Help setting up Asus Xonar DG for games

[sam jay]

I am still not sure about the optimal settings- mostly, I am unsure about the 7.1 virtual speaker shifter. When you enable 8 channel sound, do you have to enable the Dolby Headphone and 7.1 speaker shifter? And if you don't enable 7.1 speaker shifter but still use 8 channel, do you have to change in game settings to 7.1? or 5.1? And if you were to change the in-game setting to 5.1, wouldn't you use 6 channels? I'm very confused.

So basically, I'm asing which one is the optimal setting-

1)

Channel- 8

Dolby Headphone enabled

7.1 virtual speaker disabled

5.1 in-game setting

2)

Channel- 8

Dolby Headphone enabled

7.1 virtual speaker disabled

7.1 in-game setting

3)

Channel- 6

Dolby Headphone enabled

7.1 virtual speaker disabled

5.1 in-game setting

4)

Channel- 8

Dolby Headphone enabled

7.1 virtual speaker enabled

7.1 in-game setting



So which is best for most games- 1, 2, 3, or 4


Thanks.

 

[gamerk316]

Depends on your audio setup:

Dolby Headphone/Speakers: Virtualizes a 5.1/7.1 output onto a 2.1 speaker space. Basically meant to create something that sounds close to surround sound on a stereo output. If you have more then stereo speakers, this should be disabled.

Virtual Speaker Shifter: Used to adjust where the virtual speakers are located when Dolby Headphone/Speaker is enabled.


As for the audio channel setting:

Due to the way the ASUS drivers are set up, the avaliable audio options [virtual speaker, pro logic upmixing, etc] vary depending on how many audio channels are playing; for instance, you don't need to upmix 8 channel audio. As a result, this setting should be set to match the number of audio channels the SOURCE uses. [IE: Music would be 2 channel, movies would be 6 channel, most games would be 8 channel].

As far as I know, if you have a 7.1 setup and do not feel the need to upmix any audio tracks, you can usually leave this as 8 channel and call it a day.


So the first question, is what exactly is your speaker setup like?

 

[sam jay]

Depends on your audio setup:

Dolby Headphone/Speakers: Virtualizes a 5.1/7.1 output onto a 2.1 speaker space. Basically meant to create something that sounds close to surround sound on a stereo output. If you have more then stereo speakers, this should be disabled.

Virtual Speaker Shifter: Used to adjust where the virtual speakers are located when Dolby Headphone/Speaker is enabled.


As for the audio channel setting:

Due to the way the ASUS drivers are set up, the avaliable audio options [virtual speaker, pro logic upmixing, etc] vary depending on how many audio channels are playing; for instance, you don't need to upmix 8 channel audio. As a result, this setting should be set to match the number of audio channels the SOURCE uses. [IE: Music would be 2 channel, movies would be 6 channel, most games would be 8 channel].

As far as I know, if you have a 7.1 setup and do not feel the need to upmix any audio tracks, you can usually leave this as 8 channel and call it a day.


So the first question, is what exactly is your speaker setup like?

Well, I wear headphones- but basically, I have it set to 7.1 in control panel, and 8 channel in the xonar control panel, and dolby headphone enabled. But- my question is- when you set the amount of channels to 8 channels, Windows automatically changes the speaker setup to 7.1 (on Windows control panel settings). When you try to set the windows speaker setup to 5.1, the amount of channels becomes 6 channels. You can't switch to 8 channels without the Windows control panel speaker setup changing to 7.1 speaker setup. So, since 6 channels is not the greatest for most games- If you set channels to 8, and Dolby Headphone on, should you be changing the in-game setting to 7.1 to match, or is it possible change it to 5.1 if you wanted, even though it doesn't match up to the Windows control panel settings?

 

[tinnitus]

don't mess yourself with a cheap gamer soundcard, according your writes I think you need a better soundcard for gaming, you just can press GAME on dsp on a Xonar DX and voilà not need to touch anything, or better will wait for Creative's new Recon3D. (I own an Xonar Essence ST w/opamp upgr + Klipsh Promedia 2.1, testing soundcards from from '94)

 

[sam jay]

don't mess yourself with a cheap gamer soundcard, according your writes I think you need a better soundcard for gaming, you just can press GAME on dsp on a Xonar DX and voilà not need to touch anything, or better will wait for Creative's new Recon3D. (I own an Xonar Essence ST w/opamp upgr + Klipsh Promedia 2.1, testing soundcards from from '94)

To be honest, I don't want to spend $50 on a new card just to press a "gaming" preset button. I've figured out the whole channel thing, 6 for 5.1, 8 for 7.1, simple as that, but now I just have one more question before I stop messing around with audio settings for a long time- what exactly does the 7.1 virtual speaker shifter do? Should I leave it enabled?

 

[tinnitus]

shifter makes you feel the sounds right on your ears (tested on friend's htpc with xonar ds on a 6.1 speaker system). dunno if you can appreciate this on headphones. if you want good hphones positional audio for gaming go for creative. let the machine do the job.

 

[sam jay]

shifter makes you feel the sounds right on your ears (tested on friend's htpc with xonar ds on a 6.1 speaker system). dunno if you can appreciate this on headphones. if you want good hphones positional audio for gaming go for creative. let the machine do the job.

Not sure what you mean by "right on your ears"

 

[tinnitus]

Not sure what you mean by "right on your ears"

I mean feels the sounds "more closer" but if you already use headphones don't know if you gonna get a huge difference. are you using dolby headphones?

 

[gamerk316]

Well, I wear headphones- but basically, I have it set to 7.1 in control panel, and 8 channel in the xonar control panel, and dolby headphone enabled. But- my question is- when you set the amount of channels to 8 channels, Windows automatically changes the speaker setup to 7.1 (on Windows control panel settings). When you try to set the windows speaker setup to 5.1, the amount of channels becomes 6 channels. You can't switch to 8 channels without the Windows control panel speaker setup changing to 7.1 speaker setup. So, since 6 channels is not the greatest for most games- If you set channels to 8, and Dolby Headphone on, should you be changing the in-game setting to 7.1 to match, or is it possible change it to 5.1 if you wanted, even though it doesn't match up to the Windows control panel settings?

Just keep it on 7.1. Shouldn't have any negative consequences whatsoever.

 

[sam jay]

I mean feels the sounds "more closer" but if you already use headphones don't know if you gonna get a huge difference. are you using dolby headphones?

Yeah, i have dolby headphone enabled. But basically my question is-
Does the 7.1 VSS do anything for headphones besides the ablity to change the location of the virtual speakers?


Bumping your thread again will end in closure.