bebopman,
In Vista, Microsoft made major changes in the way audio is handled. The
engineering aspects behind this change are beyond my ability to explain or
even to comprehend fully. However, I've read articles that try to explain
this new audio approach in Vista.
Basically, Microsoft made the changes to make Vista more stable than prior
versions of Windows. It's true that pre Vista audio drivers operated it what
is known as Kernel mode, and driver glitches caused instability or crashes in
Windows, with Windows taking the blame. So, Microsoft moved the drivers out
of the Kernel mode, leaving only Microsoft to blame for stability issues, at
least to the extent audio causes instability.
As a result of all these changes, vendors have been late in developing
applications and hardware to enable sound to function in Vista in the same
manner as it did in prior versions of Windows. One of the differences is
that sound will revert to stereo when running in Vista. Under just what
conditions this occurs I'm not sure.
This new sound technology is a complicated subject for which I'm not fully
competent to address, but I believe my above explanation is accurate, in so
far as it goes. However, vendors, including Creative and others, have by now
developed sound cards that can deliver full featured sound reproduction in
Vista. I suppose there are also software based sound solutions that can
provide the same end. Like I say, I'm no expert in these matters.
These above points are intended to provide some basic information on this
complicated and technical topic to aid in diagnosing the situation and to
provide some idea on how to proceed in achieving the sound reproduction
expected. I hope this information provides some basis for doing that. Other
comments welcome.
