When I installed the driver for the SoundMAX it installed a demo. It's
just a series of software programs to enhance the sound, much like you
would get if you bought an Audigy I imagine. I use headphones and stereo
speakers and couldn't see the value in it after watching the demo. If you
have
a surround system it may be worth it though.
This could be the functionality upgrade for AD chips resulting from a
cooperation with Creative I read about a while back. If I got that
correctly, it should give you hardware EAX processing. (Could be it's
only emulation though, as with the Live! 24-Bit.) If EAX is faster with
the demo installed, this kind of upgrade may be worth it. An Audigy (not
LS) costs a good bit more and occupies a PCI slot after all.
I can't find any information suggesting the AD chips support EAX.
I wanted to see what settings I should use for some games that support
it. The directx diag program doesn't mention EAX either. However
when I set game sound options to EAX they seem to run and sound ok.
(Could be it's only emulation though, as with the Live! 24-Bit.) If EAX is
faster with
the demo installed, this kind of upgrade may be worth it. .....
The demo is just a series of sound tests showing the difference between
using the
software and not using it. Bass on/bass off, surround on/surround off, that
sort
of thing. Like I said in my earlier post I couldn't notice any benefit from
a gaming
POV when using a stereo/headset setup.
