Sound Card Upgrade

[Condor]

I have a Sound Blaster Z card on the way to replace my X-Fi extreme gamer and am wondering if I need to have the same concerns as with my video card driver update about deleting all vestiges of the drivers for the old card before installing the new. DDU solved my problems with the video driver upgrade and I’m wondering if there is a need to use a similar utility for the sound card. I went to the creative site and found the following instructions:
1.   To uninstall a device driver in Windows 7, it is recommended that you use Windows Device Manager.

2.   Click Start, Control Panel, and then double-click Administrative Tools, double-click Computer Management, and then click Device Manager.

3.   Double-click the type of device, for example, Sound, Video and Gamer Controllers, that you want to uninstall.

4.   Right-click on the specific device (for example, Sound Blaster X-Fi) you want to uninstall, and then click Uninstall.

5.   In the Confirm Device Uninstall dialog box, select the Delete the driver software for this device option and then click OK.

6.   Next go to Programs and Features in the Control Panel and uninstall all Creative related applications if available

7.   Restart the computer

8.   When you are done uninstalling the device, remove it from the computer if desired.

Will this be adequate or do I need to use a utility such as Guru3D - Driver Sweeper which appears to be the predecessor to DDU but, from the description will remove Creative drivers as well.

http://www.guru3d.com/content-page/guru3d-driver-sweeper.html

I suspect the right answer is to use driver sweeper but wonder if anyone here has had experience with this utility. Several recommended DDU and it did the job for my video drivers. I'm assuming it will allow me to select which drivers to remove. I don't want to mess with my video card drivers. I've got my HD 6950 working pretty well in AH3 now.

Also, I believe the card comes with a CD with software and drivers. I know some of you have this card. Should I use the CD and than the Creative software updater or will I be better of trashing the CD and going to Creative for the latest drivers?

[Condor]

Another possible issue.

In device manager I see, in addition to the X-Fi card. two high def. audio devices plus Intel(R) display audio. They are disabled because every attempt to uninstall and remove the drivers has resulted in their reappearance. Is there a way to get rid of them or does it not matter as long as they are disabled.

[Chalenge]

You might use the BIOS to disable the Intel audio and see how many, if any, of the other devices disappear. I think disabling them in device manager is adequate, though. That's how I disable the onboard audio for my GPUs.

For the Sound Blaster all you really need is the driver. Creative loves to bundle all sorts of other programs, apps, and associated bloatware, but even if you do install them you can disable them later.

Driver sweeper will be a great way to clean out the old audio drivers. I use another one quite similar to it.

[BaldEagl]

I have a SoundBlaster Z.  Mine was a clean install on Windows 10 so not sure about sweeping the drivers.  I used the CD then updated through the updater without issue.

Creative packages a couple of handy pieces of software; one allows you to set your speaker distance from your ear then fine tune for left and right volume and the other is the EQ.

[Condor]

Driver Sweeper doesn't seem to be the way to go. When attempting the download I was redirected to another site with a warning to proceed with caution because other 3rd party software may be downloaded. another download site said it sometimes removes more than just the drivers you want removed. It appears it may have been replaced by driver fusion which comes in a free version and a $17 version. I also ran across a couple of other for pay driver cleaners. I would appreciate any specific recommendations.

I did try uninstalling the drivers in device manager and then uninstalling the creative software in control panel but of course they came back. It appears I need a driver cleaner utility but want to be sure what I use will be effective and not cause more problems.

[Chalenge]

I use this one:

http://www.drivercleaner.net/

The price hasn't gone up in over ten years, and if I lose my install files they send me the details via email. I use it to clean audio drivers, and anything Nvidia as needed.

You may be able to go it alone (without cleaning). The card you were using is the one that caused me to start using the driver cleaner program, and I thought that might be worth mentioning.

[38ruk]

Let me know how you like the new card .... i have an Xfi Extreme music that is so old its turned grey. Hasnt broke so havent fixed it lol.

[Condor]

SBz is installed and working. Can't say how much better it is in the game. My main issue with the old X-Fi was locating positions of other GVs by sound. I haven't been able to test that yet with the SBz but from what has been posted by others it should be better..

 I can't say the sound quality of the SBz is significantly better than the X-Fi when listening to music or in AH; but that may be my ears and/or speakers.

I did have a significant driver problem and strongly recommend that you throw away the CD that comes in the package and download the appropriate drivers from the creative site. After installing the software from the CD I discovered the microphone didn't work (neither the one that came with the SB or my old mic). I did all checks and troubleshooting and discovered that a microphone didn't even show up in windows. I did a google search and found the solution on the Creative website which was to uninstall the drivers and download and install the drivers from their site. There was a warning against using the CD unless it was labeled specifically for Windows 7. The CD that came with my card was not labeled for any version of windows.

