DailyTech - Creative Labs Releases New SoundBlaster X-Fi Driver, Finally

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Gadgets Creative Labs Releases New SoundBlaster X-Fi Driver, Finally
Brandon Hill (Blog) - July 3, 2006 9:13 AM

65 comment(s) - last by Hare.. on Jul 4 at 4:35 PM

2.09.0001 fixes a number of game issues and adds full support for OpenAL 1.1

Creative Labs has finally released a production quality driver update for its X-Fi XtremeMusic, Platinum and Fatal1ty lineups. The driver release address some (but not all) issues with crackling, corrects a number of issues with popular games and adds full support for OpenAL 1.1.

The 2.09.0001 driver download is available for users running Windows XP SP2 or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and weighs in at a hefty 42MB. Here's just a few of the long list of issues resolved with this driver release:

For Quake 4 (version 1.04)

Resolves the issue of the computer not responding when the error message "Quake 4 has encountered an error and needs to close" is displayed
Resolves the issue of mono speaker out in surround sound environments
Allows you to hear audio from speakers when you select the OpenAL X-Fi option as the audio driver
Allows audio channels to stream to correct speakers

For Battlefield 2

Allows the Ultra-High Audio setting in a multi-player game

For Battlefield 2 (version 1.12)

Allows you to hear audio from speakers when the X-Fi audio driver option is selected

For Doom 3 (version 1.3)

Allows you to hear audio from speakers when EAX 4.0 is enabled
Resolves the "pop" issue during the Chainsaw attack sound effect sequence
Removes "hiss" from the front left speaker
Allows panning
Plays the Ambient sound effects correctly

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Onboard sound works fine

By wmansfield on 7/3/2006 11:21:17 AM , Rating: 2

If you hate Creative so much there are a lot of onboard audio solutions that work pretty darn well. I've used my Realtek ALC850 sound on my DFI Lanparty board for over a year and it sounds great with the Nvidia drivers.

RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Hare on 7/3/2006 11:44:44 AM , Rating: 2

If you listen with your crappy logitech 5.1-set everything is "fine". If you have a decent soundsystem the onboard solutions are pretty pathetic. SPDIF of course sounds great but you can't use spdif if you want multichannel audio from games (would require dolby digital live, which has not been available onboard since nForce2 MCP-T 'soundstorm').

onboard audio sound fine with spdif. Analog outputs sound bad...

Sound effects in games are pretty weak without EAX. Sad but true...

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By DigitalFreak on 7/3/2006 1:01:25 PM , Rating: 2

There are a number of solutions with onboard Dolby Digital encoding, though none do it in hardware like the Soundstorm did.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By BZDTemp on 7/3/2006 1:21:24 PM , Rating: 2

Not true! Look at the HDA cards - for example there is the HDA Xplosion which even encodeds game sound to DTS plus it's not even expensive.

Part of the reason it's not expensive is because they saved on their analog out but not more than making the op amps user replaceable so if you need great analog out AND true digital out it's just an little extra upgrading while the rest of us just saves money.

Only downside to going no Creative is being stuck at EAX 2.0

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By hwhacker on 7/3/2006 11:58:15 AM , Rating: 2

^ I'm glad you're happy with it, but for me listening to this ALC850 (ultra-d) is pretty terrible compared to soundstorm that I came from approx a year and a half ago. I remember the first moment I switched, and wondered if my then-TotL Logi's were dying or something. :P

I've always been stuck in that status quo stage looking for a sound card though, hoping a better jack-of-all-trades would show it's head. I listen to way more music and watch more movies than I do game on my PC, even though I do that as well. It makes the choice so difficult when it seems various VIA-based products dominate the former area, and suck in gaming (performance and feature-wise)compared to creative's stranglehold, while the reverse is mostly true for creative.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By wmansfield on 7/3/2006 4:43:54 PM , Rating: 2

I haven't listened to a SoundStorm setup myself, but for general use this alc850 works fine as long as you use the Nvidia drivers. I tried the Realtek drivers once and they were terrible... Not sure why there's such a difference... the Nvidia EQ helps a lot.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Hare on 7/3/2006 5:25:37 PM , Rating: 2

People... The "Soundstorm" is just the nVidia MCP-T that handles dolby digital live. If you are using analog connections you are most likely using a realtek chip. Which is not that good... If you are not using the SPDIF connector, you have bypassed soundstorm...

