Sound Blaster X-Fi MB 3 ?

I was curious if anyone has bought this for new their 18's, or if it would even work on the 18. If anyone has and would like to share their experience that would be greatly appreciated. I actually do miss the SB 2 on the M18X R2, and was hoping this would help the 18.

OEM - Software Solutions - Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3

 

It's not an actual option for the Alienware 18. There is no official support for that audio card, therefore you might encounter issues.

 

I'm not particularly impressed by Creative Technology. The last SoundBlaster software add-on "MB" product I had was garbage. It came with an XPS M1730 for an extra $25 and it never worked right. The problems with the software was not limited to Dell products... it just didn't work right for anyone. Dell didn't stand behind it and neither did Creative. But, it was only a $25 loss for an unnecessary add-on product... not the end of the world. The SoundBlaster Recon3Di audio chipset has been a nightmare for many laptop owners (not only Alienware used it, and it doesn't function correctly on a consistent basis for anyone). I have had very good service from a now ancient SoundBlaster Audigy Gamer ZS PCI desktop card, but based on a 1-out-of-3 win ratio, I would be very cautious about spending money on any product marketed by Creative Technology.

 

Brother Porras,

Thank you for the response. It is not an actual audio card. It is a software solution sold that adds Creative's features to the onboard sound. I can't any concrete evidence that the audio chipset in the 18 is supported, but creative claims it works with all audio chipsets, while I have read that some end users claim there audio chipset doesn't work with it. It is only 29.99, so I may just be the first to try it out.

Here is the link to purchase it if anyone else is interested: Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 | Creative Labs Online Store

Brother Fox I actually really liked the 3DI on the R2. I know there were lots of people who had issues with it, but I was one of the lucky few I guess. I know I used to swear by Creative's sound cards before Windows Vista and the revamp of the Windows audio stack. After Microsoft changed everything with the audio Creative took a big hit, and had a really hard time getting their cards to work right. The 3DI int he R2 was the first experience I had with Creative's products since then and was pretty happy with the 3DI.

 

So, they only charge about $5 more than they were charging 5 years ago... not too bad. I hope it works better. For $30 it's not a huge risk. Looks like it has many of the same features as the Creative Control Panel that is included with the M17xR4 and M18xR2 SoundBlaster Recond3Di. It's not amazing, but it does allow some fine tuning that improves audio quality. Some of the features are worthless and cause distortion. It's probably worth $30 as long as they do not impose some kind of idiotic product activation limit on the license key. Getting support from Creative has never been a good experience for me, and I'd be pissed if getting activation limits reinstated required a lot of patience, follow up and cramped my style on frequent Windows reinstalls. Activation issues was one of the problems with the SoundBlaster Audigy Advanced MB software I had with the XPS M1730 that never got addressed.

When it's not acting up, I like it just fine. I sometimes goes for weeks without malfunctioning and sudden decides to disappear several times, then starts working again. This is my second M18xR2 mobo that has the same issue. It has never been a serious issue. Putting the laptop to sleep, waiting about 10 seconds, then resuming from sleep has restore function 100% of the time for me. The SoundBlaster Recond3Di does deliver very respectable sound on the R2, and the SoundBlaster Control Panel adds enough useful features that it's nice to have even though many of the features do not add value.

I have noticed that using standard Windows audio drivers the audio chipset seems to behave better than it does using Creative's drivers. I am going to buy this software to see if somehow it has drivers that make the R2 work better. I will share what happens with the R2 using this thread, but it may take a while to see what happens in terms of whether or not the chipset still drops out randomly.

 

You have a very valid point with the activation limits. I had a hard time with the activation limits that had on the DTS plugin that I had to buy for $5 at one time. The limit was rather low IMHO, it was at like 5.

 

Yeah, I have low tolerance for that kind of thing. While I am very forgiving (to a fault) with people that make mistakes and apologize, I am not very patient when it comes to taking care of business at lightning speed. I expect all companies, including the one I work for, to deliver high quality service with extreme speed and sense of urgency. I bought this software 30 minutes ago. My AmEx card was charged and I have order confirmation from Amazon. I am still waiting for a product key to be sent to me by Creative Technology. In my mind there is no reason it should not happen instantly and without human intervention as it does with most electronic software distributions. So, I am already unimpressed with Creative again, LOL.

