DOS Days

Aureal Downloads

On this page you will find all the downloads I have for Aureal's Vortex and Vortex 2 hardware.

Table of Contents:

Vortex

Windows 3.1 Reference Drivers
Version ?

Windows 95/98 Reference Drivers
Version 4.06.1186

Windows 95/98 Reference Drivers
Version 4.06.1189

Windows NT 4.0 Drivers
Version 1.17.01

Windows 2000
Beta Reference Drivers
Version 5.10.1500.49

Windows 2000 Drivers
Beta WDM Drivers

OS/2 Reference Drivers
Version 1.14

XP Beta Drivers
Version 5.12.2568.0

This driver only partially supports A3D, possibly only A3D 1.0.

 

 

Vortex 2

Note that the standard driver for Vortex 2 that comes with Windows XP is considered very "bare bones"

Windows 3.1 Drivers
Version 3.10

OS/2 Drivers
Version 5.12.1.2559

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2000

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2015 (18th Dec 1998)

This driver is recommended if running DirectX 7.1 or newer.

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2041 (3rd Jan 2000)

Version 2041 was the last Windows 95/98 driver that did not have EAX support. This driver is recommend if running DirectX versions of 7.0a or older.

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2046

This version was provided on the Turtle Beach Montego II driver CD..

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2048 (18th Feb 2000)

Added EAX Support. EAX Reverb effect is very poor. Some games may exhibit reverse audio with this driver.
These are the reference drivers from Aureal - if you can, use drivers that came with your specific sound card instead of these.

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.2050.18 (6th Mar 2000)

Some games may exhibit reverse audio with this driver.

Windows 2000 Drivers
Version 5.12.1.2559

Windows Vista Drivers
(32-bit)

These are a doctored version of the last XP drivers (v5.12.2258.0), and work with 32-bit Vista only.

Windows 2000 Drivers
Version 5.12.1.3555 RC

Windows XP Drivers
v5.12.2258.0 Beta

These are the very last drivers for Vortex 2 that work on Windows XP.

EAX Unified Driver

Allows EAX 2.0/3.0 software emulation on any sound card with EAX 1.0 support.

EAX 2.06 Wrapper for 2048
(VxD driver for Win 95/98)

This is the EAX 2 wrapper which translates EAX 2 calls into EAX which can be understood by the 4.06.2048 (or 4.06.2050 for the SQ3500 Turbo) driver ONLY.  They WILL NOT add EAX support for the Windows 2000 or XP drivers.

EAX 3.00 Wrapper for 2048
(VxD driver for Win 95/98)

This is the EAX 3 wrapper which translates EAX 3 calls into EAX which can be understood by the 4.06.2048 (or 4.06.2050 for the SQ3500 Turbo) driver ONLY.  They WILL NOT add EAX support for the Windows 2000 or XP drivers.

 

Vortex Advantage

Windows 95/98 Drivers
Version 4.06.3220

Windows NT 4.0 Drivers
Version 3.24.01 Beta

Windows 2000 Drivers
Version 5.12.1.3555 RC

 

Other Drivers and Utilities

Windows 95/98/ME/NT4 Drivers
Version 3.12

These drivers allow for A3D version 2.0 sound on sound cards that do not typically support A3D v2.0. They provide DirectSound3D and occlusions (blocking of sound by objects) support on any DirectSound3D-supported sound card, as well as basic 3D sound and occlusions on those that do not directly support DirectSound3D.
Use only with games that support A3D v2.0.

A3D & OpenGL Demo

A demo that combines A3D with OpenGL.

A3D & OpenGL Demo
(Low-Res Textures)

A demo that combines A3D with OpenGL

.Aureal Minerva Utility
Version 1.08

Aureal's Minerva is a utility that can be used to test the compatibility of your Aureal-based card with DirectSound, DirectSound 3D and A3D.

Vortex Tuner
Version 1.0 (4th Sep 2000)

A program aimed at tweaking your Vortex 2 based audio card under Windows 95/98/ME with the latest 2048 drivers

VIA Latency Fix
Version 0.19d

This utility by George Breese fixes problems with running an Aureal card on a VIA motherboard. It also includes a fix for the AGP/PCI Bus Master bridge.issue.

AU30MIX DOS Mixer
Version 1.0

A replacement DOS audio mixer for Vortex 2 cards by Vogons user ZanQuance.

