CMI8738 QUESTIONS...

[Werty]

hi

.. has anyone used a CMI8738-SX based sound card? here's my questions:

*whats the difference between VXD & WDM drivers?

..anyone encountered and resolved this problem??? i know that this soundcard can use 4-channel speakers.. when using VXD drivers, its works fine and also has good environment sounds... but my problem arise when using WDM drivers.. when using them under Win98SE,Win2000, or even WinXP, when i set it to play at 4-channel out, when i load my favorite game, it defaults back to 2-channel out only??? has anyone encountered this and has resolved it??? pls tell me how to make it defaults to 4-channel out while using WDM drivers...

pls... i dont wanna spend on any other investments yet and i would like to MAX out my soundcard...i hope anyone out there can help....

 

[Werty]

anyone please?

 

[flexy]

<< hi

.. has anyone used a CMI8738-SX based sound card? here's my questions:

*whats the difference between VXD & WDM drivers?

..anyone encountered and resolved this problem??? i know that this soundcard can use 4-channel speakers.. when using VXD drivers, its works fine and also has good environment sounds... but my problem arise when using WDM drivers.. when using them under Win98SE,Win2000, or even WinXP, when i set it to play at 4-channel out, when i load my favorite game, it defaults back to 2-channel out only??? has anyone encountered this and has resolved it??? pls tell me how to make it defaults to 4-channel out while using WDM drivers...

pls... i dont wanna spend on any other investments yet and i would like to MAX out my soundcard...i hope anyone out there can help.... >>



i have a soyo dragon+ with a CMI 8738 onboard sound chip.

The wdm drivers in general are for 98se(ME). 2000, XP - but i think you can also use the vxd drivers for 98se, but usually the vxd drivers are the older standard for 95/98.

Anyway...i have the best results with the generic and latest drivers directly from the ctech website.....since i have 98SE i download the wdm drivers.

There may be some install issues. The drivers provide you with an option about what speaker setup you have (2, 4, dolby5.1)...and usually i install it by running the setup.exe where it asks what kind of speakers you have. You can see how its set up then using the cmedia mixer, in the about screen. There is also an option-panel where you can choose your speaker setup.

 

[Werty]

hi

can you tell me the website address pls?

 

[formulav8]

CMedia Website

 

[Werty]

ey im back...

i still got this wierd problems with this card... when playing DirectSound3d games,applications, it defaults back to 2-channel output instead of 4-channel.. no matter how i set it up to 4-channel, it always restore back to 2-channel when loading games (eg Baldurs gate 2 & Battle Realms)

has anyone got the same soundcard and has this kind of experience???? btw, in using analog signals.. not the SPDIF..

help urgently needed...

 

[Werty]

anyone???

i dont wanna think dat this is a crappy card.. i know its a good value card.. so any help would do, pls....

 

[TBC]

I know this is a late reply to this thread, but I did a search trying to find more info on this type of sound card.

I just installed the ECS Thundering brand version with this chipset. So far I'm not impressed. I was going to replace my SB Live card with it due to the recommendations of other people(mainly in the hot deals forum), but my LIVE card has better sound.

Half the games don't work right with this card either. In Nascar 4, parts of the engine sound are awful. And several games I can't get all 4 speakers to work. Plus it says it supports EAX, but I can't seem to get that to work in some games... only directsound.

Think I just wasted $20.

 

[SRman]

Werty,

I bought the 6 channel version and am having the same problem. I did not have the problem before loading the newest WDM driver. Now whenever I load Tachyon:the fringe it defaults back to the 2 speaker setup. I did not have this problem when I was using the driver off microsoft's update. I am going to try different drivers and see what happens. Overall I think the sound is pretty good, but I don't want to be constantly fooling with it to get it to work. Maybe I will buy a oem live for about $35 or a fortissimo 2. I will post again when I try some different drivers.

SR

 

[cookdog]

Well at least you got 4 channel some of the time. I just installed this card (AudioExcel brand) and loaded the drivers and audio rack from the C-Media site. THe mixer did not have the option to set up the speakers so I only got 2 channel. I ininstalled and installed the audio rack from the cd and it would not display the mixer part at all. I uninstalled and used the windows default but still can't get the 4 channels.
Any suggestions? My speakers are plugged in correctly

 

[SRman]

I tried several drivers for the chaintech audioexcel. I had various problems. Sometimes the speakers would switch back from 4 to 2. I never got the mike to work correctly. The sound was good, but not having my rear speakers in cs sucked. I also picked up a hercules Muse, which uses the same chipset, thinking the drivers may be better. Nope. In fact when I attempted to use the latest drivers from hercules website the install program told me I did not have a Muse in my system. I even installed the pci latency patch, but that did not help either. I am sure some people have gotten these cards to work properl, but I got fed up with it and bought a SB audigy. No problems so far. Anybody want to buy a Chaintech audioexcel or a hercules Muse?

SR

 

[cookdog]

Well, I solved my problem, I had the speakers plugged in the wrong jacks. This thing sounds great.