Creative Labs X-Fi sound card...Worth the upgrade?

hopeful

Howdy,

I am seeking opinions as to whether it is worth upgrading the onboard sound on my mainboard (Realtec AC'97) to a Creative X-Fi card.

I listen to all my music via my PC as well as gaming. Most of the reviews I have read seem to be of the opinion that its a good upgrade but I thought I would ask here before purchase.

Thanks in advance.

8T8

If you are unhappy with the Realtek AC97 then you will probably notice the difference alright with the X-Fi.

A few tips;
* Don't bother with the expensive versions just get the cheapest X-Fi Xtreme Music Edition.
* Use the web drivers with the minimalist control panel, the other one is just all bloat.
* The Music Edition doesn't have a digital out just so you know but it is possible to acquire an adaptor.

hopeful

Thanks for that 8T8.

So anyone got one for sale nice and cheap?

PogMoThoin

I'm very happy with my x-fi, had audigy 2zs in last rig & i noticed a nice difference in sound. Mp3 music is much clearer with x-fi.

hopeful

I'm convinced!

Now where did the wife hide my damn credit card

PogMoThoin

hopeful wrote:

Now where did the wife hide my damn credit card

:rolleyes: From experience, its probably in her handbag. Its amazing the amount of sh1te my missis can fit in a small 6" bag.

You won't be disappointed with the x-fi m8

Psycopat

ya got one yesterday and its loverly, special offer on overclockers.co.uk, go for the cheapest x-fi

hopeful

I'm going to blame all you guys when my missus finds out that I just ordered one.

I'll say you all ganged up on me and forced me to

TonyM.

The software can usefull at times you can rip the audio from a DVD .

BadCharlie

TonyM. wrote:

The software can usefull at times you can rip the audio from a DVD .

Nice Sig you got! It stands out a lot.

Ghost Train

i have the audigy 2 platinum, does anybody know if the breakout box (live drive) will work with the x-fi. Looks like it has the connection on the board? But has anyone tried it and know if it will actually works?

8T8

eolhc wrote:

i have the audigy 2 platinum, does anybody know if the breakout box (live drive) will work with the x-fi. Looks like it has the connection on the board? But has anyone tried it and know if it will actually works?

There is a thread here with some info, a few posts down someone mentions that only the A2 revision of the breakout boxes are 100% compatible with the X-Fi.

Ghost Train

8T8 wrote:

There is a thread here with some info, a few posts down someone mentions that only the A2 revision of the breakout boxes are 100% compatible with the X-Fi.

Thanks 8T8, seems I would be okay with the upgrade

hopeful

Just to update those who replied....got my X-Fi today.

Really does what it says on the tin....makes a very noticable difference to music listening and gaming. A solid purchase.
Thanks for the advice folks

Anti

hopeful wrote:

Howdy,

I am seeking opinions as to whether it is worth upgrading the onboard sound on my mainboard (Realtec AC'97) to a Creative X-Fi card.

I listen to all my music via my PC as well as gaming. Most of the reviews I have read seem to be of the opinion that its a good upgrade but I thought I would ask here before purchase.

Thanks in advance.

okay This card is the shiznit, But unless you have some decent 5.1 speakers its not worth hetting it at all. As you wont hear any difference. you will see a few fps increase in games, but thats it.

hope this helps.

If this has beed said above, its because i didnt bother to read the posts

**edit**

Bollocks you got one already

hopeful

I will beg to differ.

I 'only' have a 2.1 set (although good ones) and it makes a big difference to the sound in both music and gaming.
I will admit I was sceptical too

8T8

Same here I have a 4.1 system but only ever use head phones with it and the difference is marked over integrated sound, the only {integrated} thing that ever came close was NVIDIA's Soundstorm or VIA's Vinyl Audio.

PogMoThoin

Try out the cmss-3d test in game mode with headphones on & listen to the helicopter move around your head

TonyM.