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Wwhat on 7/4/2006 1:12:06 PM , Rating: 2

Indeed, soundstorm mostly uses realtek codecs too for output, besides, I have soundstorm and alc850 and the alc850 is better because it has less interference, but in regard to the quality of the sound itself they are equal is my impression so far.
Now if I use my old vortex2 card then I do hear a HUGE difference, the vortex2 is(was) so much better I can't believe that aureal ever died, they had good chips and good technology with a3d, they were used with success by many popular games, so why did they die and sell out to creative? so sad.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By poohbear on 7/3/2006 12:34:48 PM , Rating: 3

logitech crappy 5.1's? which are those? certainly not the z-5500? or the z-5300e? logitech makes awesome high end speakers, what are u smoking?

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 2:08:41 PM , Rating: 2

agreed, i have a z-5500 set, its a good set, it has hardware DTS/DDL decoding the sound is incredibly clear and it can blow out your eardrums if you set it too loud (probably a nearby wall too).

It has... problems with the X-fi though, strange poppings and such when high powered electrical devices are turned on, have a decent power filter and it still does it. Come to the conclusion that the analog ports on the speaker set are not properly shielded, as on the optical port it doesn't do it.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Hare on 7/3/2006 5:23:15 PM , Rating: 2

Yes. They are ok for the money spent but seriously. They are pretty much crap compared to "real" speakers.

"Logitech makes awesome high end speakers". Ok, if that's high end I wonder what my >1000€ a pair frontspeakers are? In my terms not much, but compared to flagship logitechs they are stunning.

People actually connect real speakers and amplifiers to their computers. If you are happy with your logitech setup, fine.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 5:36:53 PM , Rating: 2

yeah except those sort of speakers are pretty much for audiophiles only. Once beyond the z-5500 speaker set, only audiophiles can pick up the differences of 'real' speakers, but sure you keep your elitist attitude to yourself and if you are happy with your 'real' speakers, fine.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 5:38:03 PM , Rating: 2

not to mention that you'd need professional soundcards to actually hear the differences between the speakers.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Tuanies on 7/3/2006 7:58:56 PM , Rating: 2

Its not that hard to hear the details a real tweeter brings or even the midbass an actual midbass brings...my $150 pair of Infinity Primus bookshelves blow away any Logitech system I've ever owned. Sure Logitech's sound fine to most users but that's because they've never heard better...like Bose users...

The lack of highs and midbass coupled with overpowering bass just makes Logitech speakers the PC audio quality equivelent of Bose.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 4:21:32 PM , Rating: 2

But I thought Bose was the best??? So I have the BEST!!!! Really!!!

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Hare on 7/3/2006 5:44:16 PM , Rating: 2

That's ridiculous. EVERYONE can tell the difference. Just keep repeating that mantra to yourself and maybe finally you'll believe it yourself...

Think about the prise of one speaker in the logitech set. Do you honestly believe that you can get good quality with that sum. I thought so...

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 4:19:27 PM , Rating: 2

High-end? Do you even know what that means. Go eat a THX certified banana. They are now certifying fruit. Next will come THX certified underwear.

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RE: Onboard sound works fine

By Hare on 7/4/2006 4:35:47 PM , Rating: 2

Hahhaah. Funny AND true. THX means nothing nowadays. Actually the sticker costs so much I would rather spend the money on the actual product. It's idiotic to pay for a sticker in ~150$ speakerset.

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Upgrade?

By DigitalFreak on 7/3/2006 10:27:05 AM , Rating: 3

I have yet to see a good reason to upgrade my Audigy2 ZS.

RE: Upgrade?

By RallyMaster on 7/3/2006 12:32:20 PM , Rating: 2

so true. i'm not ditching my Audigy 2 yet either.

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RE: Upgrade?

