Creative X-Fi Soundcards and Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 1709 = Complete Disaster / Not Working

[rtwjunkie]

@rtwjunkie
Had 5 different creative cards, all failed with the left channel having less output when below 1/5-1/4 of total volume.
Crackling noise on 2 when changing volume.

Not even talking about their driver support
(no, Daniels drivers dont count).

Unless its a card above 100$, i wont get anything from creative anymore.
the asus xonar dgx/dx are cheaper, and most the time will also sound better...

Yeah good luck with that current Xonar driver support. Asus isn't even trying anymore, not since their lame W8 attempt at drivers.

Your experiences are yours, not attributable to the vast majority of Creative cards in the last ten years. Anecdotal, so to speak.

Indeed, Creative has been supporting X-Fi with constantly updated drivers for ten plus years now. I expect they will get around to Windows 1709 at some point too. The real problem is MS that changes to a new OS every 6 months now.

 

[erixx]

Huh? You know most, including in this thread don't have that experience? Was it supposed to be helpful?

Helpful? Telling people that think they are guilty, that it's the drivers. I just see that problems with Destructive go on and on and on... Users must be real audiophiles willing to invest into tweaking and modding custom driver installs. For me it is not appealing at all. Been throught it too many times. Since SB16...

I am loving onboard because I just forget about it.

 

[Waldorf]

Never ran the creative or asus driver, and dont really care, seeing the improvements on 3rd party ones..

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yeah good luck with that current Xonar driver support. Asus isn't even trying anymore, not since their lame W8 attempt at drivers.

DanielK also has drivers for Xonar cards. Worth checking out.

Your experiences are yours, not attributable to the vast majority of Creative cards in the last ten years. Anecdotal, so to speak.

That's what I was getting from his statement too. I've only ever had one Creative card fail and it was a failed cap, which after an easy replacement, worked fine afterwords. I have literally bought and installed hundreds of SoundBlaster cards over the last 25 years.

Indeed, Creative has been supporting X-Fi with constantly updated drivers for ten plus years now. I expect they will get around to Windows 1709 at some point too. The real problem is MS that changes to a new OS every 6 months now.

I'm betting they will too. Yeah a lot of people are getting annoyed, irritated and tired of Microsoft changing things so often. I'm telling you all, Microsoft is sinking their own ship..

Helpful? Telling people that think they are guilty, that it's the drivers. I just see that problems with Destructive go on and on and on...

Yeah, you're in the minority. The only real driver problems I've ever had with Creative cards was with the Dell versions of the X-Fi card's, which all had a slight customization for Dell PC's which broke compatibility. A simple download from Dell's website fixed it.

Users must be real audiophiles willing to invest into tweaking and modding custom driver installs. For me it is not appealing at all. Been through it too many times. Since SB16..

If you're having that many problems, since the SB16 days, you need to have a professional do your upgrades. Driver installs for SoundBlaster cards, and Creative products in general, are and have always been as easy as pie. Additionally, if you think the desire for high quality sound output appeals only to "Audiophiles", then onboard sound is likely something you should stick to.

I am loving onboard because I just forget about it.

Right..

 

[rtwjunkie]

DanielK also has has driver for Xonar cards. Worth checking out.

I did not know that! At least someone is supporting Asus' cards.

Anyway, I'm out of here. OP problem has been solved to his satisfaction with a new card.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I did not know that! At least someone is supporting Asus' cards.

Actually, the latest update improved Win10 support for the Xonar series.
https://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/2017/01/updated-windows-10-drivers-for-asus.html

 

[Ferrum Master]

audiophiles willing to invest into tweaking and modding custom driver

How those things walk together, you are a bit lost. I have had almost any Creative card since AWE64, and many CMI (including Xonars) at the current state Creative is miles better, the still gave a driver to their more sophisticated yet older X-FI platform.

If you talk about hardware part, and problems, that's another story, you hijack the thread with rubbish attitude, that's your own personal thing, so it be, use the onboard thing. I never did and will too, so what?

Unixonar is the only option to use an Asus card now, yet they are still horrid and do things on their own. Daniel doesn't do drivers anymore, there was a clash with creative in their forum, forget it, currently it is not even needed.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I have had almost any Creative card since AWE64,

Ah, the AWE64. I loved the SB16 and the AWE32, but the with the AWE64 Creative really started to shine! The SB-Live was an even more impressive step forward. I still have my old SB-Live 24bit.

Daniel doesn't do drivers anymore, there was a clash with creative in their forum, forget it, currently it is not even needed.

Unless that was really recent, like in the past few months, that is incorrect. His most recent update was this year.

 

[Waldorf]

I do like the uni driver for the xonar, never felt the need to try Daniel's version, but used them on the creatives.

Not saying all creative cards are bad, but 5 different cards experiencing the same issue makes you wonder.
And even if its just a cap, then C went for cheap ones, as i dont see quality caps failing unless voltage/amperage is outside the range.
Especially since non of the xonars i had/have or installed for customers have any hardware issues.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Unless that was really recent, like in the past few months, that is incorrect. His most recent update was this year.

It was during summer or late spring IMHO. AWE64 really was something...

I do like the uni driver for the xonar, never felt the need to try Daniel's version, but used them on the creatives.

Not saying all creative cards are bad, but 5 different cards experiencing the same issue makes you wonder.
And even if its just a cap, then C went for cheap ones, as i dont see quality caps failing unless voltage/amperage is outside the range.
Especially since non of the xonars i had/have or installed for customers have any hardware issues.

