XFI vs Xonar : WTF?

Thing is tho gurusan I don't disagree with you.

I myself have an XtremeMusic which I bought originally back in the day - I still use it for Windows/games but also have either my M-Audio Firewire Solo or RME Fireface 800 plugged in over Firewire and routed through my media player (Winamp) and DAWs. Windows handles dual soundcards admirably.

Also this way, you can A/B them really easily and find out for certain which your ears prefer!!

XtremeMusic in my opinion (and remember I've owned them AND a/bed them) sounds better than the Xonar by a mile and thats with ALL the bells and whistles disabled on both as I hate those crappy DSP effects they try to force on you by default.
 
Of the whole X-Fi range can anyone say what card offered the best sound quality for music?

I'm running a 2006 X-Fi music exteam and think it's pritty good. The only previous card i've owned that compares in terms of quality is the GravisUltrasnd.
 
Yes, I will agree.

I have 2 Gamers ( one has Opticals the other does not ) and a Fatality, plus last night I was messing with a Music thats not mine, but Im playing about and in absolute trust, there is next to nothing between any of them at all...

There is little difference ( if any ) between the cheapest and the most expensive.

I think the Fatality edges in front, but there is also a twang in my brain thats just trying to justify why the hell I paid for the thing, so its quite possible that there is no difference at all.

Basically the users of XFI gamers can have a good laugh at the ones using the higher end cards because they got the same thing for a fraction of the price.
 
IIRC the Gamer/Fatal1ty ones have some extra XRAM on them - but off the top of my head I think only one game (BF2) makes any kinda use of that.
 
The X-RAM is used in all OpenAL games by default. Having said that, it seems to offer no tangible benefit when it is utilised rather than system RAM.

X-RAM seems more marketing guff than useful feature to me - and I do have it on my Prelude.
 
Well, the Fartality certainly does. I have been twaddling about with it, with SoundFonts.

The Gamer however Im not so sure?

Although to be completely honest, Im not sure how the extra ram on the fartality actually benefits any games? I have not seen anything that makes me impressed any other than the extra clarity but apart from that....
 
Ah the early models Xtreme Music ones (of which I have one) have 2MB XRAM, later models before it was discontinued dropped it altogether, the Gamer also has 2MB, the other high end models have 64MB. The Platinum on launch had 64MB but that later dropped to 2MB.
 
Doesnt the gamer use the newer x-fi chipset, whereas the music uses the older audigy chip? I was going to buy the x-fi music until I read that reviews that said it used the same hardware as the old audigy card, hence why it was 30 quid less
 
Sorry yeah I meant extreme audio. In that case I'm pretty much set on ordering an xfi extreme gamer. One thing... It only seems to come as a pci card, not pci-express. Does that really make much difference? It seems odd that the apparently superior card doesn't come as pci-e.
 
My X-FI extreme music sounds great with my yamaha av amp, bookshelfs and sub, using the analog connection. Imusing all the bells and whistles tho.. opps..hehe

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Conscript said:
Sorry yeah I meant extreme audio. In that case I'm pretty much set on ordering an xfi extreme gamer. One thing... It only seems to come as a pci card, not pci-express. Does that really make much difference? It seems odd that the apparently superior card doesn't come as pci-e.
Click to expand...

The XtremeGamer is not higher than the XtremeMusic. The gamer fatal1ty is though.

And I think only the X-Fi Titaniums are PCI-Express. It doesn't matter though.
 
Had both decided on....

Ok So I've had both Cards installed for a while and I've decided to keep the Creative X-Fi Gamer card.

Reason:
Gaming; 3d Positional (headphone) seems much better in Modern Warfare 2.

Only downside I have found is that mic input (monitoring in Vent) sounds much noiser. Maybe the Zonar's have noise cancelling bulit in? - or maybe the Creatives mic input is not as clean? - I can really hear the difference in the Vent Monitor optiion BUT friends could not hear it so no problem!
 
I have started running my games (Oblivion, TF2, BFBC2 + Batman) through my pro cards and I genuinely (spelling?) think even the games sound better.

There seems to be a common misconception that by NOT running gaming cards your experience will be hampered by lack of effects, narrower stereo field, lack of positional depth and reduced frequency response. This just isn't true! I will concede and say the effects (like EAX for example) are inherently not there with the pro cards but they more than make up for it with the actual sound quality (and I personally think the effects sound cheap anyway but that is purely subjective).

Seriously guys don't disregard the budget pro cards your money will go a lot further. The frequency response will of course be naturally more flat (or true!) but providing you have some sort of hardware EQ (on a hi-fi amp for example) you can always add in 2-3dB of 100hz (your punchy low end frequency) and 12kHz (your sparkly high end clarity) for added excitement.

I am not sure of the implications if you are running surround though - my M-Audio Firewire Solo has SPDIF In/Out (with AC-3 passthrough) so PRESUAMBLY you can do it with audio interfaces that support the SPDIF standard but I will be the first to admit...for a Sound Engineer my knowledge of digital home cinema surround standards is VERY limited as I mix/master solely in stereo for 2.0/2.1 setups.

I've never got on with those silly DSP game effects. Though I am a total care bear when it comes to them so I am no doubt, incredibly biased but I do have the benefit of being able to A/B soundcards on the fly in my system and the pro cards win hands down every time.
 
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