Xfi, how good is it?

snowdog · 27 May 2007 at 13:39

How good is it? Is there a noticable diff to audigy 4 / 2 ZS or even live!
Also what kind of speakers do you need to see a noticable difference?
And finally, the Xfi ex audio, would that be enough, as i read somewhere here ex audio is bad, but someone i know seems 100% conviced an audio would be enough for me...

Im a gamer btw (about 3hrs a day gaming), and usually also 1 or 2 hours of music each day...

FrannoBaz · 27 May 2007 at 13:45

Xtreme Audio = POS

snowdog · 27 May 2007 at 13:53

Ok, thats clear lol, what about the other questions, how do proper xfi's like Extr. Music comapre to earlier creative soundcards?

squiffy · 27 May 2007 at 13:57

Basically all the same, just gimmicky rubbish like X-Ram, or front panel I/O, seperate external rack thing.

Extreme Music OEM (I refuse to spell it Creative's way, nothing Extreme about it, see Maddox site) around £55

SkeeterUK · 27 May 2007 at 16:07

As i said on msn snowdog. There all basically similar some have front panels or more connectors or somit but they will all play basically the same on cheap speakers (under 50 notes etc). The more expensive ones might sound better with proper high grade speakers but your looking at hundreads for them and it will probably be better off buying dedicated amp and seperate speakers stuff like enthuisasts do.

But for average gaming and mp3 playing and some movies i think any of the cheap soundcards should do.

Also best of lookin up professional reviews (if theres some good ones out there) as just listening to average users here well i doubt any of us test sound card by sound card in multiple tests testing the range and quality etc. So go read up on reviews first.

HighlandeR · 28 May 2007 at 12:47

I found the sound quality higher up with the Xfi sound card in music, but even if u check the reviews nearly everyone says that...

Aint really noticed any funky sound effects in any games looking at the games it seems the support is barely there..

Using better speakers/headphones will always give a better effect on sound quality itself, theres a headphone thread on page 2-3 I think... i got the Audio technic A900s myself, night and day difference wont be going back to £50-100 headphones anymore

james.miller · 28 May 2007 at 12:54

the extreme audio doesnt have hardware acceleration. that means its not much of a gamers card, and coming from an audigy2 it'll actually mean you'll see a drop in fps. not worth spending the money on an x-fi unless you get the gamer at least

willhub · 28 May 2007 at 13:45

james.miller said:
the extreme audio doesnt have hardware acceleration. that means its not much of a gamers card, and coming from an audigy2 it'll actually mean you'll see a drop in fps. not worth spending the money on an x-fi unless you get the gamer at least

I just sold my X-Fi Fatal1ty, FPS did not seem much different tbh. I am with my intergrated AC97 audio for music only probs is no Optical.

broona · 28 May 2007 at 13:46

FrannoBaz said:
Xtreme Audio = POS

Thanks for that, just ordered one!

snowdog · 28 May 2007 at 18:53

james.miller said:
the extreme audio doesnt have hardware acceleration. that means its not much of a gamers card, and coming from an audigy2 it'll actually mean you'll see a drop in fps. not worth spending the money on an x-fi unless you get the gamer at least

Ookok , all ppl , pls forget i mentioned extreme audio, i get it now

.

What about the xfi extr. music card, is the difference hearable comapred to an audigy 4/2 zs/ live! or evn onboard sound?
Even with cheap 5.1 speakers?

SkeeterUK · 29 May 2007 at 11:09

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=xf...s=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Lots of what i read seems to say xfi Xmusic is no different to audigy 2 zs. Im personally very happy and i really like my music and gaming sounds to be high quality and im pleased with my card and speakers setup.

At the end of the day even if you bought the best soundcard in the world it would sound average to what your using now (onboard) due to the low quality cheapo speakers you bought snowdog. So if you want high quality you need speakers FIRST then a good soundcard. Simply no other way to go imo.

melbourne720 · 29 May 2007 at 12:15

I've got an X-Fi Fata1ity (it was a bargain on MM, and I needed the IO bay) and I have been really impressed with the sound over the onboard in both Doom3 (I can now use EAX) and Command and Conquer 3. I am using 5 year old Boston speakers (2.1) which have aged well, but it would no doubt sound even better with a stronger speaker setup.

Well worth the money (a) if upgrading from onboard, and (b) I found the IO panel useful as it has a large headphone jack so I can use my Sennheiser HD 555s without an adaptor.