Sound Advice

[Darren S]

Yep - only the onboard 64MB X-Ram on the Fatal1ty and the Elite Pro. The other two (Platinum and Xtreme Music) don't have it.

Roy, the question you have got to ask yourself is the fact that you've forked out for a dogs danglies PC and yet you're considering sticking to onboard audio. That's the equivalent of buying a 182 Trophy and asking for it to come with steelies instead of decent alloys!

And unlike anything else on a PC, audio doesn't progress anywhere near as quickly as the rest of the components in terms of new standards. The X-Fi will be good for at least another 3 years, minimum, I reckon.

D.

 

[Rasclart]

As Darren said. I mean to be honest the Audigy 2 is STILL a cracking card and look how old that is

 

[Munson]

Brother, I've already said that I will be getting new card

I just need to decide on details.

 

[Darren S]

Brother, I've already said that I will be getting new card

I just need to decide on details.

Doesn't mean diddly squat until we see the pics!

D.

 

[Munson]

This XRAM bollox;

I understand it's only an advantage if the game is written to use it? Plus, having 2GB of high speed DDR2 ought to enough to load sounds into? I am finding it hard to believe the claims of the FPS edition

 

[Munson]

Well anyway, considering I've always been after a decent set of cans for my hi-fi but never got around to it. Now, I also now have an iPod, and my latest games requirements to consider, so I've just ordered a set of SR80 mofos for £88 delivered

Apparently they have more low end than the SR60 amongst other advantages. Just need to decide on a card now

I just know I'll end up buying the Fatality X-Fi one, and then I'll end up with the exact opposite scale of kit that I intended to buy

EDIT: Strewth, OCUK have the Platinum on special offer for £99 inc. VAT

 

[Darren S]

Well anyway, considering I've always been after a decent set of cans for my hi-fi but never got around to it. Now, I also now have an iPod, and my latest games requirements to consider, so I've just ordered a set of SR80 mofos for £88 delivered

Apparently they have more low end than the SR60 amongst other advantages. Just need to decide on a card now

I just know I'll end up buying the Fatality X-Fi one, and then I'll end up with the exact opposite scale of kit that I intended to buy

EDIT: Strewth, OCUK have the Platinum on special offer for £99 inc. VAT

Spend the extra £35 and get the Fatal1ty instead. It's not even a tank full of juice for our 182's!

D.

 

[Munson]

Yeah I know mate but I've used that logic throughout the build and I reckon it's cost me a few hundred squids!

At this stage though I guess it's a lost cause trying to be sensible. I guess, as you pointed out really, I will keep the card for the life of the PC and maybe it'll even get transplanted into TheBeast3, so if the coders start writing to take advantage of the onboard RAM anytime between now and then, the £35 would be worth it.

 

[Munson]

Do you get sticker saying "Fatal1ty" with the retail card?

If so then I'm sold already.

Gutted that I didnt get a 7950GX2 case sticker

 

[Munson]

Jesus those cans are breathtakingly good

Just ordered the FPS edition X-Fi also

 

[Rasclart]

Glad your happy with the cans.

Knew you would be. Bloody good price for the SR80's fella

Small jealous yours are better than mine as is your PC

 

[Darren S]

Jesus those cans are breathtakingly good

Just ordered the FPS edition X-Fi also

Good man!

Make sure you download the latest drivers from www.soundblaster.com m8 - the ones on the Install CD are prehistoric. You'll have to use the ones on the CD to install it first though.

There's also that X-Fi specific patch for UT2004 - make sure you get that too....

D.

 

[Munson]

Whether you use headphones or speakers you'll know exactly where your enemies are by utilizing advanced technology for amazing positional gaming audio. With headphones X-Fi CMSS-3D externalizes the audio by creating ten virtual speakers around you, above you and below you for an experience that's so real you'll forget you're wearing headphones. When using speakers X-Fi CMSS-3D uses virtual positions to place sounds anywhere around you, so your gaming audio is no longer restricted by the number or placement of your speakers. Now you can enjoy the most accurate gaming surround sound ever!

So, coupled up with a pair of Grado SR80 = MINT

 

[Munson]

FFS! I remember reading about Grado cans some time ago in What HiFi, but I had no idea headphones could sound so good, and this is just on my iPod, when I play a good CD on the NAD, I reckon I'm gonna get hard

Even cheaper...

http://www.headphoneworld.com/HeadPhoneWorldSite/pages/product/product.asp?prod=GO02&ctgry=FullSize&categorytrackingid=6|GO02

 

[Darren S]

FFS! I remember reading about Grado cans some time ago in What HiFi, but I had no idea headphones could sound so good, and this is just on my iPod, when I play a good CD on the NAD, I reckon I'm gonna get hard

Even cheaper...

http://www.headphoneworld.com/HeadPhoneWorldSite/pages/product/product.asp?prod=GO02&ctgry=FullSize&categorytrackingid=6|GO02

LOL - PMSL at someone who's 104 years of age.... :rasp:

D.

 

[Munson]

104?

 

[Darren S]

According to your profile, you were born on the 18th Jan, 1902.....

D.

 

[Munson]

Edited. :clown:

 

[Munson]

Suberb sound quality I have to say. The 3D thing does a pretty good job of creating positional audio with a stero pair, although obviously not a patch on real surround. I have not yet spent too much time setting it all up properly, but I have some problems;

1) The remote does sweet FA (do you need media source installed for that?)

2) Show stopper, using the Grado headphones, all I can hear is static and crackling. Not very impressed although I'm sure it's fixable.

Actually I better go off and update the drivers before worrying too much...

 

[Munson]

POS :dead:

 

[Darren S]

What is???