I installed the Windows 7 drivers downloaded from the creative site and now the microphone works fine and is much clearer in the game than any other mic I've used.

So far  for the card but  disappointed with the installation instructions and worthless software CD.

[Chalenge]

I should have remembered that, but usually it's Skuzzy (I think) that jumps in and warns about the CD content. Anyway, you're not the first and will not be the last to be disappointed with Creative on that count.

I know you are going to love this card. It should have much less distortion that the old card, since it had to have been affected by age, especially.

[Condor]

I did get get Driver Cleaner. I though it was worth $10 to avoid hassles with the drivers. As it turned out I had them anyway but not because the utility didn't work. Usually I don't use the CDs, Should have stuck to my usual practice.

Thanks for the recommendation. Driver Cleaner looks like a versatile piece of software and I'm sure I'll use it again.  I suspect I'll be replacing the Radeon video card with Nvidia but will probably hold off until AH3 goes live. I would like ti run the default graphics or close to it.

[Chalenge]

I keep a DVD case with utilities like that burned to DVD. I sometimes forget all the things I keep in there, but that one continues to have use.

[Condor]

Sounds in AH2 and AH 3 are really good. I was having issues with telling direction of other GVs from sound with my X-Fi card. Seems better with the SBx but haven't done enough testing to be sure.

Had microphone problems yesterday in AH2 and AH3. Bad echo and distortion of voice transmissions confirmed by other players. Turned on SBX and Crystal voice (which has echo reduction) and echo disappeared in AH2 and AH3 but transmissions were still breaking up and a little fuzzy. I'm to sure why since initially they were crystal clear with SBX and Crystal voice turned on.

Did nothing more but and today other players tell me my voice transmissions are clear. I hate it when things seem to fix themselves without anything being changed. On the other hand I guess I should be thankful.

The lesson learned is that Crystal voice needs to be turned on with acoustic echo cancellation selected to avoid echos in voice transmissions. Selection of noise reduction as well seems to help make transmissions more clear. I'm not sure if SBX makes much of a difference.

I use 5.1 speaker setup in AH2 which seemed to work well. In AH3 I used 2X in the sound blaster speaker setup and windows speaker config setting in the game.

It would be interesting to know what settings those who have been using this card for a while are using.

[Chalenge]

I am interested in learning which mic you are using.

Just FYI, I use an Electro-voice RE20 cardioid mic that is plugged in through the Yamaha mixer I mentioned before. I have used everything from a $20 Behringer mic (which worked just fine) up to a very directional Sennheiser (ultra-sensitive for recording at a distance). My Yamaha mixer is USB, and I also have a Firewire interface. I use an Ultragraph that acts like a splitter so that I can have 5.1 external speakers and headphones simultaneously, though Sound Blaster already takes care of that, too.

I went to these and other things so that I could have reliable and accurate comms. Mics are a rabbit hole just like everything else.

[Condor]

I'm using the sound blaster beamforming mic that came with the card. I've also tried the cheapo ($8 from Amazon Labtec LVA-7330) that I have used for years in AH2 with no problems. (with the X-Fi extreme gamer card) Actually, the one I have now is about two years old. It's the 3rd I've used. They last 2-3 years and the contacts on the articulated mic boom start to get noisy. I've got another that's never been used. I'll try that next .I can see see that the Labtech may not be a good match for the new card but the SB mic has gotten excellent reviews.

Both have been plugged into the line in port on the SBz. Didn't know USB connection was an option for I mic but I'm learning there's a lot I don't know.
Is this the Behringer you've used?  http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-XM8500-Dynamic-Cardioid-Microphone/dp/B0002KZAKS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462161256&sr=8-1&keywords=Behringer+mic

I'm not looking for perfection. Just want other players to understand what I say. I know another player who also use the Labtech and he sounds fine in AH2. He also uses the X-Fi extreme gamer card with which my Labtecs have worked fine.

There seem to be a lot of rabbit holes. I guess I've been lucky because in all the years I've played AH2 it's been pretty much problem free.

[Chalenge]

You should be able to use any 1/8" mic, so there is not really any reason to start branching out into line level mics. Six years ago I bought an MXL 990 condenser mic with a shockmount and Heil boom. I also used a Firewire interface, so that I had a 48v Phantom Power source. The total cost on that first purchase was about $150, and it's more today. So, use those standard mics as long as you can!

And yes, that's the mic but it does require phantom power.