Raikou Tch Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 Sounds great. I'd love to get one, but it's a bit too expensive right now, maybe if it drops $30 or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted September 3, 2005 Global Moderator Share Posted September 3, 2005 ZipZoomFly has it on back-order for $119.99 with free 2nd day shipping... im just waiting until they get their shipment in ... thats the cheapest i can find right now. im not paying $130 + tax in the store, id rather wait for $120 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 Very cool....time to get a new sound card along with a new mouse and keyboard :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeboy Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 I think I wait a few months before I buy this card, It aint such a big omprovement after the audigy 2ZS, So Ill wait till the next gen of audio devices comes along, and also I might want to wait till I get some nice 5.1 speakers, I am 2.1 for now :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhnz Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 How does the Crystallizer compare to the DFX winamp plugin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten T Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 How does the Crystallizer compare to the DFX winamp plugin? 586481964[/snapback] Kicks its all bc the crystlizer is harware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosidius Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Is this card a PCI or PCI Express? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Is this card a PCI or PCI Express? 586481976[/snapback] It's PCI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Live Veteran Posted September 5, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 5, 2005 What I really really really want to know is... If I plug a Dolbly Digital source like my Xbox into the S/PDIF in on one of these, will it decode it and output it to the speakers? The Audigy 2 ZS can't do that... it will only decode DD from a DVD, not from an external source. The S/PDIF input on all of the Audigy cards can only take PCM stereo data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMutz Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Is this card a PCI or PCI Express? 586481976[/snapback] there are no x-fi cards for the pci express interface and there won't be any, any time soon. read about it here: http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=3005 -andy- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amonrei Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 How does the Crystallizer compare to the DFX winamp plugin? 586481964[/snapback] How does Crystallizer compare to the Noise Sharpening foobar plugin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f4af_billy Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 i currently have a Live! 5.1 Platinum.... am i really going to notice the difference if i upgrade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 19, 2005 Author Share Posted September 19, 2005 How does Crystallizer compare to the Noise Sharpening foobar plugin? 586544152[/snapback] hmm i'll do a comparison of both and get back to you (its 12am right now so can't really blast the speakers can i :laugh: ) i currently have a Live! 5.1 Platinum.... am i really going to notice the difference if i upgrade? 586548582[/snapback] well i had an audigy 2zs and i noticed a significant difference for music, some difference for movies and less for games (because there's no EAX 5 content yet). you'd benefit the most if you don't have high end speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 19, 2005 Author Share Posted September 19, 2005 DFX (Winamp): Bass doesn't have as good "kick" and becomes distorted/muddy. The clarity isn't as good and the sound becomes hollow. Hidden details do not come out as well. Noise Sharpening (foobar2000): It only affects the higher range and leaves the mid range and low range untouched so i can't really compare it. All i can say is the sound becomes too treblely but if you have some plugins for the mid and lower range and adjust it just right then it may sound similar. All of them were tested at half the maximum to prevent distortion and tested on my in-ear phones and at low-mid levels on my speakers. Oh yeah just to add on, i read somewhere that the X-Fi's Crystallizer processes sound the same way as some software which i'm led to believe now because there's noticeable distortion from the bass (at 30% and higher on a particular song) on my good speakers/earphones. But on my cheaper surround sound kit and cheap headphones the distortion isn't apparent unless i turn it up to very high levels. So if you've got good speakers its not recommended. EQ settings would be better because you can adjust the full spectrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marduk Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 I think I'll wait for the X-Fi 338584837374 EX ZS Gold Platinum diamond. I'm bitter beacause they're already letting us Audigy 2zs users out to sea and abandoning new driver support ALREADY! So look forward to that in 6 months :). Good review though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 I'm gonna get either Fatal1ty or Elite pro, what would you chose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted September 19, 2005 Global Moderator Share Posted September 19, 2005 i just got my xtrememusic last week... i was blown away... i upgraded from an sblive! card and i have a pretty good set of Klipsch 2.1s. incredible. i play my mp3s and dvds at 100% crystalizer and 60% CMSS-3D. so awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Is it in any way like iTunes' Sound Enhancer feature? I was going to get an X-Fi, but now I'm worried... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecaveman Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 LOL Raikou not really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyarecomingforyou Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 I think I'll wait for the X-Fi 338584837374 EX ZS Gold Platinum diamond. I'm bitter beacause they're already letting us Audigy 2zs users out to sea and abandoning new driver support ALREADY! So look forward to that in 6 months :). 586548948[/snapback] Exactly, just as they did with the Audigy and SB!Live, etc. Their driver support is downright atrocious, hence why the kxproject drivers are so successful. I'm gonna get either Fatal1ty or Elite pro, what would you chose? 586549895[/snapback] As for the Fatal1ty and Elite Pro I would be careful. If you are wanting them for serious audio recording then Creative Labs have a very bad record there so I'd recommend cards like the EMU 1212M or 1820 (EMU is owned by Creative but run as a separate company - they designed the SB!Live and Audigy chipsets but their own range is far superior), though they're not great for gaming. If you are most interested in gaming and multimedia then go for the X-Fi Fatal1ty, as that looks the best value/performance for the top-range cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notuptome2004 Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 I think I wait a few months before I buy this card, It aint such a big omprovement after the audigy 2ZS, So Ill wait till the next gen of audio devices comes along, and also I might want to wait till I get some nice 5.1 speakers, I am 2.1 for now :p 586481599[/snapback] i currently have a Live! 5.1 Platinum.... am i really going to notice the difference if i upgrade? 586548582[/snapback] you do relize the XFi cards have been in the makeing for 5 years and that they have the procceser power of a 3.4ghz procceser in soud proccesing and so the imprivments in quality should be Big and also to note evan if you dont see a FPS differance in games but it stays the same FPS with everything in sound turned up the Xfi can sastian a constant FPs comapred to the SBA2 from what i have seen. also your SBlive 5.1 is older 16bit codecs this si the area of Full 24bit sound technolagy go for the upgrade should make note that the XFi has 10,000+ mips of porccesing power the SBA2, has between 500 and 1200 maxx so big differ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 What would you say the absolute best sound card is for pure music listening? I don't care too much about games, I just love music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 Creative EMU 1820M absolute best sound card :laugh: about $900+ but there's a lower range as well. if not you can try m-audio. Something like the audiophile range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notuptome2004 Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 Creative EMU 1820M absolute best sound card :laugh: about $900+ but there's a lower range as well. if not you can try m-audio. Something like the audiophile range. 586550717[/snapback] ha ha ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 oh wait its $900 in my country its US$500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts