Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium $49.99AR FS @Newegg

[xboxist]

question: I'm currently using Senn's HD595s with onboard audio. Will picking up this sound card blow my mind with how much better games/music will sound? For some reason I haven't deemed it necessary to get sound card on this box.

EDIT: I currently have "Realtek HD" onboard.

 

[borisvodofsky]

If this card has moddable opamps ,, then it's great, otherwise stay away.



ALSO, The muting transistors are damaged VERY easily by static. and then people report higher noise floors and popping etc.

Especially to you ear bud users. the computer is ground. when the static goes from you to the card, you break the transistor, they're not the big ones that can take hits, they're tiny surface mounts, and NOT ment for audio.

 

[borisvodofsky]

He did mention that you know
I also noticed some improvement in SQ when I modded my XtremeGamer (replaced op-amps, added bass cap).

Where do u add bass cap, the opamp power +/-5v?:hmm:

 

[hans030390]

In for one. Is it worth it over the onboard Realtek "HD" audio (either 5.1 or 7.1)?

 

[qliveur]

So is this an upgrade over traditional Realtek HD 7.1 onboard these days or no?

question: I'm currently using Senn's HD595s with onboard audio. Will picking up this sound card blow my mind with how much better games/music will sound? For some reason I haven't deemed it necessary to get sound card on this box.

EDIT: I currently have "Realtek HD" onboard.

In for one. Is it worth it over the onboard Realtek "HD" audio (either 5.1 or 7.1)?

The general consensus is that while Realtek onboard has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, the X-Fi still trumps it. Some will say that there is no noticeable difference but they're always in the minority.

If this card has moddable opamps ,, then it's great, otherwise stay away.

As far as I know, all of the X-Fi models are mod-able.

Where do u add bass cap, the opamp power +/-5v?:hmm:

Look here.

 

[ViRGE]

Look here.

And now I remember why I hate audiophiles. Those people are nuts.

 

[beergeek]

How good are the ADCs? I'm not too concerned about gaming, but I am interested in music, and especially in really good digitizing of the line in.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

And now I remember why I hate audiophiles. Those people are nuts.

I didn't do the shielding, but replacing the op-amps and cap was easy since I build RF PCBs day in and day out

 

[hans030390]

I didn't do the shielding, but replacing the op-amps and cap was easy since I build RF PCBs day in and day out

Do you know if it's possible to mod this particular card?

I'm a bit worried about the installation and drivers for this card. It sounds like getting this card to work perfectly is a pain in the ass (if not sometimes impossible), especially for Windows 7 64-bit.

 

[marmasatt]

I bit. Really can't beat the price for quality sound in gaming and/or music.

 

[RallyMaster]

Do you know if it's possible to mod this particular card?

I'm a bit worried about the installation and drivers for this card. It sounds like getting this card to work perfectly is a pain in the ass (if not sometimes impossible), especially for Windows 7 64-bit.

It will work fine. Just download drivers and the console launcher from Creative.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Do you know if it's possible to mod this particular card?

I'm a bit worried about the installation and drivers for this card. It sounds like getting this card to work perfectly is a pain in the ass (if not sometimes impossible), especially for Windows 7 64-bit.

I can't speak for the PCI-E card in specific, but I've installed both an XtremeMusic and XtremeGamer in Win7-64 without issues. I just used the latest driver package from Creative and Vista MIDI Picker to set the default MIDI device (this is one thing about Win7 that's absolutely retarded) and presto. Don't seem to have issues with OpenAL either.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

It's a placebo. Unless you were playing one of the few games that supported EAX 5. There's virtually no difference in sound quality in terms of unprocessed output. ie the dacs are pretty much the same. With nothing taking advantage of the xfi processor, there's not much point.

You could be right, but like I said it was a long time ago and I don't remember where a difference was heard.

Then again, I never had an Audigy 2 anything. I only had the original Audigy before I got the X-Fi I have now...

And as for DDL, Whoop de doo... you can now listen to software emulated sounds in 5.1 over optical.... The audigy could do preencrypted 5.1 over optical

Yes for movies. No for games; they don't have encrypted 5.1 (dolby, or dts). If you're using SPDIF you need DDL to get discrete 5.1 (when available).

 

[Lyfer]

Whats up with all the cheap capacitors on the that $99 creative sound card? I'm glad HT omega card isnt stuck in 1999 and using solid caps.

And yes it is hard to tell the difference between onboard/external sound card these days with headsets, you really do need some nice speakers for it to be worth imo.

 

[borisvodofsky]

The general consensus is that while Realtek onboard has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, the X-Fi still trumps it. Some will say that there is no noticeable difference but they're always in the minority.

As far as I know, all of the X-Fi models are mod-able.

Look here.

The xtremeGamer edition of the card is NOT moddable, UNLESS you want to solder the pins to tinywires and well, connect those underneath the opamp.. which would take forever to do.

Also,, those are not "bass caps" those just filter out AC for the opamp. swapping those out do almost nothing because the opamps don't give a shit.

Changing the main filter is just for the card to last longer "mayyybe" i did it cuz i had spare caps, but it also will not change the sound

Opamps is the only thing that matters.. and the emi shielding is retarded, it won't do anything for a card like this.:hmm:

 

[Lean L]

You could be right, but like I said it was a long time ago and I don't remember where a difference was heard.

