ALchemy for Creative Audigy and X-Fi

[Blín D'ñero]

If you have a Creative Audigy or X-Fi soundcard, and Windows Vista / Windows 7: use ALchemy to restore restore surroundsound and EAX with games (that don't natively support OpenAL).
EAX:

Details of EAX are as follows (source: Creative Labs):

EAX 1.0: Environmental Effect Presets, 32 individual 3D voices, Per-channel individual environmental presets, Hardware DSP Rendering.

EAX 2.0: Occlusion Effects, Material-specific reverb parameters

EAX 3.0: 'Smoothing' between 3D audio environments, Direct access to all reverb parameters, Environmental Panning, New reverb engine, 64 simultaneous voices, Beginning of the AdvancedHD Designation from new reverb engine

EAX 4.0: Real-time hardware effects, Multiple simultaneous environments, Flange, echo, distortion, and ring modulation effects

EAX 5.0: 128 simultaneous voices, EAX Voice (processing of microphone input signal), EAX PurePath (EAX Sound effects can originate from one speaker only), Environment FlexiFX (four available effects slots per channel), EAX MacroFX (realistic positional effects at close range), Environment Occlusion (sound from adjacent environments can pass through walls).

ALchemy enables DirectSound3D game's audio to be processed by your Sound Blaster Audigy or Sound Blaster X-Fi to deliver EAX effects, 3D audio, sample rate conversion and hardware audio mixing on Windows Vista / Windows 7.

Creative ALchemy supports the following Sound Blaster X-Fi models.
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Pro
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook
•Sound Blaster X-Fi HD / Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 / 5.1 Pro
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series
•Sound Blaster Recon3D PCIe series
•Sound Blaster Z series

Creative ALchemy Audigy Edition supports the following Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices:

Supported Sound Blaster Audigy audio devices:
•Sound Blaster Audigy 4
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS notebook
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 SE
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Ex
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2
•USB Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX
•Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value
•Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum Ex
•Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
•Sound Blaster Audigy
•Sound Blaster Audigy LS

[Blín D'ñero]

Download ALchemy from your Creative Labs soundcard's driver supportpage: on the Soundblaster-support start page find your card, and navigate to its drivers list.
Before installing it, make sure OpenAL is installed on your system. If it isn't, install oalinst 2.0.7 (OpenAL Installer for Windows).
Download oalinst 2.0.7.0.

oalinst
OpenAL Installer for Windows Updated Summer 2009 : Version 2.0.7.0

The OpenAL Installer for Windows will install the OpenAL 1.1 libraries, enabling support for core OpenAL operations as well as extensions such as EAX and EFX. The installer supports both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows.

DLL Version numbers:

* OpenAL32.dll version 6.14.357.24
* wrap_oal.dll version 2.2.0.5

Changes and Bugfixes

* Fixed bugs and improved performance of the Capture extension
* "Generic Hardware" device returns more accurate 'Buffers Processed' count
* Various performance improvements in "Generic Hardware" and "Generic Software" devices
* Miscellanous bug fixes

[Blín D'ñero]

ALchemy supported games list. They had a large page displaying an extensive list with a lot of valuable user input. That is gone. Replaced by a 1-alinea small list without any info about the settings.

The capability of ALchemy is not limited to that list;
it can handle much more games.

From my own tests, i can add to the list:

• Advent Rising
  4 / 25 / 128
• Area-51
  4 / 25 / 128
• Call of Juarez Bound in Blood
  4 / 25 / 128
• Chronicles of Riddick Dark Athena
  4 / 10 / 128
• Constantine
  4 / 10 / 128
• FakeFactory Cinematic Half-Life 2 mod
  4 / 25 / 128
• Flatout Ultimate Carnage
  4 / 25 / 128
• Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter
  4 / 25 / 128
• Need For Speed Undercover
  4 / 15 / 128
• Need For Speed Shift
  4 / 15 / 128
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
  5 / 10 / 128
• The Saboteur
  4 / 25 / 128
• Tomb Raider 4 (The Last Revelation)
  4 / 25 / 128
• Tomb Raider 5 (Chronicles)
  4 / 25 / 128
• Vietcong 2
  not sure about the settings yet
• Wolfenstein (2009)
  not sure about the settings yet,
  5 / 10 / 128 i have atm

[Blín D'ñero]

• Dark Messiah of Might and Magic:
  1. In your Dark Messiah of Might and Magic\mm\cfg folder, open the .cfg file with Notepad.
  2. Find
     snd_digital_surround "0"
     and change it to
     snd_digital_surround "1"
  3. Save and exit.
  4. Now add the game in ALchemy.
     • ALchemy Settings:
       Buffers=5
       Duration=10
       Max voice count=128
  5. Exit ALchemy. (If you'd like to check: in the game's install directory should now be added two ALchemy files: dsound.dll and dsound.ini.)
  6. Make sure your card is in Gaming mode (Creative Console Launcher) or it won't work.
  7. Launch the game. You get very rich surround sound with full EAX restored. Music plays on the Main Menu. Enjoy!
  This also works on Dark Messiah of Might and Magic multiplayer.

Other Source games use the same settings:
Condition Zero
Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Source
Day Of Defeat
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Half-Life 2 Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Sin 1
Sin Episodes: Emergence
Source SDK Base
Team Fortress Classic
The Ship
Portal
Team Fortress 2

[Blín D'ñero]

Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 already use OpenAL by default, so no need to add them in ALchemy.

For X-Fi, Mass Effect 1 needs a little configuration though.
Your X-Fi at first is not detected.

1. Make sure in Creative Audio Control Panel that Gaming mode is selected, and that 5.1 speakers are enabled.
2. Start the game -> Configure tool opens.
   • Video: Make your settings, and if you later want anything changed better do that ingame.
   • Audio: select "Hardware".
   • After that select (Menu) Mass Effect -> Save Settings.
   • Exit the Utility.
   Best is to never use this configuration tool again (or at least never open the Audio section again) otherwise you have to redo this whole procedure.
3. Click Play. Game launches. Go Options -> Settings -> Sound. Check that Hardware Audio is enabled. It should. Just look at it. DO NOT Click Apply. Exit game.
4. Go to Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Config\BioEngine.ini. Find: [ISACTAudio.ISACTAudioDevice].
   It most likely now reads this:

   [ISACTAudio.ISACTAudioDevice]
   MaxChannels=64 <--if you have an X-Fi, change this to 128; Audigy stay with 64
   TimeBetweenHWUpdates=15
   MinOggVorbisDurationGame=20
   MinOggVorbisDurationEditor=4
   TotalAvailableChannels=62 <--if you have an X-Fi, change this to 128; Audigy change to 64
   DeviceName=Generic Hardware <--just let this be, or make empty doesn't matter

   Leave the rest. Save and Exit.
5. Launch game and enjoy.

You can check in Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect\Logs\MassEffect.log that your X-Fi (or Audigy) was called to work.