X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

[ShadowFold]

Can I join? I have a Creative X-Fi Platinum.

[imperialreign]

Can I join? I have a Creative X-Fi Platinum.

sure thing, man!

[FreedomEclipse]

Hi hi - as a few of you know I recently bought a set of Logitech Z-5500 speakers. now I have managed to get SPDIF working with my onboard sound but I cant for the love of Allah get it to work on my XFi Xtreme Music.

I have read online in various forums that I can connect up through the flexijack port using the Digital I/O module - but it still doesnt work. - I tried the EXACT same thing on my laptop & it worked. I cant get a signal up

this is what the website said

Now that you know how to have a digital connection available on your sound card, you still need to buy a digital cable to connect your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers, if you don’t have one yet. Here you have two options, to buy an inexpensive coaxial SPDIF cable (a.k.a. RCA mono cable) or an optical Toslink cable (i.e. optic fiber), which is more expensive but is the best way to connect your equipment. Keep in mind that X-Fi Titanium, X-Fi Xreme Audio PCI Express and X-Fi XtremeGamer only support optical connection.

The simply connect your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers. You can learn how this is done thru our How To Connect Your PC to Your Home Stereo or Home Theater tutorial.

After connecting your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers (and selecting the correct input on your home theater) you need to configure your PC to send audio thru the sound card SPDIF out connector, if you are using the FlexiJack connector (i.e. you are using the Digital I/O module or have an X-Fi XtremeGamer).

This is done thru your sound card’s control panel, depending on the mode you are currently running your sound card under:

* Entertainment Mode: Click the Digital I/O icon, then on the next screen, click “Digital I/O”.
* Audio Creation Mode: Click the Settings button, then under Digital I/O click “Digital I/O”.
* Game Mode: Click the Settings button, then under Digital I/O click “Digital I/O”.

help help :(

[FreedomEclipse]

Meh - I just had a look behind my pc & it appears that the redlight for the flexi jack has either burnt it self out or theres an issue with my drivers.

I can still use the onboard SPDIF for stuff so not much of a loss i suppose

might get myself a Xonar when i get the cash soon

[imperialreign]

not completely sure I followed what all you mentioned, but try this:


along with the instructions above to enable Digital I/O from within the console launcher, go to Start\Control Panel\Sound and Audio devices\

under "device volume" click the 'advanced' button, on the left side, under "Play Control Volume," hit the 'advanced' button. In the box labeled "other controls," ensure that Digital I/O is checked (again, for some reason, changes made in Creative's software doesn't carry over to WIN).

Let me know if that makes any difference or not.

[btarunr]

An interesting find:

Audigy used to upsample everything to 24-bit and in a way faced flack from the audiophile community, remember? With X-Fi, they said this doesn't happen. I don't think so.

You need: The latest Winamp, an .mp3 which you're damn sure was encoded for 16-bit / 44.1 kHz.

Go to Winamp preferences, set the output plugin as "Nullsoft WaveOut". (this creates a software pass between the audio and the driver, no DirectSound. Play your .mp3 file. Do you see such a screen?

http://img.techpowerup.org/081003/bta189.jpg

^Look at the output format the sound card is receiving from the driver.

[FreedomEclipse]

not completely sure I followed what all you mentioned, but try this:


along with the instructions above to enable Digital I/O from within the console launcher, go to Start\Control Panel\Sound and Audio devices\

under "device volume" click the 'advanced' button, on the left side, under "Play Control Volume," hit the 'advanced' button. In the box labeled "other controls," ensure that Digital I/O is checked (again, for some reason, changes made in Creative's software doesn't carry over to WIN).

Let me know if that makes any difference or not.

yeah I tried that all ready - but if theres no red laser thing there then the signal aint being transferd.

do you guys still think its worth picking up an Xtreme Gamer???

[imperialreign]

yeah I tried that all ready - but if theres no red laser thing there then the signal aint being transferd.

do you guys still think its worth picking up an Xtreme Gamer???

so, are you running optical or coaxial SPDIF?

It's quite possible the I/O module is buggared as well.

If you're looking to replace the card, though, I can't really recommend any brand over another, as they all playback digital equally well - but as far as connectivity goes, the only X-Fi's with SPDIF outputs are the Titaniums, which use TOSLINK. I believe some of the Xonars have coaxial SPDIF connections, as well as some of the Auzens . . . some also use optical as well.


An interesting find:

Audigy used to upsample everything to 24-bit and in a way faced flack from the audiophile community, remember? With X-Fi, they said this doesn't happen. I don't think so.

You need: The latest Winamp, an .mp3 which you're damn sure was encoded for 16-bit / 44.1 kHz.

Go to Winamp preferences, set the output plugin as "Nullsoft WaveOut". (this creates a software pass between the audio and the driver, no DirectSound. Play your .mp3 file. Do you see such a screen?

. . . .

