Creative Announces Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD and USB Sound Blaster X-Fi HD Audio

[ToTTenTranz]

Well, not everyone should get HDMI receiver, but only those who are wiling to spend +300$ on audio part of their PCs. Will ask you a question : what kind of DSP can we find in ASUS Xonar Essence STX? Is it a very inexpensive C-Media chip? May tell you that similar C-Media revisions can be found on 12 year old audio card for 10$ (new) or integrated in some ancient PIII motherboards. All the sound magic is happening in ASUS Xonar-s analog part. This is the place where HDMI receiver excels.

Dude... you're saying complete nonsense. The "sound magic is happening in Asus Xonar's analog part"? And then you say "this is the place where HDMI receiver excels"?

HDMI -> digital, not analog.

Besides, high-end soundcards (X-Fi Prelude and others) have very high-quality DACs, even comparing to mid-range (~400€) receivers.
What they don't have is a matching amplification circuit, of course. Sound cards are made to connect to powered speakers or ear/headphones.

 

[R_1]

HDMI is just a port, that I am using when playing movies/games on HDTV, so forgive my ignorance when referring to AV receiver as a "HDMI" receiver.

 

[pr0n Inspector]

Cheap $500 receivers can't even drive headphones properly.

Also, not everyone likes $1000 mediocre speakers.

 

[pjladyfox]

Actually, when MS was first beginning work on Vista, they did plan to have DirectSound. They were actually working closely with both Creative and nVidia to incorporate an improved version for hardware access and other low-level chores. For whatever reason, late into the game, nVidia backed out, and soon after MS dropped the project altogether - I've yet to hear what happened, and who was at fault for this EPIC FAIL - and MS went ahead without DirectSound. They used the lame BS excuse that they were cutting the feature because the majority of system crashes in XP were due to software trying to access the audio kernel (reason I say BS is because I've never seen an audio-related BSoD in XP, and have never seen anyone else complain of a BSoD that turned out to be audio related). Either way, it left Creative with about 6 months to completely re-write their early Vista drivers, for an OS design they were not originally designing for. Big reason why their Vista beta drivers didn't release until about 1 month before Vista's release.

And I defi agree on the OAL point - Only Creative and Auzen properly support the API. ASUS, HT, C-Media and every other audio manufacturer need to get off their arse and start getting involved with the project. The only thing ASUS has been doing with OAL is using it to gain "backdoor" access for EAX3+ support (their "EAX" software operates nearly the same as Creative's ALchemy).

That's interesting. I had heard about Creative being involved with it but I'm really surprised at NVIDIA's participation especially since they dropped support for their SoundStorm line. The only reason I can think of that Microsoft switched gears like that is that they had no real confidence in Creative being able to carry the rest of the project to a degree to make going any further worth the effort. Not saying that I excuse the major FUBAR that Microsoft did but Creative really has not built up a lot of confidence especially considering their rather rabid defense of EAX.

I did some current reading on OpenAL and it looks like Creative is pretty much carrying things at the moment. This could explain why there really has not been any major adoption of it by say Realtek or C-Media since they've already been burned by Creative over the entire EAX fiasco. I mean, were I in the same shoes I'd be rather hesitant in order to work with them especially since Creative could turn around and incorporate any information into their own hardware regardless if it is an "open" standard.

Again, not an excuse for the involved parties but it could explain a great many things. Does not make it any easier for those of us on the front lines dealing with all of the fallout over the complete and utter lack of progress in audio.

Yeah, and even for those cards that do support OAL perfectly fine - there's also issues on the software side . . . some media programs are still having issues in Vista . . . and we need to see more software dev support with OAL as well.

TBH, I'm glad the audio industry is moving to PCI-E, as that has really cleared up a lot of audio clipping problems related to the PCI BUS, and the fact that most modern hardware is extremelly heavy on the SYS BUS. The increased bandwidth with PCI-E allows the card to send and recieve more info per clock cycle, and that's a major bonus with some processing heavy audio cards.

But, we need to see more audio manufacturers start going to native PCIE, instead of relying on the translators. As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, it adds latency to the audio processing stream, and that's not exactly something you want in regards to audio. TBH, I've kinda felt it's a bit of a joke from all the audio manufacturers . . . everyone has gotten wrapped up with the SNR war, and keep stouting they have the best audio quality - but are using poor design architecture (even Creative were guilty of this with their first PCIE card).

Oh, do not get me wrong I know that the movement towards PCI-E is a good thing but I also have to be a realist here that a great many STILL use PCI-based audio cards. By designing fixes for resolving a lot of the PCI latency issues it carries forward to the PCI-E line. This, in turn, would allow for a larger potential customer base for sale AND would encourage game developers to hop onboard with OpenAL completely rather than the hackneyed software audio that they are currently using. I think a lot of momentum could also be garnered if the consoles went over to OpenAL as well.

Either way, the feature war needs to stop and we desperately need someone outside of Creative to take the lead towards driving OpenAL adoption across ALL hardware platforms. At the rate we're going now I'll be retiring before we'll actually see this happen.

BTW - if you're experiencing a lot of EMI noise, you could attempt some DIY fixes. It's a hard noise to get rid of, but there are some things that might clean it up - if the noise is being induced from the local environment . . . if the card is picking up noise via the SYS BUS, there's not too much you can do

I'm really holding off on doing anything major until I can get a new set of headphones to replace my ancient Razer HP-1's since I think they may be part of the problem. The fustrating thing is that finding a decent set of 5.1 dedicated audio headphones is not easy nor cheap. And whomever thought the entire USB 5.1 audio was a good idea needs to be repeatedly nut stomped until they can no longer produce children.

