No more MX400 driver updates according to Diamond

rigor mortis · 03-07-2001, 04:50 PM

Here is the official word from Diamond about driver updates for the MX400:

-----------------
Thank you for contacting Diamond Legacy.
Hello,
I am sorry but once a item becomes a Legacy item then the driver development
ceases on the product. The best place to watch for new drivers is the
chipset manufacturer. These are called reference drivers. At presenttime
there are no reference drivers available but they are called esscanyon3D.
The website where these will be when they become available is
http://www.esstech.com/
Regards-
xxxxxxxxxx
Diamond Legacy Product Support
Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
http://www.s3.com
---------------

It is sort of annoying that Diamond has been stringing everyone along for quite some time about this despite the fact that it is clear that this decision was made a while ago as part of their strategic plan.

Maybe this will encourage ESS to bust out some reference drivers. I shouldn't have been surprised that Diamond would do this, they have a shady history in this respect and I doubt I will ever purchase a product from them again.

I broke down and got a Live! and I am pleased with it but I will always wonder what could have come out of the Canyon3D if someone other than a half *** company had developed a card with it. Creative Labs products are good but generally not stellar and they seem to have won out consistently over the years by taking a decent hardware platform and milking it with good drivers and support.

I remember buying the original SoundBlaster for my PS/2 model 30 around 1989 or so and being blown away. Since then I have seen great potential squandered in other companies like Media Vision, Aureal, etc. while Creative got by with cards that needed hack utilities to function half the time (AWE32 for example). Creative has improved but they are still not selling the cutting edge at competitive prices. The soundcard industry is still stalled at the same level of the early PC industry back when IBM clones weren't always completely compatible but provided an option that had better performance and price than the IBM option. Of course you sacrificed stability, support, and the hope that the company would still be around in a year or two.

Not sure how much more Creative can get out of the EMU10K. I sure hope that Phillips, Turtle Beach, and others can get their acts in gear and produce some real competition.

[Edited by Ozzie on 03-07-2001 at 05:27 PM]

chipease4 · 03-15-2001, 05:11 PM

http://www.diamondmm.com/default.asp...er_Sound_MX400

just incase you need to update here is -the latest one but you dint state a reason for an upgrade

Nothing wrong with this card had it for almost 9mos you may just need to dissable "direct sound acceleration" for some games other than that the card works perfectly... soround sound and all -using 5 peice altec lansing speakers

just look at this forum -you tell me which sound card has receive so many complaints nough said.

Monster Sound MX400 Rules!

rigor mortis · 03-24-2001, 05:21 PM

It is unacceptable to have to disable directsound acceleration to get games to work right. I didn't buy a directsound accelerated card to do that. It is a good card and with some decent driver updates I suspect it would end up better than the Live! series. However, that is apparently just a theoretical discussion unless maybe ESS will release some reference drivers.

As for there not being many complaints on this forum about the MX400, that is more a reflection of numbers of people using it than it being less trouble.

Can't complain since I only paid 30 bucks for the card!

chipease4 · 03-25-2001, 04:27 AM

Its perfectly acceptable -certainly wouldnt want the alternative which is listening to that crap you call sound, can you even tell the difference? also Philips turtle beach makes a far superior card than sb I dont see what youre even complaining about -you dont even have a reason to upgrade, by the time you do that soundcard of yours will be obsolete, Your like those people that update all their drivers all the time a new one shows up -most of the time it doesnt do ***** cause its just like fixing something that aint broke. You havent even mentioned your problem w/ the card. Its like your complaining that they havent created a new driver for your forseen incompatibilities. Your problems are nothing compared to the others posted here so if i were you Id be content that you have a soundcard that works.

rigor mortis · 03-25-2001, 02:21 PM

Chill out, no reason to resort to personal insults. I am not sure why you feel it necessary to slam me just because I don't love my MX400 as much as you do. I did say multiple times that I thought that it was a good card except for drivers. I also made it clear that I am not an automatic fan of the soundblaster series if you read my original point. I was lamenting the state of the soundcard industry where the card that isn't necessarily the best continues to dominate.

