FSX SOUND PROBLEM

[Wilbert 0]

I have been so concerned about the video DX10 thing and at the point that I cannot do anything else but wait for better drivers or final DX10, that I have ignored the "Sound" problem that I have always had.I am using the onboard sound device on my MB (Abit AW9D-Max) which contain Realtek ALC882M 7.1 CH audio device. I have installed latest drivers from Realtek but, I still have sound anomalies in FSX. Sounds changes when I go to outside view and back, from outside view, running engines are loud even when slider is set to min. Cannot deselect "acceleration" in dxdiag. All drivers up to date. Does FSX require a special sound card? This has become frustrating.I suppose I am the only one having sound problems since a search did not reveil others w/simular experiences.Any suggestions or help pls.WilbertAbit AW9D-MaxThermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel QX6700 QuadcoreVista Ultimate 644x1G Ballistix Tracer (PC2 8500)2x150GB SATA WD Raptor - Non Raid2x320GB SATA WD SE16 - Non Raid2x IDE Light-On DVDRW 165H65BFG 8800GTX OC2 768MB 626MHz Core Clock w/nvidia 163.75 drivers3x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water CoolingEnermax temp/fan controller

[G7USL 117]

Wilbert, your probably the only one using 'on-board' sound on your mobo with flightsim.You would benefit considerably, by buying a dedicated sound card for your machine. The advantages will be really noticeable and they are cheap enough these days.What your using at the moment is, a 'bare bones' sound device.

[Guest Surfstud31]

I recently installed the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card and it took out my Realtek Audio Device. Have not been able to get it back since. I had to 'force' on-board sound in my BIOS to get 'ANY' sound through my speakers.I thought this was specific to my hardward installation but some of the symptons you descrtibe I am also having. Sound is bad or too low in FSX.

[Guest bobcap]

>I recently installed the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card>and it took out my Realtek Audio Device. Have not been able>to get it back since. I had to 'force' on-board sound in my>BIOS to get 'ANY' sound through my speakers.>>I thought this was specific to my hardward installation but>some of the symptons you descrtibe I am also having. Sound is>bad or too low in FSX.This is very interesting. I just installed the same exact video card two days ago and noticed that within FSX, my sound comes out with much static. I use a Sounblaster Audigy 2ZS, but have not re-installed the Vista drivers - This is weirdb

[Wilbert 0]

Thanks G7GSL for the info but I don't believe this is only a "basic" sound device. I have always used some of the best sound cards in all my PC's and this one ranks up there with some of the best (even if it is onboard). I have no problem with it performing on anything else. I believe in order to duplicate the features of this sound device I would have to purchase a PCI device (Vista 64) that would cost $100-150. Here is a list of the sound card features:---------------------------------The ALC882 series 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio codecs with UAA (Universal Audio Architecture), featuring five 24-bit stereo DACs and three 20-bit stereo ADCs, are designed for high performance multimedia PC systems. The ALC882 series incorporates proprietary converter technology to achieve over 100dB Signal-to-Noise ratio playback quality; easily meeting PC2001 requirements and also bringing PC sound quality closer to consumer electronic devices. High-performance DACs with 103dB SNR are ideal for Dolby

[Guest bertvankampen]

>I recently installed the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card>and it took out my Realtek Audio Device. Have not been able>to get it back since. I had to 'force' on-board sound in my>BIOS to get 'ANY' sound through my speakers.>>I thought this was specific to my hardward installation but>some of the symptons you descrtibe I am also having. Sound is>bad or too low in FSX.The sound is one of the poorest items in FSX; whatever sounddevice I have tried on board or a card the inputlevel is too low and the quality is poor and always cracking.At least that's my opinion if i may write this on a democratic forum.RegardsBert

[Wilbert 0]

I agree the sound portion of FSX is somewhat of an issue. I can only imagine what was in mind when they designed this aspect of FSX but, I think it requires hardware that is not yet common amoung sound devices.Whenever I launch FSX, I have this somewhat loud sound until I go to outside view and then back before it goes away and this seems to depend on where or which airport FSX startup is at. I don't have any idea the reason for this. I have also downloaded the latest version of realtek drivers (R181) which seems to be working with FSX and I can manage to live with it for now. The version of driver prior to this was causing BSOD's. I didn't know what was causing the problem since there are so so so many things that could make FSX act up.Between Vista 64, FSX and SP1, SP2, acceleration, sound drivers, video drivers, DX10, and incompatibility of Ultimate Traffic A/C textures, one never knows why FSX would stop working or cause BSOD's. FSX seems so unstable for a million reasons. I seldom now find myself just flying from one place to another as I have done in the past with flightsim but rather always trying to get this thing to simply work reliably.WilbertAbit AW9D-MaxThermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel QX6700 QuadcoreVista Ultimate 644x1G Ballistix Tracer (PC2 8500)2x150GB SATA WD Raptor - Non Raid2x320GB SATA WD SE16 - Non Raid2x IDE Light-On DVDRW 165H65BFG 8800GTX OC2 768MB 626MHz Core Clock - nvidia 163.753x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water CoolingEnermax temp/fan controller

