Daniel Kawakami Says Goodbye

Daniel Kawakami has posted a farewell to the Creative Labs community. In his post on the Creative Labs Forums, he elaborates further on the purposely disabled driver features.

daniel_k Super Contributor My goodbye message to all supporters with some clarification and my legacy Unfortunately, the situation did not change for us.They did say an updated Audigy driver would eventually be released, but don’t be optimistic about it (their priority is the launch of X-Fi 2).What I can say for sure is the features I’ve enabled will not be made available in an official driver update.Although I still have my doubts, they’ve said I would not be threatened if I provided patches instead of the actual binaries, because of licensed technologies built into them (Dolby/DTS).While this could even be true, most of the disabled features are Creative’s own technologies, which means they’ve disabled them on their own choice.That’s funny when people think you are an idiot.They were after me and, on a chat session, they asked me what I’d like from them, as if I were expecting something.They’ve promised me a free X-Fi 2, but I told them it was not necessary, because I was getting a couple of cards from other companies that contacted me. Well, at least they are getting flammed all over the web and they are certainly mad about it and I could feel it while chatting with them. That is an enough reward for my hard work. I’m not releasing a patch to enable DDL on any X-Fi neither Crystalizer for Audigy because, as they’ve pointed out to me, providing an alternative for their customers is good for them and increase their sales, specially when someone is doing it for free. Given the current situation, I cannot let this happen. I just hope their competitor companies do something about it. And I really hope people don’t forget this. Thank you very much for your support and your donations. Best regards, Daniel Kawakami Below are the links for my drivers, beware where you download them from, I’ll add CRC32, MD5 and SHA-1 hashes to all files: SB Audigy series Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004EQ with Equalizer (02/24/2008)SB Live! series Vista Support Pack 2.10.0001A (03/07/2008) Gameport support pack for Vista 32-bit (x86), updated on 02/01/2008 SB Audigy Value/SE/LS & Live! 24-bit Windows Vista Pack 1.04.0077B (02/06/2008) SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio Windows Vista Pack 1.04.0078A (02/06/2008) There are people asking my PayPal account (dkbox2000@hotmail.com), so I’ll leave this link. Thanks again.

I really felt sad as I was reading through it. Daniel has helped thousands of people world-wide. Then I reached “I just hope their competitor companies do something about it” part. Now that part sounds promising.

A sad day indeed. We’re on our own now guys.

To be continued…

“We Need You daniel_K”.

Daniel Kawakami Speaks On Wired

For those who missed it, I thought I’d post the interview with daniel_k at Wired.com. It’s a really great insight into the Creative Labs company. He’s a hero, so I guess we know what that makes Creative…

ALchemy

It all started when Creative released the first beta of ALchemy for X-Fi cards, saying it used X-Fi’s advanced capabilities (EAX5).

After some investigation, I’ve found an EAX5.0 check and patched it… and it worked!

Sometime later, they released the final version of ALchemy X-Fi and the paid version of ALchemy Audigy.

I was realy mad at them, they didn’t release a new Audigy driver and were charging Audigy owners for a software that runs on top of bugged drivers? What is the point of that?

Then I modified the X-Fi “free” version of ALchemy, not the paid version.

I did the same with the later versions, but when they released the 1.00.11, I couldn’t patch it anymore.

So I bought it, just for the sake of it.

Well, I did manage to patch the latest version of ALchemy X-Fi to run on any card, without even removing Safecast, but I’m done with that.

The Audigy drivers

They took several days, countless Vista reinstalls.

Creative purposedly modified the Audigy drivers to disable some features when Vista is detected and also purposedly introduced some bugs to prevent some XP utilities from running.

I did a complete analysis of the driver to determine where all the checks and bugs were introduced and started modding.
Features that I’ve successfully enabled:

– Dolby/DTS decoding (originally discovered by another Creative forum member, but I’ve explained how to use it)
– CMSS, CMSS2 and Stereo Surround (originally only “CMSS” was available, this setting also affects ALchemy/OpenAL, so it is really useful)
– Advanced EQ and Special FX presets
– DVD Audio
– Hardware MIDI synthetizer (I wrote a small utility that automatically detects and changes the default Vista MIDI Synth during driver install or can change it later using its GUI. Some media players lets you choose the MIDI synthesizer)
– Equalizer (with preset saving, very hard to accomplish, had to deal with bugs in Creative software and use my creativity to find a workaround).
– WaveRT (a Microsoft replacement for ASIO, however I don’t know if it really works or not)

The Live!/Live! 5.1 drivers

Creative have always released UDA (Unified Driver Architeture) drivers.

They purposedly ruined the Live! support in Vista: 2.1 speakers setting resulted in distorted sound.

After some investigation, I discovered the culprit module and replaced it with one from the last XP version and the problem was fixed.

In the later releases, Bass Management, Equalizer and EAX effects using software processing and Hardware MIDI support were added.

There was also an ALchemy for Live! cards.

The X-Fi drivers

I’ve added the following improvements: Hardware MIDI and WaveRT.

I didn’t have a X-Fi to test, so modding was then limited to these features.

The Audigy LS/SE/Value/Live! 24-bit drivers

Officially, they lack Bass Management, Equalizer and EAx effects, once available in XP drivers.

I’ve found that the Audio Center utility (originally from the Vista Audigy Advanced MB drivers) worked just fine with these cards, so I made it available.

Also fixed an annoying bug present in the official drivers that cause the speaker type changing to Full Range speakers on reboot (disabling Bass Management).

The X-Fi Xtreme Audio drivers
Have the same speaker type bug. I fixed it.

Gameport support pack for Vista
Allows a limited number of gameport controllers to work on the x86 version of Windows Vista.

What Creative didn’t like

I’ve learned how Creative enables or disables a feature for a specific model.

Alchemy:
My last ALchemy release (1.00.08) was complately unlocked and could be used with any sound device from any vendor.

Audigy cards:
Successfully enabled the software-based X-Fi Crystalizer for use with Audigy cards.

X-Fi:
Got Dolby Digital Live enabled on any X-Fi card. To clarify, I still didn’t manage to enable DDL on Audigy cards.
A friend of mine bought a X-Fi, so I could test it, it really works.
The only current X-Fi based card that supports DDL is the Auzentech Prelude.

The P17 to Xtreme Audio mod
P17 is the codiname for a simple PCI audio controller that powers the Audigy LS/SE/Value, Live! 24-bit and X-Fi Xtreme Audio host-based soundcards.

Completely modded the P17 drivers to transform any Audigy LS/SE/Value and Live! 24-bit into a X-Fi Xtreme Audio (enabling Crystalizer).

Modding is OK

I don’t think there was something wrong with mods themselves.

Modding is a common practice among enthusiasts and I don’t recall some company threatning a modder, unless you allow an exclusive feature to be used with competitor products (ie: SLI on non-NVIDIA chipsers or ALchemy on competitor products, as I’ve said before).

Remember the Promise Ultra to Fasttrak mod? It was even published on a well known review site.
There was also the GeForce to Quadro mod, the NVIDIA nForce 4 to SLI mod, also published on review sites.

What I did wrong

I’ve asked for donations.

Do I really need the money? No, thank God I don’t.

I thought it would be ok to ask for donations so I could buy new hardware to support.

I did buy some hardware: an used Live! 5.1 for ~$15 and a new Audigy SE for $60.

Computer hardware is really expensive here in Brazil.

An X-Fi Xtreme Gamer costs about $240 here, with taxes and shipping, The same card can be bought for ~$80 in the US.

I just can’t spend my money buying new hardware that I won’t even use.

Even the features I’ve enabled, I don’t use.

Later I tried to encourage donations to release the DDL feature for X-Fi and Crystalizer for Audigy.

I said something like “the more people donate, the faster I’ll release”.

This was even worse, but I was so eager to modding that I didn’t think straight. I was hoping to get a X-Fi asap.

While I did ask for donations, once released, the downloads would be public.

I do recognize that I deserve some criticism for that.

To date, I’ve got $146, with amounts ranging from $1 to $50 (this value is still uncleared).

Reversing ALchemy was also wrong, I know. But I reiterate, what is the point of improving ALchemy and changing for it, when it requires an improved driver? It was my protest against Creative.