 

AC'97 Mixer
(By Alex Mina)

This app allows direct control of the AC97 Codec which is present on nearly all modern sound cards.  Special support is included for the SigmaTel 9708/11 used on most Vortex 2 based cards (MX300, SQ2500, SonicVortex 2 etc.) and the Aureal SQ1500, among others. 
Originally this was the only way to get 4 speaker output in Windows XP, but with the XP patch (above) it is no longer required.
  

AU8810 XP/W2k3 Patch
(from Quantex Zone site)

The problem with the original Aureal Vortex Control Panel is not with the control panel app (au10cpl.exe) itself, since this is cross-platform compatible. It calls an external DLL file (au10dal.dll) which does a version check for either Windows 9x (4.x) or Windows 2000 (5.x). Unfortunately it does not recognise the minor number for Windows XP (5.1). The problem is made worse because the application compatibility wizard cannot handle DLL files, only EXE.
This patch overrides version detection, allowing the native Aureal control panel to work under XP and Windows Server 2003. .
Download and install the first file above, which is the AU8810 (Advantage card)'s application. Then download and install the second file, which is the AU10DAL Patch.

AU8820 XP/W2k3 Patch
(from Quantex Zone site)

The problem with the original Aureal Vortex Control Panel is not with the control panel app (au10cpl.exe) itself, since this is cross-platform compatible. It calls an external DLL file (au10dal.dll) which does a version check for either Windows 9x (4.x) or Windows 2000 (5.x). Unfortunately it does not recognise the minor number for Windows XP (5.1). The problem is made worse because the application compatibility wizard cannot handle DLL files, only EXE.
This patch overrides version detection, allowing the native Aureal control panel to work under XP and Windows Server 2003. .
Download and install the first file above, which is the AU8820 (Vortex 1 card)'s application. Then download and install the second file, which is the AU20DAL Patch.

AU8830 XP/W2k3 Patch
(from Quantex Zone site)

The problem with the original Aureal Vortex Control Panel is not with the control panel app (au10cpl.exe) itself, since this is cross-platform compatible. It calls an external DLL file (au10dal.dll) which does a version check for either Windows 9x (4.x) or Windows 2000 (5.x). Unfortunately it does not recognise the minor number for Windows XP (5.1). The problem is made worse because the application compatibility wizard cannot handle DLL files, only EXE.
This patch overrides version detection, allowing the native Aureal control panel to work under XP and Windows Server 2003. .
Download and install the first file above, which is the AU8830 (Vortex 2 card)'s application. Then download and install the second file, which is the AU30DAL Patch.

A3D Drivers for Win 95/98
Version 3.12/2.09

Fixes a couple of issues with the original A3D 3.0 files.

It is recommended that you only download this file if you're having problems with A3D. 

A3D Drivers for Win 2K/XP
Version 3.12/2.09

Fixes a couple of issues with the original A3D 3.0 files.

It is recommended that you only download this file if you're having problems with A3D.  Windows File Protection may not allow you to update the DLLs in Windows XP. 
  

 

File Editors

DirectMusic Producer
For DirectX 8.1

A Microsoft utility bundled with the DirectX SDK, and can be used to create your own game music. It supports .SGX, .STY and .DLS file formats. Note that when composing (pre-finalisation), .DLS files have an extension of .DLP.

DirectMusic Producer
For DirectX 9.0b

A Microsoft utility bundled with the DirectX SDK, and can be used to create your own game music. It supports .SGX, .STY and .DLS file formats.

Awave Studio
(FMJ Software)

A shareware version is available for free download, or you can purchase the full unrestricted version from Awave Studio (fmjsoft.com). It supports around 300 different file formats, and you can use the tool to also convert between sound font formats..

Viena
Version 1.192

Viena is a free Soundfont Editor. You can use it to create, edit and convert between certain sound font formats including .SF2 and .DLS.
The first download above is the 32-bit installer version, the second is for 64-bit Windows.
    

 

Software Wavetables

Aureal GM
ARL Instrument Banks

The source bank of ARL (Aureal 'Aspen' sound bank) instruments

Microsoft GS Wavetable
DLS format 3.2MB

Check in your windows\system32\drivers or windows\syswow64\drivers folder for the file GM.DLS or WIN_GM.DLS- this is the Microsoft GS Wavetable synth sound bank. It is considered very poor quality. Roland Corporation hold the copyright for this file.