X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro OR X-Fi Xtreme Gamer?
- Thread starter Gibbo
- Start date
Actually if I were to design a 5.1 soundcard, I would make sure the 5.1 outputs are on 6 seperate RCA outputs, like full size audio gear. I guess using 3.5mm to stereo RCA isn't a problem, but coming from the audio area I don't use them cables, those are really for PC's/portable audio players. With RCA you get a better connection, with physically seperate cables for each channel.
Is the optical in/out a square toslink or the 3.5mm MD type? IMO front panel hookups for "permently" connected things is stupid, I noticed the SB Live has most connectors on the front, and lacking on the rear. I would only use the front for headphones and temporary hookups.
Although I do have a Rotel stereo amplifier which I would use anyway as that offers more connectivity (analogue side)
pallys said:
Well, the lossy part is one of the lesser disadvantages of the DDL cards. The point really is that there's absolutely no advantage in buying a DDL card unless your only input is via co-ax or optical S/PDIF. Lossy codec + slight audio lag + poor game support for a couple of quid more than a card with good game support? I'm sure there's logic there somewhere
They support EAX1.0/2.0 emulation. The X-Mystique and related cards throw a fit with a few games because of poor EAX implementation. You may have a point about OpenAL (I don't know a lot about it). I think EAX5 runs over OpenAL anyway?
The ideal solution is to use analogue outputs for gaming as it means the sound doesn't have to be encoded/decoded before being converted to analogue. DVDs can be listened to over S/PDIF on the Creative card or just over multi-channel analogue decoded by the card (like pretty much any multi-channel sound card). You can get a standard co-ax S/PDIF output out of pretty much any Creative sound card using a 3.5mm -> Phono adapter.
Personally I think the pseudo surround using headphones is quite convincing, but I guess that's a matter of personal opinion.
The things Gibbo asked for I think suit the X-Fi perfectly:
DVDs - Will sound the same on virtually any sound card
AVI - If they have an AC3/DTS soundtrack then same as above
Games - Only choice = X-Fi
He might have a kick-ass stereo for listening to music, or is just not that bothered as he didn't list it in his requirements.
Driver stability has been fine with my X-Fi (I had one before that was really quite unstable so sent it back, but this one has been spot on). I did have some snaps/crackles before I sorted out my IRQs though.
Never used it so can't comment on that bit.
I know I probably sound like a Creative sales-person here, but I genuinely think the X-Fi is the better card for what Gibbo's asked for.
squiffy said:
I don't think the main objective of this was marketing tbh. Sure Gibbo could probably just pick one off the shelf, but he's just asking for opinions.
Why? Any soundcard will direct the sound to either left & right or multi-channel outputs. When using the analogue section only, for Dolby Digital i use AC-3 filter, and set to 2 channel (analogue left/right outputs) on my gaming rig (Rotel stereo amp) Unless I'm not understanding the analogue side of soundcards, as I use digital out on my other machine, a HTPC with M-Audio Revo 5.1, digital output and that works.
If the stream is 2 channel I can listen to that as two channel or use sound expansion to 7.1, which probably does a better job of it than soundcard (Lexicon Logic 7)
Phil99 said:
Whether or not hardware DTS and DD decoding is worthwhile. Does the X-Fi have hardware bass managment/bass re-direction/crossovers? If so is this any different to software bass managment?
Also what is different to any soundcard playing back AVI's with DD/DTS audio streams compared to the X-Fi. As I can playback DD AVI's with no problems, as long as I install the AC-3 filter (when using analogue out) on the HTPC I don't need the AC-3 filter.
squiffy said:
Hardware DD/DTS decoding isn't that big a deal to most people, just the few that care about getting every % performance out of their CPU really I guess. The end result of software/hardware decoding is the same I believe, which is why I said DVDs and AVIs (with DD/DTS soundtracks) would be the same on practically any sound card.
Not a clue about the hardware bass managment/bass re-direction/crossovers I'm afraid.
Such a simple question - such heated debate!
How about this one: I have the old Creative Inspire 5.1 (5300) speakers and want to upgrade from my old Audigy 2 card. I'm only interested in the card for games. I will not be upgrading the speakers. Is the Fatal1ty Professional worth the extra over the Music Oem (£44 vs £71) for me? (And no - I don't really need another 5fps in BF2!)
How about this one: I have the old Creative Inspire 5.1 (5300) speakers and want to upgrade from my old Audigy 2 card. I'm only interested in the card for games. I will not be upgrading the speakers. Is the Fatal1ty Professional worth the extra over the Music Oem (£44 vs £71) for me? (And no - I don't really need another 5fps in BF2!)
