Restoring EAX effects on modern operating systems (and non-creative soundcards) [UPDATED!]

This tutorial shows you how to restore the Environmental Audio Extensions system in modern operating systems on every soundcard brand.

What is EAX?

EAX[en.wikipedia.org] (Envionmental Audio Extensions) is sound system developed by Creative Technology Ltd. used by many older games for realistic reverb, surround sounds, doppler effect simulation, surround sound and many more. EAX was compatible with Creative and Realtek soundcards.

EAX saw first release in 1999 and over the time, it had 5 versions.

Star Wars : Battlefront II uses EAX 4.0

Here you can see a quick demonstration of EAX enabled and disabled in several games:

Sadly, EAX was discontinued in 2005 due to absence of HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) and Directsound in Windows Vista and newer, breaking compatibility with EAX.

EAX support can be restored on modern operation systems using wrappers such as Creative ALChemy and DSOAL. The best solution is DSOAL which works on every soundcard.

Download link

Link to DSOAL:
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/65094

Installation

• 1. Create a new .txt file
  
• 2. Copy and paste the following inside the newly created .txt file:
  

  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{47D4D946-62E8-11CF-93BC-444553540000}\InprocServer32]
  @="dsound.dll"
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{3901CC3F-84B5-4FA4-BA35-AA8172B8A09B}\InprocServer32]
  @="dsound.dll"
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{47D4D946-62E8-11CF-93BC-444553540000}\InprocServer32]
  @="dsound.dll"
  
  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{3901CC3F-84B5-4FA4-BA35-AA8172B8A09B}\InprocServer32]
  @="dsound.dll"

• 3. Change the file extension to .reg
  
• 4. Run the file as administrator and click yes when it prompts you to confirm.
  
• 5. Download and unzip DSOAL
  
• 6. Drag and drop dsound.dll, dsound_aldrv.dll and alsoft.ini into your
  Star Wars Battlefront 2/Gamedata directory
  
• 7. Open alsoft.ini in the directory and customise it to your liking, it stores DSOAL settings.

[/h1]

Enabling EAX in game

Start up Battlefront II and go into audio settings. Change the mixer config to Hardware and make sure effects are enabled. Set the in game output to 7.1 to prevent issues with disappearing sounds.

This is very important:
MAKE SURE TO DISABLE BASS MANAGEMENT!

Conclusion

There you go!
EAX now works properly on modern operating systems and even non-creative cards!

Enjoy playing with better reverb and 3D sound!

Special thanks to:
LAGonauta (Creating DSOAL)
I Drink Lava (Introducing me to DSOAL)
ThatFox (For suggesting the registry tweak)

[joeycastro4482]

Now whenever I command the ai to follow me, they dont talk

[Blinkz]

Sometimes I get random extremely loud static noises with this on lol. Bass management is off and mode is on hardware 7.1 with effects on.

[moons]

18.03.2024 - just fixed Oblivion sound. Thanks

[xXMarT1naXx]

You should disable bass management. That should help iirc

[LordStewpot975]

Followed the guide, but most of the sound effects become silent when selecting hardware audio. Any settings I need to bear in mind?

[xXMarT1naXx]

Better reverb, sounds are occluded and muffled by walls and at distance, better directional audio

[Ashley]

What's the actual difference? I can't hear it in the video lol

[xXMarT1naXx]

yeah, it does work on Windows 11 and any game that supports EAX

[Blehh.....]

Does this also work for any games that have optional EAX?

[Blehh.....]

Does it work with Windows 11 22H2?