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America's Army => General Chat => Topic started by: zoxee on Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 18:29:42 PM

Title: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: zoxee on Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 18:29:42 PM
I have an X-FI ExtremeMusic

When i use this, i can't hear shit and lag ballz but have no BSOD

[ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
Use3DSound=false
UseDefaultDriver=true

When i use this, i hear great but get a BSOD after 10 min of gameplay
caused by ctaudio.sys

[ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem]
Use3DSound=True
UseDefaultDriver=False


Any Ideas ?
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 18:47:02 PM
The ExtremeMusic card was the worst one of the bunch and Creative sucks overall, that says a lot.

Solution: eBay the card and get something non-Creative.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Jared on Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 19:51:57 PM
new card, or look for modded drivers or updated drivers.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: zoxee on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 00:04:59 AM
thx guys. what brand/card would u suggest is good ?
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 00:45:31 AM
Anything external, preferably USB. Got a budget?
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: zoxee on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 00:50:26 AM
Anything external, preferably USB. Got a budget?

money doesn't matter, as long as i finally hear this shit properly  :D
10 years of ",cjnskjfgnskjgfnsknf" in my ears is enough believe me. :?
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:04:19 AM
The ASUS Xonar cards are pretty good, if you absolutely need a card solution: http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Gaming_and_Entertainment_series
But those can get spendy and aren't as good as dedicated external options.

These are pretty popular; http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac2/index.php USB input, headphone amp, volume knob, small.

If you're really into quality audio and have some good headphones; http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB12/NFB12EN.htm

Those are just 2 off the top of my head. You can check out this forum to find "gaming" threads:
http://www.head-fi.org/f/46/computer-audio

Here's a couple:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/453916/gaming-audiophiles
http://www.head-fi.org/t/571506/headphones-for-gaming
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605922/best-option-for-gaming-music
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605387/advice-needed-gaming-and-movies-setup


Best advice: take some time & read about it. Head-Fi will teach you a LOT. Don't hesitate to ask questions there.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Possessed on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:08:09 AM
"OPAMPs"
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: zoxee on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:14:21 AM
The ASUS Xonar cards are pretty good, if you absolutely need a card solution: http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Gaming_and_Entertainment_series
But those can get spendy and aren't as good as dedicated external options.

These are pretty popular; http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac2/index.php USB input, headphone amp, volume knob, small.

If you're really into quality audio and have some good headphones; http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB12/NFB12EN.htm

Those are just 2 off the top of my head. You can check out this forum to find "gaming" threads:
http://www.head-fi.org/f/46/computer-audio

Here's a couple:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/453916/gaming-audiophiles
http://www.head-fi.org/t/571506/headphones-for-gaming
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605922/best-option-for-gaming-music
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605387/advice-needed-gaming-and-movies-setup


Best advice: take some time & read about it. Head-Fi will teach you a LOT. Don't hesitate to ask questions there.

Thanks a lot for that complete answer, i'm eager to start looking for the right thing  :up:
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Alex on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:16:07 AM
The ASUS Xonar cards are pretty good, if you absolutely need a card solution: http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Gaming_and_Entertainment_series
But those can get spendy and aren't as good as dedicated external options.

These are pretty popular; http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac2/index.php USB input, headphone amp, volume knob, small.

If you're really into quality audio and have some good headphones; http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB12/NFB12EN.htm

Those are just 2 off the top of my head. You can check out this forum to find "gaming" threads:
http://www.head-fi.org/f/46/computer-audio

Here's a couple:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/453916/gaming-audiophiles
http://www.head-fi.org/t/571506/headphones-for-gaming
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605922/best-option-for-gaming-music
http://www.head-fi.org/t/605387/advice-needed-gaming-and-movies-setup


Best advice: take some time & read about it. Head-Fi will teach you a LOT. Don't hesitate to ask questions there.

At $120 that nuforce uDAC-2 is pretty tempting. I need something better than my on-board audio. :P I need to save up as much money as possible for school though. :(
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: [Majestic]tidididi on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:16:24 AM
X-Fi Music > X-Fi Gamer

You just need good modded drivers (YouP-PAX), good headphones (Sennheiser), and... good settings.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: zoxee on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 01:57:54 AM
and... good settings.

Don't push me Bro  :D :D

But thx  :up:
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 02:38:03 AM
X-Fi Music > X-Fi Gamer

You just need good modded drivers (YouP-PAX), good headphones (Sennheiser), and... good settings.

