X-fi Modes

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Humm, I don't even change modes. Game sounds best to me on everything(headphone user).

Wow, you must not have very musical cans then.

fyleow, I am definitely a Head-Fi'er. The X-Fi doesn;t have the power to properly drive the Sennheiser 600/650's. The D2 w/ discrete headamp will drive the 600/650's without breaking a sweat (or your wallet). A nice feature with the Zhaolu D2 is that you can swap out opamps & DAC modules to tweak the overall sound signature. I have the CS4398 DAC & (4) 2604 opamps (1 is on the discrete headamp). Eddie Wu in Hong Kong also did the Blackgate and other various cap/resistor upgrades to my unit. My K701's are a real treat to listen to. However since I am always looking to upgrade I have a Headfive that should arrive any day now. I'll disconnect the amp in the Zhaolu to see how it compares.

Eh, they're HD497's, so they're not bad at all. I just find that the other modes give this undesirable louder sound that makes everything sound "grander" than it should be.

 

[John]

Virge, could it be that your ears are now used to a non-flat EQ and special sound effects? It took me a day or two to develop a taste for bit-perfect playback. Even then you need speakers/headphones that are pretty neutral in order to do so.

 

[Polish3d]

Whoa! It really does make a difference. I never bothered to change the mode from game mode lol, music sounds 1000x better lol

 

[BFG10K]

Damn you guys, I think I notice a difference and now I have to change modes too.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Damn you guys, I think I notice a difference and now I have to change modes too.

Use the X-Fi mode changer app someone linked. It works wonders.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Noema
Use the X-Fi mode changer app someone linked. It works wonders.

:: points :: to the second post in this thread. :thumbsup:

 

[treskin]

Program works great, I was leaving it in Game mode all the time because of BF2 - the Entertainment mode definitely has better dynamics for music. With winamp and the MAD 24bit MP3 decoder things are sounding good.

 

[Navid]

Where is the application profile data stored just in case I do a re-install of XP? Will I be able to backup and load them back in or will I have to enter everything again?

 

[eastvillager]

The only reason games mode sounds different than entertainment mode or creation mode is because of the features you've got enabled(stuff like CMSS 3D and Crystalizer).

...so stop blaming it on the ears, headphones, or speakers of the people who don't hear a difference. They're the people who are listening to the original audio instead of 'modding' it with crap like CMSS or Crystalizer.

 

[Ghouler]

Originally posted by: eastvillager
The only reason games mode sounds different than entertainment mode or creation mode is because of the features you've got enabled(stuff like CMSS 3D and Crystalizer).


I do not think you are 100% right on this. There is a number of differences between the modes in regard to how audio is dealt with. In gaming mode X-Fi optimizes frame rate and 3D audio is processed in hardware but the output runs at 48kHz. In Audio Creation mode the output is bit perfect. If you are interested you can perhaps read this.

Suffice to say I am able to get EAX 5.0 only when I am in gaming mode
in the Prey demo (running latest beta driver). So using modes yields gives access to special functions.

btw. Prey *sounds* great. Give it a spin if you haven't yet.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: eastvillager
The only reason games mode sounds different than entertainment mode or creation mode is because of the features you've got enabled(stuff like CMSS 3D and Crystalizer).

...so stop blaming it on the ears, headphones, or speakers of the people who don't hear a difference. They're the people who are listening to the original audio instead of 'modding' it with crap like CMSS or Crystalizer.

Wrong.

My Game and Entertainment mode setups is the exact same. Equalizer at defaults, Crystalizer off, CMSS On, etc. Even with the same options, Game sounds like crap for music and Entertainment is crap for games. The modes are definately 'optimized' or different, so don't say it's useless before trying it out. Playing music in game mode makes a dry and hollow sound with an emphasis on highs I think. However, I have to say that the original recording is WAY better than with Crystalizer. I turned it on from the start, and though I thought it was great for a certain type of music, it butchered another. When I turned it off, wow, it was all 10x better.

 

[Ghouler]

I was wondering which mode do you use for listening to music?
First I used entertainment but now I added Foobar to the list of apps that start in audio creation mode.
Bit-perfect playback should sound better... but I can't hear any difference.
Anyway: which mode do you use for music?

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: Ghouler
I was wondering which mode do you use for listening to music?
First I used entertainment but now I added Foobar to the list of apps that start in audio creation mode.
Bit-perfect playback should sound better... but I can't hear any difference.
Anyway: which mode do you use for music?

Im gonna go for entertainment for 2000 alex. Ive screwed with the settings enough to come to that conclusion, with the old drivers, but im sure its the same still now.