PC Peripherals Creative X-Fi Reviews

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zhopudey

zhopudey

Galvanizer
Should you buy an X-Fi? If you have a current Audigy 2 solution and you are only a casual music listener or gamer, the answer is likely no. That user would likely opt for the $129 basic version, which is too much for the gain they would see. If you're a serious audio buff, though, you should give some thought to it, particularly if you're building a new system. The 127-voice capability is pretty amazing, and you'll have great fun fooling around with all the audio effects. Think about moving up to the Platinum, though, as the 1/4-inch jacks allow more robust connection to high end headphones and also brings that spiffy remote to the table. Gamers building new systems should at least think about either the Elite Pro or the Fatal1ty FPS. The overall price, though, leaves us with a bad taste in our mouths. The lower cost unit still weighs in at $279, which is a lot of spare change for simply adding 64MB of RAM and a fancy logo. As more games support X-RAM, however, this could become a more compelling solution. High fidelity enthusiasts and people who want to do a little content creation should give the Elite Pro some thought. The high end DACs, guitar input, and music creation apps make the Elite Pro seem like a fairly decent deal. In some ways, the Elite Pro is more powerful than the entry level E-MU pro solutions, though perhaps not as well tuned to the needs of professional gamers. What's really lacking is an entry level gamer's card. We'd love to see a $149 retail card without the front panel bay (and minus the logo), but with the 64MB of onboard X-RAM. If Creative is serious about promoting OpenAL as a solution for the gaming industry, they need to make the X-Fi's much more pervasive. While developers may like the idea, they'll want to see ROI based on a substantial installed base. Only a scant few gamers will actually run out and get a Fatal1ty FPS unit at $279. We suspect the price will come down over time. Creative does need to amortize their investment, and it's clearly been a substantial one. When you strip out the concerns about pricing, the X-Fi is a stunning achievement in PC audio. Whether it will turn around declining market share of add-in audio solutions, however, is unlikely until that pesky pricing issue is addressed.
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Extremetech
 
mlmorrison said:
BF2 on X-Fi sound card! First impressions.

Well,, Im happy to be the first to report on the X-Fi Sound Card - I went with the least expensive model (extreme model) which is the same as the others without the I/O panel..

To preface, I’m an extremely picky person regarding technology. I had just uninstalled my old audigy 2 board 10 minutes earlier and had tried out BF2 listening and remembering.

The installation went without a hitch whatsoever.. The installer placed in 20 (that’s right, twenty) various programs and utilities.. (can you say overwhelming?) So this is just a snap judgment first 20 minute impressions.. I haven't even begun to go through the various tweaks, and utilities and am sticking with the basics of setting up my speakers..

I have a 6.1 speaker system -3 front 3 rear, and a subwoofer= 7 discrete channels and set it through the speaker config utility.. There are 3 main ports that are reconfigured through software to accommodate anywhere from headphones to a 7.1 (8speakers) system.

The first item that comes was the splash screen showing off the power of the x-fi.. (kinda like the thx sound bit you hear at theaters).. Let me say it instantly gave me goose bumps.. the audio is just that good and better sounding. (and this is coming from a previous setup of audigy 2)

BF2--
Ok, here is where I held my breath with a ear of skepticism and set up BF2 for ultra high/x-fi and loaded up oman single player. My senses are INSTANTLY overwhelmed with an indescribable virtual holographic audible representation of the battle field. I had just done a trial run with my previous audigy and same speakers set on high 10 minutes earlier so was tuned to pick up any difference. The difference gave me goosebumps. I can best describe it as having just had wads of cotton removed from me ears and could now hear in 3d and expanded dynamic range. It far exceeded my expectations (and I had high expectation). The sounds are MUCH crisper defined with a distinct presence in a 3d space that absolutely envelopes you on a level I had never heard before.. Not even comparable to the sounds I had heard 10 minutes earlier. Also noticeable all SIX of my speakers were picking up various noises flawlessly and projecting them as true discrete channels. In the past even with 6 channels iv always had noticeable somewhat abrupt changes when rotating and panning a sound.. now the sounds come at you as a continuous stream directionally seemingly as if you had 1000's of speakers surrounding you. The difference this makes in special terms was astounding.

