Does Kx lower sound quality with AUdigy 2 ?

BlueScreenJ · Apr 13, 2003, 10:24 AM

I recently installed Kx with my Audigy 2 because I couldn't get any output for my headphones, so with Kx I can get it on subwoofer/central output.. that's cool.

but I have a feeling it doesn't sound as good as with the creative drivers (listening to MP3 with foobar resampling at 48 Khz 24 bits). I also noticed with the creative drivers that as soon as you change something (equalizer, bass/treble, add some DSP effect) the sound quality is lowered (I think I read somewhere it used 16 bits/44 Khz instead of 24bit/48Khz), and as the sound quality is not affected if you add DSP effects with Kx, I wonder if it's not always as if you use it with creative drivers. Tried to remove everything from the DSP except FXbus and Epilog, but it doesn't change anything.

Am I the only one experimenting this ? is there a way to avoid it ? can I get a headphones output with creative drivers ? is all this just in my head o_O ?

thanx :-)

**Eugene Gavrilov** · Apr 13, 2003, 06:07 PM

>> is all this just in my head

unfortunately, this is not in your head, but in Creative Labs engineers'...

audigy2 design is terrible in terms of 'marketing vs technology'

that is, under official drivers, the sound is played back in 24/96 or 24/48 -only- if there are no effects applied. this happens, because the audio data isn't processed by the audigy2 chip (which is practically the same as audigy1), but gets into Creative CA0151-DBS chip (which is a black-box... we were unable to find any information on this chip).

if any effect is applied (including EQ), this makes the drivers to route the signal to 10k2 chip, which cannot handle 24/96 or 24/48, so, the data gets downsampled to 16/48

at the moment, kX Drivers cannot support 24/96 playback or recording because the CA0151-DBS chip is totally undocumented. we are working on this issue.
but, nevertheless, if 24/96 is supported, the same limitations of the card will still apply
[that is, no 24/96 support and DSP effects available simultaneously...]

/Eugene

BlueScreenJ · Apr 13, 2003, 06:19 PM

ok thanx for answering. so I'll stick with the official drivers for now, and switch manually between my stereo and headphones (or plug the headphones on the stereo

).

Good luck for the new chip support, I'll switch back to Kx as soon as you find out how to use it.

musicman · Apr 14, 2003, 01:43 PM

What if you use the effects that are provided with your recording software such as Cakewalk, Sonar or Cubase?

kode54 · Apr 15, 2003, 02:09 AM

The limitation only applies to EAX, not software processing. Depends on the plug-in. (Are there any that use the hardware effects engine?)

Apr 13, 2003, 10:24 AM	#1
BlueScreenJ DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	Does Kx lower sound quality with AUdigy 2 ? I recently installed Kx with my Audigy 2 because I couldn't get any output for my headphones, so with Kx I can get it on subwoofer/central output.. that's cool. but I have a feeling it doesn't sound as good as with the creative drivers (listening to MP3 with foobar resampling at 48 Khz 24 bits). I also noticed with the creative drivers that as soon as you change something (equalizer, bass/treble, add some DSP effect) the sound quality is lowered (I think I read somewhere it used 16 bits/44 Khz instead of 24bit/48Khz), and as the sound quality is not affected if you add DSP effects with Kx, I wonder if it's not always as if you use it with creative drivers. Tried to remove everything from the DSP except FXbus and Epilog, but it doesn't change anything. Am I the only one experimenting this ? is there a way to avoid it ? can I get a headphones output with creative drivers ? is all this just in my head o_O ? thanx :-)

Apr 14, 2003, 01:43 PM	#4
musicman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	Eugene ? What if you use the effects that are provided with your recording software such as Cakewalk, Sonar or Cubase?

Apr 13, 2003, 06:07 PM	#2
Eugene Gavrilov kX Project Lead Programmer and Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,119 Rep Power: 75	>> is all this just in my head unfortunately, this is not in your head, but in Creative Labs engineers'... audigy2 design is terrible in terms of 'marketing vs technology' that is, under official drivers, the sound is played back in 24/96 or 24/48 -only- if there are no effects applied. this happens, because the audio data isn't processed by the audigy2 chip (which is practically the same as audigy1), but gets into Creative CA0151-DBS chip (which is a black-box... we were unable to find any information on this chip). if any effect is applied (including EQ), this makes the drivers to route the signal to 10k2 chip, which cannot handle 24/96 or 24/48, so, the data gets downsampled to 16/48 at the moment, kX Drivers cannot support 24/96 playback or recording because the CA0151-DBS chip is totally undocumented. we are working on this issue. but, nevertheless, if 24/96 is supported, the same limitations of the card will still apply [that is, no 24/96 support and DSP effects available simultaneously...] /Eugene

Apr 13, 2003, 06:19 PM	Thread Starter #3
BlueScreenJ DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	ok thanx for answering. so I'll stick with the official drivers for now, and switch manually between my stereo and headphones (or plug the headphones on the stereo ). Good luck for the new chip support, I'll switch back to Kx as soon as you find out how to use it.

Apr 15, 2003, 02:09 AM	#5
kode54 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 30 Rep Power: 0	The limitation only applies to EAX, not software processing. Depends on the plug-in. (Are there any that use the hardware effects engine?)