Warning About Creative X-Fi

[Blacklash]

See this:

http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=Articles&go=read&arc_id=76

[???]

I wonder why they always get good reviews then as you never see these issues mentioned in the reviews and people I know with x-fi never had these bugs

[etherealrhythm]

meh, find me a link that isnt so shamelessly optimised for hits (look at the titlebar) and maybe i might pay attention. this guy obviously has some sort of grudge.

i got an x-fi this morning and am loving it. although i did go from realtek onboard with zalman surrounds to the x-fi and some senn hd 595s, so i probably dont count.

im still to discover the usefulness or otherwise of the many features, but so far i am really impressed. anything you read about the features draining system resources is probably untrue, as ive seen a noticeable performance increase in games like oblivion, and my cpu usage has decreased from when i was using the dfi onboard. plus im sure everyone whos not just looking for excuses to attack the x-fi can spare the 350-odd mb hard disk space.

unfortunately it is worth mentioning that i have had some problems with random lockups already, but id rather look at a real link to help me alleviate these issues, and try and find some constructive thinking as opposed to narrow-minded bashing.

regards,

ER

[mdzcpa]

Just visit the creative support forums. There are folks there with trouble, as is the case with all support forums. But there is no indication of inherent issues. There is simply isn't enough trouble reports (unlike the old soundblaster reports on the VIA KT133 chipset which had trouble reports comsuming the online forums).

Looks like someone is hunting for hit count.

[FragTek]

Answer = HDA > Bluegears > Auzentech :)

[etherealrhythm]

sorry, i dont think that really helps the problems people are having with their x-fis.

but yeah, it would seem alot of people are having trouble, and from the comparatively little ive read into it, there are a lot of fixes for a lot of problems.

but there are a great number of satisfied customers, and i havent seen a single person whose x-fi works flawlessly not raving about their experiences with it. i consider myself lucky that i can just listen without fuss right off the bat. the only real downside to my x-fi experience thus far is that i can now really hear the flaws in my mid-quality encodings, and it makes me want to buy a fortune worth of CDs. but im listening to the new tool album with my x-fi right now, and im pretty certain my ears just ejaculated.

[nn_step]

This is why I use Via Envy24, on my main rig..
Flawless sound, Zero compatability issues with any other hardware, Works flawlessly with EVERY single OS that I have tried.. even a defective version of Server 2003

[Bootsy]

where can you buy a Via Envy24?

[nn_step]

where can you buy a Via Envy24?
it is an Audio chipset and Most computer stories carry or can order a card with it for you.
What budget are you looking into and I'll see if I can find you a nice one.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

my sound blaster 5.1 card was only a few bucks and it does the job quite nicely, i really don't see why people need these uber sound cards, i can see the purpose for some features but I personally don't find it worth the price, the sound blaster card i have now has good midi sound and supports EAX for games, i think it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $20

[FragTek]

sorry, i dont think that really helps the problems people are having with their x-fis.
As a matter of fact yes it does :D Go get yourself a better sound card :)

[Nanometer]

poping and crackling has always been a bug with creative soundblaster products strangly enough



Yup, I think onboard sound will play better. I'm not so worried about losing 2% cpu power

yea...

[Delirious]

Creative does have the worst driver support in the industry, i think everyone can agree on that. Thats why i use the kx-audio drivers, night and day difference in sound and alot more control.

When i wear this audigy out ill be getting something else, like nn said, with the envy24 chip on it, something like this (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/terratec-aureon71.html). Old review, but it has the envy chip on it.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

i thought it was funny when after reinstalling windows on my 3 year old pc the soundblaster card still had the same driver it was shipped with...

[nn_step]

Creative does have the worst driver support in the industry, i think everyone can agree on that. Thats why i use the kx-audio drivers, night and day difference in sound and alot more control.

When i wear this audigy out ill be getting something else, like nn said, with the envy24 chip on it, something like this (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/terratec-aureon71.html). Old review, but it has the envy chip on it.
That is the Envy24 HT, it is a lower end product.. but none the less it demonstrates it nicely..

[JoeBar]

Yup, I think onboard sound will play better. I'm not so worried about losing 2% cpu power

yea...
U think. If u try a X-Fi u'll surely hear the difference. ;)
There not a single onboard audio chipset that can compete to a X-Fi. The top notch onboard audio chips are on par with an Audigy.

