If not Creative/X-Fi, Then What...?

dufus

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I just received my Z-5500's today, and want to take full advantage of the digital capabilities and optical hook ups. I guess you could call me a creative fan boy, as every computer I have purchased or build has used a Creative product but all this BS with Vista and drivers has me asking "Is Creative the best solution?" :?: :x

Is there a card out there with optical in/out, that games, music, video, DVD's are going to sound great on? One that someone has experience with? Should live with onboard sound until Creative releases a Vista product? Many questions, few real answers so far.

Dufus
 
AuzenTech XMYSTIQUE 24-bit 96KHz Sound Card will pass thru a stream to the Dolby Digital decoder of the Z-5500 Controller via Optical Toslink.

Any reputable 5.1-capable sound card with pass-thru via Optical Toslink should suffice since you are *off-loading* the Dolby decoding to the Z-5500.

I use my XMystique to pass-thru 5.1 to my Yamaha receiver on my HTPC in XP. The company sold last year but has kept drivers current thus far with Vista (32- and 64-bit) drivers posted on their web site.

I can't vouch for the WinV drivers . . .
 

PCAnalyst

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I have the HT Omega Claro 7.1 with optical out. Vista Drivers working perfectly... I had problems under Xp actually and I contacted Customer support.

It was around 4:00 pm and I had a response from them by 4:30 pm... Let me just say that I was very impressed with the support I received from the HT team.

They worked with me for several days as I tried to work out the issue, but as I was going to install vista anyways I went ahead and did it, and I have had zero issues in vista with the HT Omega.

Newegg.com HT Omega Claro 7.1 dolby digital DTS 139.99
 

uncle_ben

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but all this BS with Vista and drivers
Do you use Vista? I do not know anyone who actually paid for Vista unless they were forced to while buying a new laptop...
:lol:

If you know about the issues with audio in Vista - Microsoft has removed hardware abstraction layer so that there is no more hardware accelerated audio thru Direct X. Well unless you use Creative sound card and ALchemy software. With OpenAL games - you still get hardware accelerated audio and all EAX HD effects - if you have hardware supporting it.
Unfortunately Auzentech card does not support hardware audio acceleration, I am not sure about Omega Claro but I doubt it.
Sure you can give up on audio hardware acceleration but EAX effects (except for basic ones) won't be rendered in software. I can't see how X-Mystique is better from my X-Fi to be honest. Actually I feel there is no real alternative to Creative for gaming.
For movies and music you can pick any card you like: M-Audio, Turtle Beach, BlueGears or anything else.

Sure - if you use a high quality receiver and use it for gaming then on-the-fly encoding to Dolby Live might be a reason to fetch X-Mystique. But I doubt there is AUDIBLE difference in sound quality between such setup and good analog setup. To me good analog setup with reasonably good sound card such as X-Fi is the best value as it serves both gaming and movies... just an opinion.
 

lcdguy

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don't bother with the x-mystique, it's way to old. If it were me i would get the x-meridian this is for a couple of reasons

1. it does both DDL and DTS Connect
2. In pcm mode it can output a 192khz/24bit bit stream
3. it has DTS and PLIIX DSP Modes
4. It also has a feature called flexbass which let's you set a cross over frequency for your sub.
5. You don't have to deal with buggy creative drivers.
 

katanadude

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I have always used Creative even though I hate their drivers. I am in the midst of building a new system and have been researching an alternative to Creative. I have decided Bluegears soundcard. I have not used it yet so I do not have personal experience with it as of yet. Read the reviews and specs, see if it might work for you.

http://www.bluegears.com/b-Enspirer.htm
 

dufus

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I have been doing my homework and now realize there are many vendor options other than Creative to give me most of what I am looking for (how blinded by the Creative ego/marketing/reputation I must have been 8O ..Sheesh)

I must say the bluegear's specs look good, lots of features, EAX support (2.0,) it has optical in/out, stable drivers (from what I have read,) 84% positive (5 of 5) reviews on newegg, and a price of $100.00.

Unless Creative surprises me (and the rest of us, I would imagine) by releasing a Vista specific part, with optical capabilities and decent drivers, by the time I get ready to build (I am only waiting to see the REAL specs of the HD 2900XT and K10) it might be time to kick Creative to the curb...
 

dufus

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This may bring an interesting twist to the whole sound issue as well if there is something more than just servicing HDMI. Thankfully, we must only wait until Monday so all can be revealed..... :eek:
 

dufus

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Don't get me wrong, I know Creative products sound great, and an analog connection would sound great, but I am shooting for OPTIMAL connection and sound, and that means a clean, digital, optical connection and drivers that work with everything without workarounds. At least we may get some questions answered tomorrow, or maybe a new set of questions....
 

Vash-HT

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I'm in the process of replacing my X-Fi with a HT Claro Omega+. It has optical and coax SPDIF out on the card itself, and from what I've heard it has good vista driver support. The drivers for X-FI are pissing me off lately in XP, as well as in Vista. I've heard a lot of good things about cards with the cmedia oxygen chips, so I decided to give it a try. I won't have it till friday but I'll post back what I think then.
 

dufus

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I look forward to hearing your opinions. Has anyone set up a HD 2900XT card and 5.1 surround sound via the HDMI connector yet? I am dyin' to hear some opinions from those lucky folks...

Dufus