Hardware Mixing + ALchemy + Win 7 x64 = Working

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I have managed to get Hardware Mixing in Windows 7 x64 to work with the 
help of ALchemy.

I didn't know who to send this to on the dev team so I will post it here in 
the hopes it can help someone else get Hardware Mixing working.

Perhaps it could be added to the readme, guide or something in the future?

Just a note, you must have an X-Fi card for this to work, there are other 
solutions for non-X-Fi cards but I don't know if the same procedure will 
work for them.

What I did to get it working is simple:
1: Enable Hardware Mixing in nullDC by going to Options > Aica > Config and 
ticking "Use Hardware Mixing"
I increased the buffer to 4096 so I would use this setting also (X-Fi has a 
lot of memory so it's probably better to be bigger).
2: Close nullDC and open ALchemy
3: Click "Add" in the middle
4: Enter the following settings
Game Title: nullDC
Click "Use Game Path" and enter the path to where "nullDC_Win32_Release-
NoTrace.exe" is located (for me it is C:\Users\Craig\Documents\nullDC).
Buffers: 10
Duration: 5
Maximum Voice Count: 128

5: Click OK and then start up the EMU to see your changes! It may take a 
little longer for nullDC to initialise (about 1-2 seconds more with me).

You should now be able to use the features of X-Fi including hardware 
surround sound upmixing and Crystalizer! :D

Original issue reported on code.google.com by craigcra...@gmail.com on 22 May 2010 at 10:38

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Hardware mixing DOES NOT work on x64 operating systems.

all you are doing is forcing the directsound renderer through openal.

Original comment by danialho...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 11:33

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And OpenAL is not hardware mixing? Wrong.

Creative ALchemy intercepts calls to DirectSound3D and translates them 
into OpenAL calls to be processed by supported hardware such as 
Sound Blaster X-Fi and Sound Blaster Audigy. For software-based 
Creative audio solutions, ALchemy utilizes its built-in 3D audio engine 
without using OpenAL at all.

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 2:23

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Don't confuse hardware mixing with Surround decoding.

Original comment by danialho...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 3:14

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It sounds better than it did before I used ALchemy so what is your problem?

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 3:15

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and heres where i know your a whackjob.

There is no perceivable difference in quality between a hardware or software 
buffer,
the only difference is in nondiscernible latency.

I've no doubt that what you consider is better, is actually worse, since its 
probably
dropping audio effects.

Its one thing to use a hardware buffer when its available, its another thing 
entirely
to believe you'll get better quality by forcing the audio through a wrapper, to
convert it into another API.

Original comment by danialho...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 3:24

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Haha, you're such an asshole.

I know it's better, my back speakers are working now my CPU usage has dropped 
(which 
is a definitive indicator of hardware audio mixing).

You say it doesn't work but I ticked the box without ALchemy and all I got was 
an 
appcrash. I tried with ALchemy and it didn't crash so by that logic it works.

This may help others get it working and enjoying their X-Fi chipsets so as far 
as I'm 
concerned, you are the whackjob.

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 3:27

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Invalid issue report. This has nothing to do with the emulator, not to mention 
that
it's not even an issue.

This is an issue tracker people, not a support forum or something.

Original comment by Mr.PsyMan on 23 May 2010 at 4:01

• Changed state: Invalid

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"This may help others get it working and enjoying their X-Fi chipsets so as far 
as I'm 
concerned, you are the whackjob."

i am an xfi owner you fuckwad, and it doesn't crash with or without hardware 
mixing
enabled.

Nor does having it enabled make sound appear out the back speakers, since, as it
happens, most games are only stereo or dolby stereo.

Original comment by danialho...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 10:46

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Well it does crash if I tick hardware mixing, close it, then try and start the 
EMU.

Kill yourself.

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 11:30

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Also, you've obviously never heard of X-Fi CMSS-3D if you can't get your back 
speakers 
working.

Retard.

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 11:31

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http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/creative-x,1101-14.html

CMSS, which Creative has already offered for some time now, was designed (like 
other 
similar technologies) to solve this problem by "upmixing" two channels to 5.1 
or 7.1 
surround sound. Until now, the results have been only partially successful. But 
thanks 
to the processing power of X-Fi, the operation - called CMSS-3D - now produces 
much 
better results. We described its operating principle in our earlier article :

Original comment by craigcra...@gmail.com on 23 May 2010 at 11:33

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Quit the flaming, I had enough.

Now, this is invalid, forget it, not gonna happen!

Original comment by mudl...@tpg.com.au on 23 May 2010 at 11:59