Tuesday, November 6th 2007
Creative Releases PCIe X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Creative Technology today announced the PCI Express (PCIe) Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio card that is designed to make music and movies sound way better. It features the award-winning X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio technologies which enhance audio playback and deliver virtual surround sound effects. The Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio will be available in late November at a suggested retail price of US$69.99.
"We are excited to introduce the first PCI Express Sound Blaster for the desktop PC, continuing our legacy as the de facto audio standard for PC digital entertainment," said Steve Erickson, Vice President of Audio for Creative.
The Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio features two fundamental audio technologies to help improve the overall audio experience for users. The X-Fi Crystalizer revitalizes downloaded music and movies, restoring the details and vibrance lost during compression. This X-Fi technology intelligently enhances musical dynamics by emphasising sharp percussive sounds and transients, creating a "punchier" and livelier listening experience.
The X-Fi CMSS-3D function allows users to expand their stereo music and movies into surround sound. To the listener, voices would appear to originate from the centre and ambient sound appears all around, similar to the listening experience in a live performance.
The headphone surround effects will sound like multi-channel speakers positioned all around the listener. Listeners will feel as though they are surrounded by multiple virtual speakers, sitting with their favourite band or as if they have the best seats in the movie theatre.
Gamers enjoy full realistic sound effects with the Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio. Games sound superb with positional audio that is so accurate gamers can locate their enemies by sound. EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 sound effects allow gamers to elevate their gaming experience to the next level. It also comes with Creative ALchemy software that allows Windows Vista users to enjoy legacy DirectSound 3D games. This software will detect the presence of a number of top PC games, converting the games' DS3D and EAX calls into OpenAL calls, allowing gamers to enjoy these titles in full, multi-channel sound with hardware effects.
Pricing and Availability
The Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio will be available in late November at the CREATIVE Stores at Marina Square, Plaza Singapura and International Business Park, the online store at sg.store.creative.com, as well as major retail outlets in Singapore, at a suggested retail price of S$119.00 (US$69.99). For more information about the Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio and X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity, please visit www.asia.creative.com
Source:
VR-Zone
"We are excited to introduce the first PCI Express Sound Blaster for the desktop PC, continuing our legacy as the de facto audio standard for PC digital entertainment," said Steve Erickson, Vice President of Audio for Creative.
The Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio features two fundamental audio technologies to help improve the overall audio experience for users. The X-Fi Crystalizer revitalizes downloaded music and movies, restoring the details and vibrance lost during compression. This X-Fi technology intelligently enhances musical dynamics by emphasising sharp percussive sounds and transients, creating a "punchier" and livelier listening experience.
The X-Fi CMSS-3D function allows users to expand their stereo music and movies into surround sound. To the listener, voices would appear to originate from the centre and ambient sound appears all around, similar to the listening experience in a live performance.
The headphone surround effects will sound like multi-channel speakers positioned all around the listener. Listeners will feel as though they are surrounded by multiple virtual speakers, sitting with their favourite band or as if they have the best seats in the movie theatre.
Gamers enjoy full realistic sound effects with the Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio. Games sound superb with positional audio that is so accurate gamers can locate their enemies by sound. EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 sound effects allow gamers to elevate their gaming experience to the next level. It also comes with Creative ALchemy software that allows Windows Vista users to enjoy legacy DirectSound 3D games. This software will detect the presence of a number of top PC games, converting the games' DS3D and EAX calls into OpenAL calls, allowing gamers to enjoy these titles in full, multi-channel sound with hardware effects.
Pricing and Availability
The Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio will be available in late November at the CREATIVE Stores at Marina Square, Plaza Singapura and International Business Park, the online store at sg.store.creative.com, as well as major retail outlets in Singapore, at a suggested retail price of S$119.00 (US$69.99). For more information about the Creative PCIe Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio and X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity, please visit www.asia.creative.com
22 Comments on Creative Releases PCIe X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Maybe Creative decided the Europeans should get something first though, heh.
If it supports EAX, this is nice. If it dosn't I'd wait for PCI-E 1x XtremeGamer. But those optical in/outs are great, still tempting, but Audigy 2 will do for now.