^Look at the output format the sound card is receiving from the driver.


that's quite interesting . . . would explain why sometimes you might hear a little bit of a snap or crackle at the beginning of playback . . .


question: does it also do that for all 3 hardware modes?

[btarunr]

question: does it also do that for all 3 hardware modes?

Yes, all three modes.

@FreedomEclipse: Yes, it's absolutely worth it.

[FreedomEclipse]

so, are you running optical or coaxial SPDIF?

It's quite possible the I/O module is buggared as well.



TOSLINK through via flexijack - I/O Module - I use to see a little red light there on one of the audio ports but i cant see that anymore. seesssh everything in this house seems to be breaking

in these last few months alone ive had:

1 TV broke
1 Pc monitor broke
1 surround sound speaker set broke - but that was broken a long time ago but i only replaced it now
1 my practise guitar amp
1 cold cathode tube broke (inside my pc)
1 laptop broke

god must be punishing me for something.

[zeKxa]

Hey guys!

I just bought a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It works like a charm but i got few questions/problems:

1. How can i use my desktop speakers 2.0 when im not using my headset?
2. How can i use the output optical exit of my motherboard, it doesnt work anymore...

Thanks.

[imperialreign]

Hey guys!

I just bought a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It works like a charm but i got few questions/problems:

1. How can i use my desktop speakers 2.0 when im not using my headset?
2. How can i use the output optical exit of my motherboard, it doesnt work anymore...

Thanks.

1. - how do you have your headset connected to the card? If it's through the PCI bracket on the back, you're not in much luck . . . unless your speakers have a headphone jack on them, in which case, plug your speakers into the card, and your headset into the speaker jack . . .

otherwise, to enable front panel support, you'll have to modifiy the front panel connector to attach to the header on the X-Fi

you'll still have to open the console launcher, though, and manually switch the speaker output configuration between headphones and 2/2.1 though


2. - not sure I understand . . . are you talking about an optical jack from your motherboard's onboard audio?

[zeKxa]

1. Well i would like to be able to plug my 2.0 speakers AND my headset on the card, but it seems its impossible :(

2. On my mobo, i got an optical out connection. I got a cable plug to it to my Home Theater receiver. But now that i got my audio crad, this connector is not working anymore, probably because the onboard audio is disabled and Creative card enabled. I would like to be able to use this optical out conection on my mobo + using my creative X-Fi for my headset and my 2.0 desktop speakers.

[imperialreign]

1. Well i would like to be able to plug my 2.0 speakers AND my headset on the card, but it seems its impossible :(

2. On my mobo, i got an optical out connection. I got a cable plug to it to my Home Theater receiver. But now that i got my audio crad, this connector is not working anymore, probably because the onboard audio is disabled and Creative card enabled. I would like to be able to use this optical out conection on my mobo + using my creative X-Fi for my headset and my 2.0 desktop speakers.



1) Well, the only option to be able to have both plugged onto the car would be to enable a front panel connection, and leave the stereo plugged into the read of the card. The headset would have to plug into the front panel.


2) If probably could be done - if you check to make sure the onboard is enabled within the system BIOS. You'll have to make sure there aren't any hardware or driver conflicts between the onboard and the X-Fi.

Then, you'll have to open what ever programs you have that you'd like to use the optical connection with, and see if there's a way to set the default device for it to use - which would be the onboard. If the software doesn't have any option to set it, you might have to manually change the hardward device in WIN control panel every time you want to go from the X-Fi to your optical connection and back.

SPDIF might be an option, but you'd still need to obtain the mini Digital I/O module for the X-Fi as the card doesn't have SPDIF outputs

[zeKxa]

1. If i plug my headset on front panel of my case it wont be linked to X-Fi card isnt it?

And what about this model (http://fr.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=17813&nav=-1&listby=)? wich is the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion. I could plug my headset on the front, speakers 2.0 on the back of the card, and plus my home theater receiver on the optical back conector. Am i right?

Thanks for help by the way :)

[imperialreign]

1. If i plug my headset on front panel of my case it wont be linked to X-Fi card isnt it?

And what about this model (http://fr.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=17813&nav=-1&listby=)? wich is the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion. I could plug my headset on the front, speakers 2.0 on the back of the card, and plus my home theater receiver on the optical back conector. Am i right?

Thanks for help by the way :)

no, if you plugged in the front panel connector on the motherboard, it won't use the X-Fi. If you have the card I'm thinking of, there isn't the standard 10-pin AC97 header on the card, which means you'd have to modify the connector to fit Creative's front panel style header.

but, if you exchanged the card for the Titanium Champion series (the ones that come with the front panel drive) . . . you're very much right - the card itself has a connector for the AC97 style header, meaning your front panel will plug directly to the card with no modification; the rear of the card has 5 mini-jack plugs for analouge connectors, and the read also has an optical (TOSLINK) connector as well . . . the front panel drive has headphone connectors as well, in case your PC case does not.

If you're looking for full connectivity like that, I'd recommend exchanging the card, if possible.

