impact on general windows apps or games or both?!

I hope somebody can answer the above questions! Thanks!!

 

[TheBoy]

1 Yes
2 I dont think what you select in the EAX options has any effect during a game, not sure though, never had a reason to try it
3 Some games use EAX, not all, which can be enabled in the options in the game
4 CMSS is to convert any audio output to 5.1 sound. If you turn it on it's on all the time, in Windows and in games

 

[Dance123]

So the game itself should have an option in the game to set EAX, it's not like WinXP has a "games audio properties" menu somewhere?!

By the way, how do you know if a game uses EAX or not (perhaps not all games let you set it and simply activate it when they detect an Audigy?). Is this info on the box with a logo or something?!

Anybody by any chance know if the games from EASports like FIFA, NBA Live and Pro Evolution Soccer use EAX or not. These are the main games I want to play, and if it doesn't need EAX anyway, I could aswell get a better soundcard like M-Audio Audiophile.

Thanks again for the info!!

 

[Schadenfroh]

CMSS makes it sound like poop, leave it disabled