By plewis00 on 7/3/2006 2:51:29 PM , Rating: 2

Me too, Audigy 2 ZS is ample for good quality sound. And before anyone says a word, yes, it is very easy to hear a difference between the Audigy and onboard sound in terms of clarity, richness, warmth and less hiss. The only slightly compelling reason to upgrade to an X-Fi I can see is the significantly faster processor but for a few extra FPS in some games I'd sooner have a better graphics card.

More importantly, when is someone going to release a PCIe sound card? Most of the new SFF PCs are all PCIe so this rules out any discrete audio solutions.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Kuroyama on 7/3/2006 3:37:11 PM , Rating: 2

I'm not ditching my Soundblaster Live 5.1 :-)

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RE: Upgrade?

By protosv on 7/3/2006 4:45:33 PM , Rating: 2

I currently have a SBLive! 5.1 and I am considering upgrading to the SBLive! 24-bit. The old SBLive 5.1 is a 16-bit card, and I can hear a very real difference between the 16-bit and 24-bit cards, even with only half-decent speakers and VBR-MP3 as an audio source. More clarity and presence, stronger mids and tighter lows. Plus the 24-bit is only like $25. No reason to upgrade beyond that unless you're doing pro audio work.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Hare on 7/3/2006 5:49:00 PM , Rating: 2

It's not the bits that count. It's the quality of the DACs that matters...

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RE: Upgrade?

By wien on 7/4/2006 10:08:22 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
It's not the bits that count. It's the quality of the DACs that matters...

Indeed. And bits most certainly won't matter on VBR MP3s. They're 16 bit no matter how you look at it. Having a card capable of 24bit won't change that. (Not that Creative cards have true 24bit support anyway. Most (all?) of them resample to 16bit internally, and back to 24bit before output.)

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RE: Upgrade?

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 1:36:25 AM , Rating: 2

If you really care about sound quality get an M-Audio Transit USB DAC at least. They usually start around $55.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Wwhat on 7/4/2006 1:04:59 PM , Rating: 2

USB? I think not

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RE: Upgrade?

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 4:16:04 PM , Rating: 2

You are retarded. You can't even afford any of these:

http://www.wavelengthaudio.com/Cosecant.html

http://www.wavelengthaudio.com/pr_info.html

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/wavelength2/bri...

What the hell do you know about high-end audio? USB keeps the RF interference of the inside of a computer case away from the sensitive analog circuitry. Even the cheapest USB implementations beat out an internal sound card.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Slaimus on 7/4/2006 12:38:34 AM , Rating: 2

My SB Live Value that I originally bought for a Celeron 400 system is working very well in my Athlon 64. There is really no reason to upgrade, given the the customizable kX drivers.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Hare on 7/4/2006 11:03:13 AM , Rating: 2

How's sound quality for a reason ?!? The SB live sounds terrible.

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RE: Upgrade?

By Pirks on 7/4/2006 3:16:48 PM , Rating: 1

quote:
I have yet to see a good reason to upgrade my Audigy2 ZS

Does it support OpenAL 1.1 like this new X-Fi driver does? I keep seeing "The driver needs to be upgraded to enable OpenAL" in my Prey Demo audio settings menu, and I have a feeling that Prey only works with OpenAL on X-Fi and not on my Audigy 2 ZS.

Has anyone managed to run Prey Demo on Audigy 2 ZS without seeing that "upgrade driver to enable OpenAL" thing in Prey audio settings?

I've installed beta drivers from Creative that "support OpenAL" and also I went to openal.org and got Windows OpenAL runtime from there - nothing changed.

So, is it time to upgrade my Audigy 2 ZS to X-Fi to be able to get OpenAL in Prey? Looks like this, unfortunately 8-\

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RE: Upgrade?

By Pirks on 7/4/2006 3:30:18 PM , Rating: 1

Oh crap...

"One of the best ways to deliver an immersive and memorable PC gaming experience is to focus on creating a realistic 3D audio soundscape," said Ed Lima, audio director from Human Head Studios, Inc. "To make that happen quickly, easily and effectively, we chose to take full advantage of the powerful audio capabilities of the Sound Blaster X-Fi in PREY, due for Windows XP and Vista later this year. We loved how easily OpenAL provided a direct path to hardware audio acceleration on the card. OpenAL allows us to employ the same audio code on both operating systems, greatly simplifying the process of designing and implementing audio into the game. This way, Human Head can ensure that players on both platforms will fully enjoy the vast and engaging audio experience we've created for them in PREY."

