BF2 PR Audio Questions (Software/Hardware? EAX?)

[Ratha]

For the longest of times in BF2 from back when i used my soundblaster live, and then when i 'upgraded' to realtek onboard sound in a 2009 built motherboard (ALC889A chipset) ive always used software mode.

In hardware mode, the audio sometimes sounded sorta like i was on the inside of a tin can when in or near buildings (environmental audio perhaps?) but the main reason that i never used it was that i would play with bots a lot, and the pre-recorded voices would crackle slightly whenever anyone said anything. Most people might not notice, but i found the slight stutter highly annoying, and thus didnt use hardware audio.

Now basically my question is: In PR, (Or BF2 in general as well) what are the differences, advantages, or disadvantages to using Software/Hardware, and EAX On/Off. What are the official recommended settings, and or best quality settings for PR, and would the 'experience' be diminished for someone who didnt use hardware sound or didnt use EAX?

Im not positive, but i think that there might have also been a random crash or mic problem also related to hardware audio setting at some point, but i forget. Anyway this question has been nagging at me for quite awhile now, and i thought it time to propose the question since i hadnt seen anyone talk of this before.

[Skull]

im using hardware with eax on and dont have any problems. its always better to have eax on and let the sound being hardware computed. in software mode there is some program that computes the sound with the cpu, on hardware mode that all is being done by your soundcard and soundcards are made exactly for doing that job, therefore you should always use hardware. eax is a mode of computing the sound (im not sure if i translated correct) which makes it sound better. with both those on you have a better sound quality and have therefore an advantage in recognizing weapon types, that you hear shooting, with experience measuring the distance and so on. if you have a soundcard, that is not onboard, cause they normally arent made for handling such stuff, alwys use hardware and if the soundcard is good enough enable eax. atm a soundcard capable of both with supreme quality costs about 30 euros/40dollars and its absolutly worth it.

ps: im referring to win xp, ive heard things about the sound settings being nerfed hard on win7
pps: im sry for my bad english its kinda late

regards, skull

[Jaymz]

Hardware w/EAX on is the best.

Regarding XP. Yes, audio positioning and others work far better on XP. BF2 was designed for XP audio architecture.

[Ratha]

Does anyone know specifically or through testing what enabling hardware audio in BF2/PR changes over software audio though? Same with EAX. IE: Can you not hear bullets flying overhead or nearby, or are some sounds or effects disabled? Perhaps this is more a question for the audio devs than anything. But would appreciate any feedback from someone who has noticed differences too.

The only difference ive noticed with hardware audio rendering is environmental effect which i normally associate with EAX in other games. It makes me wonder if EAX isnt actually working properly in software mode. I can say ive never noticed a difference with EAX on or off in software mode with XP. (In plain BF2, not PR. Havnt spent a lot of time testing hardware with PR.)

The BF2 readme for the 1.50 patch says that it does not support the hardware rendering with the Soundblaster Live or the Realtek ALC861 chipset (not the one im using, mine is newer, but i am assuming also not 'supported' even though perhaps it works?) Since i dont have a machine that 'supports' hardware audio rendering i dont actually know what it should sound like, as opposed to what im getting, which is why im asking you guys.

[whatshisname55]

i have been wondering about this too, thanks for posting

the only question i have to add: how can i tell if my onboard sound is better than software and if it supports EAX? i have never really thought of buying a separate sound card as worth it, i know that it can increase the sound quality and immersion, but i think that now most newer mobos have good enough onboard sound for me to appreciate listening to the game, but although i have a brand new compy with great specs i still also use an older and lower quality prebuilt computer and i do not know how good the onboard sound is
(and sorry if i offended anybody about the sound cards)

[Ratha]

On a side note, this post explains the problem that i have with the hardware setting on my SB-Live (or that i had, i cant remember if i still have the problem or not with my new onboard sound.. but i think i did hence why i dont use it automatically.) BF2 Sound Stuttering - BF2S Forums EDIT: My solution to the stutter since i had such an old SB Live card with no updated drivers was to disable hardware but leave EAX on.

I just looked up the specs on my soundchip: Realtek

The "Software Features" are EAX™ 1.0 & 2.0 compatible. However since its not under the hardware acceleration tab im assuming that it offloads most of it onto the processor like most onboard chips do. But thats okay too since i have a decent processor. I dont know what version of EAX BF2 uses however.

To your question, "how can i tell if my onboard sound is better than software" did you mean hardware at the end? More than likely, it wont be, it could be equal in some cases, but i doubt it will ever really be better unless you are comparing a very new motherboard with a very old card. And it will get very tricky there. Onboard audio is probably 'good enough' for all but the most hardcore of gamers who know they NEED EAX 3/4/5. However in the future OpenAL will be replacing EAX, and my understanding is that it should render the same in software as in hardware, the only question will be the speed at which it does so. But i could be wrong too, some devs might not go with OpenAL. But even creative indicated a move towards OpenAL i believe. (That their cards could hardware accelerate it and that devs should be focusing on that over EAX.)

[Twisted Helix]

I had nothing but problems with Realtek ... Creative are not great either, but they are definitely better.

I have been wondering what those Asus cards are like. (as creative cannot even code their autoupdate feature correctly ... doesn't inspire confidence)

[whatshisname55]

no, i meant "how can i tell if my onboard sound is better than software" because my onboard sound (part of my mobo) would be the hardware, and i want to compare it to the software

[Twisted Helix]

Software/Hardware refers to on board acceleration on the card. Most mobo soundcards don't, most PCI ones do. But this is a grey area depending on how recent your MOBO is.

See this post ... SoundBlaster X-Fi vs. Realtec onboard audio - Ars Technica OpenForum

[whatshisname55]

alright, so which should i choose, and will it support EAX?
this is also making me curious about my new compy, its got a nice mobo, and the onboard audio can output in HD, will the answers to the above questions be any different for this new system?

[Twisted Helix]

LoL ... how would I know ? You haven't even given specs.

[whatshisname55]

ok, ill get you the specs later, i wont be able to check whats on the new compy though because of vacation later today, so can i just pm you? besides, i feel bad because i keep hijacking other peoples threads to ask my own questions

[Twisted Helix]

Don't feel bad. Its on topic.

[alberto_di_gio]

Like the thread. Those replies definitely light my problems I have since Win7 (with Realtek on-board sound card) My latest issue is not working voip My last option is re install the game and then will try this hardware option wit EAX.

[Pill Monster]

Btw, for people who own a Createshit Audigy 2 or X-Fi soundcard and has lost 5.1 surround in Win7...it can be re-enabled by using AlChemy.

If anyone is interested I'll post the details - just let me know...