The card is dirth cheap to buy and you can still use it if you upgrade your computer .I bought some b-grade 6.1 speakers from Komplett for €99.00
and the sound is fantastic.

danger_mouse_tm

Just a quick question on that x-fi card. I have one of them pusing sound into my creative 7.1 speakers. I'm a bit of an MP3 junkie - that's why i bought it in the first place. Recently i got a 32" lcd tv and decided to run the computer into that via DVI and watch DVDs on it. However the picture coming from the IBM p4 1.4ghz 700mb sdram geforce fx 5700 isn't as good as my ordinary dvd player (hooked into the tv via scart), so it's usually a choice of surround sound or good picture. I havn't figured out a way of sending the sound from the DVD player into the back of the computer sound card so currently i am using the headphone socket on the tv into the control box for the speaker system. I do, however see that the card has a digital i/o socket and my dvd player has a phono type digital output but when i connected the two using phono to 3/4" converter i didn't get any sound from the dvd player through to the computer. I was wondering do i now need the creative digital i/0 module to get sound from my dvd player processed to 7.1 sound by the x-fi card in the computer?

8T8

danger_mouse_tm wrote:

Just a quick question on that x-fi card. I have one of them pusing sound into my creative 7.1 speakers. I'm a bit of an MP3 junkie - that's why i bought it in the first place. Recently i got a 32" lcd tv and decided to run the computer into that via DVI and watch DVDs on it. However the picture coming from the IBM p4 1.4ghz 700mb sdram geforce fx 5700 isn't as good as my ordinary dvd player (hooked into the tv via scart), so it's usually a choice of surround sound or good picture.

I havn't figured out a way of sending the sound from the DVD player into the back of the computer sound card so currently i am using the headphone socket on the tv into the control box for the speaker system. I do, however see that the card has a digital i/o socket and my dvd player has a phono type digital output but when i connected the two using phono to 3/4" converter i didn't get any sound from the dvd player through to the computer. I was wondering do i now need the creative digital i/0 module to get sound from my dvd player processed to 7.1 sound by the x-fi card in the computer?

The digital connection is called SPDIF I think you have the coax version and you will need a proper cable to use it with your DVD player.

The more expensive X-Fi cards have a breakout box that has SPDIF in/output's but you can also acquire an adaptor from Creative that gives the same thing via one of the ports on the back of the card which is actually multifunctional. You will have to route it through the digital input & output connectors I would think, DVD player -> X-Fi input -> X-Fi output -> speakers.

As for the picture quality with your DVD plugging in the DVI connection will give you a very sharp picture it could be the DVD player has a softer picture quality and the PC merely highlights this showing the flaws in the source.

Alternatively your software DVD decoder sucks, the best DVD decoders available are from ATI (AVIVO) & NVIDIA (Purevideo) and beat any player hands down. They greatly improve the image quality of the DVD by using the GPU to perform post processing effects on the DVD.

To get the ATI decoder it comes free with any ATI X1K series graphics card (suggestion).

To get the NVIDIA decoder you need a GeForce 6 or 7 class graphics card and must also purchase the Purevideo decoder for a small price. Your GeForce 5 card is not compatible with it. (suggestion)

Both are roughly equal in terms of picture quality.

danger_mouse_tm

Thanks for the reply 8T8, I may just go with the adaptor from creative for the time being as i seriously need to get rid of that ibm pc (or just upgrade it, saving some of the bits, eg 250gb hard disk, dvd drive etc) to something with a bit more kick that will play flight sim X, play dvds in good quality and not kick up a racket like the ibm does when it gets under a bit of pressure! I will do a seperate post in a couple of weeks when i am ready to start spending and see if i can get some suggestions. I'm open to offers on the ibm if anybody is interested. There's a donkey 13" lcd to go with it and an unholy amount of software and mp3s! I can't seem to find a forum for CB radio. I have a president lincoln plus homebase powersupply and 150w linear amplifier that i want to shift. Might just try buy and sell online as posting all that stuff would cost a small fortune if i were to sell it on ebid.