Playing around with custom Creative drivers, I was wondering what kinds of tweaks there are for Skyrim to really get the most out of its sound engine. In Oblivion, there was an ini tweak called bDSoundHWAcceleration = 1 or something like that. Some fellow made a phenomenal EAX mod for Oblivion as well. In Fallout, I could tweak the ini and enable Alchemy but odd pops and crackling would occur.

My question is, are there similar modifications or tweaks for Skyrim that enable enhanced sound? There aren't even ingame options for surround, much less 3D audio from what I can tell. I'd really love to truly immerse myself in Skyrim with decent environmental audio processing.

EDIT: I inserted the INI tweak and enabled Skyrim in Alchemy, but odd cracking is happening once again. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be any 3D audio improvement. Any suggestions?

The sound in Skyrim is pretty damn good for not having EAX. Skyrim still adds reverberation and other effects for the locations that you are in such as caves and it sounds great.

I'm fairly sure Skyrim, like all games released in the last few years, uses direct 3D sound so it should be in 5.1 by default. EAX is outdated and rarely, if ever, seen in games now.

I don't know much about sound tweaking, but honestly it shouldn't really be necessary beyond maybe adding Crystallizer or DTS Neo PC, perhaps.

I'm guessing you're on windows like most people are. As you've noticed, Skyrim has basically zero audio options. I've always set my games to 5.1 via their own settings. Beth really dropped the ball on this one and assumed everyone knows everything about their own computer. Skyrim pulls the info for what kind of sound you want from your OS settings. So go to your windows sound and make sure it's set on 5.1. I never knew windows had its own setting for that before I started playing Skyrim. Maybe 40 hours in I was sick and tired of it just using my front left and right and did a search. I found the solution and as soon as I told windows my default setup was 5.1 my sound experience in Skyrim shot up about 100 fold.

If you've already done that, then you're too much of an audiophile for me and I can't help you..

I think you meant "OpenAL" instead of Direct3D sound. EAX is outdated, yes, but its newer equivalent functions are almost never used. Upon further investigation, the directional sound capabilities of Skyrim are fine, but HTRF is nonexistent and I don't hear a lot of accurate reverberation in Skyrim compared to older EAX-equipped games. Hell, I can stand in another room through a closed door and hear two characters talking flawlessly. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

@DaMuncha: Reverberation and some rudimentary sound effects are certainly present, but most aren't very specific when it comes to locationalization.

Are you using headphones? If so, change your default sound to 7.1 instead of 5.1 for an even more accurate and seamless audio experience. Generally, though, those surround simulation options are only available through dedicated sound processing. If you're using RealTek, I'd suggest getting the RealTek X-Fi emulator.

No, I'm actually using a 5.1 setup. Headphones are not for me.

I use Logitech G35 7.1 Surround Headphones, everything sound just fine to me, although I had to turn the Effects down, because the Wind was drowning out absolutely everything.
The audio team in this game real really really likes wind, it's everywhere, even in dungeons and caves where there's usually no wind.

+1. I have half a mind to make a mod cutting all the interior wind volume in half. Actually, since it's pretty easy, I might do that soon.

Or remove the wind in interiors completely, I'm in a Dungeon not a wind-tunnel.

Funny how sometimes I can be outdoors on a calm day, and walk into a tomb that has a windstorm going on inside it.

I'm not entirely sure about the physics of wind in caves. I figure that since caves are generally enclosed and otherwise quiet, you'd hear wind amplified a bit like through a tube. My question is, how far does wind reach into caves? And how big does a cave opening have to be for wind to audibly enter?

My intuition tells me that most Skyrim caves have very small openings with many obstructed by doors, so wind shouldn't be present at all. At most, it would make sense to change certain cave holes/doors to play the weather sounds of their externally linked cells so that wind dies down as you walk a few yards away.

Well, there definitely shouldn't be any wind inside anything with a door.
As far as the wind in the caves, it could only reach so far, and the amount they audio has, would blow out all the candles in a cave.

And there's something to take into consideration, they did an experiment back in the 70's IIRC, to find out how they had Light deep inside one of the Egyptian Pyramids, because
bringing in lit torches etc would cause them to burn out because the oxygen got too thin, plus the fact that burning torches would've used up the available oxygen that far in and suffocated all of the workers,
so those candles, way deep in those Barrows and Dungeons and Caves, probably shouldn't even be able to burn in the first place.

I believe wind can reach very deep into caves. However, as you said, in Skyrim a lot of caves are blocked by doors, or are almost small splits in the rock that twist and turn for you to be able to enter. But a lot of caves have holes in the cave ceiling, so that could be another entrance point.

Wind is just changes of pressure so it could go as far as the cave, through doors, cracks and even the opposite way of what you expect it would.