Ok, now on to the headphone test.. I normally rarely use headphones but know enough in what an audigy can put out.. I had heard the rumors the X-Fi's processor can somehow digital process signals to create a holographic projection using just two speakers so wanted to test it out.. I did these tests by constantly closing and opening my eyes.. having my eyes closed and try to go off just pure audible senses. The rumors and hype is true! The X-fi really does re-create a virtual audible soundscape within two speakers as in a headset. To describe it is like the first time seeing a 3d movie.. I would slowly pan a gun battle, tank or sound with my eyes closed and could literally hear the sound external to me moving around al the way to the rear.. It seemed I was hearing the impossible.. you actually hear sounds coming form areas there are no speakers.. simply put. you gota hear it to believe it.. Again the sounds through the headphones had all the crispness of the 6.1 speakers..

In summary,, the difference with BF2 and the X-fi is absolute day and night. You won't need to be an expert audiophile to realize this.

[MSC] Sniper-X
mscwar.com
ranked BF2
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PlanetBattlefield Forums
 
@Chaos ---- I didn't understand a word of what they were saying in that digital life review.

And when I scrolled down to see the conclusion, they say "to be continued" WTF!!!

I want a damn conclusion. Is it better than Audigy 2 ZS?? and by how much?? I want them to write a review for us mere mortals and not for gurus like you and amol
 
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That is an awesome review!

That was the situation in practice. Some records sounded more coherent on inexpensive active speakers, though with more aggression. In case of high quality acoustics (studio monitors and Hi-Fi speakers of the mid class), I had no problems picking several MP3 files as well as original CDs, which quality was degraded by Crystalizer. I heard overloads, or the sound got too aggressive, so that I was getting tired of listening very fast.

Our measurements showed that besides the multiband compression, the signal level is raised approximately by 3 dB. So that any quiet records would seem subjectively better even without the compressor.

Thus, 24-bit Crystalizer will come in handy to owners of inexpensive acoustics or low end headphones, which automatically means insufficient LF and HF, as well as problems with medium frequency detailing. The good news for owners of high quality acoustics is that this technology can be easily disabled.
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The card is equipped with Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC, advanced multi-bit Delta-Sigma architecture, 120 dB DR and -107 dB THD+N. The same DAC is used in E-MU 1212M/1820M, Creative Audigy4 cards.

Its ADC is the well known top AKM converter, advanced multi-bit architecture, 123 dB DR, THD+N -110 dB.
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This sounds promising :hap5:
 
^^Only the Elite Pro has 4 4398 DACs. The cheaper models have the 7.1 4382 DAC which is not as good.

@Nikhil... its way better especially since it doesnt need to resample and can natively do 44.1kHz. Even when it does resample, its performance is better than the best software resamplers. So the audio quality of this card will rock compared to the older audigy cards.
 
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Chaos
how much it cost? = ok $129. cheapest one?

is the low cost card better than audigy2 zs? is it worth upgrading to this from audigy2zs?
 
Chaos said:
^^Only the Elite Pro has 4 4398 DACs. The cheaper models have the 7.1 4382 DAC which is not as good..
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but i thought the review said that the xtreme music is the same as the elite pro minus the break out box ?

back to reread
 
Sandeep said:
Chaos
how much it cost? = ok $129. cheapest one?

is this better than audigy2 zs? is it worth upgrading to this from audigy2zs?
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is this better than audigy2 zs? is it worth upgrading to the xfi base model from audigy2zs? please provide me with this answer
 
Blade_Runner said:
^^ Lol Hilbert did the review......
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Naa... I mean he's a big fan of the site... thats why ;). The review was like yay this card improves game frame rates by 2 fps... so buy it :P. Frame rate improvement is definitely not the first reason anyone would buy a dedicated sound card for. Hell it doesnt even have RMAA graphs for the card. Doesnt even state what kind of hardware was used for output.
 
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