I'm not sure... but I think Creative has started banning naysayers.

[LAN_deRf_HA]

As "Derf" http://forums.creative.com/t5/Windows-7/Creative-time-to-release-new-drivers-for-X-Fi-series-on-W7-fixes/td-p/549517/page/4

I made one post and now my account has been unverified and my email banned. I know it could be some random technical issue but honestly, if they've ignored the deafening complaints of their customers over these driver issue for so many years now I wouldn't put it past them to just start sweeping it all under the carpet. I'm unsure though since they haven't bothered to delete posts. Either way it bugs me that they've made no changes to address their issues. Most any other company would have been forced to improve after this amount of public outcry for such a prolonged period... but creative has some how managed to go on ignoring people even with increased competition from Asus. It literally feels like they've never read a support ticket and just sit around getting drunk at the beach.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2usc21h.jpg

 

[qubit]

I've read your post over there and it definitely looks like you've been banned because you've pointed out the truth and made them look bad. Fixing the problems doesn't seem to be on their agenda, does it?

Shame this shit doesn't hit their bottom line, isn't it?

 

[human_error]

Doesn't suprise me - creative have been banning people on their forums for years if they complain too much (even since the whole vista driver debacle). They just don't want to confirm that there are still serious driver problems and either ignore you or ban you.

It's for this reason many people have got rid of their creative cards and gone for things like the asus xonar series as the driver support is better.

 

[Mussels]

creative are like that.

notice how it doesnt state you're banned, so other users will never know?

 

[Batou1986]

The general consensus is creative sucks ever since the x-fi release they have been trying to cover up the fact that they cant make drivers for there own products.

I for one will never buy a creative product again after the 10000's of times ive had this x-fi card act up and not work properly, im glad windows pulled DX audio support out from under creative
so they can no longer blame microsoft for there problems.

Anyway if your having problems with your card try using the x-fi support pack 2.0 they work flawless for me and are the the best drivers for the xfi that anyone has ever released even on vista win7 x64 they work great unlike creatives drivers.

 

[Mussels]

The general consensus is creative sucks ever since the x-fi release they have been trying to cover up the fact that they cant make drivers for there own products.

I for one will never buy a creative product again after the 10000's of times ive had this x-fi card act up and not work properly, im glad windows pulled DX audio support out from under creative
so they can no longer blame microsoft for there problems.

Anyway if your having problems with your card try using the x-fi support pack 2.0 they work flawless for me and are the the best drivers for the xfi that anyone has ever released even on vista win7 x64 they work great unlike creatives drivers.

creative has sucked for a lot longer than that, they've been useless for years - it only became apparent to the masses when vista came out, however.

example: many nvidia chipsets caused crackling/popping on creative cards, and they copped the blame. in the end it was creatives fault, but they'd never admit it.

the only reason to buy creative, is to get EAX support... and thats a joke these days anyway. (the one and only reason it works, is that creative ties 5.1 surround sound into EAX, so that in their sponsored titles no creative card means no 5.1 sound)

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

The only issue I have with this card is with some bass sounds I get popping, which seems to be a 64 bit Windows 7 driver issue. Other than that I do enjoy the card. I have had it freeze a bit when switching modes but I usually just keep it in entertainment mode so that I can deal with. I think Auzentech should have thought more carefully before making cards that would depend on creative's drivers. If either that x-fi support pack or pax drivers fix the popping in win7 then I might be pretty well off.

On a side note I find it odd how radically different my Fatality PCI X-Fi card and my Forte react to the crystallizer. With the old PCI card it needed the crystallizer to sound decent period, with the Forte it seems the more enhancements I turn off the better the sound.

 

[qubit]

I reckon my systems must be charmed. I've had two creative cards over the years and had very little problems with them. I'm not doing anything special, either.

I've got a Soundblaster Live! 5.1 (a cheapie) years ago and a while back upgraded to the X-Fi ExtremeMusic and wow! - the sound out of this new card is awsome. In fact, I like it so much, that I got a second OEM one a while later I saw going for a good price.

Oddly, they use the same chip and have the same capabilities, but have a different board layout, different ID and require different drivers.

