PC Audio Creative X-Fi club!, X-Fi owners and fanclub!
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 Apr 5 2009, 01:39 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy  
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Fellow X-Fi users, may I know if any of you are previous users of a Realtek ALC889A onboard audio? Is there any major improvements in terms of sound quality in music/movies?
I'm currently tempted to get one of those OEM Titaniums from Garage Sales, but this review is giving me doubts: http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-373-2.htm The last time I made a switch from an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro to this ALC889A, I immediately find the sound muffled and... Well... Terrible  I would have stick with the A2 if not for the lousy Creative driver/software support in Vista.Thanks! |
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Sep 1 2009, 10:00 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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DTS Connect is actually an encoder, not decoder. Titanium comes with Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect, meaning you can get 5.1 channel audio via digital out connection with them instead of simple 2 channel audio
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Sep 6 2009, 10:04 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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QUOTE(sniper69 @ Sep 2 2009, 01:54 AM) i got this error when trying to install the DTS Connect Are you on Windows XP (But judging from the screenies, I suppose you're on Vista)? If I am not mistaken, DTS Connect is only available in Vista  is this mean that my sound card Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro doesn't have DTS capabilities? MISC pictar...  only shown DDL... Official Site - http://www.soundblaster.com/products/produ...91&listby=usage   I have no problem installing the DDL and DTSC pack from Creative though.
Added on September 6, 2009, 10:08 pm@AoD Some companies prefer to use their own sound engine because they want to eliminate the dependence on a certain hardware. Crysis for example, uses its own software based sound engine so users, regardless whether they own a dedicated sound card or just plain onboard audio, can still have the same gaming experience... IMO la  This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Sep 6 2009, 10:08 PM |
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Sep 14 2009, 09:32 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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QUOTE(sniper69 @ Sep 12 2009, 03:42 PM)  eh how come... i got that error when trying to install the DTS connect, but then... when i play on certain movie with DTS, the Z5500 stated DTS 3/2 48/16 bla³... owh ya, by the way... i'm on Windows 7 7600.16384, i did try on XP and Vista, still the same error... If you want, maybe I can send you my copy of the DTSC installer.Added on September 14, 2009, 9:35 pm QUOTE(Najmods @ Sep 14 2009, 12:10 AM) Its OK Since you seem to have lotsa opamps, mind if I ask if you know where to purchase a LM4562 locally? NI offers free samples, but not sure whether they'll send all the way to Malaysia or not Finally, my very own analog line out from DAC  I'm very happy with it, this is the 2nd prototype. The 1st one have imbalanced volume because sketchy layout and improper grounding. After senior lecture about circuit 101 and 2 days of hard work thinking of proper layout, this is the result. Its not without pain, first the left channel is silent, because of one trace is disconnected. Only tested with NE5534, but I have LT1363 and LT1677 to test Powered by unused PC PSU but modded with better caps[attachmentid=1196380]  This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Sep 14 2009, 09:35 PM |
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Sep 16 2009, 10:04 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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QUOTE(Najmods @ Sep 14 2009, 10:13 PM) Nah, I don't have much opamp, yes National do send free sample to Malaysia, but you need to pay the shipping fee, unless you have .edu email address I think I do have a ".edu" address provided by my uni, but gotta ask my friends how to access it first, never log in before  Any opamps you would recommend? Hehe... What about the big fat power filter cap? Looks kinda expensive though. |
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Sep 22 2009, 01:55 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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QUOTE(Najmods @ Sep 16 2009, 10:24 PM) You could try LM4562, LME49720 or LME49723. All of them are nearli identical, on paper at least, the 49723 have slightly worse spec. What I liked the most is LME49720, 2nd is 49723 and lastly 4562 (this is vary) Thanks for the input! It's a good thing I studied Analog Devices in my previous semester But for SB046X (XtremeMusic, Fatal1ty, XtremeGamer Fatal1ty) only supplies 5V to the opamp, its not enough to unleash its full power. Recomended voltage is 15V from one guy statement, I tested 5V and 12V and the latter indeed have better and smoother sound (you can ignore if you dont understand this, it'll work anyway )About power caps, you can use any general purpose caps, like Rubycon YXA. Just don't use ultra low