Op het forum van Creative Labs heeft gebruiker daniel_k enige tijd geleden een nieuwe versie van zijn SB Audigy Series Support Pack geplaatst, met 3.7 als versienummer. Dit pakket bevat de nodige drivers en applicaties voor Sound Blaster-geluidskaarten die zijn uitgerust met een Emu10kx-DSP, zoals de Audigy, Audigy 2 en Audigy 4. De beknopte aankondiging ziet er als volgt uit:
Included in the pack:(*) Purchase and activation required, more info at http://buy.soundblaster.com.
- Audigy series driver 2.18.0011.10 (latest beta)
- ALchemy 1.41.02
- Audio Console 1.32.04
- DDL and DTS Connect License Activation 2.00.03 (*)
- Dolby Digital Live Pack 3.00.03 (*)
- DTS Connect Pack 1.68.75 [modified 1.03.04] (*)
- EAX Console 3.00.56 (Windows XP only)
- Graphic Equalizer 2.00.65
- MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.78
- SoundFont Bank Manager 3.21.02
- Speaker Settings 2.00.60
- THX Setup Console 2.10.43 (Windows XP only)
Does this driver improve sound quality or performance? Are there any tweaks?
No, this driver does not improve sound quality nor increase performance. No, there are no tweaks. If someone states that its driver improves sound quality and performance, you are being fooled, cheated. It is even worse that the so called tweaks come from a person who is not EVEN technically acknowledged, does NOT know anything about Windows internals, software engineering and sound fidelity that all audiophiles always look for. If you "feel" the sound better, that is the infamous placebo effect and there is no real proof that any tweaks work. In fact, I have yet to see a driver that states in its release notes that it improves sound quality. I've disassembled about every single .SYS driver, .DLL libraries and .EXE executables and found nothing. There are some undocumented registry values, but nothing related to sound quality or performance. Would the so called tweaks even exist, they would be in my Support Packs, you can bet that.
Fixes and improvements:Undocumented fixes by Creative (not listed in the release notes):
- Fixes Windows crash (BSOD) when you restart, shutdown or suspend Windows with Encoder activated.
- Fixes high CPU usage when DTS Interactive encoder is enabled on Windows XP/Server2003.
- Fix the EAX Console installation error on Windows XP/Server2003.
- Removes the Microsoft Audio Home Theater Effects to (try to) fix the static issue when playing audio using DirectSound interface.
- Adds WaveRT interfaces for Windows 7/Vista
- DTS Interactive encoder now works on Windows XP without any tricks.
- Fixes a cosmetic issue on Audio Console, encoder status now says DTS Interactive.
- Readds support for 64-bit OpenAL and 64-bit ASIO.
- Fixes Microphone not available on Audigy1 cards on Windows 7 / Vista.
- Enables support for WASAPI exclusive-mode event-driven playback, seems to be working just fine.
- Fixes the enhancements errors in Windows mixer and Windows Media Player.
- Adds Microsoft Audio Home Theather Effects for both Speakers and S/PDIF Out endpoints.
- Includes Encoder Switcher to enable DTS Interactive on Audigy cards.
- Fixes the Audio Console "Internal application error" when enabling the DDL Encoder on localized installs.
- Updates Audio Console to display DTS Interactive in the Encoder tab when Encoder switcher is used.
- Workarounds a bug that unexpectedly resets the speaker configuration.
- Prevents an issue during installation on Windows 7/Vista that may result in low volume when certain enhancements are enabled.
- Implements Hardware CMSS Headphone by using a workaround.
- Updates all InstallShield setup scripts to support Windows 7.
- Fixes installation INI to properly install applications depending on the detected OS.
- Removes COM workaround for Equalizer, fixed by Creative.
- Adds workaround to a memory corruption issue preventing Equalizer from starting on Windows 7/Vista.
- Updates shared modules, responsiveness on certain applications is improved.
- Enables CMSS2 and Stereo Surround.
- Fixes 32-bit ASIO not working on Windows 7 x64.
- Fixes Encoder not available on Windows 7 x64 (related to fix above).
- Sets default speaker setting to 5.1 to properly reset configs to their defaults during install (fixes Bass and Treble leves not set to 50% on Windows 7 / Vista).
- Fixes the 6.1 speaker configuration is incorrectly available on Windows 7 64-bit (documented).
- Fixes the Enable Dolby Digital Live checkbox not staying checked when Audio Console is closed.
- Fixes Equalizer Out of Memory error.
- Fixes Equalizer settings being lost on Windows 7 / Vista when speaker configuration is changed.
- Fixes low volume on Windows 7 / Vista when default format is set to anything higher than 16-bit, 48kHz.
- Fixes MIDI instruments in Melodic Pool not playing when speaker setting is higher than 2.1 speakers.
- Restores missing Microphone option in Surround Mixer (documented).
- Fixes Microphone mute, volume and +20db boost controls.
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