X-Fi: Any good for high end equipment?

sovietdoc

Okay, I know professionals are gonna laugh in my face because I consider the set of Z-5500 Digitals "high end" but anyways. I am wondering whether X-Fi Elite Pro actually sounds really nice on some high end equipment. All the reviews I read said the card was amazing, but none of them had tested it out with say Gigaworks S750 or Z-5500's. I heard people say that on the high end equipment it sounds "too bright" and hurts ears. I am wondering if thats true or not because I wanna use it for DVD Audio and as far as I know that tests our the most of your sound hardware as far as the playback quality. So anyways, does it really sound much better on the high end equipment?

dj_stick

if it souinds too bright, simply EQ it to your liking, but the higher quality the sound card, the more your speakers will shine (and vice versa)

g35x

i have an xtreme music and it sounds AWESOME in games....was reccomended to me by a friend and i thought he was crazy telling me to spend 117$ on sound but it blew me away and was worth every penny,and what dj stick said is true just mess around with settings until it sounds perfect

sovietdoc

K thanks guys

Shakey_Jake33

Curious, what card did you upgrade from? I'm still looking for the extra shove to make me ditch my Audigy2 ZS

sovietdoc

Yeah, I am still not sure whether or not to upgrade from the Audigy2 eX. If creative would release a card like X-FI with DTS Live 96/24 encoding, damn, I would be the first one in line to get it

Zelig

I'm in the same boat, except it's harder for me, since I'm leaning towards laughing at you for calling the Z-5500 high-end, and using digital connections.

Seriously though, I'm probably just going to have to get a card to try out to make my own opinions before buying, far too few people online have the same experience and pickiness as I have when making sound card/speaker decisions.
(You reading this Zardon? I remember some good comments when you got your Creative speakers. )

BiGBrOwNPimpsta

my friend's nuance system is $10k cdn, we used an optical connection to his digital reciever. we weren't able to get 96khz to work but it was amazing

g35x

onboard

GeneralClaymore

G35x I see that you having fun with your extreme music. So you though i was crazy =p. I went from a A2zs and notice the improvement , when I was shocked. I didnt expect this much improvement. I love the 3d Headphone mode, and I love the way my games sound now. In mmos I keep jumping as I turn around becase people sound like there standing right behind my chair in Project Entropia its like there talking at the back of my head.

Then the surrounding freak me out because i can hear all monsters around me and people its like hard to explain .

g35x

nah its easy 2 explain.....makes u go

kelticknight

looking at upgrading from audigy plat,
is there much difference between xi-fi fatal1ty and xi-fi platinum
there 70 euros difference between two,is it worth getting fatality or just platinum

GeneralClaymore

the fatal1ty has Xram, platinum doesnt.

kelticknight

is there much performance dfference,lets say in gaming and music

SeaWulf

Have not notice ahy difference on gaming but I do not think there are many games which take advantage of xram yet. (had A2Z) but the music sounds better especially if you used headphones. Noticed better sounds under EAX3/4 (crisper and more detail) ..this could be only in my mind ............

Shakey_Jake33

Got an X-Fi XtremeMusic today, upgraded from an Audigy2 ZS and am using Logitech Z-5500's.

There's a definate quality jump here. It's not the same kind of leap as going from onboard to an Audigy2 (that was a HUGE jump - I'd not dream of using onboard now), but it's well worth it if you use your PC for music a lot.

The 24-bit crystalizer rocks, you can disable it and hear a big difference. Bit disappointed with the new CMSS3D stuff... lots added for headphones, but I find the new 'StereoXpand' mode to not sound as immersive as StereoSurround (though the former is technically more 'correct' as it puts more forground/vocal focus in front of you)... but you get to choose anyway.

One disappointment with the X-Fi compared to the Audigy2 is that they've combined the Rear and Center/Sub inputs with the Line-in/Mic inputs, much like on most onboard solutions. This basically means you HAVE to buy the breakout box, or an X-Fi Platinum or above, to use Line-in *and* surround. This won't be an issue for you though, as the Z-5500 Control Center has a line-in, but it's a sneeky thing Creative did. I notice the FireWire port has been replaced with an old-style GamePad input - can someone confirm old-style GamePads work on this?

I reckon the upgrade shouldn't be priority if there's other parts of your machine that need seeing to, but if your like me and loving your Z-5500's and wanting more, you won't be disappointed.