2nd February 2010, 9:52 PM
Programming in Doppler Effect is a nice idea there lazy, and I've played a few games that actually do try to emulate that effect. The problem is making it accurate requires a lot of extra processing power. It's the same reason why 5.1 speakers exist. It's just easier to program in 5 different channels to simulate it than actually calculate the difference that one sound should come from the left or from the right and add that timing in (which in actuality would be far more accurate and only need two speakers if done right).
Ideally down the line we'll be able to do that without much extra processing cost, but that'll mean taking sound processing to a new level, and Creative, aside from being the only contender these days, seems perfectly content with their several year old X-Fi sound cards. It'd sure be nice to say goodbye to the ever increasing number of speakers and just directly do what our two ears use naturally. Not like ears can tell the difference between above/below and front/back anyway.
Ideally down the line we'll be able to do that without much extra processing cost, but that'll mean taking sound processing to a new level, and Creative, aside from being the only contender these days, seems perfectly content with their several year old X-Fi sound cards. It'd sure be nice to say goodbye to the ever increasing number of speakers and just directly do what our two ears use naturally. Not like ears can tell the difference between above/below and front/back anyway.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)