Soundcard newbie, having some problems

Memski · Apr 3, 2005, 10:30 AM

I have little knowledge in the area of soundcards, so my apologies if I come across somewhat ignorant.

I recently upgraded to a new computer and that meant upgrading form my old SBLive Value to an Audigy 2 ZS. There seem to be many differences... for my SBLive I just let Windows install the drivers automatically and left it at that. The sound was decent in both Windows and in games. With the Audigy each volume control seems far more sensitive. Pushing the bass/treble up to max like I did with my SBLive doesn't work at all - it sounds awful. For example, with my SBLive I could max those settings and it would sound good - much more powerful bass, where as with the Audigy it just hurts my ears (even if the volume is lower). It's a different sort of sound alltogether.

The real issue however is with games. I mostly play World of Warcraft and I find that the Audigy will occasionally skip sounds, almost as though if sound effects are coming in too fast or too many are going on it will just decide not to play some, or only half-play them. This did not happen with the SBLive. The sound effects also seem out of preportion with each other. Some effects are extremely loud while others are barely audible - all at the same volume setting. I do notice an increased quality in most sounds but I'd rather have the overall stability of my old setup over this.

I appreciate I haven't explained my problem very well, but I'm not entirely sure how to put it into words. Again, while overall quality is probably a little better but the sound seems more "all over the place" than I'm used to. I'd like to find a driver that will allow my game sound to work properly and which offers more control over individual settings. Currently only the driver from the Creative CD seems to be installed, there's no AudioHQ in my control panel.

It's probably worth noting that I use headphones (Sennheiser HD212s).

The driver information from dxdiag is as follows:

SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio [B880]
Version: 5.12.0001.0444

And the device manager entry is:

Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM)

Any suggestions for someone clueless to world of soundcards would be appreciated.

HyDa_DRUID · Apr 3, 2005, 04:22 PM

I know this is a no brainer but are you sure in the speaker settings in creative software, is set for headphones, also make sure there is a check in the box for synching that setting to the windows control panel speaker settings.

the symptoms u described sound like its playing 5.1 on ur headphones and ud only hear certain sounds. as for the issue with the bass and treble, I set those before i set my eq levels, and it seems to work best

PS let me know if that was the issue

swatX · Apr 4, 2005, 09:12 AM

download teh NEW YEAR package from the above thread.. look for the file name @ filemirrors.com

did ur audigy2zs come with a cd?

Apr 3, 2005, 10:30 AM	#1
Memski DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Soundcard newbie, having some problems I have little knowledge in the area of soundcards, so my apologies if I come across somewhat ignorant. I recently upgraded to a new computer and that meant upgrading form my old SBLive Value to an Audigy 2 ZS. There seem to be many differences... for my SBLive I just let Windows install the drivers automatically and left it at that. The sound was decent in both Windows and in games. With the Audigy each volume control seems far more sensitive. Pushing the bass/treble up to max like I did with my SBLive doesn't work at all - it sounds awful. For example, with my SBLive I could max those settings and it would sound good - much more powerful bass, where as with the Audigy it just hurts my ears (even if the volume is lower). It's a different sort of sound alltogether. The real issue however is with games. I mostly play World of Warcraft and I find that the Audigy will occasionally skip sounds, almost as though if sound effects are coming in too fast or too many are going on it will just decide not to play some, or only half-play them. This did not happen with the SBLive. The sound effects also seem out of preportion with each other. Some effects are extremely loud while others are barely audible - all at the same volume setting. I do notice an increased quality in most sounds but I'd rather have the overall stability of my old setup over this. I appreciate I haven't explained my problem very well, but I'm not entirely sure how to put it into words. Again, while overall quality is probably a little better but the sound seems more "all over the place" than I'm used to. I'd like to find a driver that will allow my game sound to work properly and which offers more control over individual settings. Currently only the driver from the Creative CD seems to be installed, there's no AudioHQ in my control panel. It's probably worth noting that I use headphones (Sennheiser HD212s). The driver information from dxdiag is as follows: SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio [B880] Version: 5.12.0001.0444 And the device manager entry is: Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (WDM) Any suggestions for someone clueless to world of soundcards would be appreciated. Last edited by Memski; Apr 3, 2005 at 10:35 AM.

Apr 3, 2005, 04:22 PM	#2
HyDa_DRUID Combat Flight Sim Junkie Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 50 Rep Power: 0	I know this is a no brainer but are you sure in the speaker settings in creative software, is set for headphones, also make sure there is a check in the box for synching that setting to the windows control panel speaker settings. the symptoms u described sound like its playing 5.1 on ur headphones and ud only hear certain sounds. as for the issue with the bass and treble, I set those before i set my eq levels, and it seems to work best PS let me know if that was the issue Last edited by HyDa_DRUID; Apr 3, 2005 at 04:31 PM.

Apr 4, 2005, 09:12 AM	#3
swatX ba\|\\|\\|ed Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 618 Rep Power: 0	download teh NEW YEAR package from the above thread.. look for the file name @ filemirrors.com did ur audigy2zs come with a cd? __________________ thx stick for the sig