Had enough of the X-Fi...

Tute · 12 May 2008 at 00:21

...so what are the alternatives like?

I can't put up with the crashing, stuttering sound, and other issues the card gives me.

I like the look of the Asus Xonar cards, are they any good? And are the D2 and D2X versions worth it over the DX?

Thanks.

Phatzy · 12 May 2008 at 06:24

i got rid of my xtreme music because the sound is always crackling and after an hour on a game buzzing starts happening and then restart the pc to get rid of the buzzing, now i settle with on-board, but them xonars seems to get a really good review about them, if i got enough money in my back pocket ill be buying a xonar d2

Neolink · 12 May 2008 at 09:58

I got a D2X a week or so ago, Upgraded from an Audigy 2 ZS

The difference in quality is astounding, Though I had to mess with its control panel abit to make it sound as good as it currently does, On default settings it sounded...odd.

james.miller · 12 May 2008 at 11:50

Neolink said:
I got a D2X a week or so ago, Upgraded from an Audigy 2 ZS

The difference in quality is astounding, Though I had to mess with its control panel abit to make it sound as good as it currently does, On default settings it sounded...odd.

with no eq thats how its supposed to sound lol

the d2 and d2x imo are not worth the extra outlay unless you have a serious audio setup to compliment them. the dx is the best value soundcard on the market today.

Margaret · 12 May 2008 at 12:44

james.miller said:
with no eq thats how its supposed to sound lol

the d2 and d2x imo are not worth the extra outlay unless you have a serious audio setup to compliment them. the dx is the best value soundcard on the market today.

Hmm would you recommend the DX as a replacement for my Audigy SE? Noticeable increase in SQ?

I'll mainly be using my Senn 595's for the PC, but for movies/tv programs I switch the sound to my Z-5500.

adrichardson81 · 12 May 2008 at 17:22

The DX will fit into any pcie slot (1x, 4x, 8x, 16x). I'm hoping it's good - I've just ordered one to replace my X-Fi. Sound quality in Vista is still mediocre with the X-Fi, and Creative really don't look like they're going to bother doing anything about it (not to mention the generally low standard of their components).

theforce · 13 May 2008 at 00:23

Zonar D2 here. Sound is like having angels whispering in your ears

Stonedofmoo · 13 May 2008 at 08:15

What are the problems people experience with the XFi?

I've got a X-Fi Fatality jobby on Vista x64 and never experienced the crackling people describe in either my old computer or the new one.

Seem's certain configurations are obviously problematic while others are fine?

Tute · 13 May 2008 at 11:36

Stonedofmoo said:
What are the problems people experience with the XFi?

I've got a X-Fi Fatality jobby on Vista x64 and never experienced the crackling people describe in either my old computer or the new one.

Seem's certain configurations are obviously problematic while others are fine?

I get crashing in WoW - sound freezes followed by the whole computer a couple of seconds later. Going back to onboard sound fixes it.

Also I get crackling during music - this happens for a few seconds about 3-4 times a day.

When the bottom-end Xonar is so cheap, it's not worth putting up with it.

MikeHunt79 · 13 May 2008 at 11:43

I use a E-mu 1212m myself, not a bad card but I do more music stuff than gaming.

james.miller · 13 May 2008 at 11:46

Mike have you seen the ESI juli@? pretty clever little card - you can swap the top half of the pcb around and switch from unbalanced to balanced outputs.

if they bought a new version out based on the same chipset as the av200 on my xonar d2 instead of the current's envy HT24 chsipet, that really would be the ultimate card. balanced outputs, DDlive and DTS encoding, eax5.0 support. awesome. i might actually suggest that to them!

Raco · 13 May 2008 at 12:09

Ive got a x-fi gamer and have had nothing but problems,crashing,mic not working,stuttering sound,crackling so ive pulled it and am using onboard sound which works fine,Never again will i buy a creative soundcard.

MikeHunt79 · 13 May 2008 at 12:54

james.miller said:
Mike have you seen the ESI juli@? pretty clever little card - you can swap the top half of the pcb around and switch from unbalanced to balanced outputs.

Yep that was on my shortlist before I got my 1212m. The Juli@ is a clever little card and looks pretty funky to boot. I got a good deal on the 1212m in the end (£80 from what I remember), plus there are quite a few well known mods to improve the sound quality even further. I haven't done them yet but I'm tempted I must admit...

adrichardson81 · 13 May 2008 at 13:01

The worst thing for me with the X-Fi in Vista is the sound quality. The XP drivers sound a lot clearer than Vista. I get crackling and distortion in games and the crystaliser isn't exactly great either. It's only become more obvious since I moved away from Creative speakers...

That's not even mentioning the general state of the drivers, or the issues with using more than 4gb :rolleyes:

bitterSTAR · 13 May 2008 at 13:54

I've stuck with a X-FI because I want to keep the front bay. The drivers are bad for Vista, but I've installed the Youp-PAX drivers which seem to be better.

I've never experienced the 4GB issue though, not even with 8GB installed.