Only thing worthwhile in this post is "Sennheiser". The only decent X-Fi cards were the XtremeGamer series and even those were loaded with crappy opamps and low quality capacitors. You could fork out $200+ on an Auzentech card but again, there's better external solutions that are USB, driverless and work cross-platform.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: [Majestic]tidididi on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 03:22:42 AM
Well Spanky, I'm sure you have much bigger experience and knowledge in hardware or software topic. My opinion is:

X-Fi Gamer (with good settings on Entertainment Mode) + Sennheiser HD 2XX or higher = you really don't need anything better or more expensive

If someone ask- no, I'm not sound whore. I just doing the best I can with the stuff which I have.

 It's like hardware computer stuff. For example- you can buy Quad processor 2.5 ghz (XXX money) and you can buy Quad processor 3.5 ghz (YYYY money). Isn't better to buy cheaper 2.5 and overclock it to 3.5, save some money, than buy 3.5?

The same with sound system. My knowledge let me use my X-Fi + Sennheiser and reach the level of some Auzentech or something. The most important thing is knowledge. Only hardware won't give you effect. You have to know what to do to use it the best you can :)

Hater calls it cheat.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: teddy_grizzly_bear on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:25:51 AM
As I understand, Spanky is going more for clarity and a pure sound, whereas tidi is going for hearing a lot of things with lower quality.
That's how I understand it anyway...
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: [Majestic]tidididi on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:31:48 AM
I didn't say a lot of things = lower quality :-)
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:35:55 AM
tidididi, I totally understand your point but you can't correlate audio to a CPU. Sure you can overclock a CPU but the more expensive one (same model & architecure) will be "binned" higher. This means it's a better quality chip and verified to work at faster speeds. Every chip, even in the same batch, is built slightly different due to manufacturing tolerances, some handle heat and speed better than others. Then when you get into different stepping of the same model, some steppings handle heat & speed better. There's so much variance in computer chips, not just CPU's.

Anyway, back to the subject, I won't discount that the X-Fi cards are likely better than onboard sound (although onboard on a new motherboard is pretty decent these days) but when you look at the whole picture, they really suck. There's so many things in an audio circuit that can degrade the quality. DAC chip, resistors, capacitors, amplifying circuit (opamps in low quality components, discrete in higher quality). Sennheiser is a good choice but I would recommend nothing lower than their 5xx series.

I am going for quality unaltered sound. I've been going through various audio equipment for a few years and I did start out with a X-Fi XtremeGamer card and it was a nice card but there's several components I prefer above them.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: [Majestic]tidididi on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:40:35 AM
tidididi, I totally understand your point but you can't correlate audio to a CPU. Sure you can overclock a CPU but the more expensive one (same model & architecure) will be "binned" higher. This means it's a better quality chip and verified to work at faster speeds. Every chip, even in the same batch, is built slightly different due to manufacturing tolerances, some handle heat and speed better than others. Then when you get into different stepping of the same model, some steppings handle heat & speed better. There's so much variance in computer chips, not just CPU's.

Anyway, back to the subject, I won't discount that the X-Fi cards are likely better than onboard sound (although onboard on a new motherboard is pretty decent these days) but when you look at the whole picture, they really suck. There's so many things in an audio circuit that can degrade the quality. DAC chip, resistors, capacitors, amplifying circuit (opamps in low quality components, discrete in higher quality). Sennheiser is a good choice but I would recommend nothing lower than their 5xx series.

I am going for quality unaltered sound. I've been going through various audio equipment for a few years and I did start out with a X-Fi XtremeGamer card and it was a nice card but there's several components I prefer above them.

I totally agree with you.

But few words about Sennheiser- 5XX products are excellent, I had a chance to use it and... no words, just magic. But my choice is 2XX series, because headphones are closed and at this price it's really enough :-)

Sennheiser 5XX = audiophiles imo.
Title: Re: BSOD caused by ctaudio.sys ftw
Post by: Spanky on Thursday, August 02, 2012, 18:01:12 PM
Personally, I haven't tried any Sennheiser headphones. The 2xx series might be fine for a persons first pair or first step into quality. But the 5XX and 6XX series is where true quality comes in.

There's also the AudioTechnica headphones that people like for gaming but I hear they lack bass. The Beyerdynamic DT770's are great for games & movies, they are super comfy as well.

I'm stunned that someone on this forum actually agrees with quality, it's amazing.