Sound Blaster

[spectra9]

Hi all,

I've been developing, testing and using this application for a while now. Basically it allows you change between modes using either a command line arguments or using a systray base menu. It also supports simple application profile. Go here for more info:

http://www.spectra9.com/xfmc/xfmc.html

or mirror:

http://www.freewebs.com/spectra9/xfmc.html

I've only tested this on Windows XP SP2 with Creative Audio Console version 1.0.5.0. Right now it won't work under Windows NT, but should work fine on Windows 2000 and XP

I was originally going to release this on March, but at the time I thought I'd wait until end of March to see if the promised driver update would already include this functionality. Seeing now is already at mid April, I thought I'd just share it with the community. I hope it can be useful to you

IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS
---------------------
1. XFMC requires Creative Audio Console, since basically what it does is run Audio Console
and "click" on the appropriate button to change mode. Until Creative release some
information on how the mode changing mechanism works, I'm afraid this is the only viable
albeit non elegant solution
2. Due to number 1, Creative Audio Console MUST NOT BE RUNNING when this app tries to
change mode, which can happen either manually by you or automatically via application
profile. Failing to do so may cause unpredictable result

DISCLAIMER:
----------
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED yadda yadda yadda. In other
words, use at your own risk, I'm not responsible if it crash
or burn your expensive X-Fi card :-)

++UPDATE++:
In case my main page is inaccessible here's the direct link to the program itself. If anyone can help host it somewhere, I appreciate it

Direct link to download (version 1.4 build 40 for English and non English User):
http://www.freewebs.com/spectra9/XFiMode_1.4_Build_40.zip
http://www.spectra9.com/xfmc/download/XFiMode_1.4_Build_40.zip

Direct link to download (version 1.3 build 32 for English and non English User):

http://www.freewebs.com/spectra9/XFiMode_1.3_Build_32.zip
http://www.spectra9.com/xfmc/download/XFiMode_1.3_Build_32.zip

Version 1.4 build 40 is the latest version. It has the most feature but since it's newer, it hasn't been as fully tested as it's older brother. If you find some serious bugs in it, please give detail in this forum and give the older version a try

VERSION HISTORY
---------------
1.0 build 73
Initial release to public

1.0 build 74
+ Add new configuration option to start with Windows

1.1 build 0
* Restructure some of the menus
* Revise Audio Console automation code, hopefully this will solve the problem some non English users are facing (please give feedback
+ Add 2 menus for running Mixer and THX Setup Console
+ Add option to set what XFMC should do when the tray icon is double clicked

1.1 build 6
- Fix bug which cause mode change to fail when Bit-Matched Playback is enabled in Audio Creation mode

1.2 build 0
- No new feature but major revision to support non-English user

1.3 build 0
* Rename the Mixer menu to Console Launcher. Now it will not automatically switch to the mixer 'tab' in the Console
* Revise the About menu to make it a little bit cooler (I hope) ;-)
+ Added menu for launching Audio Console. Also add it to the list of possible action when user double click the tray icon
+ Improved memory usage. XFMC should use noticeably less memory than previous versions
+ Added the option to set to specific mode when XFMC is started with Windows
+ Added the option to disable the balloon tooltip which appear when a mode change occured
+ Added the option to show the "mode indicator" icon in the tray
+ Added the option to set to user specified "default mode" when application in the profile list terminates
+ Added ability to sense a mode change that is done by Creative apps (Audio Console and Mode Switcher). XFMC should now update its status accordingly after these applications change mode and exit
+ Added information tooltip for some of the options in the Configuration dialog

1.3 build 5
* Fix a bug where Smart Mode Change setting is incorrectly saved
+ Hide XFMC from the task list like a good tray app should
+ Bundled the 4 icons into the zip file for use as template for creating your own icons

1.3 build 20
* Fix a bug Audio Console get stuck when a mode change attempt fail, for example when trying to change mode when an ASIO using application is using the audio device
+ Revise (again) the automation code, hopefully it will be even more reliable now

1.3 build 30
+ Added hotkey support
+ Added advanced option StartupDelay= in XFMC.INI under [SETTINGS] to set the delay time during Windows startup before detecting/changing mode. For example, to add a 10 seconds delay, insert the line StartupDelay=10 under [SETTINGS] section in XFMC.INI. The default is 5 seconds, which seems fine for a lot of users. Try increasing this value if you're having problem at startup (Audio Console popup, mode not detected, etc.)