Damn! I liked my Audigy2 ZS so much but Creative just won't release OpenAL 1.1 for it - I'm doomed :( And X-Fi doesn't have that sweet 5.1 digital audio output like Audigy 2 ZS has, so my sweet Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500 is doomed as well, argh dmaned Prey, just can't resist that sweet sweet game... boohooo, time to say buy to my 5-year old 5.1 audio set, Creative won again, I hate 'em!

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RE: Upgrade?

By Pirks on 7/4/2006 3:38:54 PM , Rating: 1

Haha, I was to quick to mourn my Audigy :) Here we go:

You will only get OpenAL on Audigy series cards if you use the latest Audigy series driver (Jan 2006). Available at Creative's website. This check was added to make sure people have the latest drivers when running OpenAL mode. Prey is a very demanding game and requires the most up-to-date audio drivers.

Your ct_oal.dll (the native openal driver component) in your windows\system32 folder should have .1164 as the last four version digits.

Your openal32.dll (the openal router component) in your windows\system32 folder should have 6.14.357.9 or higher as version number.

If after running the webdriver update your version numbers are not the above, something went wrong with the install. The best way to fix it is to uninstall the drivers, reboot and rerun the setup.

There is a new (OpenAL 1.1 compliant) driver update for the Audigy series cards in the works and it should be out shortly after the XFi update (which is up as a beta on our website now).

Nice! I'm back in the game - off to dl Jan 2006 drivers now. X-Fi will have to wait for my money for another couple of years ;-)))

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Creative drivers != good

By Hare on 7/3/2006 9:40:25 AM , Rating: 2

I think the we can expect aliens to visit us before creative releases decent drivers...

RE: Creative drivers != good

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 9:53:06 AM , Rating: 2

yet the crackling/popping issue remains (granted its less often now but still). Creative really needs some competition in the sound card market to get them moving again, they've become fat and very incompetent.

Lets not forget its taken a full 7 months to release a driver with so little fixes (something nvidia releases probably every couple of weeks, beta wise).

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Great Googly Moogly on 7/3/2006 1:07:56 PM , Rating: 2

They already have competition, and they've had for quite a while. The competition is making better cards and drivers too.

It's just that people are stupid and keep buying Creative products.

My last Creative card was an original SB16 in my 486DX2, and now I've been using an M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496 for about 4 years. I'll keep using it until it dies. </shill>

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 1:58:20 PM , Rating: 3

that maybe so, but creative is brought not because people are stupid, but because creative has EAX, without EAX im sure everyone would be looking elsewhere and the market would be much more healthy.

Plus Creative will never open up EAX to competitors because (like apples iPod) its the only thing that keeps their soundcard business afloat.

The whole situation sucks, people won't buy cards like the Azurentech Xplosion (which is an excellent card and much cheaper then X-fi) because it can only support EAX 2.0 and nothing more. I really wish some of the soundcard manufacturers came up with a alternative to EAX (like A3D ages ago).

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Xavian on 7/3/2006 2:02:31 PM , Rating: 2

Azurentech = HDA (even though they are pretty much the same company)

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Great Googly Moogly on 7/3/2006 3:04:14 PM , Rating: 3

I honestly have no understanding for the craving for EAX. It doesn't enhance games at all IMO. It's just lame time-domain effects and filters. The fake occlusion effect is worthless too. It's not like it's anything like A3D for instance.

EAX is probably the most overrated thing in computer gaming, ever.

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 1:30:19 AM , Rating: 2

Hey Thank you! Finally someone said it. People are stupid lemmings. They go and buy EAX due to stupid marketing and some ridiculous "review" paid for by Creative. Man they just change a little thing here and there and increase the numbers on the spec sheets just for kicks and put words like "extreme," "intense," "fierce," and "orgasm" on the box, kick up the box graphics and sell it for 3 times what they used to.

