Direct Sound Surround Mapper

pwppch wrote on 4/7/2003, 4:22 PM
For those that have been using consumer grade Surround audio cards we have added the DirectSound Surround Mapper as a new audio output option in Vegas 4.0b.

This audio mode permits cards like the SBLive!, Philips cards, or anything based on C-Media chip sets (Hercules Muse) to be accessed in surround mode. This support automatically sets up the channel routings to the correct channels.

The DirecSound Surround mapper requires that your Windows default sound card be set up to use your surround hardware. You must also configure Windows as to the correct speaker layout. With some hardware you will also have to use the card supplied utilities to properly configure the speaker layout you have connected.

SBLive! note: You MUST use the latest Creative supplied drivers to use the DirectSound Surround Mapper. The Default Microsoft SBLive! WDM drivers do not support positional audio correctly. The Creative drivers are avaialbe on the Creative Labs web site.

Peter



Comments

CAPNDigital wrote on 4/8/2003, 10:06 AM
That's good to know Peter. Would that also include the SB Audigy and Audigy 2 sound cards... and would the new USB SB Extigy card also be accessible as a 5.1 output option?

Has this feature been tested by SOFO or any Vegas users?

Chris
CAP'N Digital Productions
Rednroll wrote on 4/8/2003, 12:38 PM
"Has this feature been tested by SOFO or any Vegas users?"

LOL!!! No they always add features and don't verify that they work. Come on...puleaz!!!! As far as it working on every sound card out there, they probably don't have a system set up with every sound card on it, but welcome your bug feedback if you notice a particular card has a problem with a feature.
pwppch wrote on 4/8/2003, 12:52 PM
>>That's good to know Peter. Would that also include the SB Audigy and Audigy 2 sound cards... and would the new USB SB Extigy card also be accessible as a 5.1 output option?
<<
Yes, it will work with the Audigy, but I would recommend you use the ASIO drivers with the Audigy as ASIO will out perform DirectSound. You will also have software input monitoring with ASIO, where as the DirectSound Surround mapper does not support input monitoring as the latencies are too high.
>> Has this feature been tested by SOFO or any Vegas users?
Well, yes it has been tested. (FYI: I am a software developer at Sonic Foundry and actually wrote the code for the Surround Mapper.) We tested with as many consumer grade surround cards we could, and many of the Pro cards. (Most Pro cards - i.e. MAudio, Echo, MOTU) don't support this correctly, but they really don't have to since they provide ASIO or WDM/Wave access to all ports.)
CAPNDigital wrote on 4/8/2003, 2:04 PM
Peter,

Thanks for the info. I do plan to utilize a "Pro" sound card interface in my final studio setup, but to know that I can at least monitor my 5.1 surround panning as I build my mixes with a "consumer grade" (not my preferred method either, but for now finances dictate otherwise) is good to know. As always, I have been exceptionally pleased with ALL SoFo products I own and use (Acid, Sound Forge, Vegas, DVD Architect) and this level of customer service and solid programming are the biggest reasons why.

Thanks,
Chris

btw, Rednroll, I didn't intend to sound like I didn't trust the SoFo info - I have assisted their tech team with trouble shooting bugs in the past myself - I was just curious about the specific cards (SB Audigy, Audigy 2, and Extigy). I in no way ever expect any software company to test every possible combination of hardware, just curious. If my post seemed to present that tone, I apologize to the SoFo team.