So I tried to re-enable EAX on my Win1064 System for TRON 2.0,

I read a lot of people have audio issues with this game to the point of hearing no sounds and music at all, but it is generally all working fine for me, using a clean game install plus Unofficial Patch 1.042 / Killer App Mod.

My problems start if I try to insert the DSOAL - dll-files for EAX emulation (dsoal-aldrv.dll, dsound.dll and alsoft.ini, usually works fine with all other games I tried re-enable EAX for) suddenly there is no background music in the main menu for me. Sounds are there, but weirdly not the music that should play in the menu. After I start a game, music seems to be back again, but I'm not sure if there are other music parts missing later in the game.

It's apparently all about the dsound.dll file that's causing the main menu music to disappear. The other files don't seem to have an effect, but as soon as the dsound.dll happens to be in the game folder, menu music will be gone.

It doesn't change anything turning 3dSound and Eax on or off from the Launcher, or turning EAX on or off in the in-Game menu. If dsound.dll is inside of that folder: main menu music gone; if dsound.dll is NOT in game folder: music plays fine, regardless of these settings.

If I understand this correctly, without the dsound.dll from DSOAL, I can't really achieve EAX emulation.
But I also read Tron is already using its own version of DirectSound. And it doesn't really "restrict" enabling EAX in the menu even without any EAX wrappers like many other games, so I'm unsure if the drivers are already doing something I don't know of.

Did anyone try EAX restoration without Alchemy / using DSOAL with TRON 2.0 and knows more about this and how to make it work?

One of the creators of the Killer App Mod here. I've been keeping an eye on DSOAL for a long time, since I'd like to include it with the mod as a way of restoring EAX to TRON 2.0 on Windows Vista/7/8/10/11.

The game will allow you to enable EAX at any time: but it won't actually be working unless you're playing on Windows XP or earlier with a sound solution that supports EAX, or you use a workaround like Creative ALchemy or DSOAL on Windows Vista/7/8/10/11.

At this time, Creative ALchemy is the only solution that 100% works for Windows Vista/7/8/10/11. It restores EAX, and supports DirectMusic.

DSOAL does appear to restore EAX in TRON 2.0 in my testing. But it doesn't support DirectMusic at this time, which is what TRON 2.0 uses for its dynamic music.

The author of DSOAL is aware that DirectMusic doesn't work, and says they will try to implement it in a future release.

https://github.com/kcat/dsoal/issues/61#issuecomment-1500971538

So until that update for DSOAL is released, Creative ALchemy remains the only way to restore EAX while still having working DirectMusic.

Hi, let me thank you for replying and also of course for being one of the persons responsible for that Killer App Mod. It's just amazing how it makes the game look, just lovely in widescreen.

If later versions of that Mod would support DSOAL EAX restoration, that would of course be the best option. I'm quite new at working with that method, but it seems perfectly easy, you just need OpenAL and EAX4Unified installed and then throw the three files I mentioned at the game exe-files you want EAX restored to.

And it works without need for a Creative card, which I don't own anymore for about ten years at least lol. I heard that somehow works to a degree with certain versions of Creative Alchemy, too, but I'm not even sure if that's completely legal or not. I'll just have to investigate more into that.

Or I'm probably just going to wait if DSOAL will update with DirectMusic support.

Thank you again for the information.

I can't legally distribute this with the Killer App Mod – which is why I'm waiting for the DSOAL update – but in the meantime if you do a search on the Internet Archive right now for Creative ALchemy, the first result will be a collection of many versions of ALchemy. (Though it's possible this collection could be taken down at any time. I've seen archived items on IA disappear sometimes.)

If you download that collection and use the 1.45.03 Universal version of ALchemy, you can restore EAX while still keeping DirectMusic in TRON 2.0. However, I'd like to note that I've personally experienced lock-ups and crashes sometimes when ALchemy is in use. YMMV.

For any game that has EAX, but does not use DirectMusic, then DSOAL appears to be a great solution and that should be preferable to use.

Hopefully, DirectMusic will be supported by DSOAL in the future, so hunting down quasi-legal versions of Creative ALchemy will no longer be necessary.

I was able to find the Creative Alchemy download mentioned, but I can't even get past the Killer App 1.1a install stage. It hangs forever at the end of the Installing Files stage.

Is it compatible with the GoG version?

It is compatible with the GOG version. But the installer can sometimes hang for two reasons: GOG Galaxy is running; or it's another application running in the background, that's conflicting with the installer.

GOG Galaxy needs to be quit before installing. If GOG Galaxy isn't the issue, then I wrote about a solution here: https://tronfaq.blogspot.com/2010/11/tron-20-killer-app-mod-help-and.html#safemode