X-fi Prelude -or- X-Plosion?

[malveaux]

Hey folks,

I think I've narrowed my soundcard quest down to one of these cards. I don't care about EAX that much. I'm more about the dolby. And these cards have it hardware with the right kind of output, not just some crappy shared minijack. The question is, why get the Prelude compared to just getting the X-Plosion? They have the same dolby capability. The only real difference is that the Prelude is being marketed as a gaming card for a lot more money and has a better chipset for gaming (the X-Fi). However, again, I don't see how this is that big of a deal with today's CPU's not taking much of a hit from this; especially if you're not doing anything except having pure hardware dolby digital live streaming out of the thing.

I can get a Prelude for $150 after a rebate.
I can get an X-Plosion for $70 after a rebate.

Same DDL. Same driver support (ie, much improved).

Seems to me that I don't need a Prelude since I'm not looking to do anything other than have DDL.

Thoughts?

Very best,

 

[halcyon]

I just tried the Prelude. Nice hardware, but the Vista64 drivers still need work. What OS are you using and/or planning to use? With Prelude it does make a difference.

 

[bobwya]

Hi

Auzentech is the way to go!!

I have the X-Plosion which is real nice. I wan't the realtime DTS encoding for my Sony IR digital surround headphones. The card sounds amazing to me!! I am using a TOS link so I can't comment on the analogue sound quality.

The Linux kernel now has drivers for the C-Media CMI8770 chipset from 2.6.24+ without the DTS realtime encoding feature of course.

I would like to upgrade to the Prelude for gaming purposes but I am not in too much of a rush!!

BTW I am using Windows XP x64 and Kubuntu 8.04 (supports surround SPDIF but not realtime DD/DTS encoding). The card works well under both operating systems.

Bob

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

I plan on staying with XP as long as possible. I do not like Vista and hope to avoid it all together. I will only switch when Xp completely becomes unsupported and things stop working, essentially. At least, that's my hope.

The X-Plosion looks like a fantastic card for the cost. I don't see the merit of going to the Prelude for the money. I've read it's better for games, but it's not really noted "how" it's better for games. Looking at game benchmarks, I've not seen anything that hurts performance to the point where you'd actually worry. Today's CPU's simply crank well more than enough to give a tiny bit to a card that needs it. Ultimately though, I'm using the Dolby, so I don't really care about EAX, or other things like that. I'd rather just enjoy the surround sound.

But, I'm no expert, so naturally I'm just thinking out loud. Maybe I'm wrong.

Mainly, using it for DVD and games on the side, music, etc. Sort of everything. I mainly care about the spdif and dolby though. For the cost, the X-Plosion seems perfect. But, maybe the Prelude is seriously better? If it's only difference is for "games", then I'm not worried about it. But, I'm always open to insight!

Very best,

 

[halcyon]

With that I'd agree, you don't need the Prelude. ...and staying with XP gets you a lot better driver support. Go with the Xplosion.

 

[Scotteq]

I just tried the Prelude. Nice hardware, but the Vista64 drivers still need work. What OS are you using and/or planning to use? With Prelude it does make a difference.

Beg pardon?? I've been using a Prelude for most of the last year, on 64 bit Vista, and the drivers have been perfectly stable and functional - In fact, Auzen provided DTS and DOLBY support long before Creative pulled their heads out of their collective asses. The fact of the matter is that Creative have only just recently have issued functional drivers which support same.

It's well and good to say that Creative's newly issued drivers are good, albeit after a year and a half of garbage... But it wasn't necessary to trash Auzen, who delivered long before Creative did.

 

[bobwya]

Beg pardon?? I've been using a Prelude for most of the last year, on 64 bit Vista, and the drivers have been perfectly stable and functional - In fact, Auzen provided DTS and DOLBY support long before Creative pulled their heads out of their collective asses. The fact of the matter is that Creative have only just recently have issued functional drivers which support same.

It's well and good to say that Creative's newly issued drivers are good, albeit after a year and a half of garbage... But it wasn't necessary to trash Auzen, who delivered long before Creative did.

+1

There was that massive thread on the Creative Forums when a guy called Daniel (3rd party programmer) was told to stop issuing a patch for the Auzentech drivers to allow them to give Vista functionality to older Creative Cards (I think I got that right!!) Many people used the drivers and got there cards to work. However Daniel potentially violated Creative IP and was redistributing drivers so he was told to stop his actions on a number of occasions.

This a link to one of many forum threads:
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=Vista&thread.id=31341
Creative have lost loads of potential customers as a result of this corporate skulduggery (older Sound Blaster cards lacking driver support for Vista) to force hardware upgrades.

Auzentech were not best pleased to find their server bandwidth going down the toilet to service all these disgruntled Creative Customers (downloading an Auzentech driver to patch to use with their Creative card)!! They now have a restriction on driver download to genuine customers (which works fine I should add). Just shows though not only do Creative shaft their own customers but they dump on the customers of other companies!!

I would buy the Prelude as only the hardware will be Creative, the drivers will be 3rd party.

