What is difference between "DirectSound" and "DirectSound 3D" (used in games) exactly?!

[Dance123]

Hi,

First of all, what exactly is "DirectSound 3D" (is that the same as DS3D by the way) that is being used in games and how is different from "DirectSound"?! What I was wondering about, if you only have 2 speakers (left/right), will you then hear any difference if you soundcard supports DirectSound 3D or not when playing games?!

 

[ViRGE]

DirectSound 3D is simply the 3D audio extension to the DirectSound standard, that enables games to output very basic 3D sound. In general, this is the order you want to use for sound in games, given what standards your card supports:

EAX 4 > EAX 3/HD > EAX 2 > EAX 1 > A3D > DirectSound 3D > DirectSound(although this is useful if you don't want 3D audio)

 

[Dug]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
DirectSound 3D is simply the 3D audio extension to the DirectSound standard, that enables games to output very basic 3D sound. In general, this is the order you want to use for sound in games, given what standards your card supports:

EAX 4 > EAX 3/HD > EAX 2 > EAX 1 > A3D > DirectSound 3D > DirectSound(although this is useful if you don't want 3D audio)

Where do you think the software 3d implementations fall in that list? I can't remember the name of some of them, but I do remember them sounding better than just directsound 3d. Hit's your cpu harder, but in some games it doesn't matter.

 

[ViRGE]

DirectSound 3D is software most of the time anyhow, so it varies on the card. Unlike pure software implementations, DS3D leaves the HRTF functions(the math that makes 3D sound work) up to the card, so a better card will usually have better sound in DS3D than a cheaper card, even though it's the same spec. In general, I would reccomend software only for when you have a crappy sound solution.