X-Fi Music compare to a Ac97 onboard sound

FishThrower · 10 Jul 2006 at 00:21

Hi all,

I know that this has probbley been discussed 100s of times, I did use the search feature but didnt get all of the answers.

for music, would I notice a lot of difference? I have got some Logitech Z-680s (had them for a few years and they are great). I used to have a SB Audigy Plat before the onboard card, but got rid of it because the drivers.

Have Creative Labs finally sorted out their drivers for their range of products now?, on the Audigy and Live series it was a nightmare to download them as you had to install the original CD first, the software was buggy, and it was bloatware heaven and had a lot of useless crap on, the drivers also used to uninstall themselves for no reason. I could have had a duff card mind you.

Also on my last Creative Labs card, EAX had a big performance hit as well, is this a lot better with the new cards they have got out?

EDIT, onboard sound I have is Realtek, havent got the model number, have to look in the motherboard manual, its on a Socket 754 (old A64) motherboard

Ian · 10 Jul 2006 at 12:43

I bought an X-Fi for a recent upgrade. The drivers made the thing highly unstable after a while. Took the card out, onboard enabled...system is perfect.

Cant really notice the difference in sound quality either tbh.

Gonna sell the thing once i get around to it.

Ian

kidloco · 10 Jul 2006 at 13:12

I noticed a huge differance from going from Audigy 2 to the X-fi, It really does depend on speakers though. which without knowing what Ian's are would maybe explain why he wasnt impressed by the sound.

My system is also very stable, drivers are not an issue with my system.

I think its a great upgrade.

Curio · 10 Jul 2006 at 14:11

AC97 is pretty poor. I went from that to a SB Live and noticed an improvement, then to an X-Fi and that was better still. Just don't expect the difference to be huge - it won't be like going from, say, a GeForce2 to a 7900GTX. You'll notice the difference a lot more if you use a good set of headphones or output to an AMP and good speakers.

davidstone28 · 10 Jul 2006 at 14:30

HUGE difference between onboard AC97 audio and the X-Fi.

In fact, there's a significant difference between the Audigy2 (warm sounding but slightly muffled) and the X-Fi (far more precise sounds, you can hear each instrument, though it can sound slightly clinical).

Just make sure you have some decent speakers otherwise you could have the best sound card in the world and not reap the benefits. Thje 680s are quite good gaming speakers but not exactly the most suitable for music playback.

TooNice · 10 Jul 2006 at 18:04

The Audigy 2 walks all over onboard sound cards I've tried.
The X-Fi is better than the A2.

But it also depends what you plug into the line out. The above was more true with AKG headphones than Grado for instance. The real benefit isn't system performance though.

Ian · 10 Jul 2006 at 20:29

I use an oldish sony mini seperates system for sound. Have never used computer speakers.

Still think its ****

james.miller · 10 Jul 2006 at 20:31

x-fi is much better. its not GREAT but its in another league compared to any onboard

iMacMart · 10 Jul 2006 at 20:51

I agree I went from onboard to X-fi xtreme and the sound was fantastic!!!

Made gaming (surroundsound) and music all 'new' again

FishThrower · 10 Jul 2006 at 22:12

thanks for the answers people

its my birthday today (Monday) so I will treat myself

jbloggs · 10 Jul 2006 at 22:16

FishThrower:

I have had a set of Logitech Z680 speakers for just over 3 years, used then first with AC97 chip (or something similiar), then hooked them up to an Audigy 2 ZS and there was a very good improvement, on all sources. I used the Audigy 2 ZS with the X-FI drivers, which made a further (subtle) improvement.

Regarding 5:1 speakers the Z680s are still very good indeed, and there is not much around (in my opinion) to match them.

If you connect them to a X-FI, going from a AC97, you certainly will notice quite an improvement, I would reckon the person who doesn't notice this difference, has cotton wool in their ears.

FishThrower · 10 Jul 2006 at 23:02

glad to hear it

Just noticed after I ordered the card that it hasnt got a SPDIF output (optical) oops

does it have a digital coxial out?

jbloggs · 10 Jul 2006 at 23:32

FishThrower:

I think This thread should answer your question and alleviate your concern.

HighlandeR · 11 Jul 2006 at 19:20

davidstone28 said:
HUGE difference between onboard AC97 audio and the X-Fi.

In fact, there's a significant difference between the Audigy2 (warm sounding but slightly muffled) and the X-Fi (far more precise sounds, you can hear each instrument, though it can sound slightly clinical).

Just make sure you have some decent speakers otherwise you could have the best sound card in the world and not reap the benefits. Thje 680s are quite good gaming speakers but not exactly the most suitable for music playback.

I too noticed this, it does all depend on how its being outputted though if its going to a hi-fi amp/seperate u may not notice much difference, I used the x-fi front panel headphone out and well theres a major difference the detail in the songs (mp3s) were a lot better on the X-fi could barely hear any of them on the Realtek AC97.

Of course if u channeled and amplified the signal thru a amp, it may sound equal regardless of soundcard

FishThrower · 13 Jul 2006 at 00:12

fitted the card in today, impressed with it, EAX doesnt give a performance hit anymore

general sound quailty is a lot better , worth the buy

Dev2 · 13 Jul 2006 at 02:21

I had onboard and used the AC97' codec. Then I went to a Creative X-Fi Music. I have Creative Megaworks 550 and Icemat Siberia headphones and the sound difference was litterally massive. The precision in music games and DVDs made everything easier to listen to. I could suddenly hear better in Counter Strike Source and my taste in music changed. Don't get me started on Battlefield 2 I can hear clothes rustling now thats just too much detail.

FishThrower · 13 Jul 2006 at 18:09

Yeah it does sound really good, obviously you do get used to it though,

glad to see that Creative have finally sorted out their drivers as well

money well spent

Energize · 13 Jul 2006 at 19:44

If your playing games its in another league, EAX makes a big difference.

Jabbs · 14 Jul 2006 at 23:52

They not bad cards i got the xfi-music, but tbh i was expecting more off it. Bf2 i get just grief all the time keeps erroring back too desktop, for the extra sound quality it gives i am going to go back to my onboard.

Nikolic · 15 Jul 2006 at 13:05

Jabbs said:
They not bad cards i got the xfi-music, but tbh i was expecting more off it. Bf2 i get just grief all the time keeps erroring back too desktop, for the extra sound quality it gives i am going to go back to my onboard.

That's not the sound card doing that - that's just BF2 crashing

But when it the game does work - Ultra High settings, on some good head phones, with the 3D sounds enabled is pure class. Mind blowing to say the least.