X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by Cold Storm

It works now that way... but if I go and click on the "Creative Mode Switcher" it gives me an error... stating its not installed... so now everything is a go... Sweetness! thanks Imperialreign! now just have to make all the fuzzy's go away on my tv tuner and i'm hooked up!

no prob, man. If you want the mode switcher - you'll have to install it from the CD, then. It's not offered on Creative's site.

Not sure I can help with a TV tuner - no experience there

[Cold Storm]

I just have to work with the coax and it will be fine... i'm pulling on it because the case is out to far... and i thank you again. I really don't care about the switcher since you can do it in the mode your in now...

[SK-1]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

no prob, man. If you want the mode switcher - you'll have to install it from the CD, then. It's not offered on Creative's site.

I think that it is crap that Creative wont allow the mode switcher to be downloaded

[btarunr]

guys, X-Fi goes well with Vista, just that you lose out on a lot of multichannel features for the lack of DirectSound. Please let's not build a taboo around Vista and X-Fi. Every diver release of ALchemy brings with is support for dozens of games so there is an effort from Creative's side for sure.

[Cold Storm]

I'm all for it... got upset at first, but now Creative FTW!

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by SK-1

I think that it is crap that Creative wont allow the mode switcher to be downloaded

It's not considered "necessary" software for use and operation of the card - one can change the mode by going into the X-Fi control panel, or using the volume icon r-click menu.

guys, X-Fi goes well with Vista, just that you lose out on a lot of multichannel features for the lack of DirectSound. Please let's not build a taboo around Vista and X-Fi. Every diver release of ALchemy brings with is support for dozens of games so there is an effort from Creative's side for sure.

agreed - I'm just irritated with MS over various things in Vista, not Creative. I give them a lot of credit for how hard they're focusing on Vista issues. Like I pointed out, I don't recall them releasing any XP updates or betas since Vista was released to market.

[tigger]

I just thought i'd let you guys know.

I connected the ac97 front panel headphone connectors to the 10 pin connector on the x-fi,and now my front headphone socket works.YaaaaY

[Cold Storm]

can you show in pics tigger? if so I'll thank you so much! you don't even know!

[tigger]

Heres how its connected-



What i did was used a 8 pin connector from an old dvd player that fitted on the connector on the x-fi,tha had 8 wires coming off it.Then i took some connector pins from a firewire connector thing that came with my board(see below pic) and soldered the little connectors onto the ends of the wires on the 8 pin connector.Then just pshed them into the correct holes on the cases ac97 fp connector.If you dont understand still i will post some more pics and try to explain a bit better.

[Cold Storm]

I'll be linking that to rm and seeing if it was the same way we were going to do it.. thanks a lot man.

[EarlZ]

Hi,

Been using my X-Fi Extreme Music nearing 3 years or so and i had no issues with it and hopefully it will stay like that forever, Im just wondering why the newer cards ive seen come with a heatsink on the X-Fi chip as mine doesnt have any...

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by tigger69

Heres how its connected-

I kinda thought I had the x-fi pins backwards in the other pic I posted, but I also thought I was pretty sure I had it right I should change that pic and re-host it . . .

I'm planning on doing some stuff with my card today, I'm going to see if I can't get all 9 pins from an HD/Azalia pinout working with a FP connection, simply because I'd rather have the HD headset capability instead of just minimal, y'know?

If I get it working, I'll post that up, too.

[tigger]

You might wanna stick a sink on it.i think creative started putting them on coz they was getting hot.If its ok tho' maybe not.My extreme musc has one on it.

Edit-on my case the fp connections have 2,a ac97 one and a hd one.I dont think it matters which one you connect to,it does the same thing.I dont know what the differance is.

[btarunr]

tigger, can you work out a similar chart for making use of a Intel HDA front-panel header to be put to use with a AC'97 connectors? I have an antique CM Centurion (2005) that comes with AC'97 front-panel.