 

while I thank you having the gull to be a test subject, that was not my intention. I was planning on buying the software tonight. I am surprised that you haven't received a key yet, as I agree with you, that should be sent instantaneously without a hitch. keep us updated with how it goes, and I of course will do the same when I start my journey with it.

 

It took about 1:20 to get the email from Creative with the key. I bought this for the M18xR2 for reasons mentioned, so I am not planning to test it on the Alienware 18. The software seems to be almost the same as what comes standard with the Alienware M18xR2 SoundBlaster Recon3Di driver. It looks nicer, and seems to work nicely, but I don't see any huge differences. It does not have all of the silly morphing nonsense, but those features were never useful anyway. (No need to have voices that sound like a elf or an ogre, or a robot, etc., LOL.) It would be pretty sweet if the chipset dropping out is fixed with this package. If it does not change that, then there is no point in an M18xR2 or M17xR4 owner buying it. I am going to move this thread to the main Alienware forum so more people might see it. Others may be interested. This is better than the RealTek audio software included with the Haswell machines.

<iframe width='1280' height="720" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uXhoQykjUOA" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen=""></iframe>​

 

Thanks mr fox. I'm curious though, since it's running on a creative audio chipset in the r2 if the sound performance is better than what one could expect with the 18. I'll be sure to post my experience with the software. I wish I still had an r2 to compare the two side by side.

 

I'm not sure if it is a lot better or close to the same as before. It's difficult for me to tell. I am not an audiophile and I thought it sounded fine before. I think it sounds really good with new software, too. I am going to see how it sounds with headphones. It could be my imagination, but the subwoofer seems more evident now. When I set 5.1 and click on the subwoofer icon I can hear it very clearly and the chassis has noticeable vibrations that I don't recall experiencing with the stock Creative software.

I may try to install it on the Alienware 18 anyway, just see how it works. I don't know if it will activate correctly since I have already used the key on the M18xR2. If it associates a hardware hash instead of merely acknowledging the key code, it probably will not activate.

 

I would interested to hear how it does in your 18 Fox, if it is any good I would consider picking it up for my 17 as the audio control software that comes stock is rather lacking.

 

Even if I do not try it out, or if it refuses to activate on both machines, it sounds like Brother wheth4400 is going to get it for his 18. If he does so, we should have a good idea on how it works this weekend.

It might seem to be the obvious thing to do, but in case it does not (and I did not see any instructions with the software) I uninstalled all of my Recon3Di software and drivers in Add/Remove Programs. I then deleted the Recond3Di device and checked the box to delete the driver in Device Manager. I rebooted and then installed this X-Fi MB 3 package. That forced it to use native Windows drivers, and then added this new software and driver package on top of the Windows audio drivers. This is what we see in Device Manager now.



This sounds great with my wired TactX headset. Very crisp to my old eardrums. My Bluetooth headset still does not interact with the SoundBlaster software. It works the same as before. Bluetooth seems to take a different path or channel for audio that is not routed through the audio chipset/software. It operates independently from it and I end up with an extra volume control slider in the system tray when using Bluetooth audio.

 

Hi Everyone,

I hope this question isn't too far off topic, I think it is still in the same city at least . I do understand that the SoundBlaster Recon 3Di is a "software" product, but for the longest time I had though it was an actual "chip" on the motherboard. However, if there was any doubt that it not a software product, it was dispelled by Mr. Fox's screen shots today. So this leads to my question, does anybody know what is the actual chipset included with the M17xR4 and/or M18xR2? Thanks!

Rich S.

 

It is a Creative chip, and I remember seeing the Creative logo on the motherboard chipset. Next time I have mine apart I will look closer. It has tiny, tiny letters and numbers that I cannot read, but I do have an 8x magnifying monocle I can use to read the information off of it. I use it all the time for reading super small print on chips and other ridiculously small text. If you ever see one of these for sale, grab one... very handy for this kind of thing. I used it to read "microscopic" serials numbers off of my Android phone's dead 32GB G.SKILL micro-SD card that I had to exchange under warranty recently. They were so tiny and faint that I never even knew they existed until I had to fill in the blanks for the online RMA form with that number. I saw where G.SKILL said the serial number was located and I was like, " Are you kidding me? Get outta here!! Really?" But I could read them fine with this monocle.

