Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Sound Cards > Thinking of Upgrading: X-Fi a good choice? Which one?

Thinking of Upgrading: X-Fi a good choice? Which one?

Forum CPU & Components : Sound Cards - Thinking of Upgrading: X-Fi a good choice? Which one?

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Hello. I currently have a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 card hooked up to my Panasonic SC HT05 5.1 speaker set. I'm currently using the KX drivers because I fought for a long time with the Creative drivers trying to enable Bass Redirection and failing (I also lost the CD since doing so).

The sound is pretty good, but there are some areas it's lacking. I don't have universal Bass Redirection (Surrounder effect works for Stereo and AC3Filter works for 5.1 movies) so I often miss non LFE bass in games. I made my own hack Bass Redirection using the DSP but it didn't sound too great. The sound also seems to skip in some games when sound crosses multiple channels.(Oblivion)

Do you think the X-Fi would be a good fit with my speakers? Also, how are the drivers? Do they have lots of options? Can I set Bass Redirection as well as individual channel levels? Those options were either lacking in my Live! drivers or hidden real well. :?

And then, which X-Fi? This would be for playing stereo mp3s, stereo and 5.1 movies, and games. I don't mind the missing ram or midi interface on this version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102006
Is it missing anything else from the bigger version? Also, how would the stripped Xtreme Gamer edition compare to the full Xtreme Music version?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102188

I know I asked a lot of questions, so many thanks for responses ahead of time.

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i will start off with saying that all of the x-fi cards are great. the audio processor on them is the same for all of the cards and it is amazing compared to older technology.

i dont know all of the features exactly, but what i can respond to is the quality of the drivers. the drivers work well for the average gamer that knows a little bit about audio, they are not that in depth.

if you are having a problem with your old card, i would be willing to bet that the new x-fi's will solve that problem.

as far as which one to get, get the cheapest one, the differences between these cards are so minimal its almost unnoticable. 100$ extra might get you 1fps more, NOT WORTH IT.

i have the xtrememusic and it is great. the prices have really come down, so i would urge you to jump in!

Reply to twolfe18

Would there be a noticeable difference between the Xi Extreme music and extreme gaming cards?

The gaming one is on sale this week, so I would like to pick it up if it is as good as the music one, which is what I was planning on getting.

Reply to trenchtoaster

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