smithpd on 16/1/2007 at 05:59
Aureal A3D sounds, with drivers running under Win 98, were really superb for Thief. Unfortunately, around four years ago, I decided to abandon Win 98 and switch to Win 2K owing to some reliability issues with 98, like having to rebuild the OS at least once a year. Since then, my two prized Aureal cards have been sitting in a spare parts box hoping to be rescued, but I fear they never will be.
I was very unhappy when Creative bought Aureal and then deliberately sank them. A3D is so much better than EAX. I guess Creative couldn't stand the competition, even from themselves. I would gladly return to Aureal and get rid of my crap Creative cards if I could find Win 2K drivers that worked. I tried a Win 2K beta driver that did not work.
Because of the above, so far as I am concerned, Creative is the devil. I never use EAX. Sorry, but to my ears, EAX sounds like I am trapped in a tin box. Reverb and 3D directional sound are not quite the same thing. If you could hear EAX and A3D side by side with good speakers or headphones, I think you would be amazed at how much better the A3D is.
I would gladly purchase any sound card other than Creative if I knew it played Thief sounds (without EAX) better than Creative. I once tried a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. Music was much better than Creative Audigy. The Santa Cruz worked great for T1, but T2 was all messed up - low volume and muddy - so I had to return the card. :(
If anyone knows of a good solution, either to get Aureal working on Win 2K or another brand of sound card that is verified to play Thief well, please let me know!
