Got my Prelude....First Impressions! :)

[ROBSCIX]

doh!

Didn't think that they would fly off the shelves that fast!

There was a very short supply to begin with. Most of the guys I know had them on Pre-order. There should be some more hitting the stores in October.

[Crow-]

I got my Prelude a few days ago, but i'm having a little "problem"..

I need to put the volume very high to ear clearly.
I always used onboard sound and closed headphones and with volume very low it was loud enough, but now i must put it very high to reach the same level.

I'm using open headphones now (HD595).

[Helmore]

That's not apples to apples, how is the sound when still using the same (closed) headphones? I'm asking this because the amount of 'juice' that your HD595 require may just be more then your previous closed headphones.

[Miwo]

thats strange, since many people have used 595s (low impedance) straight out of the jack without a problem on regular X-Fis. Compared to X-Fi/onboard, the output on the front line out should be even hotter on Auzentech cards.

I tested my 595s straight out of the jack, and at 50% Master Volume, the volume is more than adequate. Unless you like to listen to your headphones at ear-splitting levels, I don't see why you would need to crank up the internal volume very high. Besides, its only going to result in hearing loss or conditions like tinnitus...

Double check your settings and make sure you are bypassing Kmixer for music. If you are not listening to music, check your wave volume too, since that is set to 50% by default

[Donnie27]

I got my Prelude a few days ago, but i'm having a little "problem"..

I need to put the volume very high to ear clearly.
I always used onboard sound and closed headphones and with volume very low it was loud enough, but now i must put it very high to reach the same level.

I'm using open headphones now (HD595).

(easily overlooked), Are you using the headphone setting or 2.1 speakers? The Headphone setting should push those cans easily.

[Crow-]

how is the sound when still using the same (closed) headphones?

With the HD202 its just about the same, the master volume at 50%.
With onboard sound the master volume was always near 15-20%, and was loud enough for me.

Unless you like to listen to your headphones at ear-splitting levels, I don't see why you would need to crank up the internal volume very high. Besides, its only going to result in hearing loss or conditions like tinnitus...

Double check your settings and make sure you are bypassing Kmixer for music. If you are not listening to music, check your wave volume too, since that is set to 50% by default

No, I like my ears. I listen to rock/metal, but I don't like to blow my ears :P
Yes, the wave volume is already at 100%.

easily overlooked), Are you using the headphone setting or 2.1 speakers? The Headphone setting should push those cans easily.

Headphone setting.


So, is master volume at 50% normal? (the sound is not to loud, for me is normal)
The phones are HD595.

[Donnie27]

Headphone setting.


So, is master volume at 50% normal? (the sound is not to loud, for me is normal)
The phones are HD595.

If you're listening to Music, try the Entertainment Mode. Look for a little button just below the Master Volume Knob on the Main Menue Interface. This little button is the "Headphone" Volume controller. By default it is set low or something like only at 3 or 5 and it goes up to 10 and this is an Independent setting.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/8884/4

The Bloatware runs pretty good on the Prelude I'm told.

[Frisch]

I'm getting one...looking forward.

But if you want the ultimate recording, and card for music, it's still this one below. It's not for gaming though.

LYNX TWO

[Crow-]

If you're listening to Music, try the Entertainment Mode. Look for a little button just below the Master Volume Knob on the Main Menue Interface. This little button is the "Headphone" Volume controller. By default it is set low or something like only at 3 or 5 and it goes up to 10 and this is an Independent setting.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/8884/4

The Bloatware runs pretty good on the Prelude I'm told.

That is for Creative X-Fi. On Auzen X-Fi I don't have that option

This is the image on that link:


This is mine, on my Prelude:

[ROBSCIX]

@Crow, you need to remember also the Prelude has HOT output as all new Auzen cards do, the outputs are 5 Volts Max. Most other soundcards will run about 2v maximum. With this in mind you can actually damage some type of gear with incorrect levels. With the X-Meridian most guys just set both wave and master to 50% and used the speaker volume or receiver volume to control the overall system level. For headphones, you could set your Wave volume to 100% and use the master to adjust the level for your headphones. Does this help with what your asking?

[Donnie27]

Thanks Crow I didn't know that.

[Crow-]

@Crow, you need to remember also the Prelude has HOT output as all new Auzen cards do, the outputs are 5 Volts Max. Most other soundcards will run about 2v maximum. With this in mind you can actually damage some type of gear with incorrect levels. With the X-Meridian most guys just set both wave and master to 50% and used the speaker volume or receiver volume to control the overall system level. For headphones, you could set your Wave volume to 100% and use the master to adjust the level for your headphones. Does this help with what your asking?

I have wave volume at 100%.
I just want to know if it is normal I need to have master volume at 50%.

As I said before, with onboard sound I always used master volume about 15-20%, and now with Prelude I need to put it at 50% to reach the same loudness. I just want to know if this is normal. If so, there is no problem at all

[ROBSCIX]

I am using the front headphone jack and running the same levels as you. A bit loud but reasonable. Depends on the headphones I guess. Are you running right out of the outputs or out of the front audio connector?

