COD
SW: KOTOR
Of course, there's no substitute to actually listening to the record and actual replay / cinematic sequence. You can download the recordings we've made below. For practical reasons, we've compressed them to 44 kHz, 16 bit, 128 Kbps MP3 files:
COD
Sonata
Live! 24 bit
ALC 850
SW: KOTOR
Sonata
Live! 24 bit
ALC 850
We can assure you that what you're hearing in the recordings is pretty much what you will be hearing during gameplay. The ALC850 is the more distinctive of the three, applying reverb pretty much everywhere and to everything. The Live! 24 bit sounds a bit muffled but has the greatest positioning. Sonata's output was a bit crispier and of course louder than Live! 24 bit's. It offers good positioning and lacks the reverb of ALC 850's output, but some sounds are still 'lost' during heavy firing - the footsteps and grenade throw near the end of the demo.
On SW: KOTOR, the same reverb effect is present on ALC 850. The Sonata's output is again crispier, louder than Live! 24 bit. On the other hand, the Live! 24 bit has the more pronounced positioning, but it 'lacks' explosion rumbles near the end.
Quality is subjective, but you probably don't want to use EAX if you're using AC97 codec drivers. NVIDIA Sonata offers the best compromise, offering good positioning and overall sound effects. So, if you want quality gaming audio, use the reference sound drivers from NVIDIA instead of the default codec drivers. Those using chipsets other than NVIDIA may not have that choice, so either stuck to using DirectSound or Miles Fast 2D Positional Audio or at least get a Live! 24 bit sound card.
[Previous Page]
[Go to top]
[Next Page]