Bob

 

[halcyon]

Bob, the Auzentech drivers still need work. I.e., in Vista, try changing your speaker configuration on the Prelude. ...but they're getting there.

 

[bobwya]

Bob, the Auzentech drivers still need work. I.e., in Vista, try changing your speaker configuration on the Prelude. ...but they're getting there.

Well I don't know why you are referring to my post... I was talking about older Creative cards using a hacked Auzentech driver to run under Vista.

I have only said the Xplosion works well under Windows XP (x64) and GNU/Linux (2.6.24+ kernel). My talk of buying a Prelude would be for use with my system (with Kubuntu 8.04 and Windows XP x64).

I might switch to Vista once the bugs are ironed out (I think I meet the minimum specifications with a dual Opteron 2.2Ghz, 4Gb RAM system :lol: ) but probably not...

Bob

 

[halcyon]

My Bad, Bob, that was meant for Scotteq.

Scott, I tried a Prelude recently, in Vista64 and noticed several little things that irked me bad about their drivers. One, being that you can't do something as simple as making a speaker/output (or S/PDIF) change from within the drivers. ...gotta use Vista's ability to do that (and that works though a hassle). I also noted with their new RC6 drivers (that I thought would correct the above issue) that the daggon level meter in AC mode doesn't work (perhaps that's just me).

So, with that I think its fair to say...their drivers still need work. Now DDL, yeahs, that is nice and something I wish Creative had done, but that's fine because Auzentech did, they just need to work on their drivers. ...and yes, Auzentech's drivers are fine as long as you don't fiddle too much with them.

For someone like me who makes changes in the audio drivers regularly (due to my gear) you notice stuff like that. I will say that the Prelude does sound a hair "crisper" (if that the correct adjective) and I miss that but the Elite Pro still sounds great and the driver is pretty much flawless from what I see now.

 

[Scotteq]

OK - Point taken about speaker config. I don't play with it, and don't use the application that comes with the card, either. Rather I use drivers only on the comp, optical out, run that into my home theater, and treat the computer just like any of the other sources. D/A conversion is done by my NAD T775, which in turn feeds a very nice Polk Audio 7.1 setup.

I agree that the Auzen is cleaner, clear-er, and better detailed in the high end. I can hear the difference, and it's nearly as good as source material played through the (again NAD) CD player. On my system it's also clearly more dynamic than the X-Fi card it replaced - To pick an example many would be familiar with, the opening swell during the intro to Breathe on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon sounds stunning. Or if you're a Jazz fan, the HUGE drum hits during "the Embrace" (Al DiMeola, 'Kiss My Axe') have serious impact, yet the mids and highs during the same passage remain clear.

I haven't directly compared the Prelude to an X-Fi card since switching - Ironcically because of drivers. Then something like 6 months ago I threw out the Creative X-Fi card I had when it became clear that Creative had no intention of releasing working drivers any time soon and instead threatened lawsuits against enthusiasts who were trying to make their stuff work.

Glad to hear they finally fixed their stuff, and did well at it to boot. But at this point, I'm already very happy with the Auzen card, and aren't going to spend the money again.

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

I ordered the X-plosion Cinema. $100 with a $30 rebate, so nabbed the card at $70 shipped.

Very best,

 

[halcyon]

@ Scott, sounds like you've got some nice gear. Heck, I just replaced the darn Logitech Z-5500 with a Yamaha receiver and Polk PSW111 and Polk RM95 and feel greatful for that, it should do iTunes justice, though. Cheers.

 

[malveaux]

Heya,

So I got my X-Plosion today, and I must say, I'm extremely pleased with it. For $70 (after my rebate) this thing is pure joy in dolby digital live. I just select that, I work out my volumes on my receiver to my liking and leave it at that. Everything just comes through beautifully and the channels work with things that have dolby like DVDs just fine. It's a complete wonder to be back in a nice surround setup. Music is emersive, dvd's are how they should be, and games are emersive. Completely love it. All from one little wire and some light drivers!

Very best,

 

[bobwya]

Cool. It's a nice piece of kit.

Bob

 

[bnsbhat]

Heya,

So I got my X-Plosion today, and I must say, I'm extremely pleased with it. For $70 (after my rebate) this thing is pure joy in dolby digital live. I just select that, I work out my volumes on my receiver to my liking and leave it at that. Everything just comes through beautifully and the channels work with things that have dolby like DVDs just fine. It's a complete wonder to be back in a nice surround setup. Music is emersive, dvd's are how they should be, and games are emersive. Completely love it. All from one little wire and some light drivers!

Very best,

have ordered mine as replacement for X-Fi Xtreme Music. I have a question to tech savvy guys here. The issue is replacement of opamps for better analog sound. I have ordered and received dual TI Opamp OPA627AU for front speakers(floor standing pair with their own stereo Amplifier). Is it a good idea to get Dual OPA637AU for Center/subwoofer (again a stand-alone powered subwoofer). I use this set up only for music (oldies 60s and 70s, country etc.) that is why I prefer analog output to digital.

Thanks for your time.