What Creative did wrong

– They publicly threatened me, just to show their arrogance.
If they had contacted me by e-mail or private message I would do the same thing (remove everything) and no one would know about their insatisfaction.

– Removed everything I posted in the forums, even if unrelated to the “forbidden” stuff.
If they can’t provide better drivers, let people make their own choice.

– They did not recognize my hard work.
I’ve been supporting about every Creative PCI soundcard, would even support USB devices if I had one of them.

To date, the Audigy Vista Support Pack was downloaded about 20,000 times.

The current situation

DDL encoder and Crystalizer were not publicly released.

I’ve deleted the P17 to Xtreme Audio mod and ALchemy from FileFront (where I store the files).

I’ve been told they will allow me to continue with my mods, except the “forbidden” ones.
I’m also allowed to receive donations.

You can download all daniel_k’s files from here!

Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Support Pack – Feb 24 2008 by Daniel Kawakami

Warning: These drivers and softwares are unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs, Inc.

Use them at your own risk.

Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Support Pack – Compiled on Friday, April 25, 2008 11:47 AM by Daniel Kawakami

Changelog:

* 02/24/2008:

– Finally fixed Speakers and CMSS setting synchronization, so Audio Center was removed.

– Completely uninstall the previous version, including all applications, before installing this one.

* 02/21/2008:

– Under certain circunstances, Speakers and CMSS setting are still not synchronized.

– Now includes the full featured Creative Graphic Equalizer, with Preset saving, see screenshot below.

* 02/19/2008:

– Changed the driver version from v2.15.0004B to v2.15.0004EQ (with Equalizer).

– Windows speaker settings are now synchronized with Audio Console / Speaker Settings speaker configuration.

– Enabling CMSS in Audio Console or EAX Settings now properly activate effects in Creative APO; Stereo focus slider does not work, so Audio Center is still required for that.

– Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is now properly supported / detected by Setup

– Completely uninstall the previous release before installing this one.

Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista (including Service Pack 1).

Supports all Audigy card with a Hardware EMU10K2 DSP chipset (OEM / Retail models):

– Audigy (including ES, MP3+, X-Gamer and Platinum)

– Audigy 2 (including Value, Platinum and Platinum Ex)

– Audigy 2 ZS (including Platinum and Platinum Pro)

– Audigy 4 (including SE and Pro)

– Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA) – Uses software MIDI emulation that does not (currently) work in Vista.

Does NOT support the following OEM / Retail models:

– Host / software-based cards including Audigy LS / SE / Value, Audigy 2 SE, Live! 24-bit)

– any external Audigy soundcards

Integrated setup program to install the following items:

– Audigy series driver 2.15.0004 (the latest X-Fi driver)
– APO Interface Module 1.30.00
– Audio Console 1.20.57 (including Graphic Equalizer)
– EAX Settings 1.10.05

– MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.76 (32-bit only)
– SoundFont Bank Manager 3.20.20
– Speaker Settings 2.00.60

Exclusive features in this unofficial driver:

– Equalizer

– CMSS and Stereo Surround with Stereo focus control

– Advanced EQ and Special FX available (see notes below)

– Dolby/DTS decoder (working on 32-bit/64-bit, requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)

– DVD Audio (32-bit only)

– Hardware MIDI synthesizer (includes 2Mb, 4Mb and 8Mb SoundFont banks)

– 4 Gb RAM approved (tested on Intel C2D E6400, Gigabyte 965P-DS3, 4Gb RAM)

Release notes / Known issues:

– Windows Security warning during driver installation

When prompted with “Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software”, choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

– MediaSource DVD-Audio Player requires Audigy 2 or better

Do not install if you have the first Audigy model.

The application does not support Windows Vista 64-bit and setup will close with an error message.

– WaveRT Pull Mode enabled by default
Does not seem to cause any problems, but if you ever need to disable it, follow these steps:

– run the Registry Editor (Regedit) and open the following registry tree:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

– select Search (or press the F3 key) and type EnableWaveRTPullMode, deleting the value when found.

Restart the computer.

For more information on WaveRT, access:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/audio/wavertport.mspx

– Built-in Decoder (requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)

To use the built-in decoder, make sure it is enabled in Audio Console.

Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of
your player and then configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream
through SPDIF.

When you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) are not applied.

Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

– EAX effects, Advanced EQ and Special FX

EAX effects only work in 4.1, 5.1 e 7.1 speaker settings.

Advanced EQ and Special FX only work in 2.1 speakers or Headphone settings.

– EAX effects, Advanced EQ and Special FX (Using SPDIF Out)

All effects work properly, but when you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) are not applied.
Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

– There is no sound in games with OpenAL support or using Creative ALchemy

Disable Advanced EQ and Special FX selecting “No effects” before running the game or program.

– Equalizer settings are lost

It happens after you run a game with OpenAL support or using Creative ALchemy. This issue also occurs in Windows XP, so it is not specific to this Windows Vista driver.

When you restart the computer or run Equalizer, the saved setting is automatically loaded.

– No sound when CMSS is enabled using Audio Console (4.1 or more speakers)

Just move the Stereo Focus slider and set it back to the desired position, even if it is 0 (zero). Once the setting is saved, works properly. This issue does not affect EAX Settings.

– Windows Vista MIDI Device Configuration Utility

Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

The driver installer automatically selects the first hardware MIDI synthesizer found.

Note: The Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA) does not have a hardware synthesizer.

Some screenshots:

– Equalizer:

– Stereo Surround:

– Decoder:

– Mplayer Classic: select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of
your player

– Mplayer Classic: configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream through SPDIF

– Hardware MIDI:

Download from: FileFront 61.03 MB (63,991,397 Bytes)

All files are property of Creative Labs, Inc.

daniel_k’s SB Audigy Support Pack 3.7

daniel_k has released SB Audigy Series Support pack version 3.7 (thanks for noticing tripoli). A lot of us were under the impression 3.6 was the last release. I guess he’s back in business, yay!
The new version boasts many welcome features, such as Audigy1 microphone fix, improved DDL & DTS encoding and much more. Check it out.

daniel_k’s SB Audigy Support Pack Version 3.7

by Daniel Kawakami

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.

Use it at your own risk.

Supports any model of the following Sound Blaster cards (based on Emu10kx DSP):

• Audigy
• Audigy 2
• Audigy 2 ZS
• Audigy 4

For Audigy SE/LS/Value and Live! 24-bit cards, click here for a compatible version.

Operating systems supported: 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 RTM / Vista SP2 / XP SP3

Included in the pack:

• Audigy series driver 2.18.0011.10 (latest beta)
• ALchemy 1.41.02
• Audio Console 1.32.04
• DDL and DTS Connect License Activation 2.00.03 (*)
• Dolby Digital Live Pack 3.00.03 (*)
• DTS Connect Pack 1.68.75 [modified 1.03.04] (*)
• EAX Console 3.00.56 (Windows XP only)
• Graphic Equalizer 2.00.65
• MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.78
• SoundFont Bank Manager 3.21.02
• Speaker Settings 2.00.60
• THX Setup Console 2.10.43 (Windows XP only)

(*) Purchase and activation required, more info at http://buy.soundblaster.com.

Does this driver improve sound quality or performance? Are there any tweaks?

No, this driver does not improve sound quality nor increase performance.

No, there are no tweaks.

If someone states that its driver improves sound quality and performance, you are being fooled, cheated.

It is even worse that the so-called tweaks come from a person who is not EVEN technically acknowledged, does NOT know anything about Windows internals, software engineering and sound fidelity that all audiophiles always look for.

If you “feel” the sound better, that is the infamous placebo effect and there is no real proof that any tweaks work.

In fact, I have yet to see a driver that states in its release notes that it improves sound quality.

I’ve disassembled about every single .SYS driver, .DLL libraries and .EXE executables and found nothing.

There are some undocumented registry values, but nothing related to sound quality or performance.

Would the so-called tweaks even exist, they would be in my Support Packs, you can bet that.

