What does it take to get EAX effects in Windows 7?

[Ronin13]

As far as I understand, EAX (and hardware accelerated 3D environmental sound) died quite some time ago, and isn't really supported in OSs newer than Win XP (?).

But say you want to replay old EAX titles (like Baldur's Gate, Diablo II, Thief, NOLF, KotOR, etc) in Windows 7 on a 2.0 or 2.1 speaker set-up - will you just get basic stereo, losing all EAX effects, or is there some way you can still get your EAX, emulated or otherwise?

If so, what hardware/software is required?

Specifically, will an on-board Realtek ALC892 do it?

Will a Sound Blaster Z do it?

Can the ASUS Xonar DSX do it? (It has 'GX2.5 for realistic 3D gaming audio effectsts' - does this make an old EAX title sound similar to how it did with a Sound Blaster card in Win XP, or is it for something else?)

And what about speakers with their own DAC (like B&W MM-1's ADAU1761 or Audioengine 2+'s TI Burr Brown PCM2704), is there any way to experience the EAX effects in your old games with those?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Creative Alchemy.

It basically emulates EAX and allows their newer cards to run games with those effects enabled. You need a Sound Blaster card to run it.

http://support.creative.com/downloa...?nLanguageLocale=1033&filename=sb0570&nPage=1

Why is Creative ALchemy necessary?

As part of a major re-architecture of the audio subsystem from Windows Vista™ and above, Microsoft has made the radical decision to remove the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for DirectSound and DirectSound3D. The HAL is the layer found on earlier Windows Operating Systems that enabled an audio accelerator such as the Sound Blaster to provide DirectSound3D applications with hardware-accelerated audio.

Creative ALchemy allows Sound Blaster owners to run their favorite DirectSound3D games and experience them as game developers have intended from Windows Vista™ and above - with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support. This is achievable by translating DirectSound3D into OpenAL calls.

Is this caused by a driver issue?

This is not a driver issue, and cannot be fixed with a simple driver update. The DirectSound Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) has been removed from the Windows Vista™ OS onwards.

I have Windows XP or 2000. Do I need Creative ALchemy?

No, Creative ALchemy is not necessary on these operating systems as the DirectSound HAL is present. It is used for playing DirectSound3D games from Windows Vista and above.

I have a game that supports OpenAL. Do I need to use Creative ALchemy?

No, OpenAL has direct access to our hardware and does not require the ALchemy wrapper.

 

[Gryz]

I believe you need to install OpenAL.
OpenAL will simulate/emulate all EAX soundeffects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAL

I might be wrong. It's been a long time since I looked at this.
I have it installed on my system at the moment. I think I did that a few years ago, when I decided to replay Thief 1. I think I remember that it actually worked. In Thief 1 you can switch EAX on and off through the menus, and it did seem to make a difference.

 

[Anteaus]

EAX died when Microsoft stopped allowing low level driver access beginning with Vista, which was a good thing. If you have a Sound Blaster you can use Creative Alchemy which provides an OpenAL wrapper for EAX titles. Not every game is supported but most of the major titles are. I have no idea it will work with non-Creative hardware, but I'm guessing no.

I think the ASUS Xonar is based on Creative hardware so it might work.

http://support.creative.com/kb/showarticle.aspx?sid=28967

 

[tidy]

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[cmdrdredd]

I've never had problems getting Alchemy to work. It's done what it was supposed to do in every game I tried it with.

 

[tidy]

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[Ronin13]

Thanks for the replies. When researching this, I did find mention of Alchemy - and how it wasn't a perfect fix (but good to hear it's worked for you, cmdrdredd. Which SB card did it work with?).

So in conclusion: A SB card + Alchemy for a shot at EAX in Vista+, no real shot at EAX from a Xonar's GX2.5, with on-board audio or with the DACs in USB speakers?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Have you ever really listened to it critically? I guess for a lot of people who just want to 'hear some reverbs' it might 'work', but I've always found it to be unacceptably buggy. I've seen plenty of "X game with EAX working" videos on youtube where EAX is clearly not working properly, but they don't seem to notice. I'm trying to think back to last year, when I last tried to use ALchemy on F.E.A.R. I know I drew the same conclusion that I always have; that it was a lost cause. From memory there were positional anomalies, random pops/clicks, inappropriate effects being applied to certain sounds, and sounds being terminated prematurely when crossing thresholds between EAX 'zones'. Although to be fair, most of those issues could just as well be general EAX problems, not specifically ALchemy.

I played fear using it actually and don't remember anything like that. Really though the reason I used it is to get 5.1 instead of stereo in the games that need it. I haven't played a game that needs it in years though.


OP: I have used it with an XFI card and it also works on my motherboard using creative XFI mb2 software. Basically a cmedia chip with creative software. A few boards from Asus and gigabyte use it, probably others too. If I had a board with an open PCI slot I would just use a sound card that has Dolby digital live so I could get positional audio to my astro mix amp pro for when i have to use a headset. Mostly though I run pcm via hdmi to an a/v receiver so I bypass the sound card entirely. As for alchemy it only works with creative products.

 

[Ronin13]

^ Thanks.

I really enjoyed playing the first Thief when it came out, with EAX and a 4.1 setup, but I think my multichannel days are behind me.

Veering somewhat off topic, but assuming I can live without the environmental effects when dungeon crawling in Baldur's Gate, what kind of sound solution would you guys recommend for some casual gaming, music, etc, considering a decent 2.0 speaker set-up?

The motherboard I'm considering for a new build comes with Realtek ALC892, but I've been looking for possible upgrades, like the SB Z (or my old X-Fi Extreme Gamer), Xonar DSX or some USB speakers like those mentioned in the OP (B&W MM-1 with an ADAU1761 DAC or Audioengine 2+ with a TI Burr Brown PCM2704 DAC).

Thoughts on any of these?

 

[sxr7171]

^ Thanks.

I really enjoyed playing the first Thief when it came out, with EAX and a 4.1 setup, but I think my multichannel days are behind me.

Veering somewhat off topic, but assuming I can live without the environmental effects when dungeon crawling in Baldur's Gate, what kind of sound solution would you guys recommend for some casual gaming, music, etc, considering a decent 2.0 speaker set-up?

The motherboard I'm considering for a new build comes with Realtek ALC892, but I've been looking for possible upgrades, like the SB Z (or my old X-Fi Extreme Gamer), Xonar DSX or some USB speakers like those mentioned in the OP (B&W MM-1 with an ADAU1761 DAC or Audioengine 2+ with a TI Burr Brown PCM2704 DAC).

Thoughts on any of these?

Definitely USB DAC to studio monitors. Preferably with active crossovers and multiamping.

 

[motsm]

Slightly off topic, but Thief 1 and 2 have a fan made engine update that allows the games to be played easily on modern operating systems, and both games have been updated to use OpenAL, so Alchemy isn't needed anymore. I played through both games on Windows 7 and an X-Fi using the patch, and EAX worked great.

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141148

 

[Ronin13]

Thanks for the info on Thief.

Edit: I realise my sound/speaker question is getting off-topic, so I posted a new question over here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=37467010#post37467010

 

[Gryz]

Slightly off topic, but Thief 1 and 2 have a fan made engine update that allows the games to be played easily on modern operating systems, and both games have been updated to use OpenAL, so Alchemy isn't needed anymore.

Ah, that explains why an old game like Thief worked with OpenAL without any problems. I was thinking, Thief is from 1998, so OpenAL should just work with all old games then. Maybe not.