Soundblaster Audigy and X-Fi cards on clearance at OD B&M YMMV

[texasfury]

radio edit

 

[nutxo]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder
Just picked up the XtremeMusic for $50. The Audigy 4 is $40 also at my local OD. Thanks!

69 for etrememusic and 45 for audigy 4. I thought it was interesting they had xtremeaudio for 19 though.

Any chance you could post a scan of you reciept for the xtrememusic.? They said they would adjust for me.

 

[Tyrant222]

99 here for the xtrememusic. I wanted one too. so goes clearance i guess.

 

[bigsnyder]

Well my local store also had it marked for $99, but I checked with the associate and he told me that all the clearance stuff was 50% off the sticker price. The price had to be adjusted at the register, but not questions asked.

C Snyder

 

[filibusterman]

no go at the Iowa City location

 

[nutxo]

I picked one up for 66.01. It was supposed to be for a fiend but he has no moolah. If anyone wants to reimburse me and pay shipping I'll let it go, send me a PM.

 

[BadThad]

On the topic of Creative's drivers, I've had relatively few issues with the BARE driver....but....their complete package (CD driver disk) IS THE SUCK. Clogging your system with reminders to register and all the other OS hooks they install just plain SUCKS. Doing things like wiping out the Windows audio controls TOTALLY, to where you'd have to re-extract them from the Windows cab files to regain functionality is BS! One word for them: BLOATWARE bordering on MALWARE.

But I do love my X-Fi with the bare drivers, works great and sounds great.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: Showtime

If you are looking to save money, Audigy 2 cards are more than enough for most gamers.

Yeh, that is what I am thinking. That the XiFi ExtremeMusic is not worth the money when I currently use an Audigy 2 ZS with Sennheiser HD212 pros

Actually as a cans user you stand to gain the most, especially if you game. The HRTF implementation for headphones on the X-Fi is vastly improved compared to the Audigy; it's certainly the best implementation on any card since the Aureal Vortex 2.

However yes, the Vista drivers are in fairly poor shape. As it is now they actually work fine for me other than slightly higher CPU usage, but I know some people are experiencing greater problems(such as their drivers not playing nicely with 4GB+ systems). However I'm not aware of anyone with Vista audio drivers that do work 100% correctly outer than RealTek/SoundMax, since they basically have been downgraded to DACs for Vista.

 

[thujone]

Originally posted by: filibusterman
no go at the Iowa City location

meh... i live a couple blocks away from there. thanks for saving me 10 mins of my life lol

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
it's certainly the best implementation on any card since the Aureal Vortex 2.

I would hope, what is Creative doing with all of those Aureal patents? I still have not heard a game that has as good of effects as some of the A3D based games. Plus, there are not the best headphones in the world...... I cant recall what I payed for them, but I wager it was about $40.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: ViRGE
it's certainly the best implementation on any card since the Aureal Vortex 2.

I would hope, what is Creative doing with all of those Aureal patents? I still have not heard a game that has as good of effects as some of the A3D based games. Plus, there are not the best headphones in the world...... I cant recall what I payed for them, but I wager it was about $40.

And I only use HD497's with mine, they're not significantly better than yours(though I would argue anything past them is approaching superficial changes in quality). However they are more than good enough that you'd be able to appreciate a real 3D sound field, as opposed to the garbage the Audigy pushed out.

As for what Creative has been doing with the Aureal patents, it's mostly been sitting on them. Wavetracing was expensive, no one wants to do it in hardware or software.

 

[Lipservice]

I am running a dual boot XP Pro/Vista Ultimate 32bit. My old Santa Cruz sounds fine in XP but only 2 ch sound in Vista. And Turtle Beach will not be releasing any new drivers for Vista

Kinda thinking about the X-Fi Extreme Music. Even if OD does not have it on clearance there are new ones on FleaBay for about $62 shipped. But now am thinking real hard about the AuzenTech XMYSTIQUE7.1 which is about the same price at NewEgg. And Googling around it looks like their Vista drivers work. I use the PC mostly for music and DVDs... very little gaming.


Any opinions?

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Lipservice
I am running a dual boot XP Pro/Vista Ultimate 32bit. My old Santa Cruz sounds fine in XP but only 2 ch sound in Vista. And Turtle Beach will not be releasing any new drivers for Vista

Kinda thinking about the X-Fi Extreme Music. Even if OD does not have it on clearance there are new ones on FleaBay for about $62 shipped. But now am thinking real hard about the AuzenTech XMYSTIQUE7.1 which is about the same price at NewEgg. And Googling around it looks like their Vista drivers work. I use the PC mostly for music and DVDs... very little gaming.


Any opinions?

Find something VIA, SoundMax, or Realtek based. The cheaper it is, the more likely it is to work correctly.

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Lipservice
I am running a dual boot XP Pro/Vista Ultimate 32bit. My old Santa Cruz sounds fine in XP but only 2 ch sound in Vista. And Turtle Beach will not be releasing any new drivers for Vista

Kinda thinking about the X-Fi Extreme Music. Even if OD does not have it on clearance there are new ones on FleaBay for about $62 shipped. But now am thinking real hard about the AuzenTech XMYSTIQUE7.1 which is about the same price at NewEgg. And Googling around it looks like their Vista drivers work. I use the PC mostly for music and DVDs... very little gaming.


Any opinions?

Find something VIA, SoundMax, or Realtek based. The cheaper it is, the more likely it is to work correctly.

