Now that Aureal is gone :(, how is Creative's EAX?

[DO97]

I'm a die hard A3D fan. And I know someday my Aureal Vortex 2 is going to cease to function. That means no more A3D. How does EAX compare to A3D? Thanks in advance.

dave

 

[LXi]

EAX is environmental sound, cannot exactly be described as 3D sound. It sure doesnt have the capabilities A3D has, but it has its own advantages. In games that supports A3D you'll notice the difference(only if you have a very nice 4 speaker set), in games support EAX, you probably wont hear that much of a difference. If you're worried about future support, or if you're going to use Win2K, the Live! is probably your only bet.

 

[DO97]

Thanks.

Does anyone know if someone will pick up A3D technology and keep it alive? I hope so!

dave

 

[SUOrangeman]

I think we all need to look at A3D in another perspective.

Does it do everything we need it to do right now? In some cases, the answer is yes. If a Vortex2-based card does everything you need it to do today and you have no problems, then this is the best time to move to that platform.

I own an MX300 and I know thatnot everyone has had the best luck with Vortex 2 cards. Maybe it's because of the beta Win2K drivers from Aureal. Or it could be the "problems" with the 2048 drivers in ME. Chances are that those situations may never get fixed. But, if that doesn't apply, go buy ... now! I saw the MX300 for $27 a few moments ago on PriceGrabber.

-SUO

 

[Soccerman]

When did Aureal say they were gone? they are simply reorganizing.

In any case, I just want to give Creative a smack for doing what they did against Aureal. If it weren't for Creative taking Aureal to court which made them lose alot or money, We might have the SQ3500 right now.

YES A3D 2.0 is better then EAX. A3D 3.0 is currently available and has the ability to do Dolby Digital within games etc.

The only problem I have with the Aureal Vortex is, that for some reason the Midi is kindof screwed up... I'll have to do more testing to see if it's not just a problem on Winamp...

 

[DataFly]

I would wait to see what nVidia produces (they "hired" several Aureal employees) before buying a Live! if I were you. It will probably be better than EAX.

I'm never giving Creative any of my $$ again...:|

 

[DataFly]

DDP:|

 

[Soccerman]

nVidia's going to make soundcards???

oh shoot, I remember one time I figured out the perfect company to buy Aureal (not like it's going to happen anytime soon...)

 

[JellyBaby]

<< they &quot;hired&quot; several Aureal employees >>

That's a polite way of putting it. I heard nvidia violated an agreement with aureal, ignored their nda and snatched up some of their best people. Of course aureal couldn't sue because they were in deep sh|t.

 

[LXi]

<<When did Aureal say they were gone? they are simply reorganizing.>>

I dont think they're reorgonizing anymore. They've closed their web site and every operation. And there will be no future support for their soundcards whatsoever. They'll probably file Chapter 7 soon.

 

[Vrangel]

A little link to cheer you up:
http://www.aureal.com/newa3d/index.asp

As you can see their website is back .

 

[LXi]

Ok, looks like they're still there. So there is still a chance that they will come back.

 

[HellRaven]

Vrangel when I go to that page the top frame loads then the bottom frame gives me a 404 not found message. You SURE they are still around?

 

[AMDJunkie]

It works, looks like somethings wrong at your end.

 

[DO97]

The website works for me! And I'm getting the latest A3D drivers. I hope they come back in full swing or someone buys Aureal and keeps A3D alive.

dave