You seem to have missed the entire point of my original post. I don't remember complaining about anything and in fact I said specifically that I couldn't complain considering how much I paid for the card.

My problem with the mx400 is the same problem that many have with it, intermittent stuttering in games that isn't always reproducible. Obviously you are familiar with this since you mentioned it in your reply. Sure, the card sounded great when it wasn't doing that. Disabling directsound acceleration always fixes it but then performance suffered noticeably. Clearly this is a driver issue which is why many were waiting for drivers for this card. Looking for drivers to make the card operate as advertised doesn't sound to me like "fixing something that aint broke" or for "forseen incompatibilities".

There may not be much traffic on this board about the MX400 but other soundcard message boards have significant traffic about these problems and others. (for instance the 3dsoundsurge.com forums)

Finally, the TB and Philips cards look great but I could get the Live! x-gamer 5.1 for about the same price with a superior software bundle and more piece of mind about driver updates since Creative has a pretty good rep on that front. I just decided that I don't have the time to keep combing the internet soundcard resources to get my card to work as advertised. I have been buying and using soundcards for a long time and just want one that works because life is too short to spend it screwing with this stuff.

I'm glad that you are so happy with your MX400 and I hope that you get as many years of life out of it as I did my old SoundBlaster.

chipease4 · 03-25-2001, 03:27 PM

Sorry RM -dint mean to insult, yeah you are right i guess they cant make money if they make em last forever -(same w/ lightbulbs) also software cant keep up w/ hardware, anyway i knda like the sb platinum 5.1 that remote control is cool and just what i need -too bad i cant aford it.

rigor mortis · 03-26-2001, 09:14 AM

I have been pleased with the Live! and the bewildering array of software that it came with but it seems like there is a place in the soundcard arena for a new face. Turtle Beach has been a sort of player for a while, maybe they will break out with the SC. Don't know what to think about Philips, too early yet.

That Platinum better be worth its weight in gold for what they charge for it...

03-07-2001, 04:50 PM	#1
rigor mortis Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11	Here is the official word from Diamond about driver updates for the MX400: ----------------- Thank you for contacting Diamond Legacy. Hello, I am sorry but once a item becomes a Legacy item then the driver development ceases on the product. The best place to watch for new drivers is the chipset manufacturer. These are called reference drivers. At presenttime there are no reference drivers available but they are called esscanyon3D. The website where these will be when they become available is http://www.esstech.com/ Regards- xxxxxxxxxx Diamond Legacy Product Support Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX http://www.s3.com --------------- It is sort of annoying that Diamond has been stringing everyone along for quite some time about this despite the fact that it is clear that this decision was made a while ago as part of their strategic plan. Maybe this will encourage ESS to bust out some reference drivers. I shouldn't have been surprised that Diamond would do this, they have a shady history in this respect and I doubt I will ever purchase a product from them again. I broke down and got a Live! and I am pleased with it but I will always wonder what could have come out of the Canyon3D if someone other than a half *** company had developed a card with it. Creative Labs products are good but generally not stellar and they seem to have won out consistently over the years by taking a decent hardware platform and milking it with good drivers and support. I remember buying the original SoundBlaster for my PS/2 model 30 around 1989 or so and being blown away. Since then I have seen great potential squandered in other companies like Media Vision, Aureal, etc. while Creative got by with cards that needed hack utilities to function half the time (AWE32 for example). Creative has improved but they are still not selling the cutting edge at competitive prices. The soundcard industry is still stalled at the same level of the early PC industry back when IBM clones weren't always completely compatible but provided an option that had better performance and price than the IBM option. Of course you sacrificed stability, support, and the hope that the company would still be around in a year or two. Not sure how much more Creative can get out of the EMU10K. I sure hope that Phillips, Turtle Beach, and others can get their acts in gear and produce some real competition. [Edited by Ozzie on 03-07-2001 at 05:27 PM]
(Offline)