 

The recon 3di is in fact a chip on the motherboard. It also uses software very similar to this software.

EDIT:

I am waiting on my key to arrive, hopefully it will show up here. While I wait though I am wondering if I should remove the Realtek software on my 18 before trying to install this, or if I should just leave it.

 

I would remove it, and delete the sound device (add checkmark to the box to delete the driver) and then reboot. Windows should install its own generic audio driver. Creative drivers are kind of like AMD and they can be flaky if you mix them up with other things. It might work fine to just install over the RealTek, but I think you can avoid the potential for issues by removing those drivers first.

I am going to reboot into Windows 8.1.1 and repeat the process, so we shall see how that activation goes or if it tells me the license is already installed on a different computer.

I was surprised that Ubuntu even sees the chipset as SoundBlaster Recon3Di. (I am now triple-booting with Linux Mint, W8 and W7. I have Mint on the mSATA.)

Edit: OK, it's all cool with Windows 8.1.1 also. I had never even installed the audio drivers from Alienware before and it was using the Recon3Di driver from Windows Catalog. I deleted it, activated and installed without hiccups.

 

Bet you didn't think you would be doing all of this work today brother fox, huh? LOL Anyways I just got the email from Amazon that my order has shipped, but still no email with the key.. hrmmm. I am going to start removing the audio stuff now on the 18.

Alright, I got it installed, and it did so without a hitch. I haven't had much of a chance to test it out, but the little demo in the control panel does sound really good, and there is notable difference in the sound quality of it with the SBX effects turned off.

 

Great news! Glad it's working with the Alienware 18. Should work with the 14 and 17 as well. Should be a lot better than the RealTek Audio Control Panel.

 

I did get the chance last night before turning in to play a few rounds of TitanFall with the SB MB3, and I can say that the sound did seem far more crisp than I remember it being with just the on board. Everything from the clicks from selecting stuff, to the gun fire, and the falling titans just sound better. How much better is yet to be determined, but it was a noticeable improvement. I do wish there was a way to get 3D positional audio, but with just the two speakers and the sub I doubt it would be that good anyways, and without optical out on the 18 i can't run the audio to something that could process that.

 

This interests me alot!

Totally going to get the software today for my aw17 and see how it works.

 

I am quite sure it will work for you, and it will be nice to get input from other users as to if they think there sound is better or worse with it. To me my laptop does sound better.

 

So I just ordered the software. do they email you a download link also with your code"

 

Yes it should take about an hour and a half.

 

Cool, now I just need to remember my email password..... its been on my phone for so long, and I have not had to enter it for like 3 years..

Installed and running great on my alienware 17

Only got a single round of titanfall in on my lunch break, but I will test it out some more tonight after work.

EDIT< anyone know what changes when you change the modes from music, movies and games?

 

A couple of observations... it does not fix the issue with Sound Blaster Recon3Di chipset dropping out. It behaves differently when it occurs. No longer get the "X" on the speaker system tray icon. It just stops working (no audio) and random C++ crashes occur. The Sound Blaster Control Panel starts not responding. At first I did not realize it was the same problem and thought the X-Fi MB3 software was bugged, but I put the machine to sleep and wake it up, and normal function is restored... so, same exact problem, but slightly different symptoms.

Aside from that, I really like the X-Fi MB3 software. I forgot how great EAX profiles were for gaming... if you have a ton of games it is a bit of a pain in the bottom to set up manually using ALchemy, but EAX profiles really enhances the in-game audio experience on games that actually support it. On games that have an audio configuration menu to select EAX or advanced audio it does an even nicer job. If you still enjoy playing some of the awesome older games like UT, Quake4, Doom3, Serious Sam, etc. EAX makes a crazy night and day difference in the audio.

Environmental Audio Extensions | Wikipedia

I had to Google how to use it because it had been so many years since I used ALchemy that I had forgotten how.

 

Brother Fox,

Sorry to hear that you're still experiencing the same audio symptoms. It must be a problem inherent with the audio chipset. On a brighter note, I am glad you are experiencing some joy with the software. I am loving it, and on the 18 I haven't had any issues with it. You are right on with the EAX stuff, EAX does make a ton of difference in terms of immersion in a game, and I glad there is a way to get that back.