[Cold Storm]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Hi,

Been using my X-Fi Extreme Music nearing 3 years or so and i had no issues with it and hopefully it will stay like that forever, Im just wondering why the newer cards ive seen come with a heatsink on the X-Fi chip as mine doesnt have any...

have you been using xp or vista? Tigger and I are using Vista and thats where we are having problems with.. Microsoft doesn't care for creative anymore..

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by tigger69

You might wanna stick a sink on it.i think creative started putting them on coz they was getting hot.If its ok tho' maybe not.My extreme musc has one on it.

Edit-on my case the fp connections have 2,a ac97 one and a hd one.I dont think it matters which one you connect to,it does the same thing.I dont know what the differance is.

it's all in the wiring. Both the AC97 and the Azalia connections are interchangeable, but the Azalia is wired for HD connectability at the FP PCB.

about the HS, if you're talking about the passive sink they put on the APU, all newer revision X-Fi's have a heatsink. The early models had a nasty problem of overheating the capacitors, which lead them to either pop or start leaking. Keeping the APU cool actually helps prevent the capacitors from reaching critical mass.

I'm going to be heading out soon, as I'm planning on picking up some supplies for some mods - I'm going to swap out the LEDs on the board, and I also intend to make an EMI shield/heat spreader for the card. I'm not too worried about the DAC, OPAMPs, mosfets or other chips getting too hot, but I want to try and keep the capacitors as close to the same temp as possible. Because capacitor operation is directly affected by how hot they are, you'll have more consistent audio quality if you can keep them as close to the same temp as possible.

Originally Posted by btarunr

tigger, can you work out a similar chart for making use of a Intel HDA front-panel header to be put to use with a AC'97 connectors? I have an antique CM Centurion (2005) that comes with AC'97 front-panel.

this is from a post here at TPU I made months ago - I think this pin setup will work for the Azalia connections:

Here's the AC97/Azalia pinout, taken from Intel.com:

1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10

1 Mic_In - Front panel microphone input signal (biased when supporting stereo microphone)
2 Aud_GND - Ground used by analog
3 Mic_Bias - Microphone power / additional MIC input for stereo microphone support
4 Aud_GND - Ground used by analog audio circuits
5 FP_Out_R - Right channel audio signal to front panel (headphone drive capable)
6 FP_Return_R - Right channel audio signal return from front panel (when headphones unplugged)
7 AUD_5V - Filtered +5 V used by analog audio circuits
8 Key - No pin
9 FP_Out_L - Left channel audio signal to front panel (headphone drive capable)
10 FR_Return_L - Left channel audio signal return from front panel (when headphones unplugged)

and here's Creative's I/O drive pinout for Audigy/X-Fi (as best I've been able to research online):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 - Analog ground
2 - Left out
3 - Audio backpanel mute (grounded with headphone jack plugged in - I think this is Left Return)
4 - Right out
5 - same as pin 3 (I think this is Right return)
6 - Mic In from front panel
7 - no pin
8 - VREF Mic out (voltage reference for mic)
9 - Mic In mute (ground when mic isn't plugged in, +12V with mic plugged in)
10 - Audio Detect (ground when headphones plugged in, not normally used)

Soooooo . . . I've figured this crossover from my AC97 connector to the X-Fi (I list the AC97 pin numbers in the X-Fi pinout configuration):

2 9 10 5 6 1 8 3 7 4






I plan on seeing if that will work later today

[EarlZ]

Mine doesnt even get hot at all, im just using a 2.1 speaker system if that matters. Any application maybe i can try to probably stress test the APU so i can see how much heat it generates ?

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Hi,

Been using my X-Fi Extreme Music nearing 3 years or so and i had no issues with it and hopefully it will stay like that forever, Im just wondering why the newer cards ive seen come with a heatsink on the X-Fi chip as mine doesnt have any...

