Creative útočí

Tentoraz nie novými produktmi ale e-mail-mi pre mnohé zahraničné webstránky s informáciou, že Asus klame svojich zákazníkov keď tvrdí, že ich zvukové karty podporujú EAX. Aká je pravda?EAX (environmental audio extensions) používa Creative už od roku 2001. Dnes ale po prvý krát verejne napáda inú firmu za používanie tejto technológie, resp. za tvrdenie že EAX podporujú iné produkty ako tie od Creative.
V e-mail-e ktorý dostali niektoré zahraničné spravodajské servery Creative píše:

Asus is misleading its customers by suggesting that its sound cards now support EAX 5. Asus sound cards do not support EAX 5, nor do they support EAX 3 or EAX 4. The new Asus drivers are falsely reporting EAX 5 capabilities in order to get these games to ouptut 3D audio on Asus sound cards. Furthermore, the several hundred games that support EAX 3 or EAX 4 for delivering in-game effects will not provide those effects from Asus sound cards.

V skratke sa dá povedať, že Creative vyvracia akúkoľvek podporu štandardov EAX u nových Asus zvukových kariet. Aj napriek tomu že ovládače hlásia podporu pre EAX 5, hry nebudú produkovať 3D audio výstup, a ani niekoľko stoviek hier s podporou EAX 3 a 4 neposkyte tieto efekty na týchto zvukovkách.
Tieto tvrdé slová prichádzajú v čase, keď sa to dalo očakávať - Asus so svojimi Xonar D2 a D2X zvukovými kartami vstúpil na trh a predstavuje vážneho konkurenta pre Creative a jeho X-Fi.


Eric L. Chen z Asus-u poslal na otázku postoja k tejto afére od redaktorov TGDaily obsiahlu odpoveď:

The Xonar series driver update for DS3D GX 1.0 to DS3D GX 2.0 is our response to feedback/criticism favoring compatibility with games that feature EAX 5.0. DS3D GX 2.0 allows gamers to enable EAX sound options/schemes in games on Vista and legacy Windows XP. The solution involves:
- Enabling EAX5.0 sound setting in games
- Redirecting DirectSound3D Hardware and EAX calls to the DS3D GX core
- Upgrading the DS3D GX engine.

The updated engine:
- Revives multi-channel (128 voice) 3D positional sounds and enhanced environmental reverberation effects on Vista for most DirectSound 3D HW compatible games including EAX 2.0/5.0 game titles.
- Installs automatically with driver updates. DS3D GX aims to be more convenient and intuitive than Creative´s ALchemy solution, which requires users to manually setup and assign games into the support list. Moreover, Asus does not charge its users for driver upgrades.
- Retains vivid 3D sound and EAX effects for Vista users in most existing titles that do not support OpenAL.
- Allows users to reproduce comparable 3D positional sounds and EAX effects to native EAX 5.0 sound devices in EAX 5.0 game titles, instead of reverting to stereo, 2D, or Windows-emulated 3D sounds.
- Features VocalFX voice processing technology, which can apply realistic reverberations to users voices relevant to the dynamic in-game landscapes (VoiceEX), emulates background scenes as you use online chat (ChatEX), and modifies vocal pitches to disguise a user´s identity (Magic Voice).

Our implementation is not a 1:1 reproduction of EAX 5.0. Rather, DS3D GX allows users the choice to universally access gaming audio effects that would otherwise be locked behind specific X-Fi cards and ALchemy-patched game titles. While we do respect the capability of a dedicated DSP processor to offload the CPU work, we believe performance differences will continue to diminish based on the power of today´s popular CPUs. We also expect more game developers to adopt software DSP effects for their flexibility and universally guaranteed user experiences.
That being said, Asus will continue responding to customer requests with products that unite the best in consumer audio with the most innovative features.


Z tejto odpovede je zrejmé, že Asus má na ne-podporu EAX iný názor. Priznáva že ich produkty neposkytnú presnú reprodukciu EAX 5 efektov, no otvára možnosti zapnúť si tieto vychytávky v hrách, ktoré by boli ináč vypnuté a dostupné iba pre Creative zvukové karty.