I HATE CREATIVE!!!!!

[franklinz]

just when i had my audigy 2 working flawlessly on my new setup i had to reformat my harddrive due to a virus.
after i reinstalled xp everything went smooth, i updated all the drivers for the mobo, graphics card, everything.


......then came the drivers for the sound blaster audigy 2........
it went good at first, fairly straightforward, then i go to play my T2 ultimate edition to check to see if the "5.1" decoding is there (previous attempts left me with horrible 4.0 surround) and low and behold it wasnt there. (this is the 3rd time its happened)
EVERYTHING on the computer is set for 5.1, ive calibrated the speakers, ive set 5.1 in both the audioHQ and control panel, ive selected 5.1 surround for the movie itself, and my speakers pass the channel test (computer plays a confirmation through each speaker)
its just when i play movies i do not get the ADVERTISED 5.1 surround, or decoding.
like i said before i had it working before, true 5.1 seperation withouth CMSS (BULL$HIT) activated. very good sound for the time being.
i have tried every single driver/driver combination possible, even the betas still no true 5.1!!!!
IF ANYBODY READS THIS THAT IS REMOTELY RELATED TO ANYONE WORKING OR KNOWS ANYBODY AT CREATIVE, GET BENT!!!!
this is my second and DEFINITELY MOST DEFINITELY last creative purchase, i will never reccommend this product to anybody i know.
I HATE YOU CREATIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!
franklinz
p.s. are their any other good cards with a true 5.1 seperation (no vocals playing on anything but the center... etc.)??

[originel]

i don't really know enough about 5.1 to help you with your problem. i didn't know that vocals were supposed to be center only. why is that anyways, doesn't that defeat the purpose of "surround" sound? anyways...if you want a good card that isn't creative i would recommend the m-audio revolution. i saw it at compusa the other day for $100, and it supports up to 7.1 sound. and did i mention that it's made by m-audio? and that it's $100?

AFAIK as far as games go, games are 4.0 only as it is. and i'm positive that EAX and A3D are 4.0, not 5.1. in fact that's why i got a 4.0 speaker setup for my comp since AFAIK the first PC game that will support 5.1 is going to be Doom III.

[MD1032]

Can I have an english translation of the above? BTW, I have an SBLive and it's a fine card.

[rastorize]

The M-Audio Revolution 7.1 is a good card...in fact there's a review on it in the latest edition of Maximum PC. It supposedly has incredibly clean sound quality...better than the Audigy.

However, be warned that this card lacks a DSP and relies on the processor, which brings down frame rates in games...10-20% drop in frames in many current games - who knows how bad of hit you'll get in future games like Doom 3 if you've got a weak proc. They recommend the card for musicians and audiophiles...not really gamers.

Hercules makes a pretty decent card and breakout box, the Game Theater XP

[franklinz]

Originally posted by originel
i don't really know enough about 5.1 to help you with your problem. i didn't know that vocals were supposed to be center only. why is that anyways, doesn't that defeat the purpose of "surround" sound? anyways...if you want a good card that isn't creative i would recommend the m-audio revolution. i saw it at compusa the other day for $100, and it supports up to 7.1 sound. and did i mention that it's made by m-audio? and that it's $100?

AFAIK as far as games go, games are 4.0 only as it is. and i'm positive that EAX and A3D are 4.0, not 5.1. in fact that's why i got a 4.0 speaker setup for my comp since AFAIK the first PC game that will support 5.1 is going to be Doom III.

the center channel is basically like the work horse of the surround sound speakers, it plays close to everything in movies, only the dialog from the main person on screen should be coming out of the center channel, not from both front speakers.
the only time the other speakers should be playing vocals are when someones approximately in that area in the movie/game.

when (and i mean when! lol) the card works, it offers superb sound and seperation from the other speakers.

but the sound is outweighed by its lack of quality drivers, and host of BS add-on programs.

im calling creative's customer support monday night, and im giving them the ultimatum of walking me through step by step on fixing the 5.1 decoding or i will seek some other way of getting my money back from such a shady company.
if they advertise 5.1 decoding then it should be there, if its not then they falsely advertised this product.
franklinz

[originel]

well i'll tell you right now that they've falsely advertised stuff like that for a long time...for example: neither card is 24-bit, it's just the DACs that are 24-bit...everything else is 16-bit so it really doesn't have as much effect.

i understand why you're frustrated, but don't expect to get anything from creative. most sound on computers is not 5.1 and so is simply distributed between the left and right speakers , so you're not going to get 5.1 all the time anyways, and they will use this as an explanation. good luck, but don't expect anything.

[Brainchild]

I had an old ISA SB and it was a nice old card, but the 128SB didn't like to play well with my VIA MOBO.I stay away from SB cards as a rule

Can't help with a recommendation though

[thronka]

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.. 'nuff said!

[VERT]

I thought this would be a thread complaining about Creative's zero (0) customer service, thankfully I have managed to completely remove all Creative product from both my systems now.

[wallie_x]

New system? Did you build this system yourself? It may not be the SB-Drivers at all, but another problem. What 5.1 speakers are we refering to? And what media player? There are so many other possible scenarios, I don't think anyone could realistically help you unless we get a run down of what's in your system. And are you positive your system had a virus? What if its a hardware problem that mimicked a virus? Did you re-enable digital transfer for your DVD or CD-ROM in the device manager? And make sure its set to 'UDMA' transferrate if available?