 

I've done some testing using Dell's latest drivers (default installation/first time ) and the sound improvement is noticeable, selecting only Drivers + Control Panel option 'SEQSC3D_DELL_PCAPP_LB_1_00_09' doesn't install properly (under Extras folder/unchecked option) which is default configuration for the Klipsch speakers, improving both equalizer and THX TruStudio Pro. I've updated Alchemy and OpenAL installation folders with the latest versions (proper Visual C++) so it should work like Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3...

 

you want great audio... then get a PCI-Express soundcard hooked up some how.


here would this work ? http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini...s-mini-card-to-PCI-e-1x-riser/1692808839.html

we know theres no power to the mpci-e until loaded into operating system... (or not at post at least) , would a sound card work ?

would this, using expresscard be better ? http://www.aliexpress.com/item/PCIe...notebooks-PE4H-v2-4a-EC2C-v1-2/426312359.html

 

With the M18xR1/R2 using a discrete PCMCIA or ExpressCard audio card is always a possibility. Unfortunately, the 18 supports hardly any options in the way of peripherals. You can have anything you wants as long as it's USB, LOL.

I don't appreciate high quality audio enough to bother with something that elaborate or expensive. (Not to mention the fact that I have a pretty ugly OCD issue relating to clutter and feel like I am going nuts having extra wires and cords connected to my laptop. Just looking at them makes me mad. One reason I despise having the power port on the left side of the 18 instead of the back... hate looking at it.) The $30 spent for this software is about as good as it gets for my worn out eardrums... borderline too expensive, in fact. Although, it does make a noticeable enough improvement that I can tell the difference compared to not using it.

 

wheres that other thread, with all the things we can do with the extra slots in our R2 model.... these should go there.

 

For those that don't mind a "snakes nest" of connections and use their laptop as a DTR on a desk, something like this 7.1 ExpressCard option (or this USB type for the Alienware 18) would be much cleaner and not as much trouble as trying to use those PCI adapters with a desktop PCI card.

 

The sound card is not that bad. I will find time for it, like I did M17xR3 IDT chip http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...river-v-6-10-0-6421-maxx-audio-3-quality.html

Edit: Nope, I've purchased the software, the sound is better. The master volume is not working.

 

Buying this for my Alienware 17 now, will report back when I have had a chance to test it out and let you all know how it is.

EDIT: So far so good , as with the others it did take over an hour to get the key but no big deal there. Everything installed fine, but I removed the Realtec drivers before installing just like the others. Installation went smooth and upon first glimpses everything seems to be doing really well. As Mr.Fox's screen shot shows there are far more options and settings in this package then we get with the Realtec software.

Overall first impressions are good, I do think the sound is better , especially with the SBX activated and tuned a bit. I am going to play around with the EQ tonight and see if I can fine tune it a little more like I had it on my R4

I will report back tomorrow after I have had a chance to play around with it in some games.

 

mind telling how you did that?, i am having the uniqure isue of being unable to control the master volume via the hot-keys in the R4

 

Still not working (terrible support), Creative M17xR4 and M18xR2 need to change the default sample rate and bit depth to 24-bit, 48000MHz (Studio Quality) for all devices/applications.

1 Speakers (Windows)


2 Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 Speakers

 

I seem to be having some issues with this now

Not sure its the softwares fault though.

When I hook up some of my dj stuff it doesnt read the headphone plug, if I use the usb sound card for the mixer it works but dissables everything.
If I unplug the usb card I get the "no sound device detected" like the r4 had. It wont turn back on till I restart. Plugging in my ipod to the headphone jack on the mixer gives me sound, just not plugging into the laptop.... The laptop wont detect the headphone jack being plugged in... headphone are detected when I plug them in.

I think it might have something to do with the hardware I am using, because my m14x2 did the same thing.... m11x works fine with the headphone jack.

For those wondering why I would use the headphone jack instead of the usb soundcard, I sometimes like to not haul everything out of the basement when I want to play some music on my system.

 

It certainly sounds more like a hardware problem to me. I think you're right... probably not the software.

Cold boot... the "X" is back this morning.

