Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Sound Cards > PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium vs soundmax integrated digital

PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium vs soundmax integrated digital

Forum CPU & Components : Sound Cards - PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium vs soundmax integrated digital

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zisman   11-21-2008 at 08:58:49 PM

PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium vs soundmax integrated digital

i am looking to upgrade my current sound card ( soundmax integrated digital hd) to a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium.
what is the actual different between them?


:)

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dokk2   11-22-2008 at 11:35:39 PM
- 1 +

better cleaner sound and no drag on the system,plus you might get more options from the software included with the sound card..:)

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uncle_ben   11-24-2008 at 05:02:22 PM
- 1 +

Going from sound max to X-Fi Titanium is like
swapping 50cc motor bike for a porsche carerra or a m1a1 abrams tank perhaps.

Major benefits I can think of:
- Much higher audio quality and cleaner signal because of components used and the EMI shield
- Full EAX 1.0 - 5.0 support in hardware
- Dolby Digital Live
- Optical input and output
- X-Fi Crystalizer for better mp3 playback
- PCI express bus - does not share resources unlike the soundmax

Message quoted 1 times
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jiinx   12-17-2008 at 07:52:25 PM
- 0 +

Well, will let you guys know how it goes, because I just purchased an X-Fi Fata1ty pci express. I've got a soundmax on my Asus Maximus Formula and it will not let me do a +20db boost on any of the control pages. Hell! It won't even allow acess to advanced features!
I had an Audigy2 ZS in the PC since the beginning, but it seems to cause me grief.
( slow screens, locking up, wierd noises lately so I went back to the Sound max onboard. Critical feature ( +20db boost) not available on it, and since I use my mic when I'm on the Pc... well, you get the picture.
I'm running windows xp on the system and haven't really had problems, other than what I considered too many items on one IRQ.
I put in a new HD and reloaded windows. Tomorrow, if the card comes in, I'll find out how good the X-FI really is...
Later.
Jiinx

Reply to jiinx
gamerk316   12-17-2008 at 09:41:10 PM
- 0 +

uncle_ben wrote :

Going from sound max to X-Fi Titanium is like
swapping 50cc motor bike for a porsche carerra or a m1a1 abrams tank perhaps.

Major benefits I can think of:
- Much higher audio quality and cleaner signal because of components used and the EMI shield
- Full EAX 1.0 - 5.0 support in hardware
- Dolby Digital Live
- Optical input and output
- X-Fi Crystalizer for better mp3 playback
- PCI express bus - does not share resources unlike the soundmax



The EMI shield has been proven to do next to nothing in ever review I've looked up; its just marketing hype.

Most cards have some form of Dolby playback, what features are supported varies by card.

Cross off the EAX above 2.0 in Vista; Vista won't allow direct access to hardware (hence, Alchamey). Also note a lot of use are not Creative fans due to all sorts of Driver issues; the card is unusable on nforce motherboards, for instance.

Are you looking for a card for gaming or a card more of a home theaeter PC? For gaming, I recommend the Razer Barracuda AC-1; for a HTPC, I recommend the ASUS Xonar D2X (PCI-E based also).

Reply to gamerk316
jiinx   12-18-2008 at 02:52:22 AM
- 0 +

I've already plunked down the cash on the X-FI, so unless it doesn't do what I want, I'll be stuck with it. I've always been happy with Creative, so I hope my loyalty won't be misplaced. I have been reading negatives and positives about all of the cards, and it seems that Asus has a good line.
I have had a few problems with Asus' motherboards and video cards and I've witnessed first hand the quality and support decline of that company. I'm a little more wary about spending my money there.
Sry, but in response to your question, I do more gaming with my rig than anything else.
I've got an Asus Maximus Formula, 6850core 2 duo, OCZ 9600 2048M, and an ATI 3870 512 card.
All the benchmarks are up there but the thing is a slug compared to my wife's 6000 cheepo AM2 setup. But that is another story ... lol

Thanks for your opinion, appreciate it

Reply to jiinx
climber07   12-24-2008 at 05:29:13 PM
- 1 +

Well I just went from my (ADI 1988B) SupremeFX onboard sound (Asus P5N32-E SLI) to the X-Fi Titanium. The difference is incredible. Especially with the Logitech Z-5500 speakers. If you use Winamp, Power DVD 8 and the like, you will also have the support for Dolby Digital Live and DTS along with hardware audio support.

The software console for Creative allows you do customize everything...


Message edited by climber07 on 12-24-2008 at 05:30:31 PM
Reply to climber07
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