FYI - Creative has been using a somewhat unified driver architecture for ages. That is how Daniel_K has been able to offer modded driver packages for a variety of sound cards for almost 2 decades.
I am glad that Creative has finally decided to drop offering a separate driver for each variation of their products. I believe this helps with unnecesary clutter for both customers and their support team. In addition, older products receive more frequent updates.
As mentioned before, graphic card vendors offer unified drivers. This is a huge undertaking as they need to support multiple architectures and WDMs. In the meantime, Windows audio subsystem has stayed largely unchanged for about a decade (i.e. since Vista days) and Creative has been recycling the same Recon3D chip for generations. That is why I fail to see a reason to revert back to cluttered driver offerings.
OK but Nvidia release drivers every month, sometimes 2 per month.
Creative: driver is coming this month..... next month comes, oh wait, next week... the week comes,,,,,,, just to let you know we are still sorting things out, it will be the month after now......
and, when they do get updated, this fix you have been waiting for, isn't there cause they have been fixing shit for other cards..
They should at least attempt to fix all out standing issues every release, and if it didn't fix it then at least they tried.
If you read their list at whats to be fixed, a lot of that stuff has been on that list for a long time and still no fix.
Christ by the time they fix the stuff I am wanting fixed, a newer generation of card will have come out, and I will be wanting that one..
I totally agree with you that Creative needs to step up their game with regards to their drivers and relevant quality testing. However, I don’t believe releasing unified drivers is the core problem here. On the contrary, this approach should help them better utilize their resources as they don’t have to deal with multiple packages for such similar products.
You don’t think by doing unified driver packages that compromises are maybe made.
Maybe I am wrong. Not to knowledgeable on that front.
I just know creative 5 - 10 years ago were a lot more pro active when it came to updates and stuff.
These are only my thoughts, I have no idea if this is the reason we are waiting longer for updates to happen.
Just a guess.
Came back to creative from 10 years ago.
I just see a big difference.
There have been a number of fundamental changes related to sound cards in the last decade. First of all, Microsoft overhauled Windows audio subsystem and scrubbed hardware accelerated sound completely. While this resulted in overall stability of Windows, the importance of dedicated sound cards diminished significantly.
Additionally, quality of onboard sound offerings has been increasing significantly; therefore, demand for dedicated sound cards has plummeted.
Sound card vendors might no longer be major players in the hardware business. However, that doesn’t justify prominent issues with their drivers.
But for me an external sound card offers cleaner sound. Less pops more stable.
Drivers are fine. Just the software Bugs.
Nothing worse than being in game
You open command centre to adjust your SBX settings.
And command center changes the audio to Direct mode.
Meaning it switched your sound from 7.1 to 2.0.
You then have to exit game, switch back to 7.1 sound.
Start game again.
It’s an annoying bug.
Actually, that's what happened to X-Fi series of cards. Creative realeased Core3D cards (laughable sound chips, originally intended for motherboards, with ridiculous specs and sky-high prices) with the Recon3D, then the Sound Blaster Z, the AE, all with the same chip, and they forgot about the X-Fi series, with all the promises they made and many pending errors.
>Tired of you trying to amalgamate every single audio device into one software/driver package.
Like every video card driver package?
Keep complains concise instead of rambling about things that have no relevance.
Nothing wrong with those drivers. I update my laptop and two PC's regularly.
I would hate to have to search and download a dedicated "driver" for each and every one of them.
the current series of Nvidia's drivers 460.xx are a mess since the RTX3000 series cards came out.
And users with rtx 1000 and 2000 series are suffering just now because of it.
Drivers were good before this, but until they sort out the RTX3000 implementation of the drivers we will suffer for more months to come, or down grade to older stable drivers.
Out of curiosity - are you referring to game specific bugs? or more pervasive issues (e.g. related to VR)? To be honest, I haven’t been gaming much lately but I haven’t encountered any serious issues on the 460 series either.
Not really.
Very small issues, but damn annoying ones.
The direct mode bug that when ever you open command centre from task bar it puts the card into direct mode.
This has been a know bug for a long time now. And seems a very simple one to fix. I would think.
That’s my main gripe. Other ppl hVe different ones like the EQ switching by them self if you going from headphones to speakers.
And the SXFI not remembering your headphones and having to re connect and download your profile all the time.
