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Journeyman
Heres a guide to make your gaming exprience a little close to reality. This article talks about enhancing the audio experience whilst gaming.
Most high-quality games support some sort of 3-D audio. Titles like Pariah, Half-Life 2, Doom III (and its expansion pack, Resurrection of Evil), Act of War: Direct Action can pump sounds through every channel your sound card supports, and even make 3-D-like sounds through a pair of speakers or headphones.
3-D audio is sound that seems to come from all around you rather than just from the pair of speakers next to your monitor. 3-D audio can be accomplished through many methods from multi-channel speaker systems that include rear speakers to 3-D tricks that make sound sources seem to come from next to or even behind you.
PC gamers won't be surprised to learn that a little extra effort is required to achieve the best audio for their gaming experience. But you'll end up with truly immersive audio, which is worth the effort. Coaxing your system to pump out perfect sound is a three-part task. In this column, I'll explain how to:
• Place the speakers in their ideal location.
• Specify Windows XP settings that fit with your computer speaker system.
• Set audio options in games to take advantage of your audio hardware.
Where to put your computer speakers
I'm going to assume you've installed your system sound card or set up your computer's onboard audio controller with the proper drivers, and that they're working correctly. Nearly all audio devices drive at least six speakers, designated 5.1. Some drive 6.1 or even 7.1 systems. In those designations, the first number indicates the number of satellite speakers the device supports, and the .1 signifies the subwoofer that pumps out bass.
When your audio device such as your computer sound card or the audio CODEC on your system motherboard is properly installed, enabled, and engaged with the necessary drivers, your next task is to set up your speaker system. Whether you're using a Logitech Z-system, a Klipsch ProMedia kit, or any other speaker system, putting the speakers in the right place is very important.
The subwoofer can go just about anywhere. Low notes are non-directional, meaning you can't tell where they're coming from, so you can put the subwoofer wherever it's convenient. You can also boost its ability to rattle the windows by placing it near a wall, or, for the ultimate bass experience, put it in a corner.
The front pair of satellite speakers should go on either side of the monitor at equal distance from your position. You should sit as far away from the center point between the front pair as they are from each other. This is especially important if your system only has two speakers. You need to place them properly to make sound seem to come from all around you through 3-D audio tricks.
The center speaker should sit on top or beneath the monitor directly in front of you. For rear satellite placement, you should consult the manual that came with your speaker system. Depending on how many surround speakers the system includes, you'll place them in different locations. For example, a 6.1 system might have a rear center and left and right satellites.
This brings up the question—what do you do with the rear speakers? Few systems include stands for them, and you can't place them on the floor because they need some height, plus, you'd probably step on them. You might build your own stands or place them on a bookshelf behind your computer desk. You'll have to be creative, because there's no one right answer to how to mount rear speakers.
Tip: Hang the rear speakers from the ceiling if you can. My office is in my unfinished basement, and the floor joists are clearly visible above my head. I simply pounded a few nails into the joists at the proper locations and hung the speakers from above. They're out of the way and effective in their placement.
Finally, connect your speakers to your sound card. Some speakers have both digital and analog connections. If they do, use both. Some speakers can't do 3-D gaming audio through a digital connection, which it reserves for S/PDIF signals that are typically used for DVD movies.
You should also ensure that your speaker system is set up correctly in Windows XP. Nearly all sound card speaker setup interfaces make the necessary adjustment for you, but you should check it anyway.
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, and then click Sounds and Audio Devices.
2. In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box, click the Advanced button.
3. On the Speakers tab, under Speaker setup, select the option that best describes your speaker system, as shown below, then click OK twice and close Control Panel.
Set audio options in games
Finally, you need to tell some games about your system's speakers and the audio device's capabilities. Certain games have selectable sound options in their settings or options interface. When you install a game and run it for the first time, look for such settings.
You should make it a point to know your card's audio application program interface (API) support. An API is a standard that hardware devices use to support various features in Windows. DirectX is a suite of APIs. Today's audio APIs include various EAX levels, OpenAL, and DirectSound.
For example, Creative Labs recently released a beta driver for its SoundBlaster Audigy 2 cards that supports OpenAL. SoundBlaster equipment also supports every incarnation of EAX, including EAX 4.0 Advanced HD. Literally all audio parts made in the last few years support DirectSound, which includes 3-D positional audio.
Not every game includes selectable audio options. Many games simply offer a check box for turning on 3-D sound, and some don't even have that. Just because you don't see an option in the game's settings for 3-D audio doesn't mean it doesn't support surround sound. Some games automatically detect your sound card's abilities and take advantage of them. Others support only DirectSound and automatically enable its 3-D capabilities. And, of course, some games don't support 3-D sound at all.
Getting the best sound from your games does take a bit of work, but the sheer level of immersion that solid 3-D audio imparts to your gaming experience is well worth the hassle. If you have a question or a problem, ask it in the Microsoft Windows XP Games newsgroup. I regularly participate in it and I look forward to seeing you there.
