Titanium HD sound card
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how can a SSD cause that? i've got a SSD and using creative drivers at the moment for my xtrememusic which i assume is similar, and never had any issues.
thats a shame. i guess the fact that you can't remember means there's probably not much difference.
what about the connections, can you have proper surround?
i've got a SSD and using creative drivers at the moment for my xtrememusic which i assume is similar, and never had any issues.
Nobody knows yet, there is a large thread on the creative forums and everyone having this problem got it after installing a SSD. One theory is that the system boots so fast the drivers don't initialise properly.
The perceived difference in sound quality will be dependant on having decent headphones/speakers. You might be able to get proper surround from SPDIF but that isn't really the point of this card. It's a high end stereo card.
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If you're thinking about the Creative Titanium HD PCI-E, it might also be worth giving the Asus Xonar Essence STX a good look. I have the Xonar STX and it's a fantastic sounding card.
I can't compare the Xonar against the Creative Titanium HD card as I haven't heard that, but I can say I prefer the Xonar Essence STX to my Cambridge Audio DacMagic, and it's on a par with my Arcam rDac. Both these DAC's cost quite a bit more than the Xonar, so for the price it performs very well.
Also being a Sennheiser HD595 owner I can confirm that these work very well with the Xonar, as do my newer Grado SR225i headphones.
The Xonar offers Dolby Digital Live decoding via optical or coaxial, so can support 5.1 surround sound via these connections. I currently have my Xonar powering a set of Logitech Z906 5.1 speakers in this manner, with excellent results.
I can't compare the Xonar against the Creative Titanium HD card as I haven't heard that, but I can say I prefer the Xonar Essence STX to my Cambridge Audio DacMagic, and it's on a par with my Arcam rDac. Both these DAC's cost quite a bit more than the Xonar, so for the price it performs very well.
Also being a Sennheiser HD595 owner I can confirm that these work very well with the Xonar, as do my newer Grado SR225i headphones.
The Xonar offers Dolby Digital Live decoding via optical or coaxial, so can support 5.1 surround sound via these connections. I currently have my Xonar powering a set of Logitech Z906 5.1 speakers in this manner, with excellent results.
Hello there. I'd like to add my opinion here.
I had both cards. But I got rid of my Xonar in the end for one reason and one reason only.
it crashed during a couple of games. I'm not sure if it was my settings/installation mind you and to be honest its probably my fckup!. But the HD is Very good. I have 6 pairs of headphones and it works well with all of them (Sein 360, Studio Beats Pro HD, Beats Control Talk, Bose etc.)
Had my xi Fi titanium for 2 days. Its a very good card. The xonar is pretty good too but the sound output for me isn't as good as the Xifi Titanium HD. I take my music pretty seriously too. But I'm not very good with my software/hardware installations lol.
What I need to figure out - is settings that people use to make the most out of it though. I knew the settings from Farooq on the forums on a thread I started here when I first bought a Xonar DG then went for the STX.
I had both cards. But I got rid of my Xonar in the end for one reason and one reason only.
it crashed during a couple of games. I'm not sure if it was my settings/installation mind you and to be honest its probably my fckup!. But the HD is Very good. I have 6 pairs of headphones and it works well with all of them (Sein 360, Studio Beats Pro HD, Beats Control Talk, Bose etc.)
Had my xi Fi titanium for 2 days. Its a very good card. The xonar is pretty good too but the sound output for me isn't as good as the Xifi Titanium HD. I take my music pretty seriously too. But I'm not very good with my software/hardware installations lol.
What I need to figure out - is settings that people use to make the most out of it though. I knew the settings from Farooq on the forums on a thread I started here when I first bought a Xonar DG then went for the STX.
there's these pax drivers which are meant to be better and they used to be on my older x-fi so i just installed them on my titanium HD too havent tried the creative ones yet
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/pax-d...x-pcie-titanium-hd-driver-v1-60-released.html
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/pax-d...x-pcie-titanium-hd-driver-v1-60-released.html
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In order to get 5.1 surround working on the Xonar Essence STX, you need to select "Dolby Digital Live" in the SPDIF Out dropdown box on the Xonar Audio Center console. This will then encode all audio signals to Dolby Digital and pass this out via the optical or coaxial connection. Any speakers with Dolby Digital decoding (such as my Logitech Z906) can then play this as 5.1 surround sound. This works well on my system for all DVD's Blu-Rays and games.
If you select "PCM" in the SPDIF Out however, you are always limited to only 2 channels, as this is the maximum number of channels supported for PCM over optical or coaxial.
He has a Titanium HD, as far I can make out. Although similar may apply to the Titanium HD, as it does to the Essence.
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Yeah he mentioned having the Titanium HD in his post I believe. However, when using either an optical or coaxial cable the same would apply as with my Xonar. You'd need to use Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect to send a 5.1 signal to your speakers or AV receiver, when using the optical or coaxial connections.
If you select PCM as the digital output you can only ever send 2 channels via these connections. This is a limitation of all optical and coaxial connections when supplying PCM audio. HDMI can do multichannel 7.1 PCM audio though.
When using Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect however you do also need speakers or a receiver that can decode these streams.
If you select PCM as the digital output you can only ever send 2 channels via these connections. This is a limitation of all optical and coaxial connections when supplying PCM audio. HDMI can do multichannel 7.1 PCM audio though.
When using Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect however you do also need speakers or a receiver that can decode these streams.
I did read up a bit about that asus card a couple of months ago and many reviews/comparisons had the titanium hd just ahead of the STX. I think the overall view is that the titanium HD is the better choice for gaming and the asus card if music is more your thing.
It's not really the card choice I was interested in anyway, I just wanted to know if it's a worthwhile upgrade on the xtrememusic card and if the pci express interference is a common thing.
yes i heard a lot about the asus cards not working well with many games, that was the main reason i veered away from those cards as i know my creative card has never has any problems in games.
thanks for that link, i'd never heard of PAX drivers. added to bookmarks.
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I'd have to agree that the Xonar Essence STX is more for the music lovers than the hardcore gamers - that's actually what made me buy mine. I wanted a fantastic card for audio playback, which also works well with hi-fi headphones.
I personally don't agree with the Asus card not working well with many games. I have 57 games currently on my system, some old, some new, and it works perfectly in every single one of them. I have the Xonar hooked up to my Logitech Z906's and get perfect 5.1 surround in them all.
Some of the older games may miss out on some of the Creative EAX enhancements on the Xonar, but for most modern games that don't use EAX this isn't an issue.
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Glad to hear it.
I think on your Titanium HD you will also have the choice of using DTS connect instead of Dolby Digital Live. I've read a few claims that DTS Connect offers an improved sound over Dolby Live. If your speakers or receiver offer DTS decoding it might be worth giving DTS Connect a try. As the Xonar STX only has Dolby Live, I can't comment myself whether DTS Connect is actually better or not.