Fixes and improvements:

• Audio Console: DTS Interactive in Encoder tab
• Fixes Windows crash (BSOD) when you restart, shutdown or suspend Windows with Encoder activated.
• Fixes high CPU usage when DTS Interactive encoder is enabled on Windows XP/Server2003.
• Fix the EAX Console installation error on Windows XP/Server2003.
• Removes the Microsoft Audio Home Theater Effects to (try to) fix the static issue when playing audio using DirectSound interface.
• Adds WaveRT interfaces for Windows 7/Vista
• DTS Interactive encoder now works on Windows XP without any tricks.
• Fixes a cosmetic issue on Audio Console, encoder status now says DTS Interactive.
• Re-adds support for 64-bit OpenAL and 64-bit ASIO.
• Fixes Microphone not available on Audigy1 cards on Windows 7 / Vista.
• Enables support for WASAPI exclusive-mode event-driven playback, seems to be working just fine.
• Fixes the enhancements errors in Windows mixer and Windows Media Player.
• Adds Microsoft Audio Home Theater Effects for both Speakers and S/PDIF Out endpoints.
• Includes Encoder Switcher to enable DTS Interactive on Audigy cards.
• Fixes the Audio Console “Internal application error” when enabling the DDL Encoder on localized installs.
• Updates Audio Console to display DTS Interactive in the Encoder tab when Encoder switcher is used.
• Workarounds a bug that unexpectedly resets the speaker configuration.
• Prevents an issue during installation on Windows 7/Vista that may result in low volume when certain enhancements are enabled.
• Implements Hardware CMSS Headphone by using a workaround.
• Updates all InstallShield setup scripts to support Windows 7.
• Fixes installation INI to properly install applications depending on the detected OS.
• Removes COM workaround for Equalizer, fixed by Creative.
• Adds workaround to a memory corruption issue preventing Equalizer from starting on Windows 7/Vista.
• Updates shared modules, responsiveness on certain applications is improved.
• Enables CMSS2 and Stereo Surround.
• Fixes 32-bit ASIO not working on Windows 7 x64.
• Fixes Encoder not available on Windows 7 x64 (related to fix above).
• Sets default speaker setting to 5.1 to properly reset configs to their defaults during install (fixes Bass and Treble levels not set to 50% on Windows 7 / Vista).

Undocumented fixes by Creative (not listed in the release notes):

• Fixes the 6.1 speaker configuration is incorrectly available on Windows 7 64-bit (documented).
• Fixes the Enable Dolby Digital Live check box not staying checked when Audio Console is closed.
• Fixes Equalizer Out of Memory error.
• Fixes Equalizer settings being lost on Windows 7 / Vista when speaker configuration is changed.
• Fixes low volume on Windows 7 / Vista when default format is set to anything higher than 16-bit, 48kHz.
• Fixes MIDI instruments in Melodic Pool not playing when speaker setting is higher than 2.1 speakers.
• Restores missing Microphone option in Surround Mixer (documented).
• Fixes Microphone mute, volume and +20db boost controls.

Release Notes:

Windows Security warning during driver installation

When prompted with: “Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software”, choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

OpenAL 2D benchmark in RightMark 3DSound crashes your system

Due to a driver bug, your system will crash if you run the OpenAL 2D benchmark using 63 buffers. No problem With 62 or fewer buffers. OpenAL 3D and OpenAL 3D + EAX benchmarks are not affected.

Details: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0x000000D1) – ctoss2k.sys

System crashes when shutting down or restarting Windows if Encoder is enabled

Due to a driver bug, your system will crash if you try to shutdown or restart Windows with Encoder enabled.

Details: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (0x0000003B) – ha10kx2k.sys

There is no DirectSound hardware acceleration on Windows XP 64-bit (x64)

The Audigy driver does not support 64-bit addressing, disabling the DirectSound hardware acceleration and causing multichannel sound to be played only in the stereo channels (front left/right).

Workarounds:

• Install the 32-bit (x86) version of Windows XP.
• Limit to less than 4GB the amount of RAM available to Windows
• Enable the “Memory Hole” setting in the BIOS Setup, if your motherboard supports it.

Microphone issues on Windows 7/Vista 64-bit (x64) with 4GB of RAM or more

Audigy driver does not support 64-bit addressing, resulting in random issues with the Microphone (static, robotic or distorted voice, white noise).

Workarounds:

• Install the 32-bit (x86) version of Windows
• Limit the RAM available to Windows to less than 4GB
• Enable Memory Hole in BIOS Setup, if your motherboard supports the setting

MediaSource DVD-Audio Player system requirements

• 32-bit edition of Windows 7 / Vista / XP
• Any Audigy 2, Audigy 2 ZS or Audigy 4 card
• Built-in Decoder on Windows 7 / Vista (requires Service Pack 1)

To use the built-in decoder, make sure it is enabled in Audio Console.

Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of your player and then configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream through SPDIF.

When you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) are not applied.

Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

Advanced EQ and Special FX not available on Windows 7 / Vista

These presets don’t work on Windows 7 / Vista.

There is no sound in games with OpenAL support on Windows XP

Disable Advanced EQ and Special FX selecting “No effect” before running the game or program.

Equalizer settings are lost

When you run a game with OpenAL support or using Creative ALchemy, the Equalizer settings are lost.

Just run Equalizer and the saved setting is loaded automatically.

Tone settings are reset when speaker configuration is changed

Bass and treble settings are reset when speaker configuration is changed.

DTS Encoder Switcher

The Encoder Switcher is now part of Audio Console.

A shortcut is created in the Programs -> Creative folder in Start Menu.

For additional info, read thoroughly the ReadMe.txt file included in the \EncSwitcher folder where you extracted the Support Pack.

On Windows 7/Vista, when using DTS Interactive encoder, you MUST use ANOTHER SPDIF Out device, otherwise the CTAudSvc (Creative Audio Service) won’t work properly (high CPU usage).

Hardware CMSS Headphone

To use the hardware CMSS you need to select “Disable all enhancements” in the “Enhancements” tab on:

Playback Devices -> Speaker Properties

Now check the Speaker configuration in “Playback devices”.

If it is Stereo, run Audio Console and change it to 4.1, 5.1 or 7.1 and only after that change it to Headphones.

This procedure ensures that CMSS(1) will work after a Windows restart, otherwise only CMSS2 will work.

MIDI Device Configuration Utility for Windows 7 / Vista

Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

Download:

File: Audigy_SupportPack_3_7.exe
CRC-32: 03c3523b
MD4: 3831c698ec41860145358c305c8372cc
MD5: 4f4a6049bd6fbdb531c31a8ba6da96fc
SHA-1: c33ed80184da738c5f32e390333f4163bc4471b1

To verify the file hashes, I recommend HashTab.
Remove all apps, driver then remove the Creative folders in the Program Files (x86) and Program Files folders.

Mirrors:

Rapidshare (uploaded by daniel_k)

Sendspace (uploaded by NoMoreGoatSoup)

All files are property of Creative Technology Ltd, unless otherwise noted.

X-Fi Software

Quick Download Links

For original install CD ISO, check out BadBoyforum at Filefront

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series driver 2.18.0015
Filesize : 46.74 MB

Download

Release date : 16 Jun 10

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

File Name : SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0015.exe

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

• This download currently supports Windows 7 only. Support for Windows Vista and Windows XP will be available at a later date.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Sound Blaster X-Fi

Fixes:
Resolves the following issues:

• System taking more than two minutes to shut down.
• PowerDVD® DX 8.3 (Dell® version) not working properly.
• Passthrough of Dolby®/DTS® audio to an external decoder not working with Windows Media Player 12.

Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 7 32-bit
• Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

Notes:

• Do not install this driver for Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio.
• To install this driver
  1. Download the SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0015.exe file onto your local hard disk.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

daniel_k’s SB X-Fi Series Support Pack 2.0 (Dated 05/15/2009)

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs and is provided as is, without any warranties.

