Microsoft has significantly redesigned the audio architecture in
Windows Vista™. The implementation of the Universal Audio
Architecture (UAA) results in a class driver architecture
for PC audio solutions running on the Windows Vista™ operating
system. A UAA-compliant audio sub system simply provides basic
audio in the absence of any device-specific drivers, in the same
way that a graphics card delivers "standard VGA" graphics in
the absence of native drivers. This paper provides an overview
of UAA for system manufacturers and manufacturers of audio devices:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/hwrequirements.mspx
Creative is developing Vista driver updates for many of its soundcard
products. Many are already available on the web for download
and installation to support existing customers. However, after
installing an updated Windows Vista™ driver, some features that
work on Windows XP may no longer be available due to changes
in the audio architecture for Vista. See below for details specific
to your product.
Driver support will also be made available for new products.
Microsoft have removed the hardware support layer for DirectSound
and DirectSound 3D in Windows Vista™. This means that games written
to use DirectSound 3D hardware will not perform the same under
Windows Vista™ as they do under Windows XP. However, titles written
to use OpenAL will continue to provide the same audio experience
with Windows Vista™ as they do with Windows XP.
Creative has taken active steps to address this by launching the
Creative ALchemy Project for its X-Fi soundcard series*. This
allows you to run your favorite DirectSound3D games on Windows
Vista with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support.
The Creative ALchemy Project is still in beta and you can learn
more at: http://connect.creativelabs.com/alchemy/default.aspx
*Creative ALchemy does not support the X-Fi Xtreme Audio.
Windows Vista™ will allow the loading of unsigned drivers, provided
that you sign in with an account that has administrator permissions
on the machine or use administrator credentials.
Yes, there is support for the Sound Blaster X-Fi and Sound Blaster Audigy
series of products. The drivers are self-signed.
Yes, several of our products are support in the 64-bit (x64) edition
of Windows Vista™. See the list of supported sound cards below
for further details.
There are requirements specific to x64 and Independent Hardware
Vendors (IHV) submitting drivers for the "Designed For Windows
Vista" logo program must submit an x64 version along with any
32-bit version. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) using
x64 implementations must have signed drivers available to end
users, even when shipping a 32-bit version of Windows Vista™ on
the system.
What is the impact of Windows Vista™ on the Sound Blaster
X-Fi series of products? Are there any significant changes
after installing new drivers?
Drivers updated from the web will comply with UAA standards. However,
due to Microsoft's new Windows Vista™ architecture, some features
may be lost. Please refer to the (WRN) Web Release Notes (WRN)
found with the new driver downloads for details.
Which Sound Blaster X-Fi products are affected?
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
What is the effect of not having DirectSound 3D hardware acceleration?
Legacy DirectSound3D based game titles (either with or without
EAX effects) will not work as they did in Windows XP. However,
the Creative ALchemy Project for the X-Fi series of products*
allows you to run your favorite DirectSound3D games on Windows
Vista™ with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support.
The Creative ALchemy Project is still in beta and you can learn
more at: http://preview.creativelabs.com/alchemy/default.aspx
*Creative ALchemy does not support the X-Fi Xtreme AudioSound Blaster
Audigy
What is the impact of Windows Vista™ on the Sound Blaster Audigy
series of products? Are there any significant changes after
installing new drivers?
Drivers updated from the web will comply with UAA standards. However,
due to Microsoft's new Windows Vista™ architecture, some features
may be lost. Please refer to the Web Release Notes (WRN) found
with the new driver downloads for details.
In addition, the Creative Speaker Settings will not automatically
synchronize with Windows Vista™ Speaker Settings.
Which Sound Blaster Audigy products are affected?
- Sound Blaster Audigy SE
- Sound Blaster Audigy Value
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
- Sound Blaster Audigy 4
How will Creative support Sound Blaster External products in
Windows Vista™?
There will be driver support. Drivers are self-signed and will
support both 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows Vista™. However,
due to Microsoft's new Vista architecture, some features may
be lost. Please refer to the (WRN) Web Release Notes found with
the new driver downloads for details.
In addition, the Creative Speaker Settings will not automatically
synchronize with Windows Vista™ Speaker Settings.
Which Sound Blaster External products are affected?
- Sound Blaster Digital Music LX
- Sound Blaster MP3+/Digital Music
- Sound Blaster Live! 24 bit External
- Sound Blaster Digital Music SX
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor
Yes, all of our future releases will be Microsoft certified.
Driver downloads and basic software such as the Audio Console are
available for download from Creative's web site. A free CD containing
the full application suite will soon to be available to order
from our Online Store (a Shipping & Handling charge will apply).
This is to indicate that drivers are available online to support
Windows Vista.
Yes. The architecture of Vista doesn't allow a feature like CMSS-3D
to operate in hardware for applications that use the Microsoft
API's. If a game for example uses OpenAL, then CMSS-3D will run
in hardware but if a Microsoft API is used it operates on the
host within Windows Vista's application level effects architecture.
Even though Vista has been in development for several years and
in public beta for a long time, the key reason for delays in
providing finalised signed drivers for Windows Vista which affected
several manufacturers is that the audio features in Windows Vista
were incomplete until a few months before its final release.
Other features in Windows Vista such as APO's (Audio Processing
Objects), could not be installed for our legacy products until
documentation and tools were available from Microsoft. This was
an issue for all aftermarket sound card vendors.
Since we received the correct tools and documentation for implementation,
we began working diligently to finish the development and release
the driver updates for our range. Given the considerable number
of products, it is not feasible to release everything at once,
so we staggered the driver release schedule.
Why is SPDIF passthrough not working with Windows Vista 64-bit?
Will it ever?
SPDIF passthrough is available in the latest X-Fi update. For
the Audigy Series, we cannot support this feature in Windows
Vista 64-bit.
Will decoding of Dolby Digital and DTS signals be supported
in the future? If not, why not?
These functions are not supported at driver level in Windows Vista
and going forward will be supported at application level by applications
such as Power DVD or WinDVD.
Will DVD-Audio be supported in the future?
We are not supporting DVD-Audio in Windows Vista.
Will 6.1 speaker mode be available in future drivers? If not,
is this because of Creative or Microsoft?
No, as Windows Vista does not support this speaker configuration.
Why is the CPU utilization on some Windows Vista systems significantly
higher when using X-Fi CMSS-3D than on Windows XP?
This is a 3rd party product issue on which Creative cannot comment.
We have made CPU utilization improvements in the forthcoming
X-Fi update.
Why do I get BSOD and system instability when an X-Fi card is
installed in my Windows Vista system with 4GB or more of
RAM?
This issue will be addressed in the next X-Fi driver update. It
is also recommend to check with your motherboard manufacturer
for the latest version of the motherboard BIOS.
Enabling the Crystalizer during ASIO Playback with an Elite
Pro causes reproduceable BSODs (CTEXFIFX.DLL) - why?
We have reproduced this issue and are working on a solution.
