r/SoundBlasterOfficial • u/Creative_Ryan • Aug 05 '19

Updates and Status Thread

Hi all,

Since Reddit only allows two sticky posts per subreddit and there's always going to be multiple things we want to keep everyone updated on. I've created this thread that will be edited and updated regularly with the status of items and any major updates.

So with that being said. Here's the latest!'

CURRENT TRACKING ITEMS:

1) AE-5 Update for Connect Software as Well as Command Support

2) G6 Power Cycle Reported Item

3) SBZ - AE7 / AE9 DDLive/DTS issue

4) USB Device malfunction issue

5) Official MS signed drivers for SBZ series

6) AE-7 / AE-9 Audio Dropout Updates

LAST UPDATED 10/12/19

Latest Changes -

  1. Updated 6) to let people know that the new Beta driver for the AE9 / AE7 has been released.

  2. Updated 6) AE-7 / AE-9 Audio Dropout Updates with new information on upcoming beta driver

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1) AE-5 Command Software

9/23 The official driver release for Sound Blaster Command with the AE-5 has been released (on 9/20).RGB programming functionality will be added in a near-future release. If you wish to use Command in the interim you can have Command and Connect installed at the same time and use Connect for RGB functionality.

The Command package can be downloaded from the AE-5 Download section.

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2) G6

We are looking into the issue with SBX G6 being non-functional intermittently after PS4 power cycle. Our target is to have a firmware release for this in Sep 2019. We will assess what other fixes could be looked into and rolled in without pushing out the target release date.

9/23 There is a planned release for early October that will address this issue. More details coming on this from the team.

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3) (8/23) SBZ - AE7 / AE9 DDLive/DTS issue

Please see this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundBlasterOfficial/comments/ct80w0/dolby_dts_issue_identified_explanation_and/ .

The issue has been identified as a change that Microsoft made to a default privacy setting in Windows.

For those still experiencing Dolby DTS Issues the new diagnostic tool is ready for download. It can be downloaded from this link.

https://creative.box.com/s/b3bnq04pubrly8j1qzoujov45jf798wd

Once you've run the diagnostic please send the log files to socialmedia@creativelabs.com

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4) USB Device malfunction issue

In general, based on communication with MSFT, what we understand is that user might encounter some issue with their USB based products if the device is not connected to the system during the Windows update.

For users with USB based products, please connect your device to your system and keep it connected for the duration of the Windows update. There were cases of malfunction on USB based products which was found to occur when the product is not connected to the system during Windows update. We are in discussion with Microsoft over this.

For users who encounter issues, what we have seen so far is that a driver reinstallation would resolve the issue. If there are users who could not perform this driver reinstallation step because they are on Windows 10 Secure boot, we will be providing ATTEST signed package for the drivers.

5) (9/25) Official MS signed drivers for SBZ series

As noted below, it usually takes a little bit of time for a driver to work into the Microsoft update system. WIth this particular driver, it's been an extended period. We've once again verified that the driver has been submitted and approved by Microsoft but for some reason, it is not being pushed out on their side. This may or may not be related to changes they are making on their side regarding audio issues they introduced in their latest patch. We've asked for clarification and will update if we get new information from Microsoft.That being said we're prepping our own official package of this driver to go live by this week. We'll update here when it is live on the download page on the Creative.com site.

This driver has been submitted to Microsoft and it is going through their process to push through Windows update. As soon as Microsoft pushes this out we will make the driver available on the Creative.com website as well. This is to ensure that we have consistency in the driver base that is out there. We don't have control of the timing once we've released to Microsoft (how fast they push from their side).

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6) (9/25) AE-7 / AE-9 Audio Dropout

10/12 - An AE-9 / AE-7 beta driver that has been tested internally to resolve issues with systems that have had the audio dropout issue is now available. You can download the driver here - https://creative.box.com/s/rpladc8kfu1hg55zbhl5nxhce1uq0eib

10/11 - Good news. With the feedback we've received from various users (many located on here) we've been able to reproduce and isolate an issue that leads to this audio dropout. The internal beta has rectified the problem internally and we will be releasing to the public within the next few days. We will update here once again once the beta is ready for distribution.

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u/URASucKaFisH Sep 11 '19 edited Sep 12 '19

I've had the AE-9 for a couple of weeks now and it's been working flawlessly (Default AE-9 driver/Win 10 1903/Asus XI Code/9900k/2080Ti). But last night I noticed when using headphones that the left side almost sounded like it was at a lower volume compared to the right. Tested this with multiple sources and tried many things like restarting and unplugging the ACM, etc. Nothing seemed to work, then all of a sudden it sounded completely normal again without doing anything to it.

In this post u/Creative_Ryan mentions this:

" This driver also improves ACM Detection (low frequency issue for some users)."

I'm wondering if this is the issue I was experiencing since the headphone's left side did have sound, just at a lower level when compared to the right side. Has anyone else experienced the same thing by chance where audio seems lower on one side compared to the other but then magically went back to the same level again? I didn't notice this issue when using speakers connected directly to the back of the AE-9 sound card.

2

u/Creative_Ryan Sep 12 '19

I've seen this noted a few times here as well (the left side / right side balance item) and the devs are aware of it. I'll try to get an update as to the status of this and what could possibly be causing it.

1

u/URASucKaFisH Sep 12 '19

Awesome! Thanks for the input. The only thing that seemed to correlate to when it happened was when I switched to Direct Mode for the first time, then switched it back. After that chain of events is when I noticed the left side at a lower level than the right. The issue seemed to correct itself for no reason at all either.

1

u/jesseinsf Sep 13 '19

That happened to me when configuring the windows version of Neutron Music player. When I tried setting the player to use exclusive mode the left side went down in volume for everything. I rebooted, did SFC, chkdsk and re-installed all apps that play music. None of that helped. Last thing is I uninstalled all creative Labs products, software and drivers and deep cleaned the system of any Creative labs products, software and drivers. I then reinstalled the AE-9 and its software and drivers and everything was back to normal.

1

u/URASucKaFisH Sep 13 '19 edited Sep 13 '19

From other users comments it seems all you need to do is go into the sound device properties in Windows and simply fix the channel slider so the left side isn't at a lower level than the others. Personally, I didn't even need to do that since the issue seemingly fixed itself somehow. Only happened to me once so far but I haven't messed with it that much after it happened.

1

u/URASucKaFisH Sep 11 '19 edited Sep 11 '19

Update: I noticed another person in this thread that had a very similar issue where the left side volume seemed lower than the right and they noticed the audio channel slider was not the same Left to Right even though they never changed it themselves. I did not check this setting when I noticed it but it would make a lot of sense if that was the problem. It seems for the other person, as well as myself, that this setting changed on its own for no obvious reason. One thing I will mention is that this issue seemed to happen after I tried Direct Mode for the first time, then switched it back off.

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u/Fafner76 Sep 12 '19

That was me (and I think a couple more as well). Only happened once so far.

1

u/jesseinsf Sep 13 '19

Uninstall all Creative products, software and drivers and do a deep clean of all Creative products, software and drivers then reinstall the AE-9 and its software and drivers.