Creative X-Fi worth it?

[NightshadowUK]

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

Biased... as a result of people's experience... ?

[format]

I got a Creative XFI Titanium card for my birthday, and after initial problems with drivers and compatibility - I have to say I really like it
Entertainment is great for music and movies - a friend recently asked if I had surround sound ( I have a 2.1 set of Logitechs) whilst watching a movie, she thought she heard a bullet from behind her.
The gaming mode works very well for what I use it for mostly CS:S. My onboard was ok for hearing footsteps and things but the card seems to give it make it easier to here exactly where they are.
I can't say with any honesty that I would pay for this, but having got it for free I can say I do love it, and wouldn't want to go back

[this_is_gav]

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

We can post some uninformed opinions if you'd prefer it?

[format]

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.

All I did was install the drivers off my Creative CD, then let the program update, and it worked straight off for W7.

[magneticman]

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

I've got Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro, X-Fi XtremeMusic, even a 'proper' external opamp DAC and I can say with complete confidence that the Xonar D2/DX is the best out of the bunch.

[PwnDirect]

Simple answer : NO

[Uriel]

The Xonar is a good card but Asus' driver team are making Creative's driver team look like workaholics. No update for the D2 since September and many unresolved problems.

See Asus's own forum: http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?...Language=en-us (although I'm impressed Asus have got someone on there apologising for the problems)

I have both an XtremeMusic and a Xonar D2. I prefer the latter (it works with 4GB RAM for me where as the Creative card doesn't ) but the lack of driver support means I have itchy feet.

[Agent]

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.

Thanks
Although would you be so kind as to correct my typo?

[aidanjt]

Although would you be so kind as to correct my typo?

Done.

[dangel]

I've got an XFI but i'd certainly consider the Xonar if i needed another.

[shaithis]

There are a few odd things with the xonar but they are very minor IMO.

Compared to the multitude of show-stopping issues I had with my creative card, and combined by the absolute clarity of sound that the Xonar gives, I find it hard to knock it TBH.

I can live with my EAX sounding *slightly* different to creatives.....I can live with the 3d positioning being a little out (seeing as I have never even noticed it but have seen ppl complaining about it)......

I cannot live with BSODs, speakers/mic stop working when I change any setting in the audio console/Windows sound settings or pops/crackles/static.

Hence, I wouldn't put the my X-Fi Fatal1ty card back in my PC, even if I was paid to do so.

[aidanjt]

Also.. the Xonar has full Linux support *now*, not a bunch of empty promises and kernel panic() inducing slime. Something to keep in mind if you ever considered dipping your toes with Linux.

[Uriel]

Well my XtremeMusic worked perfectly until I upgraded to 4GB RAM. Then it didn't work at all.

Asus have promised to try to sort out most of the issues that people are having and to do quarterly driver updates. I'll be much happier it they keep their word.

[dangel]

Ah yes the 4gb 5.1 channels of screaming static. Ah, they were happy days. Thanks for that creative

[aidanjt]

Scheduled driver releases are stupid and don't solve any problems. You fix bugs when they show up, you release the fixed code after it's been properly tested. Other than that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Uriel]

Ah yes the 4gb 5.1 channels of screaming static. Ah, they were happy days. Thanks for that creative

Not for me. A quiet pop at windows startup and then glorious silence.

Scheduled driver releases are stupid and don't solve any problems. You fix bugs when they show up, you release the fixed code after it's been properly tested. Other than that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Any driver releases fixing something would be nice. We've had nothing for over 4 months. They started off well enough, fixing a few induvidual things with patches then incorporating them into drivers.