Recon3d on mac

[vatch]

I play WoW, and it seems that hardware acceleration is not supported by mac? Is it possible that it's the recon3d drivers, or mac OS? Will an updated driver or firmware for mac come out? Thanks!

[vatch]

4/11 11:12:54.832 => SI3 Init
4/11 11:12:54.832 => WoW Version 4.3.3 (15354) Feb 22 2012
4/11 11:12:54.832
4/11 11:12:54.832 => User Settings Report:
4/11 11:12:54.832 - ========= PLAYBACK =========
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable All Sound [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable SFX [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 --- Enable Error Speech [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 --- Enable Emote Sounds [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable Music [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 --- Loop Music [0]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable Ambient Sounds [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Sound at Character [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Sound in Background [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable Reverb [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Enable Software HRTF [0]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Sound Quality [2]
4/11 11:12:54.832 -
4/11 11:12:54.832 - ========== VOLUME ==========
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Master Volume [1.00]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - SFX Volume [1.00]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Music Volume [1.00]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Ambience Volume [1.00]
4/11 11:12:54.832 -
4/11 11:12:54.832 - =========== MISC ===========
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Sound Channels [64]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Use Hardware [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Mix Mode 2 [0]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - DSP Buffer Size [AUTO]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Armor Foley SFX (Self) [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Armor Foley SFX (Others) [1]
4/11 11:12:54.832 => End of User Settings Report
4/11 11:12:54.832
4/11 11:12:54.832 - SE3 Init...
4/11 11:12:54.832 - FMOD Memory Init
4/11 11:12:54.832 - FMOD System Create
4/11 11:12:54.832 - Setting Output Type
4/11 11:12:54.861 - 3 Output drivers detected
4/11 11:12:54.861 --- [0] System Default
4/11 11:12:54.871 --- [1] Sound Blaster Recon3D
4/11 11:12:54.881 --- [2] Built-in Output
4/11 11:12:54.916 ** Using User Specified Driver [2] Built-in Output
4/11 11:12:54.931 - DSPBufferSize = AUTO DETECT
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Setting DSP Buffer Size
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Using Control Panel Speaker Mode STEREO
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Setting Software Format (44100, 2, 2).
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Requested 64 channels.
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Initializing Hardware Channels
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Sound Driver Reports: 0 Hardware Channels Available.
4/11 11:12:54.931 - ################################################## #########################################
4/11 11:12:54.931 - # NOTICE: No Hardware Channels Available.
4/11 11:12:54.931 - # Microsoft dropped support for hardware channels in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
4/11 11:12:54.931 - # If you are not using Windows Vista or Windows 7 and you are still seeing this,
4/11 11:12:54.931 - # it means your audio hardware/driver doesn't support hardware channels.
4/11 11:12:54.931 - ################################################## #########################################
4/11 11:12:54.931 - Initializing Software Channels
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Init FMOD Game System
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Ok
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Setting Rolloff Scale
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Setting Rolloff Callback
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Sound Bus Init
4/11 11:12:54.945 - Init Suppressors
4/11 11:12:54.982 - SE3 Init Success.
4/11 11:12:55.001 - Setting device callback
4/11 11:12:55.001 => SI3 Init Complete.
4/11 11:12:55.001
4/11 11:13:01.619
4/11 11:13:01.619 => Shutting Down SI3
4/11 11:13:01.620 - Shutting Down SE3
4/11 11:13:01.705 - Shutting Down SE3 COMPLETE.
4/11 11:13:01.705 => Shutting Down SI3 COMPLETE.
4/11 11:13:01.705

[Paulo Narciso]

Hardware acceleration in WOW is possible when running XP or VISTA/7 with Alchemy.

[vatch]

I was never remotely informed by Creative that hardware acceleration would be limited to Windows. Can't this be fixed with a driver update? The purpose of this card is games. Thanks for the info Paulo!

[SHS]

Audio Hardware Acceleration it limited to Windows 9x and 2000/XP OS which has to do with DirectX MAC never had any and most likey ever get it.

[vatch]

There must be a workaround driver possible for this usb device, one would only assume. If a Creative made driver is not possible, Creative should list the Recon3d as not having hardware acceleration on mac. Otherwise, I really like this device on mac, I do get surround on dvd's, though it's disappointing that there is an option for hardware acceleration on WoW that I cannot use. I purchased this usb sound card to offload some processing from my CPU, actually better sound processing, and to have better positional surround in this particular game. I will continue to support Creative as I have for many years, and hope that they can create some specialized driver for hardware acceleration on mac. Thanks SHS for the info!

[OperativeX]

As far as i was aware, creative don't make new drivers. Once a year the devs take a dump in a bucket and label it 'version 1.02' then pass it around to the general public.

[davidm71]

Its not possible for the Recon3d to work in a Mac? Op please explain?

Thanks

[vatch]

The Recon3d USB sound card does work on mac, in fact extremely well in most aspects. What it does not do is support hardware acceleration presently, and thusly the real surround in games, namely World of Warcraft, is not possible. This 3d hardware acceleration means having the hardware decide where these 64 channels of sound are, rather than software, which doesn't sound three-dimensional in any way. I know that Creative and Blizzard have worked together in the past, and it is in Creative's best interest to work on a sound system compatible with modern computers in mind. Directx is not the only implementation of sound hardware acceleration available. If the limitation is truly with macs, which I doubt, as super high quality audio recordings with many channels are recorded entirely on macs, then it is in Creative's best interest to work with Apple. Otherwise, good soundcard.

[vatch]

I'm hoping Creative is still working on acceleration for this card on mac.