E-MU 1212M PCI vs Audigy or X-FI?

[boe]

Hello,

I see creative is releasing new cards - still not PCI X though. Anyone see any comparisons of the 1212M PCI vs the X-FI? Is it for musicians or as good gaming or better than the X-FI? Still no PCI-X I see.

Thanks

 

[halcyon]

From what I've read the 1212 is a professional card truly outclasses the Audigy and X-Fi base models. It may be somewhat comparable, if not better in sonic performance, to the best Audigy and X-F's, but you're talking $275-$400 for anX-Fi EP. The 1212 is not a card to use for gaming, it likely doesn't support consumer level gaming surround protocols and may not provide hardware audio acceleration when used for gaming.

It looks like nice card for professional applications.

I wouldn't suggest an Audigy or X-Fi class card for pro use either, that's not what they're made for, and only the higher-eschelon versions appear to remotely come close to providing the kinds of tools a pro would be considering. ...with "light" or trial versions of some Power apps.

The 1212 looks to be for musicians and pros: http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?product=9872

The Audigys and X-F's for consumer audio and gaming...IMO.

PCI-X or PCI-Express sound? ...I've only seen 1 and it came with a mobo. The big names in Audio cards? Don't hold your breath, I don't think there's too much motivation for that, besides filling those unused slots, and I don't think they're concerned with that.

 

[boe]

Thanks - what you stated is what I'm guessing to be true.

As for the PCI-X - I remember about 3-4 years go being at CES or Comdex or Interop (I used to go to all three when all 3 were the real deal - haven't been to Interop in 2 years and I don't remember when the last Comdex show was -sniff) and being at the creative booth where the engineers were singing the praises about the next version of PCI bringing forth better isolation, which would reduce THD, S/N and power issues they disliked with the current design.

I'm thinking the time has come for them to move forward.

 

[xiii]

Don't mean to sound nitpicky, but you're probably talking about PCI-Express or PCI-e. PCI-X (PCI-Extended) is an interconnect standard used in server applications.