[qdemn7]

Response from Creative: http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=61926

[Delirious]

Response from Creative: http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=61926

So basically they are blaming everything else but thier card?:rolleyes: I dont see how they can blame all the other computer parts when people with such a wide variety of systems are all haveing issues.

[Sentential]

Its a combination of heat and power, ive done my own testing on this matter and thats the conclusion I have come to.

Example one: Card #1 began to start to crackle shortly after use. Noticed there was a power plug-in on the PCB, plugged a floppy power cord into card and the crackling went away completely.

Some time later the crackeling returned and it was far worse, tried removing the power but was met with a screetching noise that is ear splitting. Pluging the power back in removed the screeth but it still crackled. From this point the card was RMAed.

Return Card #2: Crackled immediatly out of box and shortly afterward the screeth appeared (RMAed immediatly)

Card #3: Worked fine for about a week then the same symptoms returned and the card hardlocked the box (returned again)

Card #4: No issues so far (knock on wood)

So there you have it folks it took 4 cards before I got one that worked (none of them had a heatsink)

[mdzcpa]

I think my first post in this thread is wrong. There is definitely a problem. I don't think it effects a majority of users though.

I've built no fewer than 6 rigs (I think, maybe 7) that use the X-fi. Not a warranty call on any of these builds. Everyone seems happy thus far. These were all built between late last fall and early march. 2 were dual core, SLI rigs. 3 were single high end carded with dual cores, and my own fx-60 SLI build. The first 2 had no heatsinks. The last 4 did. All were the x-fi music cards.

I beleive creative when they say its hard to recreate. I've had various configs.

That said, there are a lot of unhappy campers. I may need to find another soundcard to use. Trouble is, all the guys I build for want the X-fi.

[qdemn7]

I may need to find another soundcard to use. So do you have any other cards in mind that would be a good balance between gaming and music?

[mdzcpa]

So do you have any other cards in mind that would be a good balance between gaming and music?

I'm looking at the AudioTrak Prodigy which is Envy24 based. Its a bit outdated and lacks EAX 4 and 5, but it gets great reviews and has no imcompatability reports.

[nn_step]

I'm looking at the AudioTrak Prodigy which is Envy24 based. Its a bit outdated and lacks EAX 4 and 5, but it gets great reviews and has no imcompatability reports.
I have that card and I love it. I have yet to find an OS that it doesn't play nicely with. Just one word of advice DON'T USE AudioTrak's drivers.. get the Via drivers.. they actually allow the emulation of EAX 4/5 :D and the sound quality is still amazing :up:

[mdzcpa]

I have that card and I love it. I have yet to find an OS that it doesn't play nicely with. Just one word of advice DON'T USE AudioTrak's drivers.. get the Via drivers.. they actually allow the emulation of EAX 4/5 :D and the sound quality is still amazing :up:

Thanks for the tip:thumbsup:

[5days]

I actually have an X-fi Xtreme Music.

And yes I do have the incompatability with NF4 chipsets (bluescreens and random restarts). I think I might trade it for an Xplosion.

Boy it took long to find out the crashing was my sound card.

[qdemn7]

I have that card and I love it. I have yet to find an OS that it doesn't play nicely with. Just one word of advice DON'T USE AudioTrak's drivers.. get the Via drivers.. they actually allow the emulation of EAX 4/5 :D and the sound quality is still amazing :up:So I assume you mean the VIA Vinyl Envy24 controllers drivers?

[kiwi]

No problems here with X-Fi, and no probz on Nforce either.
I did have some driver problems with audigy 1/2, however.

[nn_step]

So I assume you mean the VIA Vinyl Envy24 controllers drivers?
Correct

[eddieate]

hmm I think my Tascam US-122 does a great job and any sound card is gunna have to go a fair way to make me change it...
Ed.

[krylon]

I've had no serious issues with my X-Fi. Absolutely love it. It was buggy at first with my NF4 and 6800 Ultra, but trying different driver combos worked it out. As long as you are a little patient, you couldn't be happier. I'm impressed both with the CPU utilization in games and the SQ. The Creative card that I hate is the original Live! Talk about trash. BSODs, crackling, lock ups, you name it.

[babalouj]

I was gonna upgrade from my M-Audio Revo 5.1/7.1 (I have engineering samples of both) to an x-fi but I think I will wait a little longer until things get sorted out. Atleast I know if I have problems with my Revo's my brother (the actual designer or the card) will look into it unlike creative and their blaming of other companies. Its a shame M-Audio decided to drop out of the PC sound card realm because before the X-Fi, it was the hottest card out.