Fed up of XFI driver problems? Read this.

[Skyboat]

It's up for pre-order on OcUK now:

Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card (Low Profile Compatible) - Retail

Unfortunately they're the only e-tailer I've found who's listing it atm.

[dangel]

Shudder!

Still, give it some time i'm sure scan/ebuyer will be stocking them.


I did install the new creative drivers on x64 vista at the weekend - and for the first time since Nov 2007 - I actually got sound rather than five channels of noise. Wow.
I haven't dared to try games yet though and i haven't checked to see if it's mapped the speakers correctly (lack of time). Dare I think they've managed to make a working driver in a mere 1.5years?

[Uriel]

Shudder!

I did install the new creative drivers on x64 vista at the weekend - and for the first time since Nov 2007 - I actually got sound rather than five channels of noise. Wow.
I haven't dared to try games yet though and i haven't checked to see if it's mapped the speakers correctly (lack of time). Dare I think they've managed to make a working driver in a mere 1.5years?

Which new drivers would these be? I tried the March ones and they didn't help me. If I run my Xtrememusic with 4GB I just get the odd quiet pop or bump type noises. No static or any recogniseable sounds. Does that sound like your problem?

If they've got it working that's great. Just goes to show what a bit of competition can do. Creative have really needed a kick up the backside for a while now and it looks like Asus might be in the process of administering it.

[dangel]

Which new drivers would these be? I tried the March ones and they didn't help me. If I run my Xtrememusic with 4GB I just get the odd quiet pop or bump type noises. No static or any recogniseable sounds. Does that sound like your problem?

If they've got it working that's great. Just goes to show what a bit of competition can do. Creative have really needed a kick up the backside for a while now and it looks like Asus might be in the process of administering it.

March ones - i got windows sounds but had to go t'pub so i didn't test beyond that. I suspect in-game they may be a pop-crackle-fest as per usual but i'd love to be wrong. Beforehand all speakers would emit loud white noise (constantly) as soon as Windows booted.

TBH I'm feeling good about asus thesedays - good motherboards, good laptops (eee) and now perhaps soundcards too.

[Uriel]

Ahh - not the same problem as me then. For the most part I get no sound at all with 4GB RAM in Vista.

[AndrewJ]

Ahh - not the same problem as me then. For the most part I get no sound at all with 4GB RAM in Vista.

99% sure thats nothing to do with your RAM, and something to do with drivers.

[madman045]

I haven't been able to get my fatality to install in vista from day one, also the annoyance of not being able to use my sidewinder pad as vista does not support the game port on the card, where as my audigy platinum works fine as does the firewire...

[Uriel]

99% sure thats nothing to do with your RAM, and something to do with drivers.

I'm hoping it's just x-fi drivers although there's a possibility it's an architectural thing to do with the way that RAM is allocated to PCI slots on my motherboard (or so a bit of interweb trawling has led me to believe). Obvious way to find out is throw in another soundcard but I'm in no rush. Functions's perfectly if I disable a bit of RAM and 3GB isn't really a bottleneck for me.

[Behemoth]

I'm looking at replacing my ageing Audigy 2 ZS with one of these Asus cards, so hopefully mnext month when I get my pay rise I can give myself a little trwat with one of these Asus cards.

[TooNice]

I am very happy with the X-Fi on XP (and have semi-frequently recommended them in the past), but I am really disliking them as a company for their various moves/decisions such as this one. I intend to stick with XP for desktop use for a while yet even for my next build, but I wonder what I should do once I go Vista/2007. It would be nice if Asus can succeed in making a well rounded multimedia sound card that can compete on the higher end too (including DAC/op-amp as good as/better than the Elite Pro).

[dangel]

99% sure thats nothing to do with your RAM, and something to do with drivers.

Creative stuggled to cope with 4GB systems for some time - could be they still are.

Well a bit of an update - on Vista 64 with the latest drivers:

Happy things:
- Sound (as opposed to white noise)
- I can actually playback an mp3 without it pausing
- I could play HL2 EP2 without issues (easiest thing to test)

Sad things:
- Selecting 5.1 gives me stereo instead

So i'm still using the 7.1 trick: select 7.1 instead of 5.1 and then remap the speakers with the THX console. dohhhhhhhh

So progress (appears) to finally be being made..

[Uriel]

Well - finally! Removed X-Fi. Replaced with Xonar D2. I have 4GB useable and sound - at the same time!

Marvellous.

[Powderhound]

I really want this, but it won't be supported on Ubuntu until Intrepid Ibex is released.