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Frequently Asked Questions
Vortex
2 (8830) based sound cards
Are 3DNow optimised drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Are
BeOS drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Are
Linux drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Are
OS/2 or Windows 3.x drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Are Windows Millennium drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards
?
Are
Windows 2000 drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Are Windows XP drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Which sound card drivers should I use in Windows 9x or ME ?
Which sound card drivers should I use in Windows 2000 ?
Which sound card drivers should I use in Windows XP ?
Can
I use a wavetable card with a Vortex 2 based sound card ?
Do
Vortex 2 based sound cards include bass and treble controls ?
Do
Vortex 2 based sound cards support DownLoadable Sounds or Soundfonts ?
How
do I install the Vortex 2 Windows 9x reference drivers ?
How much
CPU usage do Vortex 2 based sound cards use ?
How
does the 3D stereo enhancement option work ?
Will EAX
be supported on Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
How
can I remove the dos support when using the Windows 9x Vortex 2
reference drivers ?
Is
an audio mixer available to adjust the sound volumes in DOS on Vortex 2
based sound cards ?
Why
won't the Wavetracing Test Applet recognise my Vortex 2 based sound card
?
Which
dos games have been tested on the Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Vortex
2 (8830) based sound cards
Are
3DNow optimised drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Yes the Vortex 2 Windows 9x 4.06.2048 reference drivers include 3D
Now optimisations in the reverb engine.
Are
BeOS drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Yes, BeOS 5.0 includes basic sound support for Vortex 2 based sound
cards.
Are
Linux drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Yes, unofficial Vortex
2 linux drivers are available at SourceForge
Are
OS/2 or Windows 3.x drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Aureal currently have no plans to make OS/2 or Windows 3.x drivers
Are
Windows Millennium drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
No, the Vortex 2 Windows 9x reference drivers will work but with the
following limitations:
Hibernation support will be disabled in Windows Millennium since it
requires all audio devices to use WDM drivers.
Sound will fail after the computer resumes from standby mode, to work
around this problem just mute and unmute sound in the volume control in
Windows Millennium.
Are
Windows 2000 drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Vortex 2 drivers with basic sound support are included in Windows 2000
and beta reference
drivers are available
Are
Windows XP drivers available for Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
Vortex 2 drivers are included in Windows XP, Microsoft got the source
code from Creative Labs and updated the drivers to make them compatible
with Windows XP.
Which
sound card drivers should I use in Windows 9x or ME ?
Use the Vortex 2 Windows 9x 4.06.2048 reference drivers
Which
sound card drivers should I use in Windows 2000 ?
Use the Vortex 2 Windows 2000 5.12.01.2559 beta reference drivers.
The Aureal A3D drivers and Vortex 2 Windows NT4
reference drivers should not be installed in Windows 2000!
Which
sound card drivers should I use in Windows XP ?
Use the default souund card drivers installed by Windows XP and the Vortex
control panel at Aureal and Quantex
Help Site
Avoid the new sound card drivers on the
Windows Update web site since they remove many of the drivers features
like Aureal A3D support, hardware accleration, Aureal wavetable
and S/PDIF support!
The Aureal A3D drivers and Vortex 2 Windows
2000 beta reference drivers should not be installed in Windows XP!
Can
I use a wavetable card with a Vortex 2 based sound card ?
Yes as long as it uses a standard 26 pin connector
Do
Vortex 2 based sound card include bass and treble controls ?
Yes, a 10 band graphic equalizer is included.
Do
Vortex 2 based sound cards support DownLoadable Sounds or Soundfonts ?
Yes the Vortex 2 Windows 9x 4.06.2035 or later reference drivers support
DownLoadable Sounds 1.0 and any Soundfonts 2.0 files with don't use ROM
samples. DownLoadable Sounds 2.0 aren't supported.
How
do I install the Vortex 2 Windows 9x reference drivers ?
For complete drivers:
Download the Vortex 2 Windows 9x reference drivers
Unpack the file to a temporary directory
Go to Add/Remove in the control panel and remove the old sound card
drivers
The uninstall entry should be called Aureal Vortex AU8830 or the name of
the sound card
Reboot and point Windows 9x to the temporary directory when it asks for
drivers
Wait until the Aureal icon shows up in the system tray ot make sure the
drivers are completely installed
For updates drivers:
Download the Vortex 2 Windows 9x reference drivers
Unpack the file to a temporary directory
Copy Au30gm.arl from /Windows/System/ to directory where the reference
drivers are.
Go to Add/Remove in the control panel and remove the old sound card
drivers
The uninstall entry should be called Aureal Vortex AU8830 or the name of
the sound card
Reboot and point Windows 9x to the temporary directory when it asks for
drivers
Wait until the Aureal icon shows up in the system tray ot make sure the
drivers are completely installed
How
much CPU usage do Vortex 2 based sound cards use ?
Benchmarks
of the Aureal A3D 2.0 drivers performance in Heretic
II are at 3D Sound Surge
Benchmarks of DirectSound and DirectSound3D CPU usage in Audio WinBench
99 with the Vortex 2 Windows 9x 2016/2035/2040 reference drivers on 2
speakers and 4 speakers are available here
How does
the 3D stereo enhancement option work ?
An explanation by Alan Yee from Aureal Inc:
There are various versions of the Codec 3D expander depending upon the
Codec. Most perform basic stereo spreader functions by delaying
the right signal and mixing it into the left channel, and vice versa.
When the 3D stereo expander is on our crosstalk canceller may get munged
and the positional sound may not be rendered correctly
Will
EAX be supported on Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
The Windows 9x
4.06.2048 or later reference drivers include EAX 1 support
How
can I remove the dos support when using the Windows 9x Vortex 2
reference drivers ?
Instructions are available here
Is
an audio mixer available to adjust the sound volumes in DOS on Vortex 2
based sound cards ?
Yes an audio mixer
for real mode MS-DOS is available but it doesn't support quad codec (4 speaker) sound cards
Why
won't the Wavetracing Test Applet recognise my Vortex 2 based sound card
?
It is caused by a bug in the program, reflections are still supported.
Which
dos games have been tested on the Vortex 2 based sound cards ?
A list of tested dos games taken from the readme file is available here
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