Creative Labs Continues To Shaft Linux

[SarahKH]

Mainly support for 4096 software-mixed channels and 128 hardwara-mixed ones. AC97 only has 24 software-mixed channels and no hardware mixing at all. Also, hardware accelerated EAX effects.

All of this runs on a custom CPU that's clocked at around 400MHz so the PC's CPU is freed from this task.

It's a gamer's soundcard.

And you play a game that requires 4096 different channels? Seriously.

No, Crysis doesn't. So what does?

[yogi_berra]

Don't even try to use a bugmenot account there, you will be banned. :/

That's because of the massive amount of people that used a bugmenot account to flame Creative after they handed out a DMCA takedown notice to the guy that made their Windows driver work.

It is not just Linux people that have gotten the shaft from Creative.

[RealNC]

I'd argue that they aren't. What exactly does the creative product do that the AC97 on a modern mobo doesn't?

Mainly support for 4096 software-mixed channels and 128 hardwara-mixed ones. AC97 only has 24 software-mixed channels and no hardware mixing at all. Also, hardware accelerated EAX effects.

All of this runs on a custom CPU that's clocked at around 400MHz so the PC's CPU is freed from this task.

It's a gamer's soundcard.

[SarahKH]

That's the problem. I am a gamer and Creative labs are a Monopoly in this field.

I'd argue that they aren't. What exactly does the creative product do that the AC97 on a modern mobo doesn't? Hardware handoff? Does that. Surround? Does that, take your pick on the flavour (3+x3.5mm, SP/DIF, TOSLink). Generic PCM out? Yep. Audio in? Be a poor sound device if it didn't. Welded to the PCI bus? Yep.

I've played games on the onboard sound device since my XP 1700+ (before then even I can't remember when I ditched the AWE32) and I honestly couldn't hear a difference. Guns go bang, positional audio works and no, I've never, ever, EVER seen even a 1fps difference between onboard and no sound at all. Headsets have worked fine again, with no appriciable difference between using one and not in terms of FPS.

Creative is a monopoly because you think they are. Which is what they want you to think so you can go and buy the new "Fatl1ty spells gud edition" device.

[b15hop]

Creative. In a world where my POS AC97 chip in my machine can do hardware handoff, pump out 5.1 over a wide range of outputs AND works in whatever OS I throw at it (Windows, Linux, OS X) with zero fiddling on my part. Plus gives excellent audio playback in games, movies and everything else. You are obsolete and have been since my ISA AWE32 went the way of the dinosaurs. So, like the dinosaurs, please go extinct.

I can understand the need to pro/semi-pro modules, but 'games'? GAMES? No and you haven't for a very long time.

That's the problem. I am a gamer and Creative labs are a Monopoly in this field.

[SarahKH]

<Corporate mode: on>

What the hell do you want? We've Open Sourced our driver and now you still want something from us! Why? We. Open. Sourced. It. You lot are in charge now, get in there and make it work, because we don't have too now. That's how this F/OSS stuff works.

<Corporate mode: off>

Creative. In a world where my POS AC97 chip in my machine can do hardware handoff, pump out 5.1 over a wide range of outputs AND works in whatever OS I throw at it (Windows, Linux, OS X) with zero fiddling on my part. Plus gives excellent audio playback in games, movies and everything else. You are obsolete and have been since my ISA AWE32 went the way of the dinosaurs. So, like the dinosaurs, please go extinct.

I can understand the need to pro/semi-pro modules, but 'games'? GAMES? No and you haven't for a very long time.

[b15hop]

cruiseoveride:
I agree. I'm not going to fork out for a card that isn't so crash in the first place. I would say the Asus card is FAR better than one of those X-Fi cards. I'm probably never going to buy an X-Fi. Although I do have a Audigy, if I had the money, I'd be strait onto buying one of those Semi-Pro / Pro cards ASAP!

So basically it's truly a two way street. Creative are shafting themselves...

[cruiseoveride]

I dont get all the fuss over this crap.

Its not like Creative is the only sound card manufacturer? Actually they're one of the worst at the moment. The old emu101 had hardware mixing at least.

Consumer Cards
- Asus
- TerraTec
- Probably a lot more el-cheapo stuff you find on ebay even

Amateur
- M-Audio
- E-MU (Creative owned)

Semi-Pro to Pro
- RME
- Echo Corp
- MOTU
- Lexicon

^^^ all that works on Linux (even the pro cards). Either through ALSA or through FFADO (alsa for fw cards)

You've got to be really thick to go out and buy Creative hardware.

[grege]

Budget motherboards have budget sound chips. Some motherboards have fairly good sound chips, but a lot have very cheap ones. If all you do is beep and play mp3s then that is good enough. If you are a serious gamer you want EAX, if you are an audiophile it is all about SNR and sampling bit rates. I did my homework and bought a card supported by Linux (mAudio). It is for music not games. I also have another with a mboard with digital out so the sound is processed by my amp. I used to love Creative Sound cards, but now I avoid them. The good news is that there are many quality options that are supported, a few minutes with Google can save a lot of hassles. My old Audigy 4 is still pumping out the tunes in my daughter's machine, and has hardware sound fonts for midi creation and playback, and it works with Ubuntu Studio or any distro.

I would still like to see good X-Fi drivers just for the midi side, but gave up waiting a long time ago.

[Ant P.]

I want to know one thing. After all this time, and the lackluster products that have been sold, who is still buying internal creative audio products?

Um... the same people that still buy new versions of Windows because it looks so much prettier than the last Windows they used?