 

[Munson]

The X-Fi was

I had loads of crackling problems, and the headphone jack on the front panel was just totally fooked. Updated the BIOS to revision 0603 and it's pretty much fixed everything. Slight pops when Windows loads (sometimes) but nothing serious. I've been reading a lot of people with nForce chipsets having the same problems. Thankfully, the BIOS update worked for me.

Fantastic sound quality with this card, stunning through the Grados :approve:

 

[wozzaa]

You need to install few of the programs off the cd in order to use the remote and it'll do everything then has its own browser which loads up i use it when im in bed if i wanna watch something since i use the comp as my dvd player in my room. And another thing make sure you install the xfi in the last pci slot if you can should really do the same for all sound cards while ago they used to be purpose built for soundcards but i had less crackling installing mine in the 5th slot down for some reason in fact i get non now no updated bios or anything on the card either nd im using a DFi nf4 sli board.

 

[Munson]

You need to install few of the programs off the cd in order to use the remote and it'll do everything then has its own browser which loads up i use it when im in bed if i wanna watch something since i use the comp as my dvd player in my room. And another thing make sure you install the xfi in the last pci slot if you can should really do the same for all sound cards while ago they used to be purpose built for soundcards but i had less crackling installing mine in the 5th slot down for some reason in fact i get non now no updated bios or anything on the card either nd im using a DFi nf4 sli board.

Yeah cheers dude, I always install in the bottom slot if for no other reason than to give maximum airflow under the gfx card. I kind of did figure I'd need the MediaSource application to get the remote working but it's not something I'm bothered about just now.

The X-Fi is a quality product anyway, so thanks for all the advice and help along the way from everyone

 

[Munson]

Scrub that. What a proper POS. What is the point in offering a headphone jack that doesnt actually work for more than 5 minutes at a time without frazzling, crackling & popping?

£135? FFS

 

[wozzaa]

Strange one. Have you tried switching modes when its crackling? Part of the software that comes with it has specific modes to let it play music or play games etc i find whe you change a mode if there was any crackling it does get rid of it and gets rid for as long as the computer is turned on. Does also make difference in SQ i find.

 

[Munson]

It's only happening with using the front headphone jack. Really f**king annoying

 

[Munson]

I seem to have solved the problem (for now) by 'underclocking' the mobo back to stock.

I've just been playing Prey with EAX and all the fancy 3D surround through the Grado SR80 cans, and it's absolutely jaw droppingly good audio. It's a fantastic sound card. If only it didnt have these silly little problems. FFS it's a card aimed at the top end gaming market called the "FPS EDITION" yet it seems (I think) that it cant handle an OCd mobo.

Who knows if that was the problem, since it was working fine after the mobo BIOS update but then decided to fall apart again. If it works rock soild on a stock mobo for a few days I'll be reasonably happy.

Slightly disappointed with my reactionary dummy spitting antics today, but this build has just been a total fcuker from start to end, breaking strain of a Kit-Kat

 

[Darren S]

LOL at you Roy - talk about good-crap-good-crap responses!

I had no clicks or pops with the games and X-Fi. Only a slightly noticable one with the original BF1942. However, that all turned to sh1t when I tried Flatout 2 yesterday. Wozzaa - you've got Flatout 2 as well, haven't you m8? Does it pop and click like a good one for you?

I haven't tried the DirectSound option in the settings yet to prove/disprove an X-Fi issue, but no doubt ppl will b**ch and it will be resolved with a patch.

Slightly O/C'd CPU speeds. From each core running at 2,400Mhz, they are currently on 2,639Mhz. Maybe I'll try what Roy did and drop it back down?

Cheers,
D.

 

[David]

look on the creative forums for help, i'm sure there is a fix, it's a great card and i run mine with my pc oc'd.

 

[wozzaa]

Yeah got flatout2..no pops or clicks.

settings are

Sound output: Direct sound
Sound driver: SB X-FI Audio[BC00]
Speaker type 5.1 surround
Mixing rate 48khz
hardware 3d is ticked as well.

One suggestio though you have made sure your PCI bus speed is locked in your bios when overclocking right shoudl be set at 33mhz. If its higher could be causing your problems.

Also some games i have noticed run better if you set them to run in a win98 compatibility mode as sometimes they can seem like the timescale has been screwed up when its just run normally. If you set it to 98 it will just assign the game directly to the 1st core.

 

[Darren S]

David - I'll have a look later on, m8...

Cheers wozzaa - I'll give that a go this weekend too.

D.

 

[Darren S]

wozzaa - made no difference m8.

However, I did try King Kong on Win98 compatibility mode and that worked fine. Still a crap game though.

D.

 

[wozzaa]

Not sure what to suggest then mate tried checking creatives site seeing if theres an updated driver / bios on there site. I could also be using a different driver being that im using XP x64 so may make a difference.

Other than that not sure what to suggest.

 

[Darren S]

Actually wozzaa - you've got a good point there. I've still got the SATA drive in there with the XP64 OS on. I could try installing it on that and see if it works? I put everything back to default settings in BIOS last night and tried it again. Still popping and crackling. I've also checked for a patch update, but there's nothing as of yet.

Shame really as the game itself is superb!

D.

 

[Darren S]

wozzaa - switched to 64-bit and it still did the same. Messed with a few more options and unticking the 'Hardware 3D' tab makes it work fine.

Unfortunately, I bet unticking that box have transferred a fair bit of work back to the CPU instead of letting the X-Fi handle it all. Oh well - I guess there will be a patch soon enough. Looking at some of the FO2 forum posts, my issue is trivial in comparison!

D.