Spoiler

 

Great work, 'Banned'... (All-in-one Daniel_K) Modded Soundcard Driver packs/disks - Guru3D.com Forums

 

Well I have had a chance to play around with the sound settings some more and I can say I am quite pleased. The settings allow me much more control then the Realtec software ever did and I feel that it makes a noticeable difference to me in game play and just general overall music quality.

The highs are crisper and the mids have more depth. I don't notice a big difference in bass quality but I didn't expect any miracles there TBH since it is just a laptop and that's what I have external speakers for with a sub woofer.

IMO is was worth the $30 to me but someone else may feel differently. I would buy it again if I needed to.

GL all

 

Good, it's working perfect with non-creative cards, predictable enough...not so well with creative cards (configuration) HW shared blame . Still I had to test it anyway $30 :hi2:. It took some time to find the proper driver for the M17xR3, better sound quality 16-bit 48000MHz IDT chip http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...river-v-6-10-0-6421-maxx-audio-3-quality.html

Updating the 'Extras" software (licensed) with the latest version (manual process/not clean) Alchemy and OpenAL are included Dell's driver package. I will keep trying, stubborn.
THX standards and Creative management :thumbsup:

 

Ran into my first problem.....BF4 has no sound when I am using my G930 headset.....every other game is just fine, including BF3, just not BF4 and the sound comes back as soon as I unplug the headset.

 

See if you can open the volume control to where it has separate sliders for each audio outlet. This is kind of weird because they are not static. Volume sliders come and go depending on what feature is being utilized or activated. Sometimes I have one or two volume sliders, and other times I have several, depending on what I am doing.

I ran into a similar problem with headphones and when I opened it up I found a unique volume control for the headphones that was turned down to 0%. I get a separate volume slider for my Bluetooth stereo headphones as well. When the "Advanced Audio" service is activated for Bluetooth is has a slider. When it is not, the slider is gone. I even found one for Steam the other day. I was tinkering with the new Steam streaming feature. I was using an old Inspiron E1505 (Core 2 Duo and X1400 GPU) to play Crysis 2 (using the M18xR2 as the host machine, as it would never run on the Inspiron directly) and there was no audio on the Inspiron. I opened up the volume controls on the M18xR2 and there was a volume slider for Steam. I cranked it up and then the Inspiron had audio for Crysis 2.

You may also find that the "Master" volume control does not control some things. I can have the master volume slider turned off or muted and still get audio from certain applications. Windows Media Player is one of them. It also has its own volume slider when an audio file is playing with Windows Media Player.

 

I think part of my problem is when I plug in the headset, it isn't selecting the headset and setting it as default, the Creative seems to override it. When I tell the computer to use the headset as the default device the creative software comes up and says "The current selected audio device is disabled, not present, not supported by the application or has unplugged jack connections. Do you want to select another audio deivce now?" which I say no to and then the headset seems to work fine, with the exception of BF4. But I will try your suggestions and see what happens Fox

I removed the Creative software and reinstalled the Reltek and the problem went away, now I am trying the creatvie with the Realtek still installed...see what happens.

 

I did the same but for the SB oem chip on my R4

Volume control worked intermittently
And the recon3d chip in device manager was still requesting it s drivers

In the end a useless purchase, but useful perhaps for another rig sometime later

 

Works fine for my M18xR2 Sound Blaster Recon3Di... I am finding it very useful, but it did not fix the problem with the bugged Recon3Di chipset dropping out once in a while.

 

I couldn't get around the headset not working in BF4 for whatever reason....it was weird. I uninstalled for now as I am playing a lot of BF4 so ATM it isn't ideal. I will try it from time to time and hope for an update from with Creative or Dice. Being that it works just fine with BF3 I am assuming it is a BF4 issue...as usual.

 

Seems like there's always something stupid happening with BF4. It is working fine with headset for everything else I have tried. I haven't played BF4 since I finished the single-player campaign, since I don't do online multi-player. I may try it out of curiosity.

 

Heh and I play mostly multi-player and never completed the campaign

 

I just don't like online multi-player gaming too much. When I do play once in a great while I always enjoy it, but I have to be in a social mood to do it. I used to play LAN-based multi-player a lot, but haven't in a long time. I like the solitude of single-player campaign gaming because it's a nice break from the social nature of everything else I do in life. When I have time for gaming, it's usually at a time when I feel burned out from social interaction.