Supports the following X-Fi models (for Xtreme Audio, click here):

• Creative SB X-Fi PCI (OEM/Retail Elite Pro, Fatal1ty, Platinum, Platinum Fatal1ty Champion, XtremeGamer, XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro, XtremeMusic)
• Creative SB X-Fi OEM SB077x PCI (Hendrix models for Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, Fujitsu-Siemens, Alienware and others)
• Creative SB X-Fi Titanium PCI-E (all Retail/OEM models)
• Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1

Operating Systems supported (32-bit and 64-bit editions):

• Windows XP
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 7

Items that will be installed, depending on the detected card:

• Creative SB X-Fi series driver 2.18.0013.1
• Creative SB X-Fi OEM SB077x series driver 2.18.0014.1
• Creative SB X-Fi Titanium series driver 2.17.0007.10
• Auzentech X-Fi Prelude driver 2.14.0001 v1.1
• Auzentech X-Fi Forte driver 2.20.0000.0 v1.0
• ALchemy 1.25.10
• Audio Control Panel 2.56.06
• AutoMode Switcher 1.01.01
• Console Launcher 2.62.00
• DDL and DTS Connect License Activation 2.00.03 (*)
• Dolby Digital Live Pack 3.00.01 (*)
• DTS Connect Pack 1.03.02 (*)
• SoundFont Bank Manager 3.21.00
• THX Console 3.10.23
• Volume Panel 2.21.10

(*) – purchase and activation required, except SB X-Fi Titanium, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude and Auzentech X-Fi Forte.

Windows Security warning during driver installation

When prompted with:
“Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software” choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

List of Improvements and fixes

– CMSS works properly on Windows 7 (Auzentech X-Fi Prelude).

– THX Console works with Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, Auzentech X-Fi Forte and other cards.

– All setup scripts were modified to detect Windows 7.

– Audio Console, Console Launcher and Volume Panel now load faster.

– Updated many applications and shared components.

Windows MIDI Device Configuration Utility

Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications, including Windows Media Player.

Download:

Filename: XFI_SupportPack_2_0.exe

File size: 91.0 MB

CRC32 hash: 566C5E56

SHA-1 hash: BA4B85CDD1F36F992FB281D81205EEFCF0F9DBC0

To verify the file hashes, I recommend HashTab.

Mirrors: RapidShare

All files are property of Creative Technology Ltd., unless otherwise noted.

Be sure to visit daniel_k’s blog: http://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/

Product Identification Module Update

Filesize : 4.32 MB Download

Release date : 12 Jan 2010

This update resolves the hardware/device detection issue for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and X-Fi Titanium series of audio devices in Microsoft® Windows® 7. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

File Name : PID_W7PCAPP_US_2_11_01.exe

This update resolves the hardware/device detection issue for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and X-Fi Titanium series of audio devices in Microsoft® Windows® 7. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

• Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty® Champion Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional Audio
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Sound Blaster X-Fi

Fixes:

• Resolves the hardware/device detection issue in Creative Software AutoUpdate running on Windows 7.

Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit
• Sound Blaster X-Fi and X-Fi Titanium series of audio devices listed above

Notes:

• To install this driver
  1. Download the file onto your local hard disk.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Windows XP \ Vista\ Windows 7 \ 32bit \ 64bit Driver

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series driver 2.18.0013
Filesize : 54.1 MB Download

Show Details

Release date : 26 Jun 09

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7, Windows Vista® and Windows XP support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

File Name : SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0013.exe

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7, Windows Vista® and Windows XP support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Sound Blaster X-Fi

Added Features or Enhancements:
For systems using Windows 7 or Windows Vista

• What U Hear feature is enabled.

To find out the Product ID of your audio device and if it supports the following feature in Windows XP, click here.

• Dolby® Digital and DTS® decode re-established for sound cards that included decoding in their Windows XP drivers (Not applicable for products that included a 3rd party software DVD player license in the package).

Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista 32-bit with SP1, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or Windows XP MCE 2004
• Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

Notes:

• Do not install this driver for Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio.
• To install this driver
  1. Download the SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0013.exe file onto your local hard disk.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Open Source Linux Driver

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi and X-Fi Titanium Series Linux 32-bit / 64-bit Driver Source Release
Filesize : 68.8 KB Download

Release date : 6 Nov 08

This download is a source release driver providing Linux® 32-bit / 64-bit OS support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and X-Fi Titanium series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

File Name : XFiDrv_Linux_Public_US_1.00.tar.gz

This download is a source release driver providing Linux® 32-bit / 64-bit OS support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and X-Fi Titanium series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

• THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
• We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.

This download is intended for the following audio devices only:

• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty® Champion Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional Audio
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

Current release features:

• ALSA PCM Playback
• ALSA Record
• ALSA Mixer

Known issues:

• External I/O modules are not supported in this driver release.
• Applications from the Installation CD of your Sound Blaster audio device will not work with this driver.

Requirements:

• Linux x86 / x86_64 OS
• Creative Sound Blaster audio devices listed above

Notes:

• To install the driver, do the following:
  1. Download the tarball package onto your local hard disk.
  2. Un-tarball the downloaded package to unpack its contents.
  3. Read the README file and follow the instructions.

EAX Software Application

Creative ALchemy 1.41.02
Filesize : 17.48 MB Download

Release date : 26 Jan 10

This download is an application for use with Creative audio products. It restores 3D audio and EAX® effects for certain DirectSound®3D games in Microsoft® Windows® 7 and Windows Vista®. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

File Name : ALMY_PCVTAPP_LB_1_41_02.exe

This download is an application for use with Creative audio products. It restores 3D audio and EAX® effects for certain DirectSound®3D games in Microsoft® Windows® 7 and Windows Vista®. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio products only:

• Creative Sound Blaster® World of Warcraft® Headset Series
• Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes®
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi™ Titanium Fatal1ty® Champion Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Karaoke
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go!
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Play!
• Creative Sound Blaster Arena Surround
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy® 4
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS SE
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2
• Creative USB Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy LS
• Creative HS-1200 Headset
• Creative USB Gaming Headset
• Creative USB Speaker

Fixes:

• Enables the DirectSound3D game audio to be processed by your Sound Blaster audio device to deliver EAX effects, 3D audio spatialization, sample rate conversion and hardware audio mixing. Without this, most DirectSound3D games will be reduced to stereo output without any EAX effects.
• Improves 3D audio processing for host-based Sound Blaster audio devices.

Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Vista 32-bit with SP2
• Creative audio product listed above

Notes:

• Do not install this application if you do not play DirectSound3D games in Windows 7 or Windows Vista.
• To find out more about Creative ALchemy or view the list of DirectSound3D games supported, click here.
• To install the application
  1. Download the ALMY_PCVTAPP_LB_1_41_02.exe file onto your local hard disk.
  2. Close all other Windows applications.
  3. Double-click the downloaded file.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Soundfont Software

Creative SoundFont Bank Manager 3.21.02
Filesize : 6.44 MB Download

No More Goat Soup Visitor Statistics

I thought it would be fun to share some advanced visitor statistics. I know It’s not exactly fun, but it amuses me for a while. All statistics are correct from December 1st. Behold the power of the interweb!

https://nomoregoatsoup.wordpress.com blog stats

• Total views: 1,090,246
• Busiest day: 4,719 — Sunday, March 30, 2008
• Views today: 1,231

Totals

• Posts: 78
• Comments: 1,291
• Categories: 48
• Tags: 10

Top Posts for all days ending 2009-12-01 (Summarized)