[Glynn 405]

Hello WilbertTrust us on this one, your onboard sound is eating CPU cycles compared to a good PCI sound card.http://www.freewebs.com/reading1871/30.jpg

[Wilbert 0]

Maddog,That sounds reasonable. As I mentioned in my original post, What sound card is compatible for FSX and with appropriate drivers for Vista 64? I would be greatful for your suggestions. I am really interested.Thanks,WilbertAbit AW9D-MaxThermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel QX6700 QuadcoreVista Ultimate 644x1G Ballistix Tracer (PC2 8500)2x150GB SATA WD Raptor - Non Raid2x320GB SATA WD SE16 - Non Raid2x IDE Light-On DVDRW 165H65BFG 8800GTX OC2 768MB 626MHz Core Clock - nvidia 163.753x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water Cooling

[jcboliveira 1]

There was a big change between XP and Vista:There isn't any hardware accelerated sound in Vista except if you use OpenAL (or indirectly by using alchemy that translates Direct3d Sound calls in to OpenAL).http://pc.ign.com/articles/759/759538p1.htmlSo in theory it really doesn't matter what sound card you are using (except for sound quality). Of course the drivers could generate a lot of problems (just check Creative forums).In FSX you have sound cones, however not all aircraft have them in the sound CFG and rely in the default sound cones. Does this happens in all aircraft? If you have LevelD just see if that happens in LevelD and them check in the default 738.Jos

[Pete S 7]

>Trust us on this one, your onboard sound is eating CPU cycles>compared to a good PCI sound card.I beg to differ, but I am using the onboard sound on my Intel D975X BX2 board with absolutely no problems. The output is connected to my Pioneer surround system through the optical "toslink" connection and sounds great!I had an Audigy2 zs card that I pulled out, when I installed Vista, without any loss of frame rates in FS and the sound quality has actually improved!Pete S.

[Geofa 108]

I have to also agree with Pete-I am using an onboard sound and doing fine. I did have an add on sound card-I removed it. I didn't see any fps change one way or the other.http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpgForum Moderatorhttp://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[Wilbert 0]

I am glad I open this topic. This has been and is interesting. I also appreciate all the comments and suggestions.Since I have download the latest drivers for my onboard Realtek sound device, the sound quality and options are fantastic. I can do 2 CH, quad, 5.1 CH, 7.1 CH and the options and sound quality is great.IN FSX, I have the sound problem at the airport of the situation file that I save for "default", which gives outside sound immediately (in cockpit view), and it takes going to a "spot" view and back to stop it. This does not happen at some other airports. So the sound problem that I am experiencing may be associated with some particular environments. The location is KIAH at gate D10, and I might add, using a downloaded AFCAD for this airport.I have also noticed when looking at installed programs in Vista 64, there is a program called "AL OpenAL" which I don't ever remember installing. I don't know how it got there but I left it there anyway. And after reading these posts I now have the idea that it is associated with my sound device.When I decided to upgrade to Vista 64 in anticipation of FSX, I am commited to stick with it. I have read so many posts of the "pros and cons" of this configuration and I know that many things needs some addressing however, I do believe that FSX has the greatest potential of all previous versions (and I have been here before the beginning).I will say this much in my opinion: At this point in time, it takes more than the casual computer user to sort things out with Vista 64 and FSX, and if I was just coming onboard with FSX, I would have given up long ago. Thanks to all for your info contributions.WilbertAbit AW9D-MaxThermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel QX6700 QuadcoreVista Ultimate 644x1G Ballistix Tracer (PC2 8500)2x150GB SATA WD Raptor - Non Raid2x320GB SATA WD SE16 - Non Raid2x IDE Light-On DVDRW 165H65BFG 8800GTX OC2 768MB 626MHz Core Clock - nvidia 163.753x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water CoolingEnermax temp/fan controller