03-15-2001, 05:11 PM	#2
chipease4 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 353	http://www.diamondmm.com/default.asp...er_Sound_MX400 just incase you need to update here is -the latest one but you dint state a reason for an upgrade Nothing wrong with this card had it for almost 9mos you may just need to dissable "direct sound acceleration" for some games other than that the card works perfectly... soround sound and all -using 5 peice altec lansing speakers just look at this forum -you tell me which sound card has receive so many complaints nough said. Monster Sound MX400 Rules!
(Offline)

03-24-2001, 05:21 PM	#3
rigor mortis Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11	It is unacceptable to have to disable directsound acceleration to get games to work right. I didn't buy a directsound accelerated card to do that. It is a good card and with some decent driver updates I suspect it would end up better than the Live! series. However, that is apparently just a theoretical discussion unless maybe ESS will release some reference drivers. As for there not being many complaints on this forum about the MX400, that is more a reflection of numbers of people using it than it being less trouble. Can't complain since I only paid 30 bucks for the card!
(Offline)

03-25-2001, 04:27 AM	#4
chipease4 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 353	Its perfectly acceptable -certainly wouldnt want the alternative which is listening to that crap you call sound, can you even tell the difference? also Philips turtle beach makes a far superior card than sb I dont see what youre even complaining about -you dont even have a reason to upgrade, by the time you do that soundcard of yours will be obsolete, Your like those people that update all their drivers all the time a new one shows up -most of the time it doesnt do ***** cause its just like fixing something that aint broke. You havent even mentioned your problem w/ the card. Its like your complaining that they havent created a new driver for your forseen incompatibilities. Your problems are nothing compared to the others posted here so if i were you Id be content that you have a soundcard that works.
(Offline)

03-25-2001, 02:21 PM	#5
rigor mortis Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11	Chill out, no reason to resort to personal insults. I am not sure why you feel it necessary to slam me just because I don't love my MX400 as much as you do. I did say multiple times that I thought that it was a good card except for drivers. I also made it clear that I am not an automatic fan of the soundblaster series if you read my original point. I was lamenting the state of the soundcard industry where the card that isn't necessarily the best continues to dominate. You seem to have missed the entire point of my original post. I don't remember complaining about anything and in fact I said specifically that I couldn't complain considering how much I paid for the card. My problem with the mx400 is the same problem that many have with it, intermittent stuttering in games that isn't always reproducible. Obviously you are familiar with this since you mentioned it in your reply. Sure, the card sounded great when it wasn't doing that. Disabling directsound acceleration always fixes it but then performance suffered noticeably. Clearly this is a driver issue which is why many were waiting for drivers for this card. Looking for drivers to make the card operate as advertised doesn't sound to me like "fixing something that aint broke" or for "forseen incompatibilities". There may not be much traffic on this board about the MX400 but other soundcard message boards have significant traffic about these problems and others. (for instance the 3dsoundsurge.com forums) Finally, the TB and Philips cards look great but I could get the Live! x-gamer 5.1 for about the same price with a superior software bundle and more piece of mind about driver updates since Creative has a pretty good rep on that front. I just decided that I don't have the time to keep combing the internet soundcard resources to get my card to work as advertised. I have been buying and using soundcards for a long time and just want one that works because life is too short to spend it screwing with this stuff. I'm glad that you are so happy with your MX400 and I hope that you get as many years of life out of it as I did my old SoundBlaster.
(Offline)

03-25-2001, 03:27 PM	#6
chipease4 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 353	Sorry RM -dint mean to insult, yeah you are right i guess they cant make money if they make em last forever -(same w/ lightbulbs) also software cant keep up w/ hardware, anyway i knda like the sb platinum 5.1 that remote control is cool and just what i need -too bad i cant aford it.
(Offline)

03-26-2001, 09:14 AM	#7
rigor mortis Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11	I have been pleased with the Live! and the bewildering array of software that it came with but it seems like there is a place in the soundcard arena for a new face. Turtle Beach has been a sort of player for a while, maybe they will break out with the SC. Don't know what to think about Philips, too early yet. That Platinum better be worth its weight in gold for what they charge for it...
(Offline)

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