 

[Mussels]

I'm not doing anything special, either.

exactly why they work.

if you manage to run the few hardware/software combinations they actually test (more or less, intel boards with older OS's like XP, in cool ambient environments with clean power) then you'll be problem free.


go beyond that, and you start running into hell (some of the cards overheated causing audio problems, attaching heatsinks fixes it - popping issues on Nv chipsets, broken drivers in vista, and now 7, and so on)

 

[qubit]

exactly why they work.

if you manage to run the few hardware/software combinations they actually test (more or less, intel boards with older OS's like XP, in cool ambient environments with clean power) then you'll be problem free.


go beyond that, and you start running into hell (some of the cards overheated causing audio problems, attaching heatsinks fixes it - popping issues on Nv chipsets, broken drivers in vista, and now 7, and so on)

I've used the Live card on nforce2, nforce4, some old Intel chipsets (HP D530 PC, new card, too) and P55 boards all with no issues. I'm not being funny, I know people have problems with them, but they just work for me. Please see my system specs for the latest iteration of sound card and system.

Could the fact that I only ever use two channels have something to do with it all just working, perhaps?

 

[Mussels]

i had less issues with my old live card as well, the problems mostly occured audigy 2 onwards.

2 channels might be related.

 

[KainXS]

the creative forums are like a cult right now, back when eax and x-fi cards were still useful to a large degree they allowed some slack but after eax started to run out of steam they had to compensate for it and you can't allow bad pr when you have nothing on the market really, and the only thing you have that really sells is something you don't sell(auzentech) when your own cards don't really sell anymore.

look at the comments

Shame on you Creative...



Creative has lost my faith in them, seriously.

do you really think creative would allow that kind of bad pr on their own forums

lol

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

X-Fi ExtremeMusic

Without x-ram you'd have been lucky enough to not be effected by the open AL issues in games like UT3. Though sadly their eventual fix was to decrease audio quality for all users, instead of just disabling the usage of the ram for that game, as mod fixes managed to do. It was only under pressure from EPIC, who actually listens to their customers, that we got even that pitiful fix.

 

[Disparia]

creative has sucked for a lot longer than that, they've been useless for years - it only became apparent to the masses when vista came out, however.

example: many nvidia chipsets caused crackling/popping on creative cards, and they copped the blame. in the end it was creatives fault, but they'd never admit it.

the only reason to buy creative, is to get EAX support... and thats a joke these days anyway. (the one and only reason it works, is that creative ties 5.1 surround sound into EAX, so that in their sponsored titles no creative card means no 5.1 sound)

I'll take it back even farther!

I stopped using them when they were causing problems with dualies back in the P3 era. Turtle Beach gained some customers then.

 

[Mussels]

I'll take it back even farther!

I stopped using them when they were causing problems with dualies back in the P3 era. Turtle Beach gained some customers then.

i wasn't involved much back then, by the time i knew who turtle beach were, they were off the market.

 

[Fly spray]

Is nice to feel supported when in hardship. I think you may find some support elsewhere, not on Creative forums if they abuse with neglect. Is possibly better elsewhere about the card where people care. I recommend an Asus Xonar card to you or perhaps other forums where you can express and share problems and ways to fix problems.

 

[MKmods]

i wasn't involved much back then, by the time i knew who turtle beach were, they were off the market.

I remember when Turtle Beach Santa Cruz was da Bomb!... dam that was short lived.

Lucky for us we have the Asus and Auzen cards now...(much better for less $)

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I bought my last Creative product 7 years ago (Audigy 2 ZS which was great, until I upgraded to Windows 7). That isn't going to change any time soon.

 

[dank1983man420]

I bought an xfi elite pro just to get some good sound to my receiver from the digital optical output on the big unit that comes with the card, just to find out they never had it working in the first place. Does anyone know if they ever got this fixed or know of any modded drivers that actually do this?

 

[assaulter_99]

Thats why creative is a dead brand walking. Rip, you did make good cards back in the days.

 

[Goodman]

Now these days with on-board HD sound (which sound pretty good IMO) it not necessary the have a pci card for sound anymore ,
unless you do something specific like a house studio or something.

 

[Mussels]

Now these days with on-board HD sound (which sound pretty good IMO) it not necessary the have a pci card for sound anymore ,
unless you do something specific like a house studio or something.

my headphones sound like arse on both my systems onboard, however my speakers sound fine. just an FYI.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Onboard can't pump out 110+ dB without getting nasty; moreover, sound cards take the audio load off the CPU during gaming (10-15% typical in single-core processors).

 

[KainXS]

10 to 15%, . . . . . I only got that when using Eax, but without it I only remember getting better sounding quality, and maybe 3% on average.

 

[brandonwh64]

i bought a X-FI Fatal1ty edition and it didnt work with a 650I chipset or any Nvidia chipset that is. then i sold it and the guy that bought it couldn't get it to work so he demanded a refund so i refunded him and told him to keep it.

Personally i wouldn't buy Creative. I only have a X-FI Supreme now cause its onboard my motherboard but if i had a choice i would take a onboard realtek setup any day. i haven't had any problems out of them on ANYTHING.