I've been using Creative Sound cards as long as I've been building systems. With the known problems in Vista I thought I would give onboard sound a try. I have to say I've been severely disappointed with the Realtek sound on my DS3. I'm going to be picking up a X-Fi card shortly. Still undecided on which one though.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: Lipservice
I am running a dual boot XP Pro/Vista Ultimate 32bit. My old Santa Cruz sounds fine in XP but only 2 ch sound in Vista. And Turtle Beach will not be releasing any new drivers for Vista

Kinda thinking about the X-Fi Extreme Music. Even if OD does not have it on clearance there are new ones on FleaBay for about $62 shipped. But now am thinking real hard about the AuzenTech XMYSTIQUE7.1 which is about the same price at NewEgg. And Googling around it looks like their Vista drivers work. I use the PC mostly for music and DVDs... very little gaming.


Any opinions?

Find something VIA, SoundMax, or Realtek based. The cheaper it is, the more likely it is to work correctly.

I've been using Creative Sound cards as long as I've been building systems. With the known problems in Vista I thought I would give onboard sound a try. I have to say I've been severely disappointed with the Realtek sound on my DS3. I'm going to be picking up a X-Fi card shortly. Still undecided on which one though.

How were you disappointed? The DACs will be utter trash, but it should be stable and not corrupting/popping/crackling, and all 2 advertised features will work.

 

[bigpow]

/rant/

i just don't like how they build the cards without digital out connectors nowadays - $15++ for the digital i/o crap that's dangling outside, great idea creative!
and to think that i used to be a soundblaster fan...

 

[hansmuff]

If I am not mistaken, Vista is actually responsible for the disappearance of digital-out functionality. The sound stack is completely rewritten, and it includes "content protection." And a big part of Vista content "protection" is to cripple features that give you perfect or near-perfect extracts of content.
Digital out sound falls into that category.

Is there ANY sound solution that supports digital out on Vista? If not, it's probably not fair to lay the blame at Creative's feet, at least not for this defect.

I do recommend to google "Windows Vista DRM" and read up. It's very scary, and it's very disappointing.

 

[deadken]

So, if I am considering replacing the onboard audio of my sons NF3 motherboard, which should I get: the Audigy4 or XiFi ExtremeMusic? Assuming the store has both...

 

[BlackG0d]

Me nearest store had the XtremeMusic marked down to 89.99 from 99.99
Hoping to snag one at ~$60 I felt like :disgust::frown::wine::wine::|

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: BlackG0d
Me nearest store had the XtremeMusic marked down to 89.99 from 99.99
Hoping to snag one at ~$60 I felt like :disgust::frown::wine::wine::|

I ended up getting the X-Fi ExtremeMusic for $65 with a free extended warranty to boot. They had the Audigy4 cards for $45 (2 were left and they were marked down from $80) and there was just this one X-Fi ExtremeMusic card on the table. It was listed for $100 originally and the lowest price on the box was $85. But I figured there was room to 'wiggle' since as soon as the manager heard I was interested he jumped up to help me (I had stopped by the customer service desk first). He offered me a free extended warranty and when I said that I had hoped that it would have a similar discount as the other cards, he said he would see what he could do. He came back and offered it to me for $70 and I said ok, then he looked at me and said 'take it for $65'!

You have to check with the manager that is on duty and see if you can 'haggle'. Most times with clearance items they want this stuff 'gone'. It might help to say something like: "I know that other Office Depots have the same card for cheaper, but I guess that clearance prices vary from store to store". Most times it is at the managers discression to set clearance item prices (which is why the guy at my store was adding free extended warranties). I actually said something to the effect of "I'd take it if the discount was similar to the other cards". Perhaps go as far as to say "A guy I know got his for $65 at his local Office Depot", see what he can do for you. You never know until you ask and I certainly would not have left the store without at least asking.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: deadken
So, if I am considering replacing the onboard audio of my sons NF3 motherboard, which should I get: the Audigy4 or XiFi ExtremeMusic? Assuming the store has both...

XiFi by a long shot.

 

[Kobb]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: deadken
So, if I am considering replacing the onboard audio of my sons NF3 motherboard, which should I get: the Audigy4 or XiFi ExtremeMusic? Assuming the store has both...

XiFi by a long shot.

How does the the X-Fi ExtremeMusic compare to the X-Fi ExtremeGamer for $50 AR + Shipping @ newegg????

.... edit ....
Here is a comparison table for all x-fi

I was just checking my OD and found the price too good to pass up, $50! I thought is was a great deal @ $50 without haggling... but I kept hearing Deadken (PS. Not dishing deadken. He is a great Trader!!!) telling me I should have asked for a better deal. In hindsight, I'm sure the manager would have gone lower but I was soo excited to hear $50. Thanks Schadenfroh!

 

[bigsnyder]

I have not been able to confirm this, but supposedly the Xtrememusic supports hardware DTS/DD decoding, as the Gamer version must decode via software.
The Gamer doesn't have the various connectors for the drive bay and related expansion accessories (however the Gamer is the only creative card that sports
the Intel Audio connector standard on many cases). Other than that they are similiar cards.

C Snyder

 

[Schadenfroh]

Price went up $5 at my office depot on the extremegamer

Still have a $15 off of $50 around here, will buy it if it drops to $50 and I can apply the coupon to get it for $35.

 

[Silly Burrito]

There were two left for $50 at the College Drive OD in Baton Rouge. I picked one up, and left the other for any local ATer. The OD on Seigen has it for $79, though.

Sorry, I mean XtremeMusic. There were multiple Audigy4 units at most of the local Office Depots here.