is their a significant difference in sound qaulity

I found that I could hear things in the back of music and in games that I had never noticed before when I changed to the X-Fi.

Of course it could all have just been in the mind as you were actively looking for something different.

Jokester
 
Psycho Sonny said:
this thread has been already done a milion times before please use the search function all the info you need is there
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Instead of flaming you could try linking to one of the other threads, they can't be that hard to find and link if it's been done "a milion times before" right?

oh, +1 postcount right? i forgot.
 
Depends on the rest of your system (speakers, amplifier) and what you're playing back. Those that do and don't notice a difference should post their audio system details, their age, and results from a hearing test. :)
 
Strictly speaking, the DAC and op-amp of the A2ZS and the X-Fi range is identical except for the Elite Pro. However, theA2ZS resamples, and is incapable of playing at the native resolution of 44.1khz. If you are only playing music with all the options off, this is the only difference (arguably significant, but not night and day). Of course, there are other reason to get the X-Fi, the CMSS algorithm is said to have been changed/improved, EAX5 support for games, etc. There is also the Crystalizer, and along with the aforementioned features tweak the sound in ways that you may enjoy, even though they are artificial additions.
 
Chadd said:
Instead of flaming you could try linking to one of the other threads, they can't be that hard to find and link if it's been done "a milion times before" right?

oh, +1 postcount right? i forgot.
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Seriously, cool it, all you did there was say "I cba to search myself, so I'll add a post ranting, and then blame you for my rant and say you're a spammer". Nice one.

My contribution...

Personally I see it this way. If the x-fi gives anything substantially extra, then what have soundcard manufacturers since the beginning of time been doing wrong :confused:

It simply MUST be your mind wanting something else to be there, maybe a little more clarity through 5.1, 7.1 etc, but I really can't see how they can be doing anything extra that soundcard manufacturers weren't before.
 
Zefan said:
Seriously, cool it, all you did there was say "I cba to search myself, so I'll add a post ranting, and then blame you for my rant and say you're a spammer". Nice one.

My contribution...

Personally I see it this way. If the x-fi gives anything substantially extra, then what have soundcard manufacturers since the beginning of time been doing wrong :confused:

It simply MUST be your mind wanting something else to be there, maybe a little more clarity through 5.1, 7.1 etc, but I really can't see how they can be doing anything extra that soundcard manufacturers weren't before.
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That's a silly argument. You could say the same about graphics cards manufacturers or CPU makers...anything really. It's certainly not purely psychological either. I went from on-board AC97 to SB Live to X-Fi and noticed a nice (if not huge) improvement in sound quality each time.
 
Sound quality yes, but the x-fi claims stupendous audio achievements which I simply think cannot have been just missed out on by the other manufacturers for all this time. Sure it might be a little, and it helps for using the latest sound options in games etc, but I still don't think it's worth anything like the price it is.
 
Zefan said:
Sound quality yes, but the x-fi claims stupendous audio achievements which I simply think cannot have been just missed out on by the other manufacturers for all this time.
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It's only like a new graphics card coming out that can give you 150fps instead of 120fps. Every new video card release claims to be "the future of gaming NOW" or some such nonsense, when in reality the jumps aren't that huge. I mean, you can play Oblivion on a 9600Pro or a Quad SLI setup - no doubt which ones looks better, but enough to justify the hundreds of pounds extra? The same is true, to a lesser degree, with soundcards. Of course Creative are going to "sex it up". Also, I don't think it's a case of missing things......maybe M-Audio, Turtle Beach and Creative (at the time) didn't think there was any need until now. That's like accusing nVidia and ATi of "missing" physics processors just because Ageia have one now.

Sure it might be a little, and it helps for using the latest sound options in games etc, but I still don't think it's worth anything like the price it is.
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I do personally. My X-Fi cost me around 3x as much as my SB Live, but I think it's probably 3x better - better sound quality and many more features.
 
My 2p is this - I went from the Creative Audigy (original series) to the X-Fi and it seemed to my ears that the sound from the Audigy was always a bit muddy and woolly (Audigy owners will know what I mean).

The X-Fi, on the other hand, sounds much clearer and transparent in comparison. That is of course *without* any of the 3d surround, crystalliser etc crap switched on of course - which I do turn on for gaming but keep switched off for listening to movies/music
 
^Do you watch movies on your PC often? If not, then you could consider "music sound card" like those in the EMU line or the M-Audio line. But you will lose features found from even your A2ZS.

I am going to disagree with Zefan on this one. Every manufacturer will make "stupendous" claims if they can get away with it. Not all of those claims are to be taken seriously: the claim of the Crytalizer is suspect for instance. However, the change is clearly audible, and for some, they may find a genuine "improvement". And if people like it more, then I say it's more power to them. Now strip those features, and and let's look at it from a pure SQ point of view. The X-Fi might be marginally less value than the A2Z series.. but we are talking flagship vs EoL. The only valid argument I can think of, is that from a purely music playback point of view, you can find sound card with better DAC/Op-amp than the X-Fi (M-Audio/EMU line)... components that directly affect SQ.. but at the cost of gaming features. And dedicated DACs get FAR more expensive than the X-Fi.
 
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Oh dear. I'm a little out of my depth here, using onboard sound :D

It's probably because I'm not a sound freak (No offense intended) that I don't seem to get why it's worth it, although I'd be interested to hear it, just to see (Well, hear).
 
M'well, I was using an onboard sound for a pretty long time. Even my Grado didn't sound bad with them. After my experience with the DT880 though, it's limitations became all too clear. But if stick with relatively easy to drive headphone/speakers, then perhaps that is sufficient. One thing though, some of the "gimmicks" in the X-Fi are pretty neat. For instance, I like their CMSS (surround emulation for stereo) with my headphones for movies. I know SQ isn't improved per se using those features, but if the ear/brain likes it, I can't complain.
 
TooNice said:
^Do you watch movies on your PC often? If not, then you could consider "music sound card" like those in the EMU line or the M-Audio line. But you will lose features found from even your A2ZS.

I am going to disagree with Zefan on this one. Every manufacturer will make "stupendous" claims if they can get away with it. Not all of those claims are to be taken seriously: the claim of the Crytalizer is suspect for instance. However, the change is clearly audible, and for some, they may find a genuine "improvement". And if people like it more, then I say it's more power to them. Now strip those features, and and let's look at it from a pure SQ point of view. The X-Fi might be marginally less value than the A2Z series.. but we are talking flagship vs EoL. The only valid argument I can think of, is that from a purely music playback point of view, you can find sound card with better DAC/Op-amp than the X-Fi (M-Audio/EMU line)... components that directly affect SQ.. but at the cost of gaming features. And dedicated DACs get FAR more expensive than the X-Fi.
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Thanks for the post. I've always stuck with Creative as they were the only soundcard manufacturer I really knew to a few months back. I watch TV and a few movies on my pc. So do you think a M-Audio card will be better? Can you recommend one?
 
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