Title	Views
*UPDATED* Unofficial Audigy Series Softw	108,723
Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Suppor	90,536
Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack 2	80,514
Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector XP/Vista Dr	73,318
Audigy Drivers	69,431
How To Fully Uninstall Creative Drivers	56,224
Playing DTS Audio Files In Windows Media	45,423
Fix Punkbuster On Windows 7 (Restriction	43,214
Getting Your X-Fi or Audigy’s Dolby and	36,969
FREE Creative ALchemy “Universal” 1.00.0	24,274
Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack	24,205
Creative MediaSource 5 Player/Organizer	23,021
X-Fi Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004 Drive	21,778
New Audigy Drivers XP Vista SBAX_PCDRV_L	21,342
Getting Better Windows 7/Vista Performan	20,807
Audigy Series Vista Driver – 9th May 200	18,360
SB Product Index	17,803
X-Fi Crystalizer for SB Audigy Series	13,312
Dolby Digital Live Pack – SB Audigy Seri	13,187
Working 5.1 Audigy Series Vista Drivers	10,932
X-Fi series Driver 2.18.0004 – 30th July	8,874
Audigy dts Support	8,614
Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector XP/Vista Dr	7,820
New Audigy Drivers 2.18.0011 For XP/Vist	7,789
Working 5.1 Dolby Digital Encoding Throu	7,635
WTF Is This?	7,446
Daniel Kawakami Says Goodbye	7,131
Official Audigy Beta Driver SBAX_PCDRVBE	6,634
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy series Dri	6,533
daniel_k’s Creative SB Audigy Series Sup	5,708
daniel_k’s SB Audigy Series Support Pack	4,954
Creative WaveStudio 7.10.24	4,633
RocketDock – Too Cool To Keep To Myself	4,221
Enable Windows Media Player Enhancements	4,114
daniel_k’s Vista Support Pack 3.1 + dts	4,114
Creative ALchemy 1.10.01 Available	3,686
Creative X-Fi / Audigy Speakers Resets T	3,582
Guru3D – Driver Sweeper v1.0 Final Relas	3,459
Daniel Kawakami Speaks On Wired	2,667
ALchemy 1.20.04 1st August 2008	2,472
Audigy Series and Dolby Digital Live. Wh	2,396
Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.	2,057
Xpert Vision ATi HD 3850 PCI-E Graphics	1,945
atikmdag.exe Errors in Vista. What Is To	1,727
Dolby Digital Live For Audigy Hotfix (Wo	1,634
Half-Life 2 – Review From www.unreality.	1,605
Creative Hound daniel_k Again?	1,399
DTS Realtime Digital Encoding For Audigy	1,239
Getting EAX Audio Effects To Work In Win	1,090
RejZoR’s OpenAL Generic Fixer	1,048
Creative Open Source Incomplete Linux X-	948
Audigy Series Vista Drivers Coming!	931
Creative Labs Kill Third Party Developme	899
WTF is CMSS?	866
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident – Game Revie	821
Creative “Offer” ALchemy Refunds For Aud	795
l_dolby_digital_live_pack11	565
New Driver Sweeper – Version 1.5.5	506
Left 4 Dead – It scares me!	479
Street Fighter IV PC Release Date Announ	413
New Team Fortress 2 Update Sneak Peak.	400
Super Smash Bros. Brawl! European Releas	379
halflife2	372
More Creative Fun!	343
Creative Get Slaughtered On Cafepress	301
Old Game Reviews From Unreality.com	282
Wen Iz New Driver, NoMoreGoatSoup?	260
I Have Team Fortress 2 Wooohooo!!	228
Street Fighter IV Benchmark	194
Guild Wars: Eye Of The North Sneak Peek	167
s24844_pc_1	159
Finally did it	134
It’s Been A While…	125
Download Paul “Midas Touch” Taylor’s Mix	115
Moment of Silence -Review from www.unrea	88
Freakin’ Me Out	80
nexus_3	78
24885	60
Insane In The House Brain	56
half-life-2-20041121083841425	52
Tribes: Vengance – Review from www.Unrea	51
halflife_2	30
half-life_2_hdr_2770605	30
Police Brutality or Yob Culture?	29
Billy Hotdog (Mustard Mix)	26
Only 2 Weeks Until Guild Wars: Eye of th	25
55071884-nexus021	25
My Experiences With Virgin Media’s Appal	22
hl2_deathmatch	21
rhnicxvipe	21
New Midas Touch “Full Hit” Hip-Hop Mix	20
city17	13
halflife2_city17_trainstationsquare	10
nexus1	9
Vacancy	8
sg4wl_sf4_cover_o	7
CaptainHook (Hooks From Heaven) 80’s Ele	7
half_life_2_box	6
roflcopter	5

Current Country Totals (From 24 Aug 2009 to 24 Nov 2009)

DTS Realtime Digital Encoding For Audigy Series

I’ve been playing about with this little beauty. It’s a far nicer option than the Creative Dolby Digital Live Pack for Audigy. I’ve just used it to switch it to dts. It’s less buggy and very slightly better quality than the DDL encoding I’ve been using. Go Go daniel_k powah!

DDL <-> DTS Encoder Switcher for Audigy Series 1.0 (05/14/2009)

This software pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.

Use it at your own risk.

DDL <-> DTS Encoder Switcher for Audigy Series by Daniel Kawakami

Supports any model of the following Sound Blaster cards (based on Emu10kx DSP):

– Audigy
– Audigy 2
– Audigy 2 ZS
– Audigy 4

Host-based Audigy SE/LS/Value and Live! 24-bit cards are not supported.

Operating systems supported: 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7  / Vista SP1 & SP2

Installation and use instructions:

1) Install the DDL & DTS Pack for Audigy Series by running Setup.exe.

2) Purchase and activate the software.

If you have already purchased DDL Pack for Audigy, the same activation code may work. If it doesn’t, there is nothing I can do about it.

If you didn’t buy it, purchase the DDL & DTS Pack for X-Fi using the following link:

http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativelabsstore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?page=product_detail&category=Software&pid=F2222DDN6Z2H2ADDEZD

3) Update Creative Audio Service:

For Windows 32-bit, open C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files.
For Windows 64-bit, open C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative\Shared Files.

Rename CTAudSvc.exe to CTAudSvc_backup.exe and copy the included CTAudSvc.exe (found in the \EncSwitcher folder where you’ve extracted the DDL/DTS Pack) to the same location.

Reboot.

4) Make sure Audio Console is not running and run AudigyEncSwitcher.exe (found in the \EncSwitcher folder where you’ve extracted the DDL/DTS Pack) to change the encoder to DTS or DDL.

5) Finally, run Audio Console and enable encoding.

KNOWN ISSUES:

DTS Neo: PC cannot be used with Audigy cards. Use CMSS instead.

This is a pre release mod, so although the DTS Interactive encoder is available and works, the Encoder tab still says Dolby Digital Live.

IMPORTANT:

– Always disable the Encoder before you switch to a different one.

– Always close Audio Console before you switch the encoder.

– It is recommended that Speaker mode is already set to 5.1 before enabling the Encoder, because of the bugs in the per channel volume level synchronization.

DOWNLOAD:

Filename: Audigy_DDL_DTS_Pack_LB_1_00_00.exe

File size: 5.60 MB

CRC32 hash: A2152539

MD5 hash: BC23349A8BC3B1583E9AADB1A8757277

SHA-1 hash: 91A74FADAEA6549F2B2A045CC2A028431150DA31

To verify the file hashes, I recommend HashTab.

Mirrors: Rapidshare

Mirrors: Sendspace

All files are property of Creative Technology Ltd, unless otherwise noted.

More information can be found in the original post at the Creative Fun Forum.

Wen Iz New Driver, NoMoreGoatSoup?

OK there’s been quite a few hate mails regarding the lack of driver release around here. For a couple of years now we’ve been tinkering with numerous ways to improve the stability and quality of Audigy drivers. So I thought I’d post an official response to “wen iz the new driver?“.

Well it’s coming soon. 🙂

The more knowledgeable among you may remember all the trouble daniel_k got himself in to. Those who don’t, you can get all the shocking details of Creative’s treachery here. Anyway, as a consequence, Creative have added in uber file protection to prevent 3rd party developers from revealing their secrets. That really put a dampener on development, sorry. We’re still experimenting with different things though. I’d have to say the new driver concoction is shaping up quite nicely. As soon as we’re happy with the release, it’ll be posted.

Over the next few weeks you can expect to see some further development in the official Creative drivers too. Creative will soon release Dolby Digital Live support for Audigy. This is great because it won’t work with drivers in their current state. Creative have two options.

• Release the Dolby Digital Live pack without new drivers. This might be the case. A while back Creative tried to sell ALchemy to Audigy users, while the drivers didn’t even except anything above stereo! If this is the way it is, x64 users can forget it due to stupid x32 driver limitations.
• Update the Audigy series drivers.

Creative have been saying now for a while Dolby is coming, and it has been delayed twice already. I’m beginning to feel like the unsupported customer again. They said it would be ready at Christmas, then again in the first Quarter of 2009.

We’ll have to see what happens. I bet they’ve conveniently forgotten about us Audigy owners again, though. Either that or the product won’t work.

I bet they drop Support for Windows 7 too.

X-Fi Crystalizer for SB Audigy Series

Warning: This software is unofficial, not supported by Creative Technology Ltd.

Use it at your own risk.