1.3 build 32
+ Fix display glitch when using certain XP visual style

1.4 build 0
+ Added Mixer control on tray icon left click. You can control the level of volume, bass and treble as well as the speaker mute / unmute state.
+ Added new tray icon indicator for speaker mute / unmute state.
+ Added speaker settings selection menu. You can toggle between speakers and headphones. Remember to set your default speaker settings first in the Options window
+ Added two new command line parameters, /SPEAKERS and /HEADPHONES to set the speaker settings to speakers and headphones respectively.
+ Added option to enable/disable application profiles.
+ Added drag and drop feature to add new application profiles. Just drag shortcut and application files and drop them in the appropriate profile list
+ Added new hotkey actions for mixer control and speaker settings toggle
+ Added new (optional) low level hotkey management method. This one even works in Oblivion :-). Use it only when you have "stubborn" applications as it incure a slight CPU and memory overhead.
* Reorganized the Options window
* Revise Audio Console automation code (again :-). Hopefully it will be even more robust now
* Removed the hires window icons which was causing VB6 runtime to create temp files

1.4 build 20
* Fix the hotkeys not working for some of the actions, particularly the mixer related ones.
* Fix the speaker settings not being synched when changing modes.
+ Improved Audio Console automation code when changing speaker settings, should now work correctly for all international users.

1.4 build 30
* Fix issues with decreased keyboard repeat rate after repeatedly changing modes / speaker settings.
+ Added option to keep speaker settings between modes. With this option enabled, speaker settings is "global" and will not change across mode switch. Note however, to avoid confusion, speaker settings won't be preserved if the mode is changed via any Creative's utility

1.4 build 40
* Really fix the issues with decreased keyboard repeat rate after repeatedly changing modes / speaker settings (I hope .
+ Added SVM checkbox to turn SVM on or off in the mini mixer window
+ Added new hotkey action to toggle SVM setting

Message Edited by spectra9 on 10-20-200704:01 PM

[HaZe303]

thx... have tried it now... works great so far.. good work!! Maybe CL could learn something from us. Everything doesnt have to cost money!!? Once again, great job.

Message Edited by HaZe303 on 04-12-2006 09:43 PM

[HaZe303]

sorry for double post... but i came up with one request? Would be great with a autostart feature with it!!? So you dont have start it manually every boot. But if you do include such a thing, make it so that you can choose if you want it enabled or not. Some people dont like autostart feature´s... but hey thx again.. great stuff!!

[bratboy]

Can't you just place a shortcut in the startup folder?

[HaZe303]

Ofcourse i can... but i dont like to compromise. I like when apps are configurable. Add shortcut to startup folder feels so alpha beta style. Or like linux style!! LOL No it would better with it in the gui.

[003]

It dosn't work for me. I don't know why, but it has lots of problems switching modes.

[spectra9]

@HaZe303, thx for your suggestion. I'll add it in the next release. In the mean time, you can put it in the startup folder like bratboy suggested

@003, can you explain more about the problem? Can you change mode by selecting the menu? What's your OS and Audio Console version?

[spectra9]

Updated to build 74, see my first post

[dener]

Hi, I´m trying to use de app, under WinXP Home SP2 with X-Fi Music (Dell OEM) , latest Creative´s retail drivers and CTAudCs.exe 1.0.5.0.

The programs starts fine, runs CTAudCs.exe but the status says "Mode: Unknown", and I can´t change it.

The path is correctly detected.

mode changer 1.0.74

[003]

Yeah I've gotten mode unknown before as well. But thats not the biggest problem. Usually it simply fails to switch modes when I start a program. I am using the AudioCS that comes with the latest drivers.