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Thread: Creative X-Fi "Alchemy" thread

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    Creative X-Fi "Alchemy" thread

    have you guys heard of the Creative "Alchemy" software update for the X-Fi soundcards? ive heard it will "restore" the surround sound of your audio card which for some reasons was "taken away" from us by Microsoft. is this true? and do we need to install it?

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    Quote Originally Posted by gino_76ph View Post
    have you guys heard of the Creative "Alchemy" software update for the X-Fi soundcards? ive heard it will "restore" the surround sound of your audio card which for some reasons was "taken away" from us by Microsoft. is this true? and do we need to install it?

    Microsoft has come under sustained fire for serious sound playback issues affecting its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.

    The problems are apparently the result of the software giant's decision to remove the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for DirectSound and DirectSound3D.

    HAL enabled an audio accelerator in previous versions of Windows to provide DirectSound3D applications with hardware accelerated audio.



    This allowed soundcards to perform tasks such as sample-rate conversion, mixing, 3D spatialisation using HRTFs, filtering and effects processing.

    Without the HAL, DirectSound on Vista will be rendered in software with no advanced functionality such as EAX.

    However, Creative has pointed out that the audio changes in Vista do not affect OpenAL. For audio cards that feature 'native' OpenAL support, such as the Creative SB X-Fi series, there is no need to worry, the firm claimed.

    Games that enable support for OpenAL will continue to run just as they do on Windows XP with hardware accelerated audio and effects.

    The problem is that, while OpenAL has arguably replaced DirectSound3D, particularly in many modern PC games such as Doom 3, there are hundreds of older PC games that support DirectSound3D and EAX technology, all of which will sound empty and lifeless on Vista.

    According to Creative, the good news is that its ALchemy Project allows users to run DirectSound3D games on Vista with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support.

    This is done by translating DirectSound calls into OpenAL, but only if users have a high-end Creative sound card.

    If you have an XFi soundcard using Vista and play games, yes, you need to download it, i did and use it with games online.

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    re: Creative Alchemy

    you know what i tried downloading the software but all i got was this error mesage:

    "Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system. Please ensure that your product is properly installed before running this setup prorgam".

    now i dont' know why this happend. ALL my drivers are working properly and there is no viruses or spywares whatsoever to affect my Vista PC.

    any sugestions?or advice on this?

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    Quote Originally Posted by pitbull46 View Post
    Microsoft has come under sustained fire for serious sound playback issues affecting its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system......
    Pitbull, please don't copy and paste from other sites without giving credit / a link at the least. Its considered very rude unless you are the original author (If this is the case, I apologise in advance )

    http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=44833

    Cheers
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent View Post
    Pitbull, please don't copy and paste from other sites without giving credit / a link at the least. Its considered very rude unless you are the original author (If this is the case, I apologise in advance )

    http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=44833

    Cheers
    Well that's my bottom smacked.
    I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE.
    I thought i was just helping.

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    there are new drivers available for the x-fi at teh Creative forums (sry i dont have a link) now everything is just like it was in XP

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    If they're what I'm thinking of, then they're not new, they're just the original XP programs (not drivers) from XP, which have been essentially hacked by a 3rd party to let them work in Vista. I've no idea how well they work though...

    I'm quite surprised at how lax the Creative forums are - they get all sorts of abuse from people complaining about drivers (or lack of), yet they seem quite tolerant of that abuse. I expected these modded programs to be wiped off their forums in double-quick time.

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    nah th eyre not those ones, they are the real ones released by creative. genuine, not that pax something set, go get em!

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    Quote Originally Posted by gino_76ph View Post
    you know what i tried downloading the software but all i got was this error mesage:

    "Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system. Please ensure that your product is properly installed before running this setup prorgam".

    now i dont' know why this happend. ALL my drivers are working properly and there is no viruses or spywares whatsoever to affect my Vista PC.

    any sugestions?or advice on this?
    Which X-Fi product do you have gino? AFAIK it will not work on the lowest-end (wannabe) X-Fi.
    Quote Originally Posted by Noni
    What the hell does "WTH" mean


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    i have the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio which came with my Vista PC. i was trying to intsall it but with the aforementioned error. what do i do now?

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    I'll can only see a 'Alchemy' product for the Audigy, but not the X-fi, no?
    This hot girl came over to myspace last night, she twittered my yahoo till I
    googled all over her facebook. Ask Jeeves...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Deadlight View Post
    I'll can only see a 'Alchemy' product for the Audigy, but not the X-fi, no?
    There are 2 versions available. ALchemy is free for x-fi users and $9.99 for Audigy users. They're slightly different versions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by s_kinton View Post
    There are 2 versions available. ALchemy is free for x-fi users and $9.99 for Audigy users. They're slightly different versions.
    yeah, non x-fi owners have to bend over whereas x-fi people dont..
    (creative suck)

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    Quote Originally Posted by lanceuppercut View Post
    yeah, non x-fi owners have to bend over whereas x-fi people dont..
    (creative suck)
    <sigh>
    This hot girl came over to myspace last night, she twittered my yahoo till I
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    so, any advice on my problem? any link to that "Alchemy" that apparently restores 3D sound to Vista? i need help.....!!!

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