 

[btarunr]

Not many takers for OpenAL in a post Windows Vista world because...nobody other than Creative makes real audio processors. Only HSP controllers. OpenAL gives the application a direct path to hardware, but when that hardware doesn't know what to do with raw audio stack the app, hence the OS has to process it using the CPU. With real hardware processors (which Creative makes), it gets processed on the card.

 

[Wile E]

[snip] since I'm really getting tired of the humming I hear in my headphones from EM noise.

You could always just attempt to build a simple emi sheild for your current card. Shouldn't be too hard to manage, and would be a hell of a lot cheaper to do than buy a new card.

 

[RejZoR]

Well, i know ADI (Analog Devices) supports native OpenAL. Not sure about Realtek...

 

[Wile E]

Well, i know ADI (Analog Devices) supports native OpenAL. Not sure about Realtek...

It supports it in software. The cpu still does all the work. Creative is the only manufacturer that makes true hardware accelerated DSPs.

 

[imperialreign]

It supports it in software. The cpu still does all the work. Creative is the only manufacturer that makes true hardware accelerated DSPs.

It's an APU, dag-nabbit!

 

[TAViX]

You could always just attempt to build a simple emi sheild for your current card. Shouldn't be too hard to manage, and would be a hell of a lot cheaper to do than buy a new card.

Interesting. How do you do that??

 

[imperialreign]

Interesting. How do you do that??

There's a few different methods - probably the most basic would be to use some aluminum foil and fold it over on itself 3-4 times, making sure it's about the same L and W of the card, and a little bit longer at the PCI bracket so you can attach it there. You'll need to find some way to support the "shield" from the other components on the card . . . thermal pads, double layered duct tape, folded up electrical tape, rubber washers tapped onto the shield, etc.

It's looks a little barbaric, but it works.


Another idea would be to use the outer casing from an old HDD. Makes for an excellent shield. Little bit harder to attach to the card, though, and you might have to use a small piece of wire to connect the shield to the PCI bracket.

 

[Wile E]

It's an APU, dag-nabbit!

And an APU is a DSP.

 

[TAViX]

There's a few different methods - probably the most basic would be to use some aluminum foil and fold it over on itself 3-4 times, making sure it's about the same L and W of the card, and a little bit longer at the PCI bracket so you can attach it there. You'll need to find some way to support the "shield" from the other components on the card . . . thermal pads, double layered duct tape, folded up electrical tape, rubber washers tapped onto the shield, etc.

It's looks a little barbaric, but it works.


Another idea would be to use the outer casing from an old HDD. Makes for an excellent shield. Little bit harder to attach to the card, though, and you might have to use a small piece of wire to connect the shield to the PCI bracket.

Seeems.......complicated....

 

[kaosII]

When I started to reply there where 6- 7 replies as I went to post............Holy crap this seems to be a very touchy subject.
I deleted my original post and I'll just watch. Glad you're not all in the same room.

 

[RejZoR]

Any idea when these will be available in Europe? They were suppose to be available in March but it's mid April now and i haven't seen a single one in any of our stores. And i want one now because i can't stand the rotten Xonar anymore.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Any idea when these will be available in Europe? They were suppose to be available in March but it's mid April now and i haven't seen a single one in any of our stores. And i want one now because i can't stand the rotten Xonar anymore.

whats wrong with the Xonar??

 

[RejZoR]

It's rubbish, that's what it is. And i don't want to see it anymore. BSOD after BSOD and when i think i just managed to patch it i get a BSOD. Fuck that. I threw it out and i'll sell it as soon as i can.
Sound was good when it worked. But that was all gone when i swapped HD4870 for HD5850.

So, do you have any idea when will Titanium HD cards be available?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

according to creatives news report - the cards were released in Singapore at the end of march - but have found no additional info other then that.

 

[Wile E]

It's rubbish, that's what it is. And i don't want to see it anymore. BSOD after BSOD and when i think i just managed to patch it i get a BSOD. Fuck that. I threw it out and i'll sell it as soon as i can.
Sound was good when it worked. But that was all gone when i swapped HD4870 for HD5850.

So, do you have any idea when will Titanium HD cards be available?

You don't necessarily have to wait for them to release. The Auzentech X-Fi Forte or X-Fi Bravura would be excellent alternatives. Both are based on the same X-Fi processor, and have the same attention to detail, and are built from top quality components.

 

[RejZoR]

I know, but i'd prefer the Creative one.

 

[Wile E]

I know, but i'd prefer the Creative one.

Really? The Auzen cards are built better, and less people have been complaining about the drivers than the typical Creative card. But hey, to each their own I suppose.

 

[Steevo]

My onboard with tweaked drivers, and a good tweaking sounds OK. Mostly it is just the crap filters, and encoder/decoder codecs that cause the poor quality sound. And the lack of real power, but if I want that I just burn a CD and listen to my yamaha. I can feel my eardrums flex at high volumes.

 

[RejZoR]

Really? The Auzen cards are built better, and less people have been complaining about the drivers than the typical Creative card. But hey, to each their own I suppose.

As it turns out, Titanium HD cards are nowhere to be found (no one knows when either), X-Fi Bravura is rubbish (renamed X-Fi Xtreme Audio with better components). I could hardly get my hands on Auzentech X-Fi Forte. But i got it and it just shipped out. I'm expecting it tommorow. Will see how it works.

 

[TAViX]

I wonder....Is a SB Live! better than the on-board soundcard??? Just found one in my old PC...

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If you got Reatek HD codecs then probably no.