hey all, any idea where I can get the creative xmod, or an alternative *good* external soundcard?

it does make a different dude. i even changed the cable inside the wooden box. good source of sound also need a good cable to reach the speaker to produce.

just my 2cent.

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Added on December 20, 2009, 4:24 pmyeah on the floor. its an amazing knowledge how to put it.. u need to adjust and readjust the place until u found it is suitable.

This post has been edited by daydreamz: Dec 20 2009, 04:24 PM

so what is the best driver for xfi elite pro now?

official driver improved already?

been using upax for few years..

just reformatted my xp..

Creative, well-known for its Sound Blaster sound cards, has unveiled the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD and Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD.

First looks indicate both are fully compatible with Windows Vista/ 7 and feature audio playback up to 24-bit/96kHz for speaker outputs. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD is a PCI-e card that features replaceable Op-amps, EAX® 5.0, Dolby Digital and DTS encoding whilst the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is an USB-bus powered soundcard that doesn’t require an external power supply. Availability has not been announced yet but it is believed that the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD and X-Fi HD will cost around 190€ and 90€ respectively.



Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Features:

* RCA Line Out for audio playback up to 122dB, 24-bit/96kHz Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC)
* RCA Line Input for recording up to 118dB, 24-bit 96kHZ Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC)
* 0.001% Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N)
* Headphone output for audio listening up to 115dB 33 Ohms, and 117dB, 330 Ohms, at 24bit/96kHz
* Replaceable Op-amps
* Hardware-accelerated 3D positional audio and EAX® 5.0 effects that provide a truly immersive experience with headphones and speakers
* Dolby Digital and DTS encoding enables one-step single-cable connection to home entertainment systems
* TOS-link optical-in/out
* 1/8” microphone-in
* 1/8” headphone jack
* Creative ALchemy™ to restore EAX and surround sound that is otherwise lost in DirectSound game titles running under Windows Vista and Windows 7
* ASIO recording support with latency as low as one millisecond with minimal CPU load
* Works with Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems



Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB Features:

* RCA Line Out for audio playback up to 114dB, 24-bit/96kHz Digital-to-Analog Converters (DAC)
* RCA/Phono Line Input for recording up to 108dB, 24-bit 96kHZ Analog-to-Digital Converters
* TOS-link optical-in/out
* Gold-plated 1/4” microphone-in
* Gold-plated 1/4” headphone jack
* USB-bus powered, no external power supply required
* Creative ALchemy to restore EAX and surround sound that is otherwise lost in DirectSound game titles running under Windows Vista and Windows 7
* Works with Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems

im very interested in the USB version. mainly because the x-fi surround 5.1 have too much compatibility issues. however the HD doesnt appear to support 5.1 speakers. Perhaps it's the successor of SB Digital Music SX?

Source

X-Fi Titanium HD looks good, probably a replacement for X-Fi Elite Pro. On those specs alone it looks like it using a better DAC than Elite Pro, probably Burr Brown ones. RCA in and out is a huge plus to me I just hope the price isn't ridiculous. I don't need breakout box, just the card would suffice

I just got a PCI-E X-Fi Titanium. Main difference with Realtek ALC889 onboard sound:
1. Less noise at max volume (actually virtually none with this sound card)
2. Louder volume

The sound characteristics changed only when X-Fi Crystalizer is turned on.

I remember seeing VoiceFX being a feature when the sound card is being advertised but I could not find it in my Creative Console Launcher. I want to try chipmunks! buahaha

what is the difference between the original and the new HD version? is it just a rebranding? just curious here..

Refer to my previous post. It uses the same DSP as Titanium but with different DAC and swapable opamp. Its just announced and I haven't found any specs yet apart from those posted

Finally they try to catch up with those audiophile level sound card, i think the bad comments on net got some sort of effect on their decision, not bad, i have to say. Hope they will dumb those crappy caps used in previous card.

This post has been edited by coolkwc: Jan 23 2010, 05:40 PM

=-= thx certified !@#$ again.
nvm... hope lyn bulker can get the oem version faster

Judging by those teaser pics, it looks like they use full solid caps now. At least they won't leak like crappy Jamicon they used to use, hopefully if they use the proper solid caps. To be honest I'm quite excited with this Titanium HD

wow, now everything is in PCI-e...

times have changed, even getting a new soundcard u need a PCIE slot

New motherboards have very limited amount of PCI slots. Better get PCI-E sound card.

hi, wanted to know if x-fi go (usb) is good for laptop, for movies instead of games
will it consume lots of resources? coz the laptop is kind of old....
thanks

i guess not lot of resources will be use as it came with its own processor?
just a wild guess and lack of reading of me.

IC, thanks a lot

I just bought an OEM X-FI Elite Pro Sound card and I have an HTPC set up of a pioneer amp (with inbuilt DTS/DD decoder), a LCD TV and a 5.1 speaker system.

I used a 3.5mm jack to RCA cable (red and white) to connect from the topper most hole (flexijack digital IO) of the SC to the Coaxial input of my amp using only the red cable (white cable produces no sound). I have set the speakers system in the Creative Console Launcher to 5.1 speakers and the digital IO to flexijack i.e top hole. In the Creative Console Control Panel, I have also set the bitstream to external decoder. I have also installed the DTS hack that comes along with the driver into my windows XP. I have also disabled my on-board sound system in my BIOS.

But I'm only able to get 2 channel stereo sound. I use the speaker test in the Console Launcher and I could only hear sound in my 2 front speakers only.

Question:
1. Why can't I get 5.1 channel/DTS/DD sound? Is it because of the 3.5mm to RCA cable that cannot support digital medium or something that I have done wrong?

2. The other alternative is to get 3 sets of 3.5mm RCA cable and plug in all three of them into the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes of the SC and the amp. The 2nd hole will activate the front 2 speakers, the 3rd hole will activate the back 2 speakers and the 4th hole will activate the front speakers and sub-woofer. This means that I have to activate analogue mode in my amp. I have not tried this alternative yet as I need to buy the three 3.5mm to RCA cables and therefore I don't know the 5.1 channel will work in this case.

Is the 2nd (analogue) alternative better than the 1st (digital) alternative above?

Please share how to connect your Elite Pro to your amp in your HTPC system. Admittedly, the sound from the Elite Pro (so far only hearing 2 channel stereo sound) is a much improvement over my on-board sound. However, in my previous on-board sound system I connect an optical cable to my amp and my amp has no problem in detecting and playing 5.1 channel/DTS/DD sound at all unlike the present Elite Pro.

This post has been edited by sharp56: Feb 26 2010, 04:42 PM

I'll try to help one by one.

1) Maybe you don't select 5.1 on your receiver? Select Entertainment mode too if you haven't done so.

2) Elite Pro have a great CS4398 DAC which may be better than your receiver.But best thing to do is judge which one is better by your ear.

I have Elite Pro before but I only use it purely for stereo use and for music and games, not for movies.

The 3.5mm SPDIF output from X-Fi card only support uncompressed 2channel PCM, if wan 5.1 channel DTS/DD, the things u could do is to use the media player that support SPDIF output, the player will just send those compress 5.1 sound out from the card and decoded by ur receiver, and ur card do nothing to determine the SQ of the surround, it all depends on ur receiver.

I prefer k-lite codec WMP with AC3 filter.

Thanks for the feedback, Najmods and Coolkwc. Perhaps Coolkwc is right - the X-Fi card only support 2 channel PCM. I have changed it for a Asus Xonar DX and now I am able to get 5.1 channel sound on my amp connected to the sound card with optical cable.

The sound of Xonar DX is comparable to X-Fi Elite Pro - equally good!