Gaming

It's all about positioning

Gamers know that when it comes to hunting down the opposition, being one step ahead of the game is the difference between winning and coming up with lame excuses. In situations like these, hearing where your opponents and teammates are can help you coordinate your tactics efficiently.

Some users will still claim that Aureal does a better job in this category, but the Audigy is no slouch either. It builds on Microsoft's DirectSound3D using its EAX Advanced HD but doesn't include an equivalent to Aureal's proprietary HRTF functions.

HRTF (head related transfer functions) are algorithms that manipulate the sound wave in accordance to how it would sound if it reached the ear from different positions in space. Scientists place a microphone into the inner ear and create a model of how a sound wave changes as it travels from the source into the inner ear, taking into account the physical shape of the ear and position of the actual hearing organ itself; it then measure how sound distorts by traveling through and past the ear tissue and noggin. By creating an interaural model, sounds can be played that simulate these same conditions inside a game and the brain is tricked into believing that the sound is coming from somewhere else other than the speakers.

Creative approached things differently and decided that the generic HRTF functions used by DirectSound3D were more than enough to meet the needs of 3D sound positioning. It's highly probable that Creative didn't see the need to develop its own HRTF model simply because attempting to create a more accurate one would in turn introduce inaccuracies elsewhere. This is because all our heads and ears are unique to us individually, so no single model can fit perfectly.

True 3D Moves

Aureal's A3D technology was well ahead of its time, with advanced features like true reflections and occlusions that were accurate to what was being displayed on the monitor. The trick with A3D was that it actually used the 3D geometry information of the game world to determine where sounds should be placed and how they should interact. While this method was undeniably accurate, it was a toll on performance since massive amounts of data were being sent through the PCI bus.

With rocketing 3D graphics performance, Creative definitely saw this as a slippery slope, and decided not to implement wavetracing in its cards. Instead, it relegated all HRTF functions to DirectSound3D's default features and concentrated their efforts elsewhere. This is because HRTFs are only one part of a 3D sound solution (required only when headphones or stereo speakers were used), and other aspects such as ordered reflections and occlusions play a pivotal role in the entire experience. With the new EAX Advanced HD, occlusions and reflections are now implemented in a Creative Labs card. The Audigy will wrap its EAX AHD schemes on top of DS3D, aiming to provide gamers with a more immersive experience.

What it all comes down to is hearing

When using Aureal A3D-based cards , 3D positioning appeared to be more accurately placed in space, and sound more convincing than on the Audigy. Even Creative admits to this, but it still insists that gamers will experience an overall richer sound environment on the Audigy than on the Live! or other competing cards.

When tested for EAX quality, there was no question about it; the Audigy was the best performer in this category. Sound fields were projected cleaner and richer than with the Live, GTXP. Or Vortex. This is most likely due to better (native) EAX implementation on the Audigy, which also handled multiple audio streams better than the other two cards.

We still miss the raw precision of Aureal's Vortex cards, but truth be known, the sacrifice in framerate was a constant itch in the back of our minds, even if the fps counter was solid. When playing, the localized positioning of the Audigy was more than enough to gauge 360 degree position. To our ears, there was little strategic value lost by using EAX, but boy did it sound good!