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Tuanies on 7/3/2006 7:52:32 PM , Rating: 2

I wouldn't buy the HDA even if it did support EAX 4.0. I don't get everyones fascination with Dolby Digital Live encoding but when the DAC's are integrated into the DSP they're usually shit for DAC's.

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 1:34:33 AM , Rating: 2

Yeah and you have $2000 audiophile quality speakers that will let you hear the difference (and I say $2000 on the low end).

Yeah, let's pretend our $400 powered Klipsch, Logitech or whatever trash we use really lets us hear the difference between a DAC on a DSP chip and the poorly designed but well-marketed crap they put in Creative's gaming level cards (now the EMU cards are different).

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By Hare on 7/4/2006 5:34:35 AM , Rating: 2

The whole point of the HDA is that you skip using the soundcards DACs and use the ones in your receiver/amp!

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RE: Creative drivers != good

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 1:25:46 AM , Rating: 2

"They have become" - It's been almost two decades since they were making good products so I wonder what they have become?

I thoroughly blame the people who buy that garbage for allowing this company to achieve a de facto monopoly in the gaming audio market. What is it about fake BS 3D sound that everyone loves? Just get a multichannel sound card and play using the game's multichannel soundtrack - simple.

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What a monopoly can do to you...

By mlittl3 on 7/3/2006 10:33:45 AM , Rating: 2

See what would happen if all you wackos out there got your way and just a single company ruled a market. All of you who want Apple, AMD, etc. to go out of business because you just can't stand not being completely right in your purchasing decisions (wtf that matters will never be clear to me).

Creative pretty much stands alone in the discrete sound card market. We need to stop buying their crap and bug another company to stand up. Maybe we should tell Microsoft to stop trying to come up with an iPod killer and develop us a decent sound card. Hey, why not, both products sound absolutely ludicrous for a OS development to even be involved with. :)

RE: What a monopoly can do to you...

By Hare on 7/3/2006 10:42:23 AM , Rating: 2

The problem is that other soundcard manufacturers cannot compete without EAX-support which has become a de facto standard. There are much better cards available if gaming is not your first priority.

The thing that irritates me the most is that these X-fi cards cost a lot and don't even include dolby digital live. I don't want to use 6 separate analog wires to connect my amp!

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RE: What a monopoly can do to you...

By DigitalFreak on 7/3/2006 1:04:49 PM , Rating: 2

Exactly. I wish Microsoft would update DirectSound 3D so we could get away from this EAX proprietary (v3+) crap. I like the idea of OpenAL, but I don't believe it has native support for 3D sound.

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RE: What a monopoly can do to you...

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 1:47:11 AM , Rating: 2

Precisely. That's exactly what needs to happen. These stupid 3D algorithms are basically the same thing with a few tweaks here and there. Just standardize it and drop it into Windows already.

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RE: What a monopoly can do to you...

By BZDTemp on 7/3/2006 1:12:19 PM , Rating: 2

I for has choosen to settle for EAX 2.0 because that's the price of going with a HDA Xplosion card while on the up side it's encoded 3D gaming sound to Dolby Digital and even DTS! So I'm able to get great sound and taking advantage of proper speakers instead of being stuck with plastic PC ones.

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RE: What a monopoly can do to you...

By fenderkb76 on 7/3/2006 11:21:09 AM , Rating: 2

I read an article a year ago about how Creative is buying any new up and coming sound company they can get their hands on. They are to soundcards what Microsoft is to operating systems. Sure there are other cards available, but typically, the home user is best off with Creative's feature set, not considering quality of course. It will get worse before it gets better as Creative keeps buying companies. If only Via could license EAX support for a reasonable price, but it will never happen. That would create a true competitor for Creative.

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LOl

By probedb on 7/3/2006 10:50:13 AM , Rating: 5

I love the 'allows sound to be heard from speakers' fixes.....hmm, so what exactly is a sound card for again?

RE: LOl

By gersson on 7/3/2006 11:17:18 AM , Rating: 2

yeah, that's a funny one :-D

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RE: LOl

By granulated on 7/3/2006 11:18:24 AM , Rating: 2

and its 42 megs.

