Crysis Realism Enhancement for Sound Blaster X-Fi Cards

[Jon]

Hey you guys.  I have come up with a few settings tweaks for X-Fi and Vista and XP users to get the most out of their sound cards.  This tutorial will walk through a Vista setup (however,  it's almost identical on XP).  I have found these settings to give superb audio realism not only in Crysis, but also in general music playback:

First off, open up the Creative Audio Console.  If you don't have it already, you can download it here:
Vista x86 / x64:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Applications/AVP/10434/0xA7102A72/ALXF_PCVTAPP_LB_1_00_30.exe
XP x86 / x64:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/10469/0xE545059D/SBXF_PCDVRBETA_LB_2_14_0001.exe

Make sure you are in Game Mode for these settings (and apply the same settings to Entertainment Mode):


Set your speaker configuration based on the type of setup you have:


Enable X-Fi CMSS-3D, set the Stereo Envelopment to 60% and make sure Stereo Xpand and Auto Upmix are on


Set the X-Fi Crystallizer to 85% (you may set it according to preference, but in my opinion it sounds best here)


Next, open up Creative Alchemy X-Fi.  If you don't have it already, you can download it here:
(not needed for XP users)
Vista x86 / x64:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Applications/AVP/10434/0xA7102A72/ALXF_PCVTAPP_LB_1_00_30.exe

Click on "Add", title the game "Crysis", and use the following settings:


Finally, if you really really wanna boost your eargasms in this game for intense sound The Way It's Meant to be Heard (lol pun on Nvidia), I have come up with some sound tweaks.  Add these lines to your autoexec.cfg file if you have one in your Crytek > Crysis folder.  If you don't already, search these forums, and there's plenty of info on how to make one.

Code:

s_cacheSize = 80
s_FormatSampleRate = 192000
s_MaxChannels = 128
s_FormatType = 4
s_MusicEnable = 1
s_MusicStreamedData = 0
s_Obstruction = 1
s_ObstructionAccuracy = 1
s_ObstructionUpdate = 0.1
s_VariationLimiter = 1
s_PrecacheData = 1
s_PriorityThreshold = 1
s_ReverbInstances = 1
s_ReverbType = 2
s_SoundEnable = 1
s_SoundInfo = 7
s_SoundMoodsDSP = 1
s_SpeakerConfig = 5  (changeable based on type of speaker config.  headphones = 2)
s_MPEGDecoders = 64
s_XMADecoders = 32

PS:  If you have Logitech G51 speakers or any speakers with Matrix mode settings on the volume controller, NEVER touch these features.  They bring nothing but distortion and overdriven sound quality out of your perfectly beautiful X-Fi Fatal1ty's sound processor.  Just set your subwoofer to the 3rd orange volume light, your surrounds to the 5th one, and your center to the 2nd one and you'll be good to go

[aznstriker92]

Good guide. Lol @ eargasms.

[Majikka]

need xp 64bit version please, Creative Alchemy X-Fi didnt install

[Jon]

need xp 64bit version please, Creative Alchemy X-Fi didnt install

Ahh I forgot to put the XP x64 version of the drivers.  *updated*

Oh and by the way, the audio quality is even BETTER in XP x64 for some reason.  It must be the drivers or something, because the sound is like twice as eargasmic 

[Majikka]

64bit is newer?

also i got the z5300 speakers, and Matrix mode is on. so?

[Jon]

64bit is newer?

also i got the z5300 speakers, and Matrix mode is on. so?

If you have an X-Fi card, I would advise you to turn OFF matrix mode, adjust your Creative Audio Console as I've shown, and listen to the difference in clarity - it's much better.  Matrix mode is basically a way for your speaker's to dynamically adjust the pitch of the output sound - basically it acts as a pre-amp in a way which is typically for people with integrated audio processors.  Since every Audigy and X-Fi has a high quality crystal audio processor built on the chip, the addition of Matrix Mode will distort the pristine clarity from the X-Fi card and thus won't sound nearly as good.  Just be sure you have it turned off.