Driver-update: nVidia nForce Audio 4.31

Op de site van nVidia zijn nieuwe nForce Audio-drivers gepubliceerd. De stuurprogramma's zijn bedoeld voor moederborden met een nForce-chipset die werken op een Windows XP- of Windows 2000-systeem. nVidia heeft de update het nummer 4.31 meegegeven en zijn hier neer te halen. Uit de release notes blijkt dat er hard gewerkt is aan deze versie; niet alleen zijn er verbeteringen aangebracht op het gebied van games, maar ook de support van media-applicaties is verbeterd. Daarnaast zijn ook de geluidseffecten onder handen genomen:

Release Notes

• This is a release package of nForce Audio drivers for 32-bit Windows 2000 and XP systems.
• This package includes support for all nForce Audio technologies. This includes:
  • APU / SoundStorm
  • AC '97 / Soft Audio
  • NVMixer
• Supported products for this package include:
  • nForce 220, nForce 220D, nForce 415 and nForce 420D
  • nForce2 and nForce2 400
  • nForce2 Ultra and nForce2 Ultra 400
  • nForce2 400R and nForce2 Ultra 400Gb
  • nForce3 150 and nForce3 PRO 150
  • nForce3 250, nForce3 250Gb and nForce3 PRO 250
• The following Operating Systems are supported in this release:
  • Windows XP
  • Windows 2000
• There is no support for Windows XP 64-bit or Windows 2003 Server 64-bit systems in this package.
• These drivers are an interim release. There may be performance and/or stability issues.
• Installation of DirectX 9.0 or higher is required prior to the installation of this package.
• NVMixer operates best when run at 1024x768 16-bit color.
• NVMixer now supports speaker mode balance hot keys:
  • Control + mouse drag = moves related sliders together
  • Shift + mouse drag = moves front and rear sliders together
  • Mouse drag = moves only the highlighted slider

Driver Versions

• Audio driver 4.31
• Audio utilities 4.31

Changes
The items below are additions or modifications incorporated since driver version 3.66:

• Introduced NVMixer – replaces SoundStorm Control Panel for all audio configuration tasks
• Introduced improved AC ’97 / Soft Audio driver – adds EQ, speaker cloning, and speaker wizard support
• Introduced Speaker Wizard – incorporates all NVSwap features, ensures correct speaker setup on analog or digital speaker systems
• Introduced Cinesurround – virtual 5.1 mixdown to headphones or 2 speakers
• Introduced new Environments – simple, preset driven sound environments
• Enhanced ASIO support and added support for AC ’97 / Soft Audio systems
• Added user adjustable “rear channel creation” support – adds off, clone, reverb and delay
• Added support for Realtek ALC655 codecs
• Added 7.1 support for Realtek ALC850 codecs
• Added support for Realtek ALC658 codecs
• Added support for WMV-HD audio streams and WaveFormatExtensible calls
• Improved playback of mono content
• Removed “create center channel” option for 2D audio sources
• Removed “rear channel cloning” for Microsoft KMixer audio sources
• Games and applications fixed or improved:
  • Conan
  • Soldier of Fortune 2
  • Rallisport Challenge
  • Battlefield 1942
  • Acid Pro 4.0
  • WinDVD 4.0
  • Sonar 2.0
  • Hitman 2
  • Halo
  • Project 5
  • Tron 2.0
  • Enter the Matrix
  • No One Lives Forever 2
  • Samplitude
  • Quake 3
• Rear speaker cloning now works only with software that supports DirectSound hardware options. The following applications have been tested with the cloning feature on Windows XP:
  • Windows Media Player 9 – cloning supported
  • Winamp 5.02 – cloning supported
  • Winamp 2.91 – cloning supported with modifications*
  • RealPlayer 10 – cloning supported
  • Quicktime 6.3 – cloning supported
  • DivX Player 2.53 – cloning supported
  • Musicmatch Jukebox 8.20 – stereo only
  • Windows Media Player 8 – stereo only

* Requires manually setting the sound device to "DirectSound Hardware Acceleration" for cloning to work.