This utility was written from scratch and does not contain any copyrighted code. Creative’s director of developer relations, George Thorn told me, in a chat session, that is OK to provide mods as patches.

---

X-Fi Crystalizer for Creative SB Audigy series 1.2.0.0 – by Daniel Kawakami

---

WARNING: Use this utility at your own risk, without any guaranties.

This small utility will unlock X-Fi Crystalizer on any Audigy card, except the Audigy SE/Value/LS.

It requires Windows running in Safe Mode.
How to use:

1) Install the unofficial “SB Audigy Series Installation Disc for Windows XP/Vista” (new version, unreleased) or “SB Audigy series Vista Support Pack” from Daniel Kawakami (daniel_k).

Restart Windows to complete the driver installation.

2) Restart Windows in Safe Mode.

Install the X-Fi Console, then run CrystalizerUnlocker.

Restart Windows in Normal Mode.

3) Open the X-Fi Console and enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

This is a software (host-based) implementation of Crystalizer

CMSS in Audio Console/EAX Settings only works with OpenAL/ALchemy

These utilities configure CMSS in hardware mode, that requires OpenAL or ALchemy. Disable CMSS to avoid conflicts with X-Fi CMSS-3D.

In software mode, used by Windows Vista, use the X-Fi Console to enable X-Fi CMSS-3D.

X-Fi Console

Provides the following audio enhancements:

– EAX effects
– X-Fi CMSS-3D
– X-Fi Crystalizer

These enhancements only work with the Windows Vista audio system, that uses software processing and don’t work with OpenAL and ALchemy.

When using X-Fi CMSS-3D, disable CMSS in Audio Console/EAX Settings to avoid conflicts.

*** There were some bugs in the previous version.

*** To install this new version, you must remove everything, including the driver, applications, “Creative” folders in “Program Files” and all registry entries.

The X-Fi Console is just the “X-Fi Audio Console” renamed to co-exist with the Audigy Audio Console and the unnecessary tabs were removed.

Without the CrystalizerUnlocker, it does nothing, so it was not “cracked”.

X-Fi Console and its files are property of Creative Technology Ltd.

Download:

Crystalizer Unlocker (19.4 Kb)

X-Fi Console 2.50.11 (5.78 Mb)

Console & Unlocker  (All-In-One)

In practice, the Crystalizer is a dedicated, dynamic equalizer (Exciter). Its main function is to enhance the high and low frequencies of the input audio. Other functions include modifying a certain range of frequencies in order to achieve better perceived sound quality on a wider array of equipment such as headphones and speakers, and also to digitally increase the volume by about 3db. The Crystalizer emphasis can be adjusted between 0-100% when enabled, however even at 0% the audio is still processed partially. As a consequence of enabling the Crystalizer, the original signal is altered, and whether the result improves upon the original audio is purely a matter of perception and can depend on the type of audio being played.

X-Fi Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004 Driver SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A

Quite a few people have contacted me asking about the Sound Blaster X-Fi Vista Support Pack v2.15.0004. The SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A driver seems to have vanished from the internet without trace. I know you X-Fi noobs are eager to get your hands on them, and maybe if I post it – you’ll stop asking.

Big thanks virtualex for the heads up, and daniel_k for the fixes.

< Compiled on Feb 13 2008 by Daniel Kawakami >

Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista (including Service Pack 1)

Supports all X-Fi cards with a Hardware CA20K DSP chipset (OEM / Retail models)

Does NOT support the following OEM / Retail models:

– Host / software-based cards including X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI and PCI-E
– any external X-Fi soundcards

This setup program will install the following items:

– Audigy series driver 2.15.0004.4
– APO Interface Module 1.30.00
– Audio Console 2.50.10
– MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.76
– SoundFont Bank Manager 3.20.20

Exclusive features in this unofficial driver:

– Dolby/DTS decoder (working on 32-bit/64-bit, requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)
– DVD Audio (32-bit only)
– Hardware MIDI synthesizer (includes 2Mb, 4Mb and 8Mb SoundFont banks)

Release notes / Known issues:

– Windows Security warning during driver installation
When prompted with “Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software”, choose “Install this driver software anyway”.

– WaveRT Pull Mode enabled by default
Does not seem to cause any problems, but if you ever need to disable it, follow these steps:

• run the Registry Editor (Regedit) and open the following registry tree:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class
• Select Search (or press the F3 key) and type EnableWaveRTPullMode, deleting the value when found.
• Restart the computer. Restart the computer.

For more information on WaveRT, access:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devi […] tport.mspx […] Http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devi tport.mspx

– MediaSource DVD-Audio Player does not support the 64-bit edition of Windows Vista

– Built-in Decoder (Built-in Decoder (requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1)
To use the built-in decoder, make sure it is enabled in Audio Console.

Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of Select “SPDIF Out (Creative SB Audigy (WDM))” as the output device of your player and then configure the AC3/DTS filter to send the stream through SPDIF.
When you restart your computer, the Tone settings (Bass and Treble) may not be applied. Just readjust one of the controls one time per boot.

– Windows Vista MIDI Device Configuration Utility
Use this utility to change the MIDI playback device for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.
The driver installer automatically selects the first hardware MIDI synthesizer found.

All files are property of Creative Labs, Inc.

Copyright (c) 2007 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved.

Download
Mirror 1 (Rapidshare) – SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A -38.3 MB (40,230,029 bytes)
Mirror 2 (MediaFire) – SBXF_VTDRV_LB_2_15_0004A -38.3 MB (40,230,029 bytes)

Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack 2

No More Goat Soup are pleased to announce the second improved and updated Vista driver install package. Before installing any new drivers or software, please take a moment to end your CTHELPER.exe process. Then download and install Guru3D – Driver Sweeper.

FnF has updated the latest Driver Sweeper release to include a whole bunch of Creative files & entries that cause drivers to fail to install, or not install correctly. Many, many common issues are resolved by simply running this BEFORE installing new drivers.

Audigy Series Vista Drivers

Release Notes

Version 2.15.0003

This setup file is intended for Windows Vista. The driver should support:

• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy including Platinum and Platinum eX series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 including Platinum, Platinum eX, and Value series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS including Platinum and Platinum Pro series
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro and Sound Blaster Audigy 4
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA

Known issues:

• Applications from the original Sound Blaster Audigy XP Software CD will not work with this download. For compatible software, please Download Daniel Kawakami’s Unofficial SB Audigy Series Software CD for Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista (32/64-bit)
• Users are advised to use Audio Console included in this download to change speaker configurations.
• This driver does not support DirectSound®-based EAX games. (Download ALchemy)
• This driver does not support 6.1 speaker mode.

Requirements:

• Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows Vista 32-bit
• Creative Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices listed above.

Release History:

Version 2.15.0003:
• Utilized Creative Audio Console™ from previous release.
• Replaced ctac32k.sys with the Dell driver counterpart to provide better functioning AC3 decoding support.
• Updated device drivers to SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0003 (6.0.1.1303) 20th September 2007
• Adds MIDI Playback
• Adds EAX® Effects
• Adds PCM stereo output through Optical Out
• Adds Line-in connectivity
• Adds SPDIF passthrough (supported on both Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit) *UNCONFIRMED / MAY NOT WORK*
• Adds Recording capabilities.

Version 2.15.0002:
• Utilized Creative Audio Console™ from previous official release
• Updated device drivers to SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0002 dated 10th May 2007
• Replaced ctac32k.sys and ctdvda2k.sys with the Dell driver counterparts to provide better functioning AC3 decoding support and SPDIF in features.
• Added “Goat_Says_Read.txt” to install package

Install Instructions

• Simply download from the mirror of you choice, self-extract files to destination of your choice and run the setup.exe contained in Vista Decoder 2_15_0003 folder.

