Creative SB [Live!, Audigy, Audigy2, EMU10kX eDSPs] OSX Driver info here!, SNOW LEOPARD @ P1 (1.11b0 on 22/10/2009 by Eugene) Options

[vikmars]

instalation file is kXAudioDriver-1.1b1.dmg for KX series? but if has dmg format, what's install him???

[tungmeister]

at last, i'm a update whore, i've been checking atleast twice a day , i'll report back once i can be bothered to restart lol.

[Riley Freeman]

I know a fix wasn't mentioned in the release notes for the new version, but for any Live owners, the distortion bug still remains.

[newbmac]

Will try tonight. Anyone report on the too much "highs" is fixed?

[Oxtie]

What the??? No one cared to give "E" those telemetry results??? Live users??? and then you want it to be fixed? yeah right!
EDIT: for those who don't know much about OSX, don't mess up anything in your system and play safe...

10k1/live distortion: I still need to get from anybody Telemetry results with HALLab.
--
anyone to confirm kernel panics with 1.2b0 + audigy2/audigy?
--
is treble/bass issue fixed for everyone?

E.

[Biovital]

I just wanted to say Oxtie, you sir are a tiny golden GOD. I downloaded the driver, installed it, rebooted it and now I have audio that sounds good on my Audigy2 Value. My onboard ALC888 (Gigabyte GA-P35-D3SL R2.0) wasnt working. Plus I would have to get an optical/digital cable to switch from the Audigy2 to onboard via my Logitech Z680. But with this driver I dont have to do any of that stuff.

I'm listening to the new Cradle of Filth album and it sounds good in iTunes. It might be me but it seems when I seek through the audio its slightly louder before it settles down. Perhaps its an iTunes thing, some eq setting i dunno.

But either way this is an excellent driver especially considering it worked out of the box easily. No messy patching or anything. Thanks!

edit: yep, it was an itunes setting, the sound enhancer. Now its fine. Btw, any chance of global EQ support, like in XP? OSX doesnt do this but I love this feature.

[ajacocks]

Oxtie,

Thanks again for keeping us up to date on the status of kX. And thanks to Eugene for all the hard work!

I wasn't having any distortion issues, that I had noticed, but I played the .mp3 you uploaded, without any detectable problems.

One question, though. SPDIF output was a new feature that you mentioned for this release. I can't, however, find any docs on how to enable the output, provided by Creative's external dongle, on my Audigy2. Any advice, or pointers, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

[plprado]

Hi Oxtie,

thanks for the update. some feedback:

tried the new version (1.2b0) and system audio was gone... Switched back to 1.1b0.
but anyway, thanks for your efforts.

[tungmeister]

the new update doesn't work as well as 1.1b0 for me, there's loads of distortion and volume control doesn't work correctly in vlc, switching back to 1.1
EDIT: i gave the driver another go and corrected the vlc volume control issues, but now i'm having the problem of very frequent crashes, one every 10-20 mins, so i've been forced to revert to 1.1 again. system config is as shown in my sig.

[MTZeon]

Will test later when I get home

I've managed to get good quality sound with 1.1b0 using the equalizer on iTunes in order to reduce the extreme treble present on the drivers. Will test now and see it it works out-of-box

[pandaBoi]

I've just installed the latest version but no luck! Sound distortion becomes apparent after about 2 mins.

[Biovital]

What about audio balance? My left ear doesnt hear as good as my right, and with headphones I must adjust audio balance to the left more in XP. OSX has this by default when using onboard, but theres no option to do this with these drivers. Can these be included in the next release? I understand the issue with global EQ, but l/r balance is pretty important. thanks!

edit: Well I think its causing hardlocks on my system. Was listening to itunes for a while, and all the sudden the system locked up. Audio kept skipping like a CD thats stuck or something. Total lock, had to hard reset. This also happened while watching a youtube video, and while messing around in GarageBand.

