[QUOTE="bigfoot2045"]Also, in a time when PCs can do proper Dolby Digital and DTS, I'm surprised anyone still gives a crap about EAX.[/QUOTE] You're comparing two entirely different things. EAX = reverb/chorus/occlusion/etc. effects to make it sound like you're actually in the game environment. If the sound device doesn't support them, the effects go missing and it doesn't sound as the game developer intended. I shouldn't have to explain why I want to avoid that scenario at all costs. (Especially when games like the Thief series use them. Best sound design in all of video gaming so far, not necessarily because of EAX, but that's what they decided to use at the time.) Dolby Digital and DTS = lossy codecs for compressing six discrete channels into a size that fits with S/PDIF's limited bandwidth (which only has enough room for two uncompressed PCM channels). There is no overlap whatsoever. You can play an old game with EAX effects and have Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect encode it on-the-fly for output to an external A/V receiver with no missing sound effects. Also, I frankly don't care for 5.1 or 7.1 systems being the upper limit of positional sound in today's games. I want true 3D sound back, like it was when DirectSound3D and OpenAL were the standard in PC games. That way, I can have proper binaural audio over my headphones in any PC game instead of being limited to virtual 7.1 with no sense of height and sounds that jump to various fixed speaker positions. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem if Aureal hadn't died out. They started the push for 3D audio and were the biggest competitor Creative ever had...