Download

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 – Mirror 0 (added 14th November 2007) 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 – Mirror 1 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 – Mirror 2 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 – Mirror 3 19.27 MB

Audigy Vista Decoder 2150003 – Mirror 4 19.27 MB

Audigy Software

Quick Download

For original install CD ISO, check out BadBoyforum at Filefront

daniel_k’s SB Audigy Series Support Pack 3.8

****LATEST BETA DRIVERS****
(unoffical drivers and software applications, fixed by daniel_k)

Included in the pack:

Operating systems supported: 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 RTM / Vista SP2 / XP SP3

Included in the pack:

• Audigy series driver 2.18.0017.7
• ALchemy 1.41.02
• Audio Console 1.33.01
• DDL and DTS Connect License Activation 2.00.03 (*)
• Dolby Digital Live Pack 3.00.06 (*)
• DTS Connect Pack 1.68.75 [modified 1.03.04] (*)
• EAX Console 3.00.56 (Windows XP only)
• Graphic Equalizer 2.00.65
• MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.78
• SoundFont Bank Manager 3.21.02
• Speaker Settings 2.00.60
• THX Setup Console 2.10.43 (Windows XP only)

(*) Purchase and activation required, more info at http://buy.soundblaster.com

Download, more information and discussion here.

Audigy Series Vista Driver Installer Version 2

(Unreleased Drivers)
No More Goat Soup’s Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack contains (in my view) one of the best (english language) Audigy series driver, driver installer version 2.15.0003. It boasts many improvements over the previous release, midi support, SPDIF support in both Vista 32bit and 64bit and of course Line-In. It also includes Creative Audio Console, complete with “Decoder” tab. I have to be honest and say it’s the most stable option available, due to the fact it’s a minimal software install and as few “work arounds” as possible. It’s made from Creative files, so no file protection issues should arise. This pack is a standalone 20mb installer with a handy Setup.exe

Due to the age of this driver, Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive will not work

Download: Audigy Series Vista Drivers 2.15.0003

Audigy Series Vista Driver Installer Version 1

No More Goat Soup’s first Audigy Series Vista Driver Pack contains a english language Audigy series driver, driver installer version 2.15.0002. It also includes Creative Audio Console, complete with “Decoder” tab. This pack is a standalone 20mb installer with a handy Setup.exe

Due to the age of this driver, Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive will not work.

Download: Audigy Series Vista Drivers 2.15.0002

X-Fi Crystalizer for SB Audigy Series by daniel_k

Creative Labs states that primary function of the 24-bit Crystalizer is to “restore portions of the sound which were lost during compression”. In theory this can be done by advanced interpolation techniques. In practice, the Crystalizer is a dedicated, dynamic equalizer (Exciter). Its main function is to enhance the high and low frequencies of the input audio. Other functions include modifying a certain range of frequencies in order to achieve better perceived sound quality on a wider array of equipment such as headphones and speakers, and also to digitally increase the volume by about 3db. The Crystalizer emphasis can be adjusted between 0-100% when enabled, however even at 0% the audio is still processed partially. As a consequence of enabling the Crystalizer, the original signal is altered, and whether the result improves upon the original audio is purely a matter of perception and can depend on the type of audio being played.

This utility was written from scratch and does not contain any copyrighted code. Creative’s director of developer relations, George Thorn told daniel_k, in a chat session, that is OK to provide mods as patches. X-Fi Crystalizer for Creative SB Audigy series 1.2.0.0 – by Daniel Kawakami WARNING: Use this utility at your own risk, without any guaranties. This small utility will unlock X-Fi Crystalizer on any Audigy card, except the Audigy SE/Value/LS. It requires Windows running in Safe Mode.

Download: X-Fi Crystalizer for SB Audigy Series

ALchemy 1.10.01 Free EAX Support For Vista

This download is an application for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ and Sound Blaster Audigy® series of audio devices. It restores 3D audio and EAX® effects for certain DirectSound®3D games in Microsoft® Windows Vista®. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Download: ALchemy 1.10.01

SBAX_PCDRVBETA_US_2_18_0000

THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver. We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks. Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster Audigy series driver available.

Download: SBAX_PCDRVBETA_US_2_18_0000

Unofficial Audigy Series Software CD for Win2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista 32/64-bit by daniel_k

Fully integrated and automated install, supporting Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), installs proper drivers. Includes all latest software available. AudioConsole EAX Settings SoundFont Bank Manager Speaker Settings Volume Panel Diagnostics DVD Audio Player (32-bit only, Audigy1 is not supported) Karaoke Player SB Performance Utility (Audigy2 ZS Notebook) Smart Recorder Wavestudio 7 Vienna SoundFont Studio Media Toolbox Entertainment Center MediaSource 5 Online Manual (PDF / CHM) MIDI Guide Drivers (working Advanced EQ presets)

Download: Unofficial Audigy Series CD

Audigy Vista Support Pack By daniel_k

Audigy series driver 2.15.0004 (the latest X-Fi driver), APO Interface Module 1.30.00, Audio Console 1.20.57 (including Graphic Equalizer), EAX Settings 1.10.05, MediaSource DVD-Audio Player 2.00.76 (32-bit only), SoundFont Bank Manager 3.20.20, Speaker Settings 2.00.60  Exclusive features in this unofficial driver include; Equalizer, CMSS and Stereo Surround with Stereo focus control, Advanced EQ and Special FX available, Dolby/DTS decoder (working on 32-bit/64-bit requires Windows Vista Service Pack 1), DVD Audio (32-bit only), Hardware MIDI synthesizer (includes 2Mb, 4Mb and 8Mb SoundFont banks), 4 Gb RAM approved (tested on Intel C2D E6400, Gigabyte 965P-DS3, 4Gb RAM)

Download: Audigy Vista Support Pack

kX Project Drivers and Mixer

The kX Project is an independent development project, focused on providing free WDM Audio Drivers for kX-Compatible sound cards. Read our mission statement for a quick introduction. The kX Audio Driver is an independent WDM (Windows Driver Model) driver for all EMU10K1 and EMU10K2-based soundcards manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or E-mu Systems Inc., including the SoundBlaster Live! series, the E-mu Audio Production Studio (APS) card, and the Audigy / Audigy2 series of cards. The kX Audio Driver package includes driver system files and setup files as well as a powerful audio mixer application (the kX Mixer), which acts as a Graphical User Interface, providing access to many of the driver’s internal functions.

Download: kX Project Drivers

*UPDATED* Unofficial Audigy Series Software CD for Win2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista 32/64-bit

Daniel Kawakami has just posted an updated installation CD for Audigy Series on the Creative user forums. The CD has been compiled for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista 32bit and Windows Vista 64bit. He’s put a lot effort in, and produced a great multi language installer. I’ll try and arrange some alternative file hosting, but for now Daniel’s original links are located at the bottom. Enjoy!

Unofficial SB Audigy Series Software CD for

Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista (32/64-bit)

by Daniel Kawakami

Fully integrated and automated install, supporting Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), installs proper drivers. Includes all latest software available.

It is MANDATORY to disable UAC (User Account Control) before installing the package on Windows Vista (specially the 64-bit version).

Known “Windows Vista only” issues (so far):

– Diagnostics is incorrectly available in Setup under 64-bit. It does not work under that OS.

– “Speaker Settings” crashes during uninstall; just close the “Windows encountered a problem” and uninstall will proceed.

– Environment presets acts as Karaoke presets (effects are applied to Microphone).

– Advanced EQ and Special FX presets are available through “EAX Settings” application. You can edit and save the presets, but you can’t delete or edit them once saved.

Known issues:

– The Microphone controls may be disabled in Karaoke player. Just use the Windows Mixer and “EAX Settings” / “EAX Console” and to adjust the Microphone volume and effects, respectively.

– Do not install Entertainment Center unless you have one of the supported remote controls (RM-900, RM-1000, RM-1500, RM-1800), otherwise it is useless.

