Oh thanks, I previously ignored that program due to the deprecated note.
And I didn't manage to find the "MST restriction remover" either.

I'll give it a try then.

Please report on how it works out :)

Hey, I found this:
http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/18249-tutorial-how-to-setup-eax-for-tdm-on-any-soundcard/

Maybe it could work with newer Alchemy installers!

EDIT: umm.. 25/61 antiviruses reported the Restriction Remover as a possible threat..
False positives could happen with cracks, but I'm not gonna risk it.

Mm.. I tried it with The Witcher 1, but the EAX option remains grey.

EDIT: wait, I had to select the location of "witcher.exe" not "launcher.exe" XD
I've enabled it now, thanks Dalthnock :)

Btw, I've no idea if it's simulating EAX properly.
It surely increased the game volume. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The last Alchemy version uses "dsound.dll" v2.4.2.12, whilst the Universal uses v1.0.2.0.
It's quite behind indeed..
I tried to simply replace the old file with the new one, but alas it didn't work.

I imagine that too, but I wish that someone with a VM could test if nothing bad appears after executing it (and a restart)..

Yeah, you always have to select the folder with the main executable. The only game that gave me a headache was BioShock, but I eventually got it running.

EAX won't do any miracles, just add some echoes & the like in some areas. You can notice it quite well in Prince of Persia Sands of Time & Baldur's Gate. Another advantage with this tool is you can select hardware sound instead of emulated. It's mostly louder (Neverwinter Nights does this too), but there's also some increase in quality.

It's out of date, sure, but it works 100%. Unless you want to keep cracking updated Creative releases which may or may not work, I'd advise you to stick with that version. I doubt there'll be any increase in quality, anyway. It's still an on-board soundcard emulating EAX. I certainly never bothered updating.

Btw, I'm getting some positional audio from the surround speakers, so the simulated EAX is surely doing something :)

But AFAIK the old Alchemy Universal workaround can't emulate EAX 3.0 and EAX 4.0 (for example Thief: Deadly Shadows).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_EAX_support

FFS try 3d SOUNDBACK

in properties you have to get it to run in VISTA compatibilty mode set it to run in Vista SP2 compatibility mode as an administrator.

If you can't get 3D soundback to run, you must run it as an administrator in windows vista compatibility mode. That's how I got the configurator to run.
Now you can play games and the EAX option is no longer disabled.

It just might work for some of you!

Realtek 3D SoundBack restores audio effects, including surround sound, reverberation, and spatial effects, for legacy game titles when running on Windows Vista. This software is basically Realtek's version of Alchemy, it'll enable the use of EAX1/2 (we guess A3D, assuming the realtek chips support the decoding) in Vista for games that should support EAX1/2.

Thank you! The Vista SP2 compatibility did the trick actually.
Unfortunately emulation for EAX 3.0 or 4.0 is not supported as far as I can understand, so games like Thief Deadly Shadows can't use EAX HD :(
It seems just a Realtek version of Alchemy Universal (to redirect EAX 1 and 2 to OpenAL EFX)

I used it for thief 1 only!

I can say it works better than Alchemy Universal, for example I can enable all EAX 2 features in Neverwinter Nights 2 now.
For EAX 3.0 and 4.0 emulation I think we'll have to wait for a new version of http://www.indirectsound.com/

Indirectsound is TERRIBLE!

I am glad you like 3dsoundback you may need to fiddle with the maximum buffers and the minimun buffersize to get it to sound just right though

I will look into Indirectsound though!

AWESOME!

Installation Instructions

Download this file: http://www54.zippysh...BNIVo/file.html
Mirror: https://www.mediafir...9djsjndl49tk1nf
Mirror: https://mega.nz/#!rU...THVmaaxCR8LyDPY

1. Install "EAX4Unified_redist_4001"
2. Install "Creative_alchemy_1.45.03"
3. Put "CreativeALchemy14503RestrictionRemover-MST.exe" in the installation folder of Creative Alchemy (default location: C:\Program Files\Creative\ALchemy).
4. Run "CreativeALchemy14503RestrictionRemover-MST.exe" as administrator and install
5. Reboot PC
6. Go to Creative ALchemy folder and open "ALchemy.exe"
7. Click Add
8. Put your eax 3 and 4 games in the Game Title box and tick the radiobox "Use Game Path" and put in your base directory in there (for example I put "X:\Games\Game")
9. Click Ok
10. Highlight the newly created your game entry on the left hand side and click the >>> button to move it over to the right hand side ALchemy-enabled games
11. Close Creative ALchemy
12. Open your game and go into settings
13. Under the audio tab turn EAX 3.0 or 4.0 HD on by clicking on the text to the right of it. You will be prompted with a restart dialogue
14. Click "Restart game"
15. Now you have EAX enabled and can enjoy