Specs FYI:

Gigabyte GA-P35-D3SL R2.0 (F7 Bios)
2x1gb DDR2800 AData ram
Intel E4300 1.8ghz C2D (stock)
SBAudigy2 Value
BFGTech 7950GT 256mb PCI-E
Zonet PCI USB/Firewire adapter
LG Sata DVDRW
Maxtor 200gb IDE HD (XP)
Maxtor 160gb IDE HD (OSX)
Windows SP3
Leo4All 10.5.2 (netkas kernel)

[themax]

Does anyone have little more time? This MP3 (5mb) was made in a way that it boosts volume (internally). Dudes testing this should keep player volume to 100% while system volume to normal (hearable not loud). If there is a distortion in bass, there is a something not right! (on CT Win drivers these are fine at the moment without distortion)

What a gay music =)

No sound distort but your mp3 has to high speak and bad sound, look here

[ajacocks]

You have completely explored the driver? nothing new (Audio Midi app?) or elsewhere?

I can't find anything in the Audio Midi app that will let me pick another output. The outputs selection menu in Audio Midi is greyed out with "Non-Interleaved Device" and "Source: Default" selected. Any suggestions?

Also, I, too, am seeing hard-locks with the 1.2b0 driver enabled. I don't get a crash dump, so not much I can report, but I can prevent them by picking a different sound card (onboard sound).

Thanks!

[greyrage]

Hello,

I am getting system hard-locks too, when trying to play any mp3 with iTunes. Moreover, i get only 3 channels working when trying to Remap my speakers to 5.1, respectively only chanels 5, 6, and SW working and the strangest thing happening is, i can't hear any mp3 (Via Itunes) as the system locks instantly.

While browsing the net i stumbled upon similar problems that people are reporting over at official Mac forums about random system freezes with iTunes, it's being speculated that this is QT bug and current Apple suggestion is to Update to newest QT and iTunes 8.0.1 (holding my fingers crossed). Currently i'm downloading and may write again whats happening.

Hardware:
Q6600
Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
2GB Ram
MSI nVidia 8800 GTS
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Zs Platinum Pro @ kX SB0350 [8880]

OSX installation:
iDeneb 10.5.4

[Oxtie]

What a gay music =)

No sound distort but your mp3 has to high speak and bad sound, look here

hehehe sure is, it was made that way (to check if bass distortion starts after that point's end). I guess then its probably solved...

release notes also indicate "where applicable" maybe this is some sort of half compatiblity with card??? nevertheless, this should be reported Official Bug report  (but better if someone  else confirms it too)...

Hello,

I am getting system hard-locks too, when trying to play any mp3 with iTunes. Moreover, i get only 3 channels working when trying to Remap my speakers to 5.1, respectively only chanels 5, 6, and SW working and the strangest thing happening is, i can't hear any mp3 (Via Itunes) as the system locks instantly.

While browsing the net i stumbled upon similar problems that people are reporting over at official Mac forums about random system freezes with iTunes, it's being speculated that this is QT bug and current Apple suggestion is to Update to newest QT and iTunes 8.0.1 ...

If you were able to hear music with 1.1b0 (the last stable release) then relation of freeze and iTunes is out of question here. I assume drivers still has problems and will take further evaluation (or Pizzas $s) lol

[Biovital]

"While browsing the net i stumbled upon similar problems that people are reporting over at official Mac forums about random system freezes with iTunes, it's being speculated that this is QT bug and current Apple suggestion is to Update to newest QT and iTunes 8.0.1 ..."

I have the latest itunes/QT, and it still hardlocks. Doesnt matter if its itunes, QT or youtube videos.

[greyrage]

Bingo,

Updated QT and iTunes, no hardlocks for me now. 12 mins till now, still playing flawlessly in 2channel mode tho, 5.1 not working well, as i get only 3 channels ... if anyone knows a correct speaker setup for audigy 2 zs platinum pro, post here please!

Big thanks to kX team.

Obviously i was wrong!

[JuanSNM]

I´m having distortion over time problem too, using a Live! card. I was trying to run Max/MSP 5 Runtime and when I activate the patch it shuts down, does anyone have a clue about this? could it be some MIDI problem?..
Great work with the driver!! Keep the good work!!
Juan.

[adrian mak]

I still got system lockup with 1.2 but playback time much longer than before, over 30 mins before lockup
Mine is using audigy 2 zs