imperialreignActually, when MS was first beginning work on Vista, they did plan to have DirectSound. They were actually working closely with both Creative and nVidia to incorporate an improved version for hardware access and other low-level chores. For whatever reason, late into the game, nVidia backed out, and soon after MS dropped the project altogether - I've yet to hear what happened, and who was at fault for this EPIC FAIL - and MS went ahead without DirectSound. They used the lame BS excuse that they were cutting the feature because the majority of system crashes in XP were due to software trying to access the audio kernel (reason I say BS is because I've never seen an audio-related BSoD in XP, and have never seen anyone else complain of a BSoD that turned out to be audio related). Either way, it left Creative with about 6 months to completely re-write their early Vista drivers, for an OS design they were not originally designing for. Big reason why their Vista beta drivers didn't release until about 1 month before Vista's release.

And I defi agree on the OAL point - Only Creative and Auzen properly support the API. ASUS, HT, C-Media and every other audio manufacturer need to get off their arse and start getting involved with the project. The only thing ASUS has been doing with OAL is using it to gain "backdoor" access for EAX3+ support (their "EAX" software operates nearly the same as Creative's ALchemy).

imperialreignYeah, and even for those cards that do support OAL perfectly fine - there's also issues on the software side . . . some media programs are still having issues in Vista . . . and we need to see more software dev support with OAL as well.

TBH, I'm glad the audio industry is moving to PCI-E, as that has really cleared up a lot of audio clipping problems related to the PCI BUS, and the fact that most modern hardware is extremelly heavy on the SYS BUS. The increased bandwidth with PCI-E allows the card to send and recieve more info per clock cycle, and that's a major bonus with some processing heavy audio cards.

But, we need to see more audio manufacturers start going to native PCIE, instead of relying on the translators. As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, it adds latency to the audio processing stream, and that's not exactly something you want in regards to audio. TBH, I've kinda felt it's a bit of a joke from all the audio manufacturers . . . everyone has gotten wrapped up with the SNR war, and keep stouting they have the best audio quality - but are using poor design architecture (even Creative were guilty of this with their first PCIE card).

imperialreignBTW - if you're experiencing a lot of EMI noise, you could attempt some DIY fixes. It's a hard noise to get rid of, but there are some things that might clean it up - if the noise is being induced from the local environment . . . if the card is picking up noise via the SYS BUS, there's not too much you can do :ohwell:

pjladyfox[snip] since I'm really getting tired of the humming I hear in my headphones from EM noise.

RejZoRWell, i know ADI (Analog Devices) supports native OpenAL. Not sure about Realtek...

Wile EIt supports it in software. The cpu still does all the work. Creative is the only manufacturer that makes true hardware accelerated DSPs.

Wile EYou could always just attempt to build a simple emi sheild for your current card. Shouldn't be too hard to manage, and would be a hell of a lot cheaper to do than buy a new card.

TAViXInteresting. How do you do that??

imperialreignIt's an APU, dag-nabbit! :p

imperialreignThere's a few different methods - probably the most basic would be to use some aluminum foil and fold it over on itself 3-4 times, making sure it's about the same L and W of the card, and a little bit longer at the PCI bracket so you can attach it there. You'll need to find some way to support the "shield" from the other components on the card . . . thermal pads, double layered duct tape, folded up electrical tape, rubber washers tapped onto the shield, etc.

It's looks a little barbaric, but it works.


Another idea would be to use the outer casing from an old HDD. Makes for an excellent shield. Little bit harder to attach to the card, though, and you might have to use a small piece of wire to connect the shield to the PCI bracket.

RejZoRAny idea when these will be available in Europe? They were suppose to be available in March but it's mid April now and i haven't seen a single one in any of our stores. And i want one now because i can't stand the rotten Xonar anymore.

RejZoRIt's rubbish, that's what it is. And i don't want to see it anymore. BSOD after BSOD and when i think i just managed to patch it i get a BSOD. Fuck that. I threw it out and i'll sell it as soon as i can.
Sound was good when it worked. But that was all gone when i swapped HD4870 for HD5850.

So, do you have any idea when will Titanium HD cards be available?

RejZoRI know, but i'd prefer the Creative one.

Wile EReally? The Auzen cards are built better, and less people have been complaining about the drivers than the typical Creative card. But hey, to each their own I suppose.