For a graphical representation of the speaker setup, check out the source.
Source
Direct link to article
Most high-quality games support some sort of 3-D audio. Titles like Pariah, Half-Life 2, Doom III (and its expansion pack, Resurrection of Evil), Act of War: Direct Action can pump sounds through every channel your sound card supports, and even make 3-D-like sounds through a pair of speakers or headphones.
3-D audio is sound that seems to come from all around you rather than just from the pair of speakers next to your monitor. 3-D audio can be accomplished through many methods from multi-channel speaker systems that include rear speakers to 3-D tricks that make sound sources seem to come from next to or even behind you.
PC gamers won't be surprised to learn that a little extra effort is required to achieve the best audio for their gaming experience. But you'll end up with truly immersive audio, which is worth the effort. Coaxing your system to pump out perfect sound is a three-part task. In this column, I'll explain how to:
• Place the speakers in their ideal location.
• Specify Windows XP settings that fit with your computer speaker system.
• Set audio options in games to take advantage of your audio hardware.
Where to put your computer speakers
I'm going to assume you've installed your system sound card or set up your computer's onboard audio controller with the proper drivers, and that they're working correctly. Nearly all audio devices drive at least six speakers, designated 5.1. Some drive 6.1 or even 7.1 systems. In those designations, the first number indicates the number of satellite speakers the device supports, and the .1 signifies the subwoofer that pumps out bass.
When your audio device such as your computer sound card or the audio CODEC on your system motherboard is properly installed, enabled, and engaged with the necessary drivers, your next task is to set up your speaker system. Whether you're using a Logitech Z-system, a Klipsch ProMedia kit, or any other speaker system, putting the speakers in the right place is very important.
The subwoofer can go just about anywhere. Low notes are non-directional, meaning you can't tell where they're coming from, so you can put the subwoofer wherever it's convenient. You can also boost its ability to rattle the windows by placing it near a wall, or, for the ultimate bass experience, put it in a corner.
The front pair of satellite speakers should go on either side of the monitor at equal distance from your position. You should sit as far away from the center point between the front pair as they are from each other. This is especially important if your system only has two speakers. You need to place them properly to make sound seem to come from all around you through 3-D audio tricks.
The center speaker should sit on top or beneath the monitor directly in front of you. For rear satellite placement, you should consult the manual that came with your speaker system. Depending on how many surround speakers the system includes, you'll place them in different locations. For example, a 6.1 system might have a rear center and left and right satellites.
This brings up the question—what do you do with the rear speakers? Few systems include stands for them, and you can't place them on the floor because they need some height, plus, you'd probably step on them. You might build your own stands or place them on a bookshelf behind your computer desk. You'll have to be creative, because there's no one right answer to how to mount rear speakers.
Tip: Hang the rear speakers from the ceiling if you can. My office is in my unfinished basement, and the floor joists are clearly visible above my head. I simply pounded a few nails into the joists at the proper locations and hung the speakers from above. They're out of the way and effective in their placement.
Finally, connect your speakers to your sound card. Some speakers have both digital and analog connections. If they do, use both. Some speakers can't do 3-D gaming audio through a digital connection, which it reserves for S/PDIF signals that are typically used for DVD movies.
You should also ensure that your speaker system is set up correctly in Windows XP. Nearly all sound card speaker setup interfaces make the necessary adjustment for you, but you should check it anyway.
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, and then click Sounds and Audio Devices.
2. In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box, click the Advanced button.
3. On the Speakers tab, under Speaker setup, select the option that best describes your speaker system, as shown below, then click OK twice and close Control Panel.
Set audio options in games
Finally, you need to tell some games about your system's speakers and the audio device's capabilities. Certain games have selectable sound options in their settings or options interface. When you install a game and run it for the first time, look for such settings.
You should make it a point to know your card's audio application program interface (API) support. An API is a standard that hardware devices use to support various features in Windows. DirectX is a suite of APIs. Today's audio APIs include various EAX levels, OpenAL, and DirectSound.
For example, Creative Labs recently released a beta driver for its SoundBlaster Audigy 2 cards that supports OpenAL. SoundBlaster equipment also supports every incarnation of EAX, including EAX 4.0 Advanced HD. Literally all audio parts made in the last few years support DirectSound, which includes 3-D positional audio.
Not every game includes selectable audio options. Many games simply offer a check box for turning on 3-D sound, and some don't even have that. Just because you don't see an option in the game's settings for 3-D audio doesn't mean it doesn't support surround sound. Some games automatically detect your sound card's abilities and take advantage of them. Others support only DirectSound and automatically enable its 3-D capabilities. And, of course, some games don't support 3-D sound at all.
Getting the best sound from your games does take a bit of work, but the sheer level of immersion that solid 3-D audio imparts to your gaming experience is well worth the hassle. If you have a question or a problem, ask it in the Microsoft Windows XP Games newsgroup. I regularly participate in it and I look forward to seeing you there.
For a graphical representation of the speaker setup, check out the source.
Source
Direct link to article