I have feeling you popped the output Intersil Mute switch or for an older design simple key transistor key. They are coupled further, you cannot do harm, unless you make some hideous ground loop while hot plugging. RCA is the worst thing in the world also. The cards are really hot, it is a hell for caps. Some will fail after 2-3 years for sure. Depends on the type and place.

I've know those cards from each schematic bit, they are all simple as a bicycle. That's why I like to see them, measure, even steal engineering ideas.

None of them is perfect, that's for sure.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It was during summer or late spring IMHO.

Just went looking. Didn't find anything. Do you have a forum link?
I did however find this; http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=126331
It's a list of all the currently supported driver packages from Creative themselves for Win10.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yeah good luck with that current Xonar driver support. Asus isn't even trying anymore, not since their lame W8 attempt at drivers.

Your experiences are yours, not attributable to the vast majority of Creative cards in the last ten years. Anecdotal, so to speak.

Indeed, Creative has been supporting X-Fi with constantly updated drivers for ten plus years now. I expect they will get around to Windows 1709 at some point too. The real problem is MS that changes to a new OS every 6 months now.

Another reason I've stuck to 7, no issues like that. I also watch what updates can bugger 7 up.

I just say report the issue to Creative Labs and Microsoft.

 

[Melvis]

Yeah I have had it up to here (my head) with W10 with its BS, I was getting random freezes and crashes all the time and I thought it was my hardware (RAM) having issues, to the point W10 wouldnt boot anymore and had to freshly install it again (but keep my old files option) but even after this it still did the same thing, This wouldnt happen when I booted into W7 as I had duel boot on this which is also a big pain in the ass as W10 and W7 HATE eachother so much they want to repair C: drive and then inturn fucks the install.......anyway I did the latest update for W10 this 1709 and......yep it F it up to the point now I gotta use a disk to reinstall it and to make matters worse W10 and its I will rule over everything approach has also made it now that I can not boot into W7 unless W10 is installed, I can not boot unless the W10 drive is there running, WTF!

One last try of this this "OS" and then its getting the boot and I will just stick with 7 till I have no choice but to use W10

End rant

 

[Ferrum Master]

Just went looking. Didn't find anything. Do you have a forum link?
I did however find this; http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=126331
It's a list of all the currently supported driver packages from Creative themselves for Win10.

There was a cached version explaining, Daniel was active there, but went haywire. No new posts. His threads were purged.

http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=7

 

[arbiter]

i have an older platinum card and its been working fine on the new update.

 

[lexluthermiester]

There was a cached version explaining, Daniel was active there, but went haywire. No new posts. His threads were purged.

http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=7

You are the only person who has said this, and with a lack of anything anywhere else to lend insight to your suggestion, gonna have to say let's wait to hear from DanielK himself.

Yeah I have had it up to here (my head) with W10 with its BS, I was getting random freezes and crashes all the time and I thought it was my hardware (RAM) having issues, to the point W10 wouldnt boot anymore and had to freshly install it again (but keep my old files option) but even after this it still did the same thing, This wouldnt happen when I booted into W7 as I had duel boot on this which is also a big pain in the ass as W10 and W7 HATE eachother so much they want to repair C: drive and then inturn fucks the install.......anyway I did the latest update for W10 this 1709 and......yep it F it up to the point now I gotta use a disk to reinstall it and to make matters worse W10 and its I will rule over everything approach has also made it now that I can not boot into W7 unless W10 is installed, I can not boot unless the W10 drive is there running, WTF!

One last try of this this "OS" and then its getting the boot and I will just stick with 7 till I have no choice but to use W10

End rant

While I haven't had those kinds problems, right there with you. To be fair, Windows 10 has been getting better but still, it's crap show compared to 7. Windows 7 is easily Microsoft's finest achievement.

i have an older platinum card and its been working fine on the new update.

SB-Live, Audigy or X-Fi? There was a Platinum version for each of those product lines.

 

[Ferrum Master]

SB-Live, Audigy or X-Fi? There was a Platinum version for each of those product lines.

There is only one possibility that could trigger a driver fault... Ryzen and its platform + X-Fi... I would agree on that as a primary cause of the issue.

 

[lexluthermiester]

There is only one possibility that could trigger a driver fault... Ryzen and its platform + X-Fi... I would agree on that as a primary cause of the issue.

That is highly doubtful. I've built a few Ryzen based systems and with one of them the owner wanted to recycle his X-Fi. It works perfectly.

 

[Ferrum Master]

That is highly doubtful. I've built a few Ryzen based systems and with one of them the owner wanted to recycle his X-Fi. It works perfectly.

With the latest Win update? Could you ask that guy if everything is fine with 1709 RS3?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Actually, I've already helped him with it. The update reinstalled a few things I'd removed for him and he wanted them removed again. The sound is working perfectly with his X-Fi Titanium.

 

[arbiter]

SB-Live, Audigy or X-Fi? There was a Platinum version for each of those product lines.

i had it listed in system specs so would been quick to check but its X-FI. Bought my board that had pci slots so could keep using it for little longer, even debating if would get next one with it just to get a few more years outta it.

 

[Athlonite]

I can swear by DanielK's drivers for the X-FI way better on the Fatality than the standard Creative crap which gave me no end of of problems now though not a single problem with DK's drivers

 

[erixx]

The problems is one thing, and having to reinstall windows is another...

 

[eidairaman1]

Answer to this, WINDOWS 7

 

[Readlight]

I think i will start to use next year Linux Zorin there is even CAD if price will be ok combo whit 7 that slow 10 performance on my tablet and other computers, security is disgusting.