1. X-Fi cards don't have any problems in cooler countries/air-conditioned environments but they do, in arid/semi-arid/hot conditions because the chip heats up a lot and this chip heating up affects the operation of other components such as capacitors and several units from some of the first production batches faced severe capacitor problems, little did many realise that a heated IC overloads its power-conditioning circuit. Even with this heatsink I can touch the heatsink after 30 minutes of Doom 3 (with EAX 4.0 HD) and find it seriously hot.

2. The Heatsink also acts as a basic EMI shield. Yes, a metal plate that can dampen EM waves can shield a component of EMI.

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Mine doesnt even get hot at all, im just using a 2.1 speaker system if that matters. Any application maybe i can try to probably stress test the APU so i can see how much heat it generates ?

Sorry, didn't even notice your original post there! Welcome to TPU!

One of the best means of stressing the X-Fis is to load up an audio heavy game - Doom 3 or Quake 4, if you have them, are both capable of bringing even the Fatal1ty cards to their knees. You can use a temp diode to read temps on the APU, or an IR temp gun, but there is no software to do such, though.

TBH, if you don't have a heatsink on the APU, I'd seriously recommend installing one. It need not be anything fancy, a typical copper or aluminum chipset 40mmx40mm heatsink without motherboard mounting provisions will work. Most come with some form of thermal tape or thermal epoxy to allow you to affix it, just make sure that the top of the APU has been cleaned with rubbing alcohol first, to allow for the tape to adhere well. You can even go one better and attach a small 40mm fan to this. The HS that Creative has put on the cards are a tad small for 40mm fans, though

[btarunr]

The best way to stress CA20K1 is that you enable 7.1 speaker mode (even if you don't have the speakers), turn on Crystalizer, CMSS-3D, and play a game that fully supports hardware mixing and EAX 5.0 HD (like BF2/ Bioshock), play a multiplayer game online with several players firing from all directions. That should be a task the CA20K1 was really designed for.

[EarlZ]

Thanks for the welcome but ive been here in the forums since 2006 but only having a VERY few post till i saw this forum topic on the side bar ( i visit this site daily for tech news/updates )

anyway here is a pic of my card


The APU is indeed covered with a X-Fi sticker... lol





I've always been wondering why this lone capacitor is installed with its contact points a bit higher first time ive seen it on a PCB




I dont have airconditioning in where my computer is located nor it can be considered cold here ( only during rainy season ). Been using this card for almost 3 years from now..

Any other game aside from Doom3 and Quake4, I dont have any thermal diodes so the finger touch test is my only method

[tigger]

I've edited the pic with what i think is the headphone connectors for the hdaudio connector.I'm not sure about the mic tho' but i do know that the port2 connectors are headphone and the port1 connectors are mic.



Feel free to check them and correct me if i'm wrong.

[EarlZ]

Originally Posted by btarunr

The best way to stress CA20K1 is that you enable 7.1 speaker mode (even if you don't have the speakers), turn on Crystalizer, CMSS-3D, and play a game that fully supports hardware mixing and EAX 5.0 HD (like BF2/ Bioshock), play a multiplayer game online with several players firing from all directions. That should be a task the CA20K1 was really designed for.

Any other possible test that i can complete alone ?

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by EarlZ

Any other possible test that i can complete alone ?

Any game that supports HW mixing and EAX 5.0 that is utilizing more than 64 hardware voices will stress it. You can do it even in stereo, stepping up output channels will stress the DAC more than APU, take back my word.

Finger testing my heatsink after even 30 minutes of Doom 3 (5.1ch + EAX 5.0) heats it up badly.

[Cold Storm]

Originally Posted by tigger69

I've edited the pic with what i think is the headphone connectors for the hdaudio connector.I'm not sure about the mic tho' but i do know that the port2 connectors are headphone and the port1 connectors are mic.



Feel free to check them and correct me if i'm wrong.

The only thing I see wrong is the color coding! yellow is blue??! from the pic it looks right... just need to wait til this evening to make sure and I'll post pics and stuff for everyone... plus my case pics... I'm hoping at lease