gaekwad2 Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 (edited) 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. 586550558[/snapback] M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or E-Mu 0404 (both around ?90) If you want to stay in a sane price range. Edited September 20, 2005 by gaekwad2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I just got the X-Fi XtremeMusic. :p I've never heard anything better. It makes songs sound so much more clear and crisp. I thought the Crystalizer wasn't good at first since I had some other feature like EAX or CMSS on. I turned off and it sounded great. Definitely worth it. It has so many other features too, mostly software, but still. Great product. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srizo Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I just got the X-Fi XtremeMusic. :p I've never heard anything better. It makes songs sound so much more clear and crisp. I thought the Crystalizer wasn't good at first since I had some other feature like EAX or CMSS on. I turned off and it sounded great. Definitely worth it. It has so many other features too, mostly software, but still. Great product. :) 586561354[/snapback] what headphones / speakers are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Logitech Z-2300 speakers and Sennheiser EH-150 headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Sorry for double post, couldn't edit the message. For people who get distortion with 100% Crystalizer, try turning on the EQ, set it to flat, and lower the master level on the right. Turn your speakers up until it's where you want and it should sound much better. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 (edited) oh man raikou i could hug you :laugh: the distortion is gone! i just set the EQ to flat and didn't adjust the level and the distortion just disappeared. i'm running crystallizer at 100% now alright~ :D edit: oh man its just my imagination. i tried turning it off and on but there's no difference. its 5am :laugh: but lowering the level as you said does reduce the distortion. i believe this is cause the crystallizer increases the song volume as well. so i guess its sort of over amplification. Edited September 22, 2005 by SojIrOu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I'm glad it works! :D When I got it, I thought it was crap because CMSS was on, and I got that distorted noise. I turned the surround off and lowered the volume and sounded much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 if you use stereo xpand the sound will become muffled and stuff but if you use stereo surround all the channels get the same sound. i recommend using game mode instead of entertainment because the stereo surround in game mode is purely upmixing the sound whereas the stereo surround in entertainment mode moves certain frequencies to the rear channel during the song. oh wait didn't see that you have a 2.1. in that case its not worth touching CMSS. don't use it for headphone mode as well unless you're playing games. i've tried it in my review and music is just pure distortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Yeah I know, I tried the demo for it though, it's amazing with headphones. I actually looked to my right when it played. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debatejedi Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 Is there a noticable difference between the fatality and the Platinum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raikou Tch Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 Probably none at all, as it's the same chip/board. The Fatal1ty just has added RAM on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srizo Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 Is there a noticable difference between the fatality and the Platinum? 586571001[/snapback] nope. no noticable diffrence for now. Fatality consists the X-ram but you can find benchmarks where it shows X-ram doesnt provide any benifits at all. the DACs, chips are all the same. Creative highend model is diffrent interms of better DACs which means much better music quality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yusrie Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 so what the advantage of this x-fi compare to audigy 2 ZS..?? is it still 24bit 96khz in 5.1/7.1..???? im using audigy 2 ZS platinum with Creative T7700 7.1speaker ,CMSS surround, about a year and could somebody tell me whats the different if combine my speaker set with this x-fi with same configuration..??? love my sound system.... :rofl: hey,did you hear a bullet pass through near your ear?? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted October 4, 2005 Author Share Posted October 4, 2005 hmm the advantage is mainly when listening to music and using headphones for movies/games. also, with eax 5 i'm sure the newer games will sound better. its still 24bit and all that so you don't have to worry. i've got the t7700 too and for my case i use the "game mode" all the time and set the cmss surround to stereo surround (do not use stereo xpand or stereo surround in "entertainment mode" cause some instruments will move back and forth) the major downside is the number of ports it has especially the xtrememusic. the sound output jacks are the same as the zs but the input has been reduced to 1. line in, microphone & digital all share one jack. can't really say that i have if not i wouldn't do the review if i got pwned in CS source :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Here is the solution to the installer problem http://dmzweb3.europe.creative.com/SRVS/CG...e.creative.com/ it will be fixed in QuickTime 7.0.3 as stated and I'm getting this baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawd Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Is there any word of the Fatality card coming OEM I dont want the bay crap and all the extra's Just the x-ram and drivers/software is all I want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IK47 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 That will probably be my next card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 QuickTime 7.0.3 is out can you please report the install report with the new QT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 yup it works fine now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblivion Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 awesome card *thinks about getting it* :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dL Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I may plan to buy this card over the Audigy 2 ZS. I just want to know, does the Crystalizer and the CMSS3D actually work? I hope it won't make the sound even faker like those mixer found in WMP10. dL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SojIrOu Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 Crystallizer works pretty well. I have it on at 75% all the time and lower the output level by 3.6 - 4.0dB so that it doesn't distort the sound (thanks to Raikou Tch for discovering this). The distortion is due to the Crystallizer which increases the volume leading to over amplification (the higher the level of Crystallizer, the louder sound and distortion you'll get)(although distortion happens to me on only one song and isn't a big problem) CMSS 3D gives mixed results. you might want to experiment around with it for a while. i found that it distorts music in headphone mode but makes gaming/movie more realistic. also, in entertainment mode the CMSS Stereo Surround tends to cancel out certain instruments/frequencies in music in certain speakers and only plays it in some so you get a feeling of "surround". i personally don't enjoy this because the music quality suffers. i just stick to game mode and use Stereo Surround because it just upmixes to all my speakers. StereoXpand is just worthless so don't bother trying it :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamhook Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 It isn't even out in australia :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E1nEoNLy1 Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 My Computer have "ram=1gig AMD proscessor 3000+ mainboard=K8NEO2 G-card WinFast PX6600 GT TDH" can i upgrade the sound card to X-Fi XtremeMusic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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