X-Fi CMSS-3D Headphone

Discussion in 'Soundcards, Speakers HiFI & File formats' started by king-dubs, Oct 1, 2007.

  1. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    No, not if it doesn't support it but I am pretty sure that COD does support atleast EAX 1,2. -can't be 100% sure.
    I cannot be sure because I have it but it is not installed.
    COD 2 is one of my favorites though.
    Check the audio pane and see if there is an EAX option there.
    There is really only two ways to set up CMSS3D for headphones as outlined.
    One is set everything for surround and set the card for headphones and the other is to set everything for headphone...try both and see which fits you the best.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2009
  2. p0ppa

    p0ppa Guest

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    hi
    i have x-fi titanium fatal1ty pro sound card and here are my settings for gaming
    game mode
    CMSS-3D enabled
    Crystalizer Enablied
    EQ disabled
    EAX enabled
    Headphone
    Sync with Control panel is ticked/unticked
    in games it sounds like surround however i do not get very clear audio, it is not echoing & stuff like that but i hear treble more than the bass and the volume is not as loud compared to the 2/2.1 speaker setup
    with the 2/2.1 speaker setup i do not get very accurate surround sound but it seems the treble&bass are more balanced and sounds much better than the headphone setup
    im i doing something wrong with the settings?

    im using xp sp3 and creative earplugs
     
  3. AdamK47

    AdamK47 Banned

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    There is way too much misinformation in this thread to warrent a sticky. The most useful information I've found when I was comparing Dolby Headphone and CMSS-3D Headphone was on wikipedia. I'll quote...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_X-Fi#CMSS-3DHeadphone
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2010
  4. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    The sticky was put here so people can read about different peoples experiences with the technology or look for solutions if they are having difficulty.
    There are the two approaches people use, setting everything for cans or setting game,windows for surround and the card for headphones.
    There is really only the two approaches to using the setting and both have been talked about.
    To note, Since Wikki, can be edited by anybody, it has become a source of much incorrect information and usually not taken as the gospel truth.
     

  5. Amatsu

    Amatsu Member

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    Hi. I would like to share my experience and pains on this matter.

    It's been around 2 years since I bought the X-Fi and started gaming using serious headphones. Currently I'm using the Windows 7, X-Fi Music and Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones. I have found that the best setup for me is using 2.1 speakers on the Creative control panel and normal CMSS-3D, and then setting the game to 5.1, this way I get a very good 3D positioning and don't sacrifice sound quality.

    I could be wrong but I have this theory that CMSS-3D headphones is more useful if you have low-end headphones. I think that if you have high quality headphones you don't really need to use this option, it messes the sound too much, I believe that by using 2.1 and the normal CMSS3D allows your high-end headphones capabilities in games (soundstage...etc) to shine, and that is why you get about the same 3D positioning as CMSS-3D - Headphones but without quality loss if configured right.

    Just to be clear on my settings: Windows 7 sound is set on Stereo, creative control panel is on Gaming Mode and 2.1 speakers with CMSS-3D and EAX activated. Now the important part is you need to configure the game you are going to play to 5.1. Just remember to use Creative Alchemy if you use a game using EAX and activate it inside the program.
    This has one drawback though, and it's that some games don't let you configure how many speakers you have (Borderlands, Oblivion, Dragon Age...), I'm not totally sure but I think these kind of games look into your Windows Configuration and use that information to reproduce the audio, unfortunately you can't unlink the Windows Configuration with the Creative Control Panel on Vista/7 *(1) unless you use the headphones option in the Creative CP, so if you change the Creative CP to stereo it will change the Windows config automatically to the same option, unless you use the headphones option in the Creative CP (as stated in the first post).

    In Windows XP it should be the same configuration, except on XP you can unlink the Creative control panel and the Windows configuration, so you can set up Windows as 5.1 speakers and Creative CP as 2.1.

    Now, about the games you can't configure the sound...
    In Borderlands and Dragon Age I haven't managed to get the same good positioning as the rest and I'm afraid it might be for that reason I was complaining before, that you can't unlink the 2 configs in Vista/7, so the game might be thinking that you have only stereo speakers.

    At least with Borderlands it would be weird if it were the sound engine's fault because I recently played Bioshock which also uses Unreal Engine, but since this game let's you configure the speakers I had good positioning in the 5.1 mode.

    In Oblivion's case, if I install Creative Alchemy and enable the game inside the program (it enables EAX capabilities on Vista/7) I can have amazing positioning even though I haven't configured 5.1 anywhere, just by enabling EAX.

    Well anyway, I'm going to keep experimenting with future games and we'll see what results I'll have. So far I'm having fun testing.:thumbup: If you have any opinion on this let me know.
     
  6. Postalisback

    Postalisback Ancient Guru

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    I use similar headphones although I have not tested them with CMSS-3D, but when I tried it on my Sennheiser HD 595 headphones (better headphones for gaming perhaps), I did not like how it messed with the sound, I haven't used CMSS-3D for quite some time because of that.

    I might test it again in the future, thanks for sharing your experiences, Amatsu. :thumbup:
     
  7. Felix

    Felix Member Guru

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    I was using the Headphones setting with CMSS3D and games set to 5.1 but... I wasn't happy with the sound quality. It felt like I was losing detailed and getting choppy sounds...

    But setting to 2.1 with CMSS-3D on and game settings to 5.1 and the sound quality is 100% better with me. It's really noticable in Source games for me.

    For example TF2, the bass feels right and explosions dont feel "clipped" or "choppy" it all sounds right.

    However I feel the positional audio is a bit off... mainly because 2.1 is set to have the spakers at 60º angles instead of 90 no?
     
  8. Amatsu

    Amatsu Member

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    I don't know if that is the cause, but with the THX Console you can change these settings if you'd like to try. I just found this image:

    [​IMG]

    Look into the speakers position seccion.

    You might have to install the THX console separately.
     
  9. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    I Used to own the same headphones my self and the AD700s dont work that well with CMSS3D because of there sound stage being so wide I used to have them my self.I had to use CMSS and 2.1 speaker setting to get them right. Then I also edited the THX.ini spreaker direction and set them to 90 degrees. THe AD700 worked the best set this way.I even had another friend use this same setting and found this way to work the best for him to.

    Headphone mode kills the AD700 sound stage and making them not sound right.If you cant or dont have a THX.ini file to edit even after opening the thx option. Then your gonna just have to use 2.1 speakers setting and use CMSS3D normal. I tried diffent settigns with the AD700 and found doing this being the best. I have played with just 2.1 speaker settings and still heard behind me on the AD700 since they have a huge and wide sound stage.

    Also EAX has to be turned on in the game mode or you will not get any EAX effects.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2010
  10. Felix

    Felix Member Guru

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    I have no THX console.
    How do I activate it?

    Because I had to change back to Headphone since I was getting the positions all wrong
     

  11. Amatsu

    Amatsu Member

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  12. Felix

    Felix Member Guru

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    I was weary in downloading those drivers. I know he solved the driver problem back when Creative didn't, but still, using another soundcard drivers modified for mine is not something that puts me at ease. Unless someone says to me that they fix some giant bug or they have better quality.

    Anyway, found my CD and installed THX control panel. Now I have the modifiable thx.ini

    Love the sound I have with 2.1 settings instead of Headphone. The PC350 (Same drivers as the Sens 555) have much better quality this way
     
  13. Amatsu

    Amatsu Member

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  14. Mkilbride

    Mkilbride Banned

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    So wait, do I use the Headphone setting or 2.1 for the PC350?

    Also, THX console? I don't have that, Creative X-Fi Titanium Professional, even installed driver updates.

    Should I install his custom drivers?
     
  15. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    MKiibride yea you have to install the custom drivers to get the THX as you need it to edit that ini. You can just install the software thats in the custom drivers and not the drivers from them it self.

    Yea some headphones love CMSS3D while others dont, it something you have to test to fiqure out, that what I did when I had the AD700 I tried both then did that tweak some one mention on another forum.
     

  16. Felix

    Felix Member Guru

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    The THX console comes in your X-Fi Driver CD that came with the SoundCard
    I had never used it before, but yeah now I have it.

    I FEEL that the 2.1 setting with the modified speaker positions + CMSS3D on 2.1 sounds better for the PC350, but, I suggest you to try it and see what's better.
     
  17. Mkilbride

    Mkilbride Banned

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    I don't have that CD Anymore, that was over a year ago. Hmm =/

    But in a few posts above you said that it gave crappy positional audio, did THX Console fix that?
     
  18. Felix

    Felix Member Guru

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    It wasn't crappy, I just felt it wasn't positioned with the right angles
    By doing that small hack with the console I feel it's perfect now
     
  19. Mkilbride

    Mkilbride Banned

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    Well, guess I'm off to Google for a way to obtain the THX Console. I never use driver discs, cause I always just update online...

    I used Daniel K's pack to get the Console...so...what do I do to set it up like yours? What settings do I change for Positional Audio to not sound like **** in 2.1?


    EDIT: Also, no matter what the eff I do, my Mic is now ****ed up and sounds awful.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2010
  20. Mkilbride

    Mkilbride Banned

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    It's been a day, almost two, response please. :p It's kinda a big deal.
     

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