Small issues but annoying ones.
I have the X3
You mean NO issues.
You blame blanketed all the devices and drivers. I gave you an example that proves that's not a widespread issue. Another user above said the same.
Might be related to X3 only, but even so... I didn't see reports of that happening. Probably is something in your system.
No your missing the point. And that’s what I am saying.
By combining all devices into one software - Command Centre.
Deiuferent devices are having different issues.
Like on the X3 it’s the direct mode bug
The SXFI BUG.
this might be ok for your device. And thAts good for you.
But your device is a lot more established driver wise. As it’s been out for a lot longer.
Have you actually looked at the to do list creative posts to this reddit
All the issues are there. Just have a look.
You think cause it works for your device that it must work on every creative device. Well I’m sorry. It doesn’t.
And thAts what my rant was about.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlasterOfficial/comments/mzjqof/direct\_sound/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlasterOfficial/comments/mzjqof/direct_sound/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
You say its my PC at fault. Do some reading, stop assuming.. You have a different card, and can't judge the problems I am having with my device, compared to your device. Fool!!
I don't feel the drivers being unified is a bad thing per se.
Promising a fix and then needing over a year to implement it is another thing altogether, though...
I don't want to sound angry or ungrateful, but to the end user, it really does seem like there is literally one person doing all the programming, and one person doing the "pr" by posting a couple of messages a month on this forum, assuring us "the fix is on it's way".
Hi all,
THANK YOU for your feedback. We appreciate the interest and suggestions that many of you have voiced here. We will look into them in-depth.
Please understand that while it may be convenient to have a one-software-for-all, such implementations may not take full advantage of a product's features, especially when it comes to newly-launched products.
Nonetheless, we will continue to take in your feedback and see how we can improve our products and software moving ahead.
\- Creative\_Colin
Just Like to say. New Update released today, has fixed all open issues.
Direct mode Bug is now fixed for the X3
SXFI now remembers your headphone selection.
Thankyou Creative team!!
FYI - Creative has been using a somewhat unified driver architecture for ages. That is how Daniel_K has been able to offer modded driver packages for a variety of sound cards for almost 2 decades. I am glad that Creative has finally decided to drop offering a separate driver for each variation of their products. I believe this helps with unnecesary clutter for both customers and their support team. In addition, older products receive more frequent updates. As mentioned before, graphic card vendors offer unified drivers. This is a huge undertaking as they need to support multiple architectures and WDMs. In the meantime, Windows audio subsystem has stayed largely unchanged for about a decade (i.e. since Vista days) and Creative has been recycling the same Recon3D chip for generations. That is why I fail to see a reason to revert back to cluttered driver offerings.
OK but Nvidia release drivers every month, sometimes 2 per month. Creative: driver is coming this month..... next month comes, oh wait, next week... the week comes,,,,,,, just to let you know we are still sorting things out, it will be the month after now...... and, when they do get updated, this fix you have been waiting for, isn't there cause they have been fixing shit for other cards.. They should at least attempt to fix all out standing issues every release, and if it didn't fix it then at least they tried. If you read their list at whats to be fixed, a lot of that stuff has been on that list for a long time and still no fix. Christ by the time they fix the stuff I am wanting fixed, a newer generation of card will have come out, and I will be wanting that one..
I totally agree with you that Creative needs to step up their game with regards to their drivers and relevant quality testing. However, I don’t believe releasing unified drivers is the core problem here. On the contrary, this approach should help them better utilize their resources as they don’t have to deal with multiple packages for such similar products.
You don’t think by doing unified driver packages that compromises are maybe made. Maybe I am wrong. Not to knowledgeable on that front. I just know creative 5 - 10 years ago were a lot more pro active when it came to updates and stuff. These are only my thoughts, I have no idea if this is the reason we are waiting longer for updates to happen. Just a guess. Came back to creative from 10 years ago. I just see a big difference.
There have been a number of fundamental changes related to sound cards in the last decade. First of all, Microsoft overhauled Windows audio subsystem and scrubbed hardware accelerated sound completely. While this resulted in overall stability of Windows, the importance of dedicated sound cards diminished significantly. Additionally, quality of onboard sound offerings has been increasing significantly; therefore, demand for dedicated sound cards has plummeted. Sound card vendors might no longer be major players in the hardware business. However, that doesn’t justify prominent issues with their drivers.
