Creative X-Fi worth it?

[djglenn]

Hi,

I have an Asus P45 P5Q Pro board, which is supposed to have ok audio abilities (works fine with my Logitech Z-540 5.1 system).

However with using Vista, I have sometimes encountered sound driver problems with games etc. (COD4 was a nightmare).

Is buying a independent sound card worth the money?

I am looking at the following:
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI - Express OEM Sound Card - £35.00

Its not that expensive, so I might just buy it for the sake of it... however is the £69 titanium version twice as good?

Any help is appreciated.

[GoNz0]

stick with the onboard or buy a proper X-Fi not that bag o pants

[Agent]

The "Xtreme Audio" isn't actually an X-Fi. It's just old Creative tech rebranded (whats new there though )

As for the X-Fi range? Very average in my opinion. Certainly nothing ground breaking like the advertising makes out. I'm not saying it won't be better than some on-board sound solutions, but every time Creative bring out a new card range their advertising makes it sound like they have discovered a way to insert a thousand Chuck Norris super dwarfs in your ears, each with a different instrument to play the exact sound you want.

Then you run the risk of Creative removing features that you have paid for at a later date through driver "updates". Google this if you have not come across it before.

Oh, and moving to Creative because you're having driver issues with your current card is like choosing if you want your best mate or a stranger to kick in you in the balls. It doesn't matter who you choose, you're still being kicked in the balls
Creative to this day still have really bad drivers.

[GoNz0]

there are a few games branded to work with x-fi and i can say its 100% better sound quality in bf2, 2142 etc when the bullets go dinging past your head

[Lee @ SCAN]

The only time the X-Fi comes into it's own compared to my onboard solution is when I'm playing all my mp3's through it.

The 24-bit crystalisation enhances the sound and makes it better through my 5.1 speakers.

[aidanjt]

...every time Creative bring out a new card range their advertising makes it sound like they have discovered a way to insert a thousand Chuck Norris super dwarfs in your ears

LOL, so sigged.. and QFTed. Creative has become a bloody awful company riding on the back of their 'EAX technology', and I wont even go there with the drivers, gah. Frankly, Asus are doing far better sound cards these days, especially for listening to music.

[djglenn]

The "Xtreme Audio" isn't actually an X-Fi. It's just old Creative tech rebranded (whats new there though )

As for the X-Fi range? Very average in my opinion. Certainly nothing ground breaking like the advertising makes out. I'm not saying it won't be better than some on-board sound solutions, but every time Creative being out a new card range their advertising makes it sound like they have discovered a way to insert a thousand Chuck Norris super dwarfs in your ears, each with a different instrument to play the exact sound you want.

Then you run the risk of Creative removing features that you have paid for at a later date through driver "updates". Google this if you have not come across it before.

Oh, and moving to Creative because you're having driver issues with your current card is like choosing if you want your best mate or a stranger to kick in you in the balls. It doesn't matter who you chose, you're still being kicked in the balls
Creative to this day still have really bad drivers.

Good job I asked before I wasted my money!

Is there any other brand of sound cards thats better then?

[GoNz0]

extreme audio or fatality x-fi seem to have the best game hardware support that i know of.

[this_is_gav]

Having had the better Creative cards from the Audigy (Platinum I think it was), Audigy 4 Pro and X-Fi Platinum, I'd go with the ASUS Xonar DX (PCIe 1x) or Xonar D1 (which looks like the PCI equivalent) every single time... and I did.

[Uriel]

I agree about the Xonar DX or D1. I went from an X-Fi XtremeMusic to a Xonar D2 and am impressed.

One word of warning: although the Xonar is a better soundcard, and generally works better in Vista, game compatability was better with the X-Fi. Asus just don't seem to update the Xonar drivers very often.

[magneticman]

x3 with Xonar

[aidanjt]

Asus just don't seem to update the Xonar drivers very often.

Neither do Creative. Only Creatives drivers are an abortion of a pig mated with a poodle.

[Infinite]

Actually creative are updating their drivers fairly regularly, their last driver update for the X-Fi was mid-December and the Console Launcher was early January.

They have even released beta drivers for Windows 7, which is pretty impressive considering their mess up of vista drivers when vista was launched.

[NightshadowUK]

Bit of a thread hijack but I think it'll be beneficial. I've been pondering over replacing my Xtreme Music with a Xonar D1 for some time now, what do the Xonar owners out there make of their soundcard?

[Infinite]

Btw, any posts made is this thread will be biased.

[aidanjt]

Actually creative are updating their drivers fairly regularly, their last driver update for the X-Fi was mid-December and the Console Launcher was early January.

They have even released beta drivers for Windows 7, which is pretty impressive considering their mess up of vista drivers when vista was launched.

recent != frequent. And even if they did do frequent updates, it's merely to patch up the vast amount of suckage that their drivers are. Also, I'm hardly impressed with them releasing 'beta drivers' for Windows 7. They didn't have to do any work since the audio architecture is the same.