Auzentech X-Fi Prelude & TOSLink?

kkbigal · 5 Nov 2007 at 13:42

I've been following the Prelude with interest since I saw it had a digital/optical output on the back

I'm wondering whether the card would offer any improvement in sound quality over the X-Fi Fatality I currently have, or would it be a waste of money?

Will the TOSLink offer any improvement over a standard minijack cable?

ChrisD. · 5 Nov 2007 at 13:46

If the drivers are better then I'd more then likely be tempted to switch. Anyone got any idea?

kkbigal · 5 Nov 2007 at 13:59

Well at present the card is using the Creative driver (although you can only use the ones on the Prelude disc and not official Creative ones I think I read) and an Auzentech driver is in the works.

Also, will this card work ok under Vista 64?

humax · 6 Nov 2007 at 06:03

yes it will work fine with Vista 64

Amidar · 6 Nov 2007 at 12:50

humax said:
yes it will work fine with Vista 64

I still can't get mine to work with Vista 64 after 2 weeks of trying.Driver & software installs fine but when i click the audio console i get a message coming up saying "device can not be found for this software".

james.miller · 6 Nov 2007 at 12:53

there will be no difference in sound quality if you are using the digital outputs. except when (if) azuntech get the dd/dts encoding working for games support

S_D · 8 Nov 2007 at 13:32

It's scheduled for Q1 '08 I think so here's hoping.

kylew · 8 Nov 2007 at 15:23

The sound quality would be the same but once they get DD/DTS 5.1 encoding sorted I'm sure there would be no competition from other cards, that's the sole reason I bought an auzentech x mystique over an xf-i, the DD encoding is the main selling point for me, and once they sort the DD I'll be snapping one up.

james.miller · 8 Nov 2007 at 15:28

DD encoding has never been a big deal. its not a major advantage for gaming because of the latency introduced, the same reason people generally dont recommend 24" screens for gamers - latency.

an xfi using analogue would always be the better choice over the same card using DDLive or DTs interactive, assuming you have the speakers and amp to take advantage of it. but then if you didnt, what are you doign spending £120 on a sound card?