kX Project Drivers: For Creative Sound Cards

[M. A. Dockter]

Some of you know that I was having Audio problems with my current Home Theatre PC (HTPC).

I recently purchased the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (mainly for the wide array of inputs and outputs, and its 7.1 ability). The biggest problem I was having was in Winamp 5.01, the audio would randomly freeze up and the application would refuse to quit properly. I tried almost every possible solution to the problem I could think of.

Then, while browsing the Winamp forums I found someone make reference to alternative Creative drivers

http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/

I've installed the latest version these drivers. Even though they don't "officially" support the Audigy 2 ZS yet, their genetic drivers for the Audigy2 ZS's chipset are working flawlessly. Before, I was lucky to get 8 minutes of audio before Winamp crashed. As of right now, I have been playing audio on my HTPC For near 3 hours.

I'm fully satisfied. I honestly believe these drivers make my Audigy 2 ZS Card worth the $168 I spent on it. I have been horribly disappointed in Creative's software ever since I got hit by the VIA 686B - SB Live! 5.1 static issue. These drivers make the Creative hardware one of the best on the market once again. I instantly noticed a difference in sound quality over the same set of speakers; it seems much richer and more whole.

If you have a Creative Labs Sound Card I suggest you check these drivers out. You will not be disappointed! It supports the following cards:

Currently, kX-compatible soundcards include all EMU10k1 and EMU10k2-based PC soundcards manufactured by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or E-mu Systems Inc., including:

The E-mu Audio Production Studio (APS) card:
The motherboard models of 10k1 cards (M002, M003 and others)

Creative:
PCI256 (CT4890, CT4891 and CT4893) and PCI512 (CT4820 and SB0150) including OEM model (CT4790)
The original Live! (CT4620) and Live! Value cards (CT4670)
The Live! X-Gamer, Live! MP3+, Live! Player 1024, Live! Platinum cards (CT4760) and value cards (CT4780)
The Live! X-Gamer 5.1, Live! MP3+ 5.1, Live! Player 5.1, Live! Platinum 5.1, Live! Digital Entertainment 5.1 cards (SB0060, SB0100, SB0102, SB0220, SB0222, SB0103 and SB0105) and Value 5.1 (SB0101)
The generic and custom OEM Live cards (CT4830, CT4831, CT4832, CT4850, CT4870, CT4871 and CT4872)
The Audigy series, including the Audigy MP3+, X-Gamer, Platinum and OEM cards (CT0070, CT0072, SB0090 and SB0092).
Support for Audigy2 series is available for the latest releases of the driver. 24/96 support is under development.