Then again, I never had an Audigy 2 anything. I only had the original Audigy before I got the X-Fi I have now...



Yes for movies. No for games; they don't have encrypted 5.1 (dolby, or dts). If you're using SPDIF you need DDL to get discrete 5.1 (when available).

Right, thus preencrypted. As for onboard vs this card. If all you do is listen to music via spdif then no this card will be a waste. It's mostly for games... support for the advanced features are rare however

 

[opzero]

question: I'm currently using Senn's HD595s with onboard audio. Will picking up this sound card blow my mind with how much better games/music will sound? For some reason I haven't deemed it necessary to get sound card on this box.

EDIT: I currently have "Realtek HD" onboard.

Those are a nice set of cans.If you really want to hear what they sound like go with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-003-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product


with the 50 ohm impedance on the 595s you really should have a card with oamps without one you might as well have bought a much cheaper pair of headphones. The only downside is it will make mp3s sound like crap.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Right, thus preencrypted.

Preencrypted isn't a word. Just say encrypted. Or encoded.

 

[Lean L]

Preencrypted isn't a word. Just say encrypted. Or encoded.

Okay then. It doesn't have to be a word, the meaning is different. All spdif output has to be encoded (I'll admit, encrypt isn't the right word here) but the encoding can be post or pre.

 

[xboxist]

Those are a nice set of cans.If you really want to hear what they sound like go with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-003-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product


with the 50 ohm impedance on the 595s you really should have a card with oamps without one you might as well have bought a much cheaper pair of headphones. The only downside is it will make mp3s sound like crap.

These 595s were a very unexpected gift. And even though I realize I'm not driving these properly at ALL, they sound way better than the $50 pair I had before them.

I haven't dabbled much in understanding audio. But those two cards have me intrigued, especially the one with the headphone amp since my audio use on this computer is 100% through the headphones. It would be a mighty leap of faith for me considering my lack of understanding and the cost. I'll read up on it a little more. Thanks for the links.

 

[Craig234]

Preencrypted isn't a word. Just say encrypted. Or encoded.

Oh, it works as a word for me.

Say you're talking about using a device in which you put information, and it encrypts it.

But sometimes, you receive information that's already been encrypted, and the device just sends it along as-is since it's already encrypted.

You might refer to that information as pre-encrypted to distinguish it from the information that the device encrypts.

Or say you are out at a Ford or Toyota data lot shopping for data someone else has previously bought and encrypted, and can't afford new data.

They might have a section for you to buy that pre-encrypted data that's 'as good as new'.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Okay then. It doesn't have to be a word, the meaning is different. All spdif output has to be encoded (I'll admit, encrypt isn't the right word here) but the encoding can be post or pre.

When exactly is something "post-encoded"? Though I know what you meant; "The audigy could do pre-encoded 5.1 over SPDIF." In other words: It could send an encoded 5.1 signal over SPDIF.

And using DDL to get "software emulated" sounds in 5.1 isn't whoopty-do if you've got a reciever hooked up to speakers that are at least 10x better than any surround sound computer speaker system readily available.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Oh, it works as a word for me.

Say you're talking about using a device in which you put information, and it encrypts it.

But sometimes, you receive information that's already been encrypted, and the device just sends it along as-is since it's already encrypted.

You might refer to that information as pre-encrypted to distinguish it from the information that the device encrypts.

Or say you are out at a Ford or Toyota data lot shopping for data someone else has previously bought and encrypted, and can't afford new data.

They might have a section for you to buy that pre-encrypted data that's 'as good as new'.

Yes, thank you. I knew pre-encrypted could be used in some fashion, and those were good examples. I was mostly being a stickler; "pre-encrypted" vs. "preencrypted".

 

[Lean L]

Yes, thank you. I knew pre-encrypted could be used in some fashion, and those were good examples. I was mostly being a stickler; "pre-encrypted" vs. "preencrypted".

It's called post processing, ie anything that the scard processor has to process. My point was that it's software emulated anyways so it's not even good quality sound. At any rate, many receivers have 6 channel analog inputs. You weren't being a stickler, you just didn't read my post well enough then tried to dispute me using a point I already covered.

 

[Fox5]

It's a placebo. Unless you were playing one of the few games that supported EAX 5. There's virtually no difference in sound quality in terms of unprocessed output. ie the dacs are pretty much the same. With nothing taking advantage of the xfi processor, there's not much point. And as for DDL, Whoop de doo... you can now listen to software emulated sounds in 5.1 over optical.... The audigy could do preencrypted 5.1 over optical

DDL is a pretty big deal if you have your PC hooked up to a real sound system, otherwise you just won't get surround sound in games. (unless you have a receiver with 6 channel analog input, but that's limited to mostly higher end receivers)

I'd avoid a creative card just due to the driver issues they supposedly have, and a lack of need. Almost nothing uses EAX anymore, and high end motherboards have DACs as good as (and a few better than) creative's cards. Competing sound cards have better DACs.

Still, at $50 this sounds like a good deal for something better than the average integrated audio, and if you can take advantage of its EAX support in one of the few games that use it.