Creative are such a bunch of tosspots.

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new card?

By Chernobyl68 on 7/3/2006 6:07:24 PM , Rating: 2

Still very happy with my SB Live! Gamer I got for Christmas about 6 1/2 years ago...currently the oldest piece of hardware in my PC.

RE: new card?

By Ghouler on 7/4/2006 5:08:30 AM , Rating: 2

I upgraded my Live to X-Fi and do not regret this.
I presume this whole bashing here has nothing to do with actual cards. They are very good. I have no crackles or anything like that

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RE: new card?

By z3R0C00L on 7/4/2006 3:09:09 PM , Rating: 2

I know why...
You see some people don't know how to build a computer. They buy a bunch of hardware, put it together (often the wrong way) install a copy of windows and some drivers and voila.. they get issues.

They're told by some elitist moron that the reason they're having issues is because of there soundcard.. sure enough they remove there soundcard and because of pure circumstancial luck there system works. So from then on they're on some crusade like quest to defeat infidels (creative users).
I haven't had a SINGLE, yes SINGLE issue with my Audigy or x-Fi sound cards. I will admit I did have issues with a SB Live! and VIA chipset back in the day, since then it's all been good.

As for Audio quality.. no sound card touches an X-Fi. Like literally, truthfully and honestly. As of todays date, the X-Fi is the best card out there. This comes from MANY independant tests. Of course EVERY websites is paid for by Creative right? *rolls eyes*.

Go back to NGOHQ... all the retards should hang out there.

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RE: new card?

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 4:28:43 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah no sound card has better audio quality than an X-fi, especially none of these:

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/sound_cards.htm...

Nothing does, not those M-audio cards, or the RME ones, or the Lynx ones. Creative X-fi beats all of them!

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Just Fine!

By constant on 7/3/2006 3:09:50 PM , Rating: 2

Unless you need a recording studio, the X-Fi Extreme is awesome. I have klipsch THX certified 200watt 2.1's & they are sweet. I don't play games & have never heard the popping or crackling sound either. My card has the 'Creative ASIO' super low latency ( <2ms direct digital to HD, regardless of audio format) driver. which foobar can recognize, however I prefer xmplay. I would prefer to use the on board digital but too much noise & my speakers don't have digital inputs anyways.

RE: Just Fine!

By Wwhat on 7/4/2006 1:13:09 PM , Rating: 2

THX certifies 2.1? weird

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RE: Just Fine!

By sxr7171 on 7/4/2006 4:24:14 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah, they also certify hair care products and tampons now. Enjoy your "THX certified" system.

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Creative = they rip everybody off :-(

By BZDTemp on 7/3/2006 1:16:12 PM , Rating: 2

I for one stopped buying their over priced stuff with the SoundBlaster 128 PCI. Imagine thinking you're buying a great gamer card with 100% compatibility just to discover it's really a rebadged discount piece of hardware only really being compatible with SoundBlaster Pro (That's an 8-bit card) and not anything SB16, SB32 or SB64.

Today I say get HDA for gaming and Hoontech for semi-pro audio.

Creatives cards

By Crusader on 7/3/2006 2:40:10 PM , Rating: 2

Have always been crackling piles of crap. Just looking at these driver release notes makes me wonder why anyone would use one of these? What a waste of time and added variable to deal with in a rig that is very apparantly going to be problems.

If one needs better than onboard (audiophile quality), use an M-Audio for crying out loud.
The gaming FPS gained by using a SB is nothing at high resolution + AA/AF. Just another variable to add to system issues, and wasted money.

Hey, I think the drivers are great!

By phidesticks on 7/3/2006 2:55:08 PM , Rating: 2

The last driver release I installed for my Audigy 2 essentially damaged Windows beyond bootability. Consequently, the delightful Audigy card got to meet Mr. Hammer (who spends his days dwelling in the dark despair of my garage) and eventually found its way to where every Creative Labs product should be: in the trash.

Hoorah! for Creative Labs driver updates for releasing me from the shackles of barely functional bloatware!