EDIT: noticed it says EAX 4.0 and X-Fi cards do 5.0. So it could be true, as my card does 4.0 already. So it's PCI-E version of Audigy 4 with optical in/out really :)
Wonder if it has surround over headphones effect as my PCI version - this is quite cool...
Optical in and out are nice but is PCI Express better for audio quality then PCI at all?
i wounder how many game as they go to say "This software will detect the presence of a number of top PC games,"
I'm glad I didn't buy one like I wanted to, since I never even took the time to notice this is basically a few audio outputs, with the ability to use X-Fi Crystalizer, and pretty much nothing else.
The X-Fi never needed a heatsink originally, it was just added on later, as the demand for X-Fis grew, Creative had to get sloppy with the manufacturing process, meaning that sometimes, hotter chips were used, with a heatsink stuck on, so they could be used by consumers.
If you notice, the original ones never had heatsinks, but my Xtreme Music, is from about 6 months after launch, and it has a heatsink.
The only reason, IMO, that Creative is pushing the PCIE is to resolve a lot of the BUS issues the PCI cards have. The X-Fi is a major BUS hog, which is what has lead to many issues with GPUs, especially nVidia hardware. By throwing the X-Fi into a PCIE slot, it ends up with a higher BUS rate than on a standard PCI BUS.
But, in doing so, you end up with weaker and poorer audio compared to the PCI solutions.
Plus, on some motherboards, you can run into BUS negotiation conflicts with VGA adapters, especially if you're running a multi-GPU platform. Have a gander in the XSS thread, there's one complaint right there - since this issue has come to my attention, I've seen a few others reported online, also. It seems like a great idea to snag a X-Fi PCIE x1 to make use of those relatively useless x1 slots, but I don't think Creative has really thought it all the way through.
Ply
Anyhow, the X-Fi's aren't all that bad, but they do have their share of issues. TBH, the only Creative X-Fi card I strongly recommend is the Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro (I think it's just called the Fatal1ty not). It actually performs on-par or better than the Meridian 7.1, and is priced lower. But, that has a lot to do with the Fatal1ty flagship card is a completely different breed than the lower models. Besides, it seems (and from my experience) that there are fewer issues with the Fatal1ty cards as there are with the other models, too.
Although, I have to agree, too, if you want the absolute best in audio quality - snag an Auzentech. If you're a bit on a budget but are still looking for superior quality, get a Fatal1ty.
The one thing that gets me a little irritated with Creative, though, is that the audio drivers for the Auzens are written by Creative. If they can write such stable and functional drivers for a 3rd party, why not do so for their own products? :wtf:
EAX® 3.0 ADVANCED HD™ (Audigy)
EAX® 4.0 ADVANCED HD™ (Audigy 2 & 4)
EAX® 5.0 ADVANCED HD™ (X-Fi)
www.soundblaster.com/eax/abouteax/
"EAX Advanced HD (EAX 3.0) supports 64 (Audigy), EAX 4.0 again supports 64 (Audigy 2), and EAX 5.0 allows 128 voices (and up to 4 effects applied to each) (X-Fi)." from wiki.
Battlefield 2142 for example supports EAX Advanced HD 4.0 as well as 5.0. As seen on the image below I'm using advanced HD, but there is own setting for X-Fi:s.
<a href="http://img185.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=20721_advancedhd_122_582lo.jpg" target=_blank><img src="http://img185.imagevenue.com/loc582/th_20721_advancedhd_122_582lo.jpg" border="0"></a>
i mean does it makes any diffrence between them?
google some reviews
I called Emachines - and the agent there said 'Join the subscription service' and they will give you the fix. I am considering suing - and I am told that it may even be built into Vista to make it not work to keep people from copying when listening to mp3's on the web.
Well I want this feature and wonder if anyone here writes code and will write the code to make this work?
Thanks
Riceski@gmail.com
I'm cheap.
I'll stick on onboard audio.
Lester
ccspry@bigpond.com