Er were have all the creative sound cards gone ?..

barjoysee

barjoysee

barjoysee

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I've been waiting ages to try n get a creative sound card ...a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Fatal1ty ...but they never seem to come into stock as do near enough none of the creative cards ?......and its not just overclockers its everywhere.
Is creative in trouble?
I really want a creative card (want Eax 5) for my new gaming rig..
 
The X-Fi xtreme gamer is in stock if you're quick!

Alternatively, go for an Asus D2X. It's generally reckoned to have superior sound quality to the X-fi cards and it also supports EAX5 through emulation.

Are creative in trouble? No, they're still making good profit, but they seem to have lost interest in sound cards. The latest rumour is that they're developing a low cost 'PC on a chip' for the entry level Chinese market.
 
Creative cards have always been more trouble than they're worth in my experience, always seem to have terrible driver support for anything past XP.
 
I have the X-fi xtremegamer and no complaints except some sort of conflict (possibly IRQ) with my TV card, but changing the slot appears to have fixed it. it was causing crackling noises on live tv.

It's brilliant for gaming and music. Cost me £50 about 2 and a half years ago for retail package.
 
I think the Xonar might be to long to fit its got to go between the southbridge and into the yellow pci x2 short slot.see pic below


also reading on "The guro of 3d.com"

The only problem is that I did not notice much of a difference in sound between the software/32-voice mode and the DS3D GX powered Ultra 128-voice mode. They sounded nearly identical, in fact. One of the things the X-Fi can do is EAX 5.0 on the fly (with about a 15% performance penalty), and the immersion in the game is so very alluring. You can hear things like support pillars blocking sound, gunfire ricochets, and that disturbing hiss of a grenade. You don't hear that with DS3D GX. It does do what it's supposed to do, subvert EAX detection, but then again, it doesn't actually do any of the more interesting EAX effects either. I guess I'll wait for Asus to reverse engineer EAX 5, or wish for Creative to open source EAX.

didn't inspire me ...I am going to probably get one of there cards for my media center PC as the better sound will make a difference to film and music..
 
I went from x-fi xtreme music to xonar dx the xonar is miles better.
You sure the dx xonar pci express card wont fit it's very short ?
 
I think Asus cards do sound better for music and films. I have Asus' cheapest card the DS in my HTPC, and for music it's sounds better than my X-Fi Xtreme Music. The difference is not huge, but it is there.

Creative won't open source EAX, not if they have their way. They will sell it on if they can, which they have done to Auzentech. If they do open source it, I will probably fall off my chair. EAX is their main advantage over Asus' Xonar range, once that's gone why buy a Creative card. EAX is clearly superior with Creative cards, so anyone thinking Xonar's will sound just as good with emulated EAX is just wishful. I am sure for the most part Xonar's do a decent enough job of emulation, but for a lot of gamers, decent is not good enough.

It's a pain in the rear that Creative can't get their backsides into gear when it comes to the software. If they were more reliable as far as the software goes, Creative cards would be a no brainer choice for gamers.
 
That's some impressive water cooling you've got going on there!

The Guru 3D review is a couple of years old, and it might be that Asus's drivers do a better emulation job these days? Perhaps some DX or D2X owners will be kind enough to post their experiences of the EAX5 emulation?

If you're convinced that an X-Fi is the way to go, I just searched around a few sites, and there are X-Fi Titanium cards to be found. Might also be worth looking at the Auzentech made X-Fi cards.
 
Marsman said:
It's a pain in the rear that Creative can't get their backsides into gear when it comes to the software. If they were more reliable as far as the software goes, Creative cards would be a no brainer choice for gamers.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It's a massive shame that many X-Fi owners are having to rely on unofficial drivers hacked together by Daniel K to get full functionality out of their cards. It seems to me as though Creative have lost interest in the soundcard market. Can't blame them as there's no money in it anymore. :(
 
Yeah i dont thing the Xonar has digital outputs, so there no good for me. As i get damn audio lag when using the DTS or DD plugins for my X-FI Titanium :(
 
lettuce said:
Yeah i dont thing the Xonar has digital outputs, so there no good for me. As i get damn audio lag when using the DTS or DD plugins for my X-FI Titanium :(
Click to expand...

Yes they do. I have the cheapest Xonar there is, the DS, and I have connected it to my 5.1 speaker system via optical. They come with an adaptor to plug the optical cable into one of the 3.5mm jacks.

As for lag, I'll have to check that. I never have the TV audio on which is connected via analogue if I am using the 5.1 system. If there is any, it's probably just the digital processing, which if it is, is unavoidable. Like terrestrial analogue and digital TV, if you compare side by side, there will be a time delay between the two.

Can't say for sure though, just a thought. Could be what you are experiencing with your X-Fi and outputting to external amp. But as I say, I'll have to check if I get any audio lag, see what is what.
 
C64 said:
I went from x-fi xtreme music to xonar dx the xonar is miles better.
You sure the dx xonar pci express card wont fit it's very short ?
Click to expand...
Is that for gaming ? Not sure on if you think it will fit see the space above...?

Marsman said:
They will sell it on if they can, which they have done to Auzentech. EAX is clearly superior with Creative cards, so anyone thinking Xonar's will sound just as good with emulated EAX is just wishful. I am sure for the most part Xonar's do a decent enough job of emulation, but for a lot of gamers, decent is not good enough.
Click to expand...

Had a quick look at the Auzentech they do Eax 5.0 but cost a lot more are you paying more just for better circutry?:confused:
Thats me lol :D...though if its better sound quality can make up the ground between Eax 2 and 5...may still be worth going for...?

Toastor said:
That's some impressive water cooling you've got going on there!
If you're convinced that an X-Fi is the way to go, I just searched around a few sites, and there are X-Fi Titanium cards to be found. Might also be worth looking at the Auzentech made X-Fi cards.
Click to expand...

Cheers I'm going all out on this build lol...been collecting bits for 4 months !:p
if you can pm me were to find one of these I'd be greatfull (thats in stock!)I've had a good look !
 
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