ESR caps like Sanyo OS-CON, the regulator will make a buzzing noise because of it This is my final back layout of analog out, its hard to route negative supply, positive supply and ground on small area like that I have some problems before get the final layout (note, green = ground, white = positive, bue = negative) I need to shield them though, there is some noise at full volume, but music is very quiet enough[attachmentid=1201871]  I guess it's possible to draw an external 12V supply from the PSU, but the wiring will be kinda The insides of my PC is messy enough already, and I don't really wanna ruin the looks of my Titanium for the time being. Besides, 5V should more than suffice as I doubt the amplified signal will exceed this limit.As for your mod, why not use a veroboard instead? Less jumpers flying here and there, more tidy ma Actually, there are quite a few opamps I wanna try, but soldering them on and off every time will be quite a hassle. I'm trying to get a "DIP to SOIC adapter" off eBay, but everything there is a "SOIC to DIP adapter" This is what I want:http://www.epboard.com/eproducts/protoadap...%20IC%20Adapter QUOTE(hafiez @ Sep 17 2009, 10:20 PM) well..i have the instruction here.. but i dunno where to get the materials.. I think I used to have one of those white connector thingy, Dell desktops shipped around year 2004 with a Creative card should have it  [attachmentid=1203783] This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Sep 22 2009, 01:59 PM |
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Oct 1 2009, 07:58 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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QUOTE(Najmods @ Sep 25 2009, 11:49 PM) Its up to you, I just giving suggestion Ooops... Sorry, I didn't know they are all called veroboards, I guess what I meant was stripboard. Whatever lah as long as you get what I mean Well, that IS veroboard, I know what you mean actually, the board that have all the row already soldered (connected). But I'm not used to that and I wanted to have my own layout. I'll tidy it soon, just too lazy Yes I agree buying adapter is better in long run especially if you love rolling opamp. If you use the adapter you can just tap from the PSU directly to the opamp if you want 12V supply. Use small capacitor like 0.01uF to bypass it to ground for some noise reduction I'll just stick with the supplied 5V, lazy to manage those fragile wires here and there.QUOTE(C-Note @ Sep 29 2009, 08:44 PM) Thanks for the reply. Thats really informative. Really appreciated it. XONAR has superior opamps compared to the X-Fi (All models except the Elites), so they will naturally sound better, but then again... They cost more than those OEM X-Fi anyway, so it's kinda like you get what you paid for, unless you plan to mod the X-Fi later on. Driver and software of the XONAR is lighter, meaning smaller installation size and memory demand. As for the Fatality, not many games support X-RAM and the performance gain is negligible in most modern systems. Am just curious here, what about the Fatality series and other brands like Asus XONAR? Extra features? Anyway I guess I'll go for either Xtreme Audio or Titanium as my budget allows. Whaddaya think? QUOTE(radi3tz @ Sep 30 2009, 09:55 PM) hmm, which one uses the old chip? The PCI Express X-Fi Xtreme Audio is just the old Xtreme Audio with an added PCI-PCI Express bridge chip, all X-Fi effects are emulated by the main processor aka CPU.x-fi xtreme audio, or x-fi xtreme audio pci express? or both?? I'm using the x-treme audio pci express version earlier(forget to mention it) they uses different chip friend. . Added on October 1, 2009, 8:06 pm QUOTE(C-Note @ Sep 30 2009, 11:34 PM) how about the X-Fi Surround 5.1? if it uses the new chip , then i reckon its pretty cheap and good. I do not think it's the new chip as its EAX support is only up to 4.0. Cards with "real" X-Fi APU supports up to version 5.0...This post has been edited by Dreamworks: Oct 1 2009, 08:06 PM |
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May 5 2010, 09:07 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
2,141 posts Joined: Apr 2005 From: Polaris Galaxy
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I was using the Titanium with a HDA front panel connector, no such issues when connecting/disconnecting my earphones/headphones
Added on May 5, 2010, 9:11 am QUOTE(kInOzAwA @ May 1 2010, 03:37 AM) I wonder, if it using the same components for normal X-Fi, for what purposed to upgrade to: Your Elite Pro has "slightly" better op-amps and DACs but caps/other components are all the same, still can't compare with an ASUS Xonar when it comes to sound quality though. You can carry out the mods you listed to get better sound, although changing the op-amps from a typical JRC on the X-Fi to AD8066 from Analog Devices will contribute greatly to improving sound quality.analog devices ad8066 opamp panasonic fm 33uf 35v capacitors for opamp decoupling panasonic fm 560uf 6.3v capacitors for 3x cs4398 dacs' vfiltering, dsp's vfiltering +5v supply's filtering panasonic fm 150uf 6.3v capacitor for -5v supply's filtering As what i read my elite pro sc have different opamp and caps components from the stated above... can you explain more...  This post has been edited by Dreamworks: May 5 2010, 09:12 AM |
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