[Soulburner]

@Crow, you need to remember also the Prelude has HOT output as all new Auzen cards do, the outputs are 5 Volts Max. Most other soundcards will run about 2v maximum. With this in mind you can actually damage some type of gear with incorrect levels. With the X-Meridian most guys just set both wave and master to 50% and used the speaker volume or receiver volume to control the overall system level. For headphones, you could set your Wave volume to 100% and use the master to adjust the level for your headphones. Does this help with what your asking?

With some sound card/speaker combinations, this results in poor sound quality.

For example with my Audigy 2 and Z-5500s (I know not a great pair) I had to use the system volume if I wanted decent sound. Controlling the volume via the speakers was just bad.

[ROBSCIX]

This method has been suggested to me time and again by alot of people. You have to be careful though as the Prelude has the hot outputs. You can of course use a modified procedure. The reason I was told to do it this way is it gives the greatest SNR ratio. Providing the best signal with the least amount of noise. Use whatever give you the best sound on your individual setup.

[Soulburner]

For some reason turning the speaker volume up resulted in a very weak, bland sound. It didn't have any power, or mids/lows, unless the output from the sound card was increased (system volume).

[ROBSCIX]

Well that is what I am saying. If you don't turn up the system volume first your getting more noise then signal. The idea is to get the highest signal level from your card without distortion prior to the speakers or receiver. This way, when you amplify the sound your getting more signal and less noise.

[Soulburner]

I see. So I guess its up to your ears to decide at what point you have enough volume from the card.

[ROBSCIX]

Yeah, That is the Tricky part. The idea is to improve the Signal to noise Ratio.

[Sparrows78]

Im very sorry to say it, but after upgrading from X-fi XtremeMusic to X-fi Prelude I still get crackling in Battlefield 2142. In normal order I've tried every tweak with no succes(IRQ sharing, changing pci slot, Latelcy Tool, drivers etc.).

I had the same problem with my x-fi XtremeMusic and upgraded after reading endless reviews and forumthreads, saying the prelude was "crackle free". For me, it was not.

Intel Core2Duo E6320
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Nvidia 8800gts
2gb Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2
Corsair vx450w psu
Windows xp pro

[disruptfam]

Im very sorry to say it, but after upgrading from X-fi XtremeMusic to X-fi Prelude I still get crackling in Battlefield 2142. In normal order I've tried every tweak with no succes(IRQ sharing, changing pci slot, Latelcy Tool, drivers etc.).

I had the same problem with my x-fi XtremeMusic and upgraded after reading endless reviews and forumthreads, saying the prelude was "crackle free". For me, it was not.

Intel Core2Duo E6320
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Nvidia 8800gts
2gb Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2
Corsair vx450w psu
Windows xp pro

sorry to hear that mate... i play bf2142 all the time with my prelude and have no such problems....

[Miwo]

Sorry to hear that Sparrow. The whole snap crackle pop issue seems to vary with each person as we all have different hardware configurations.

I'd suggest you take a look at an earlier thread, maybe you can troubleshoot and pinpoint the issue? This person's cause was a USB Webcam/Microphone of all things
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...hlight=crackle

[Sparrows78]

Sorry to hear that Sparrow. The whole snap crackle pop issue seems to vary with each person as we all have different hardware configurations.

I'd suggest you take a look at an earlier thread, maybe you can troubleshoot and pinpoint the issue? This person's cause was a USB Webcam/Microphone of all things
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...hlight=crackle

Yes I have read it - I'm using no usb devices exept a mouse... Its just weird that I have this problems when no one else seems to have them. I think my system is as clean as it gets - good, recommended hardware and latest drivers. Maybe its the P35 chipset?
It seems like its only bf2142 that gives the noise though, all other applications runs fine. That made me think there was a problem with the game - but if you guys is running it with flawless sound then I guess i'm wrong(I have tried reinstalling the game, different patches etc. without succes).
I'm using Game Mode, CMSS-3D on, headphones, Ultra High quality.

[nfm]

Im very sorry to say it, but after upgrading from X-fi XtremeMusic to X-fi Prelude I still get crackling in Battlefield 2142. In normal order I've tried every tweak with no succes(IRQ sharing, changing pci slot, Latelcy Tool, drivers etc.).

I had the same problem with my x-fi XtremeMusic and upgraded after reading endless reviews and forumthreads, saying the prelude was "crackle free". For me, it was not.

Intel Core2Duo E6320
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Nvidia 8800gts
2gb Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2
Corsair vx450w psu
Windows xp pro

I always had the same problem in F.E.A.R. Same issue existed on Prelude and XtremeMusic. This is is weird but F.E.A.R. crackled more under Windows XP Pro SP2 than under Windows XP Pro x64 Edition SP2. The latter only whistled, no crackling. Lately I integrated SP3 Pre-Beta into Windows XP Pro Gold, did a clean install, and no crackling. I can play F.E.A.R. with all EAX options turned on

[Helmore]

I always had the same problem in F.E.A.R. Same issue existed on Prelude and XtremeMusic. This is is weird but F.E.A.R. crackled more under Windows XP Pro SP2 than under Windows XP Pro x64 Edition SP2. The latter only whistled, no crackling. Lately I integrated SP3 Pre-Beta into Windows XP Pro Gold, did a clean install, and no crackling. I can play F.E.A.R. with all EAX options turned on

Ehh....what is Windows XP Pro Gold?
Just regular Windows XP Pro with a gold coloured Start button?