Au contraire to my previous post where I said to use Equalizer APO + Peace for bass boost and to add an LFE channel plus install some utilities, I found a pure Windows solution no Asus software or any utility needed.
After a lot of experimenting with Armory II, Armory Crate and Windows drivers this is what I found to work:
For people watching mostly movies use firmware v34 posted previously in this thread, it makes actors voice more clear and surround effects are not exaggerated and distracting. Newer version v38, v39 amplify the back channels by lowering volume on the front channels. Because of this you can hear ambient sound (even over actors voice) more than you should. Front channel volume: v34 > v39 > v38 ('>' means greater than)
For people using Theta mostly for games chose any version you prefer. I would chose v34 even for games because you can always tune v34 to sound like v38 or v39, but not the other way around, you can't make v38 or v39 sound like v34 because the volume in front in v38 and v39 is capped by the firmware. On version v34 you can lower volume in front channels using balance settings if you want to get same effect as v38 or v39.
About software:
Armoury II - I was not satisfied with the sound quality (low volume, loudness equalization aka. compression not very good), but it is more stable than Armoury Crate.
Armoury Crate (Beta) - Sound improved since I last tried it. But the software has a lot of bugs and issues. Not gonna sugar-coat it my experience with it is terrible. I tried Version 3.0.11.0 over and over 20+ times, every install meant new problems even when using same image backup to restore the system to a state before install. LFE channel stopped working, update stopped working and so on.
The windows way:
Disable subwoofer Theta is actually just 7.0:
Set all speakers to full range, LFE channel will be redirected to these speakers:
Enable Bass Management and optionally Loudness Equalization:
Hope it helps enjoy!
EDIT: Bonus - The MIC AI noise cancelation is on by default even with this setup, was tested and even confirmed by asus support.
After a lot of experimenting with Armory II, Armory Crate and Windows drivers this is what I found to work:
For people watching mostly movies use firmware v34 posted previously in this thread, it makes actors voice more clear and surround effects are not exaggerated and distracting. Newer version v38, v39 amplify the back channels by lowering volume on the front channels. Because of this you can hear ambient sound (even over actors voice) more than you should. Front channel volume: v34 > v39 > v38 ('>' means greater than)
For people using Theta mostly for games chose any version you prefer. I would chose v34 even for games because you can always tune v34 to sound like v38 or v39, but not the other way around, you can't make v38 or v39 sound like v34 because the volume in front in v38 and v39 is capped by the firmware. On version v34 you can lower volume in front channels using balance settings if you want to get same effect as v38 or v39.
About software:
Armoury II - I was not satisfied with the sound quality (low volume, loudness equalization aka. compression not very good), but it is more stable than Armoury Crate.
Armoury Crate (Beta) - Sound improved since I last tried it. But the software has a lot of bugs and issues. Not gonna sugar-coat it my experience with it is terrible. I tried Version 3.0.11.0 over and over 20+ times, every install meant new problems even when using same image backup to restore the system to a state before install. LFE channel stopped working, update stopped working and so on.
The windows way:
Disable subwoofer Theta is actually just 7.0:
Set all speakers to full range, LFE channel will be redirected to these speakers:
Enable Bass Management and optionally Loudness Equalization:
Hope it helps enjoy!
EDIT: Bonus - The MIC AI noise cancelation is on by default even with this setup, was tested and even confirmed by asus support.
LordSendo wrote:
My system dosn't allow me to select 7.1 surround in windows, Any idea on how to fix this? It only shows Stereo.
- If you have Armoury Crate installed uninstall it with "add remove programs" then by using Crate uninstall utility from the Theta support page.
- If you have Armoury II, uninstall it.
- Uninstall all drivers in device manager:
If all else fails clean install Windows, if that does not work it is a hardware issue.
CrHasher wrote:
- If you have Armoury Crate installed uninstall it with "add remove programs" then by using Crate uninstall utility from the Theta support page.
- If you have Armoury II, uninstall it.
- Uninstall all drivers in device manager:
If all else fails clean install Windows, if that does not work it is a hardware issue.
Thanks, How Do i install the v34 firmware? I downloaded it from you earlier link but don't know how to install it.
