DX8 vs DX7 and non SF apps experience

tonepad wrote on 8/28/2001, 10:01 AM
As I had posted earlier, I had a weird deal happen when I was asked by VA 2d to install DX8. After complying, I was no longer able to run Nuendo 1.5, NI stuff (Spektral Delay, Dynamo, and SoundforumSynth), even Fruityloops 3 w/o kernel32.dll errors. In the process of backstepping I was able to fool the sys into a reinstall of DX6...using a boot disk and reinstall win 98se..subsequently I got back to DX7 with updating my ATI drivers. Everything came back up except Nuendo, no matter what I tried. Ultimately I used my old trick of pulling the HD and installing the OS and basic apps on a fresh drive...needed a new D: storage drive anyway...(the new Maxtor/Quantum fireball AS units a so cheep: 30gigs for $90 at Fry's!) Of course the problem went away proving to me that one should be careful with DX8. Ironically I was going to buy (an I might still) VV2 at BBY for the $150, and I noticed on the box it only calls for DX6. So a Question to SF, what are the actual advantages of DX8 over DX7 OR DX6 for that matter. Surely we all know by now that MS updates can be buggy, and compatability should be crosschecked with other apps...no offense, but you guys aren't the only app in town. I've felt for a while that DX7 was a solid update, and all my apps like it. I question the policy of forcing the install to shut down without the option of NOT installing DX8...and ironically the VA demo runs fine on DX7, for my needs, which are AUDIO! After all this I'm sticking with my old VP 1.0b...now there is a solid version!!

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 8/28/2001, 10:48 AM
We rely on a number of DirectX8 components for Vegas to work correctly. As of version 2.0d, DX8 is required. You may be able to hack your way around the DX8 requirement, but we cannot offer tech support of any kind if you do this.
tonepad wrote on 8/29/2001, 12:29 AM
But again I ask, what are the differences or improvements that DX 7 didn't have? Also since the VV retail box calls for DX 6 I'm still curious what the exact benes of DX 8 are...are they video related enhancements? I'm only interested at this point in the audio side, and would like to know if the VV (DX 6 or 7) I'm refering to is more stable for my needs. I'm not willing to sacrifice the use of my other apps for the use of your otherwise outstanding product. BTW a lot of gamers around the net complain about DX8 volatility as well, of course that may be a horse of a different color. I must say this is an odd situation since I've never had this kind of DX bugginess before.
miles wrote on 8/29/2001, 9:04 AM
Try this;

Replace the file devenum.dll with the original one on your win98 disks.
SonyEPM wrote on 8/29/2001, 9:29 AM
I understand that you are hesitant to upgrade DX, but DirectX8 is the one and only version of DirectX you should use with the latest versions of our pro products. Many audio plug-in companies are now building with the DirectX8 sdk, DV functionality is far superior in DirectX 8, and we have been testing ONLY with DirectX8 internally for quite some time (3 reasons among many). Also, given the OS matrix that we already deal with, we feel that eliminating the variables introduced by supporting legacy (never mind hacked) versions of DirectX will result in a more stable set of programs. Supporting even two versions of DirectX effectively doubles testing time.
tonepad wrote on 8/29/2001, 10:22 AM
I understand your position, and I must report that I didn't have problems with the VA2g install, it ran fine...for that matter so did Wavelab 3. I'm reporting the situation to the other developers (NI, Steinberg etc.) since of course this is ultimately a shared issue, and they should quickly update their side of things. But again I ask for some clarity here: if I buy the VV2 retail box that is on sale at BBY, what version am I actually getting? I remind you the box clearly states it requires DX6...I know you guys can slip a different install CD inside, so this might be hard to tell. Bottom line I'd like to upgrade my good 'ol Vegas Pro 1.0b...for audio use...but I DO NOT want to repeat this experience again.
SonyEPM wrote on 8/29/2001, 11:22 AM
Boxes may not have up-to-the-minute updates inside. We switched to DX8 late last year, so what you are seeing is likely an older box.

No worries- the materials, s/n, manual etc are all fine, but you are encouraged to download the latest update to take advantage of the latest bug fixes and enhancements. Current release is 2.0g and this requires DX8.
trockman wrote on 8/31/2001, 11:54 AM
"We rely on a number of DirectX8 components for Vegas to work correctly."

This is strange because my VA 2.0d works perfectly with DX7 and won't even open with the horrendously buggy DX8a (I saw a report that Microsoft acknowledge hundreds of bugs found in 8 and 8a which are being worked on for 8.1). Of course I can't upgrade to 2.0g or use Acid 3 which is a drag since I bought Acid and can't use it.