Hardware supported:

– Audigy
– Audigy 2
– Audigy 2 Value
– Audigy 2 ZS
– Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
– Audigy 4
– Audigy 4 Pro

Software for Windows Vista:

– AudioConsole
– EAX Settings
– SoundFont Bank Manager
– Speaker Settings
– Volume Panel
– Diagnostics
– DVD Audio Player (32-bit only, Audigy1 is not supported)
– Karaoke Player
– SB Performance Utility (Audigy2 ZS Notebook)
– Smart Recorder
– Wavestudio 7
– Vienna SoundFont Studio
– Media Toolbox
– Entertainment Center
– MediaSource 5
– Online Manual (PDF / CHM)
– MIDI Guide
– Drivers (working Advanced EQ presets)

Software for Windows 2000 / XP / Server 2003:

– AudioConsole
– EAX Console
– SoundFont Bank Manager
– Speaker Settings
– THX Console
– Speaker Calibrator
– Surround Mixer
– Volume Panel
– Diagnostics
– DVD Audio Player (32-bit only, Audigy1 is not supported)
– Karaoke Player
– SB Performance Utility (Audigy2 ZS Notebook)
– Smart Recorder
– Wavestudio 7
– Vienna SoundFont Studio
– Media Toolbox
– Entertainment Center
– Sound Blaster Plug-in (Media Center only)
– MediaSource 5
– Online Manual (PDF / CHM)
– MIDI Guide
– Drivers

Revision 2 release notes:
– Removed “Diagnostics” from 64-bit systems.
– “Smart Recorder” for Windows XP now works with MP3 files and has a more friendly “My Recordings” interface.
– Includes “MP3 write” codec, the latest free version included in Audigy CDs, doesn’t work with WaveStudio 7, though.
– Updated the Windows Vista driver to ver 2.15.0002.2 (build 6.0.01.1302), latest version for X-Fi which also works with Audigy cards.
– Removed old WHQL driver and non-WHQL multilanguage driver to save space.
– “Creative Engine” installer and modules updated. Installers of applications using this engine were updated as well.
– Do NOT use this new CD to uninstall or add components of a previous installation, remove the old version completely before using this new version (see note above).
Source: Creative Labs Support Forum

Note the ISO has been split into pieces, which must be extracted together to form the ISO file using WinRAR and then burnt using something like PowerISO

Download UPDATED RELEASE With Bittorrent:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Torrent

Download UPDATED VERSION In 2 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2

Download ORIGINAL RELEASE In 2 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2

Download ORIGINAL RELEASE In 5 Parts:
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 1
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 2
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 3
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 4
Download Unofficial Audigy Software CD: Download CD Part 5

All credits go to Daniel Kawakami. He’s the man to thank for this one.
You can download all daniel_k’s files from right here!

How To Fully Uninstall Creative Drivers & Solve Install Problems (Vista/XP/Windows 7)

I’ve recently been fiddling about with multiple Audigy Vista drivers. In the quest to find the best working driver, I was experiencing issues with left over files. I didn’t fancy reinstalling Vista every time I had a new driver to test, so I consulted the Creative oracle -Daniel Kawakami. (Tsk.. I’m such a name dropper.) We then looked at Daniel’s list and compared it to our list of problem files and entries. The amount of things needing deletion (before new driver install) was quite astounding. Creative really added a whole bunch of stuff to Vista drivers. There are 2 ways to remove these files; the easy way or the hard way.

…but before we start -lets take a moment to uninstall any Creative programs that are already installed.

Ok everything Creative in add remove programs uninstalled?

Download latest driver, extract the package using 7-zip or WinRAR, navigate to Drivers folder
Here you will find setup.exe, run it and select Uninstall and Delete all shared files below. After you’re done, restart.

Ok let’s try to get things really clean now.

The Easy Way: Guru3D Driver Sweeper
The automatic uninstall method is very easy, two steps in fact. First you need to kill the CTHELPER.EXE process in Window’s Task Manager if it’s running. It’s very important as files in use cannot be removed.

Next step, we need some help from the Gurus. FnF, from the Guru3D community, kindly added our lists of the problem files and registry entries into the latest version of Guru3D – Driver Sweeper.
Guru3D – Driver Sweeper is a fast tool to remove driver leftovers from your system. It’s very important to remove your drivers on a proper way, because driver leftovers can cause problems like stability and startup problems. You can use it if you want to update/remove drivers from your system. The current supported drivers are NVIDIA (Display and Chipset), ATI (Display), Creative (Sound) Realtek (Sound), Ageia (PhysX) and Microsoft (Mouse).

The Hard Way: Manual Removal Of Files
This Manual uninstall method is quite complex and isn’t suited for most users. Always backup your valuables, registry etc. If it goes wrong, don’t blame me. It’s worth noting too that UAC should be disabled, in case anyone out there is crazy enough to be using it. I don’t recommend this way -it’s really a last resort thing.

1) Firstly begin by totally uninstalling anything with the Creative tag on it.
Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Programs > Uninstall a program

2) Next we need to remove any tricky start up entries, again anything Creative must go.
Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Programs > Change startup programs

3) Now we need to remove Creative registry entries, and there’s quite a few.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Creative Tech
• HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\Software\ASIO

4) Remove these files/folders:

• C:\Windows\System32\BMX*.rfx
• C:\Windows\System32\Data
• C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Data *(64-bit only)
• C:\Windows\{*.BAK
• C:\Windows\{*.CDF *Under Vista, requires additional actions to be successfully deleted, see below.
• C:\Windows\CTDCRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\System32\cttele32.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CTOSS2K.SYS
• C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CTSFM2K.SYS
• C:\Program Files\Creative (delete whole folder)
• C:\Windows\CTXFIRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\CTPRES.DLL
• C:\Windows\Updreg.EXE

To remove .CDF files, type the following two commands in the Command Prompt (requires Admin Privileges or UAC disabled)

takeown /f C:\Windows\*.CDF

and

cacls C:\Windows\*.CDF /G User:F

User is your username, which must have admin rights. Answer Y (yes) to confirm the changes.
Now close the prompt, open Windows Explorer and delete the files with filenames like these:

{00000005-00000000-00000002-00001102-00000004-20021102}.BAK
{00000005-00000000-00000002-00001102-00000004-20021102}.CDF

After all of this, restart and begin to install your software. I noticed that after using this method, my Creative driver packages would install much quicker. It even solved a few little bugs I was having. Bonus.

I’d like to say a big thanks to Daniel Kawakami and RejZoR for providing us with further information, thus allowing us to compile this list of problems better. Without their hard work and will to help, many of us would have no sound.

I’d also like to say a big thanks to FnF from the Guru3D.com community for adding the huge list of entries to the Guru3D.com Driver Sweeper, thus eliminating much work.

Praise them.

02/07/08 EDIT: Updated, adding instructions for official Creative uninstall tool. Thanks to Tarkan2467 and RejZoR from the Guru3D.com community for the improvements.

31/07/08 EDIT: Creative have changed the installer programs. Some files may not be present -there also will be some new ones…. Some of the advanced removal details may be out of date and inaccurate. We will add more info when available on the new uninstallers.

Creative ALchemy “Universal” 1.00.04 For EAX In Windows Vista

Well back once again, back by popular demand, it’s a fixed version of ALchemy. Daniel Kawakami has released a newer application revision, that enables EAX Vista support on all sound cards capable of OpenAL. Creative charge some of their customers for this, so grab it while it’s hot!

Creative ALchemy Universal 1.00.04 – Patched by Daniel Kawakami

>>>Use it at your own risk. <<<

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: ALchemy and its related files are property of Creative Labs, Inc.

In response to ungrateful behavior of Creative, I’ve decided to release a patched ALchemy for all models of Live! and Audigy soundcards.

It was ready since its release in last March. I was just waiting the proper moment, when Creative would make a stupid move.

A device check was removed to enable Audigy support as well as a check for EAX4, to enable support for Live! cards.

Some notes:

• DirectSound3D and/or EAX may not work properly on Live! cards.
• DirectSound2D is a bonus for all cards, because it bypasses the Audiodg service on Windows Vista, so no more memory/CPU cycles wasted. Just use ALchemy with your favorite player.
• When using ALchemy, EAX effects tab will be disabled on AudioConsole, just like on X-Fi; on Live! it works, though.
• Make sure you have the latest Creative drivers for Windows Vista installed.

Update: I’ve received an unprotected copy of dsound.dll and ALchemy.exe. It took me some time to patch and repair the files, because they were not in perfect conditions.

This version is based on the “free” X-Fi version of ALchemy and it is called “Universal” because the string can be found in the software language resource DLL and matches the purpose of this patched version.

Run Setup.exe to install. Use the Creative ALchemy application if your game is officially supported or manually add an unsupported game to the database.

Download Creative ALchemy Universal 1.00.04 (Mirror1).
Download Creative ALchemy Universal 1.00.04 (Mirror2).
I’ll try add more mirrors when available. Big up Daniel Kawakami!