So, is it worth getting a Creative X-Fi sound card for Vista? Seeing as Vista handles the audio differently from XP.

As of now, I'm using an old Audigy 2 card. Works fine, however, sometimes, the audio doesn't come out the rear speakers (luckily, my speakers have a special feature bult in to fix that).

Just curious though...

I also read that Creative is working on a driver fix for this issue, however, that they might charge for the update to current owners. But people who buy a sound card after the driver fix will have the driver without having to pay extra.

*shudders*

Any thoughts or comments on this?

i got a comment, the customer should never have to pay for a fix to a known hardware problem. and if they ask you too, download it behind their backs.

Eman,

I am badly in need of a sound card, but intend to wait until a new one is released, either by Creative or some other mfg (read my previous posts for discussion on others). In this way I will be more likely to get a card designed for Vista rather than one adapted to it.

I like that. That's probably the best thing to do now I guess.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

owning a creative product (X-FI) and Vista Ultimate has been a nightmare for me so far, I advise you to wait until some other manufacturer comes out with a decent card.

Thank you! =)

I'm running an X-Fi xtremegamer on Vista Home Premium 64-bit and have had no issues at all. Maybe I'm just lucky

it really depends on if ur running vista 64 or not for sound greater than 2.1 vista 64 with x-fi is not for u and u may want to wait until a card for vista 64 comes out but vista 32 and vista 64 2.1 with x-fi works great for me!!
~hope this helps

Since the problem is purely driver related I think you should wait and see if they extend the driver support back to the Audigy's. I don't think they will and so I think you'll end up getting an X-fi anyway but there is a possibility.

its all driver releated. The x-fi is a great sound card. The clarity in sound in upgrading from an audigy2 is simply amazing. I WOULD NOT use Windows Vista. IT S*CKS. I took it off my computer after 2 weeks. NO NEED to upgrade to Vista. It just looks "pretty". XP is faster and more stable. Eventually Vista will get there but it will be at least a year or so before SP1 comes out. Creative has already come out and said older audigy users will have to pay for Vista drivers. Direct sound doesnt work in Vista and neither does Dolby/DTS decoding. Vista is a waste as of now. I cant even being to tell u the number of computers i downgraded to XP already. Printers,digital camers etc are all having problems as well....its a real mess.

From what I've read in the past couple months, Creative is not going provide any Vista drivers for the Audigy series only the X-Fi series. Other than that, so far I've had no problem with Vista 64 and my X-Fi and 5.1 speakers. But that could relate to a total hardware package and other people might have lots of problems.

Other than that, davidinsarasota may have the best idea for anyone not in a hurry, waiting for a sound card that's designed for Vista from the get go.

From what I've read in the past couple months, Creative is not going provide any Vista drivers for the Audigy series only the X-Fi series. Other than that, so far I've had no problem with Vista 64 and my X-Fi and 5.1 speakers. But that could relate to a total hardware package and other people might have lots of problems.

Other than that, davidinsarasota may have the best idea for anyone not in a hurry, waiting for a sound card that's designed for Vista from the get go.

could you please post your specs? because I have had this problem across two different motherboards, two different processors, and many different hard drives. Same memory though

OK, I presently run XP on one set of hard discs and Vista on a different hard disc, switching between the two manually. My machine's specs are:

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
AMD FX60 cpu
Sapphire X1900 XTX Toxic
Ceative X-Fi Platinum sound card
Thermaltake W0106RU 700wt psu
Hitachi 160 GB HD
Seagate 80 GB HD
Sony CDRW cd drive
SonyDWQ-28A DVD drive
2 gig Corsair XMS ram
Kliptsch Promedia 500wt 5.1 THX speakers
APC 700wt UPS

All drivers are up to date. CPU, ram, and graphics card are overclocked.

Someone could have told you that your rear channels wouldn't work when you put Vista on your machine. One of the things Vista locks out is the most popular 3D sound effects engine, since that engine provides a security hole that could allow someone to make a digital recording of content protected by HDCP.

I have a hard time thinking that it's Creative's fault that MS turned their back on the tried and true way of handling surround sound for games. Really, if you want to use that sound card, you should be able to, but in that case playback of HDCP content should be disabled.

I guess my advice would be that if you want to use Vista, you need to be aware of that when you're selecting your hardware. Otherwise, not being a huge MS fan to start with, I tend to think that Vista should be more accomodating to industry standards.

Thanks everyone for the suggestion.

I'll just wait till Creative releases a true sound card for Vista. I wasn't too worried about having to give up the Audigy card since my dad gave it to me for free (actually, it was just lying around, so I took it and he hasn't said anything). I agree though, Vista handles surround sound differently.

I'm using Creative Gigaworks G500 (I think that's right model) 5.1 and I have to use the built in UpMix on the speaker remote to get 3D surround in some applications.

hi im shailesh.i have a problem in my computer.i will be greatful if someone ans my problem.my computer doesnt have sound card or the card is not sellected.so i cannot call anymore from my pc.[ANSWER PLZ]

I have x-fi extreme gamer and running home premium 64 bit, and I don't have any problems since they released the 64 bit drivers a while back ago.