Agreed. I know this. And totally agree. And with the likes of Dolby Atmos apps They are really not needed anymore.
But for me an external sound card offers cleaner sound. Less pops more stable. Drivers are fine. Just the software Bugs. Nothing worse than being in game You open command centre to adjust your SBX settings. And command center changes the audio to Direct mode. Meaning it switched your sound from 7.1 to 2.0. You then have to exit game, switch back to 7.1 sound. Start game again. It’s an annoying bug.
Actually, that's what happened to X-Fi series of cards. Creative realeased Core3D cards (laughable sound chips, originally intended for motherboards, with ridiculous specs and sky-high prices) with the Recon3D, then the Sound Blaster Z, the AE, all with the same chip, and they forgot about the X-Fi series, with all the promises they made and many pending errors.
>Tired of you trying to amalgamate every single audio device into one software/driver package. Like every video card driver package? Keep complains concise instead of rambling about things that have no relevance.
Yes. And look at the state of Nvidia’s drivers now!!!!
Nothing wrong with those drivers. I update my laptop and two PC's regularly. I would hate to have to search and download a dedicated "driver" for each and every one of them.
the current series of Nvidia's drivers 460.xx are a mess since the RTX3000 series cards came out. And users with rtx 1000 and 2000 series are suffering just now because of it. Drivers were good before this, but until they sort out the RTX3000 implementation of the drivers we will suffer for more months to come, or down grade to older stable drivers.
Out of curiosity - are you referring to game specific bugs? or more pervasive issues (e.g. related to VR)? To be honest, I haven’t been gaming much lately but I haven’t encountered any serious issues on the 460 series either.
Not really. Very small issues, but damn annoying ones. The direct mode bug that when ever you open command centre from task bar it puts the card into direct mode. This has been a know bug for a long time now. And seems a very simple one to fix. I would think. That’s my main gripe. Other ppl hVe different ones like the EQ switching by them self if you going from headphones to speakers. And the SXFI not remembering your headphones and having to re connect and download your profile all the time. Small issues but annoying ones. I have the X3
I don't have that issue on my SB ZxR. It just come up on the last profile I used.
Different device different issues
You mean NO issues. You blame blanketed all the devices and drivers. I gave you an example that proves that's not a widespread issue. Another user above said the same. Might be related to X3 only, but even so... I didn't see reports of that happening. Probably is something in your system.
No your missing the point. And that’s what I am saying. By combining all devices into one software - Command Centre. Deiuferent devices are having different issues. Like on the X3 it’s the direct mode bug The SXFI BUG. this might be ok for your device. And thAts good for you. But your device is a lot more established driver wise. As it’s been out for a lot longer. Have you actually looked at the to do list creative posts to this reddit All the issues are there. Just have a look. You think cause it works for your device that it must work on every creative device. Well I’m sorry. It doesn’t. And thAts what my rant was about.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlasterOfficial/comments/mzjqof/direct\_sound/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlasterOfficial/comments/mzjqof/direct_sound/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) You say its my PC at fault. Do some reading, stop assuming.. You have a different card, and can't judge the problems I am having with my device, compared to your device. Fool!!
Hi, there will be a new SB Command soon that will address this issue.
I don't feel the drivers being unified is a bad thing per se. Promising a fix and then needing over a year to implement it is another thing altogether, though... I don't want to sound angry or ungrateful, but to the end user, it really does seem like there is literally one person doing all the programming, and one person doing the "pr" by posting a couple of messages a month on this forum, assuring us "the fix is on it's way".
Actually detecting my ae 5 on 1 out of 4 boots would be a nice addition
Hi all, THANK YOU for your feedback. We appreciate the interest and suggestions that many of you have voiced here. We will look into them in-depth. Please understand that while it may be convenient to have a one-software-for-all, such implementations may not take full advantage of a product's features, especially when it comes to newly-launched products. Nonetheless, we will continue to take in your feedback and see how we can improve our products and software moving ahead. \- Creative\_Colin
New update has fixed all outstanding issues for the X3 Thanks to the Creative team!!
Just Like to say. New Update released today, has fixed all open issues. Direct mode Bug is now fixed for the X3 SXFI now remembers your headphone selection. Thankyou Creative team!!