[imperialreign]

A new X-Fi beta driver is available for non-Titanium and non-Xtreme Audio models, from Creative at: Download Center (http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster)


release notes:

This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows Vista® and Windows® XP support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.
Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster X-Fi series driver available.


This download supports the following audio devices only:


Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi



Added Features or Enhancements:


Supports Dolby® Digital Live
Supports DTS® Connect (For Windows Vista only)
Requires the latest Creative Console Launcher application.



To get the above mentioned features you will need to purchase the Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect software pack.
For systems using Windows Vista
To find out the Product ID of your audio device and if it supports the following features in Windows XP, click here.



Dolby Digital and DTS decode re-established for sound cards that included decoding in their Windows XP drivers (Not applicable for products that included a 3rd party software DVD player license in the package).
DVD-Audio playback re-established for sound cards that included the application in their Windows XP software suite (For Windows Vista 32-bit only).
Requires the latest Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player software. Click here to download.



Fixes:


Resolves issue of audio popping when playing AC-3 Wave files or using Dolby Digital Live via the digital output on Windows Vista.
Resolves Audio Control Panel issue of incorrect X-Fi CMSS®-3D behavior while using Audio Creation Mode.



Requirements:

Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or Windows XP MCE 2004
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

[eidairaman1]

lmao, its been many years since they released a good Stable Driver 2006 driver is the one i use.

[FreedomEclipse]

over the last few days ive been considering getting a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. - my Xtreme Music seems to be the cause of sudden random BSOD's & crashes during boot up as i found out earlier.

the question is - shall i get the Titanium or just another cheapo replacement Xtreme Music OEM??

[imperialreign]

over the last few days ive been considering getting a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. - my Xtreme Music seems to be the cause of sudden random BSOD's & crashes during boot up as i found out earlier.

the question is - shall i get the Titanium or just another cheapo replacement Xtreme Music OEM??


well, that all really depends on your needs -

if you intendto go vista soon, I'd recommend the Titanium; they have a lot more stable drivers in Vista than the rest of the lineup.

The Titanium is faster, overall, and using a PCIEx1 slot allows for better system configurability with multi-GPU setups; it has fewer stuttering issues due to system BUS overload, which results in less crackling, clipping, etc

But, is there an audio difference? Not much, if at all. The titanium uses the same PCB components that the other X-Fis use - DAC, ADC, OPAMPs, evn down to the capacitors . . . output quality is identicle.

But the XM might be hard to find - even if you can find one at a decent price, the titanium probably won't be much more expensive.

[FreedomEclipse]

I can pick up an OEM X.M for roughly $31.68 (USD) - the Fata1ty Pro's cost almost double that.

with probably less consideration for vista (I will eventually but just not yet - I will wait till Dx.10 is a 'must' before jumping ship for vista)

I just want another solid soundcard to keep my Logitech 5500's kicking.

also the use of the whole optical out for DTS etc etc wouldnt go a miss since i like having less cables lying around,

[imperialreign]

I can pick up an OEM X.M for roughly $31.68 (USD) - the Fata1ty Pro's cost almost double that.

with probably less consideration for vista (I will eventually but just not yet - I will wait till Dx.10 is a 'must' before jumping ship for vista)

I just want another solid soundcard to keep my Logitech 5500's kicking.

also the use of the whole optical out for DTS etc etc wouldnt go a miss since i like having less cables lying around,

damn, dude - if you can get a Xm for $32, that's a deal hard to pass up.

I'll also mention, the Titanium has built in optical connection as well.

[FreedomEclipse]

damn, dude - if you can get a Xm for $32, that's a deal hard to pass up.

I'll also mention, the Titanium has built in optical connection as well.

Sorry my bad - I actually ment $80 not $32.

my local hardware shop has the OEMs going for $89.65 but im a little confused since there is a standard X.M then a 24bit X.M????


http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/creative-soundblaster-series-xtreme-music-sound-card-p-84111.html

[imperialreign]

Sorry my bad - I actually ment $80 not $32.

my local hardware shop has the OEMs going for $89.65 but im a little confused since there is a standard X.M then a 24bit X.M????


http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/creative-soundblaster-series-xtreme-music-sound-card-p-84111.html

no - all XMs are 24b capable.

The only difference is the retail to the OEM version, and the actual differences between them is so insignificant - it usually amounts to different brands of caps, sometimes vrms, nothing major. Both forms are identicle as far as capabilities are concerned.

[kysg]

Wow this thread is huge, whew I didn't read a whole lot of posts but I do know this, to be frank I think my xtreme gamer is overheating. No way am I replacing the card unless it dies which it hasn't sound cards are just not cheap...

but anyways um I need a good cooling solution for it, now I read that you can place a 40x40mm fan on top of the stock heatsink??? I'm also thinking of pulling mine off and just replacing not sure how to go about that though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119048 is this something I should look into????

not only that there is no mounting holes for the fan so should I just try duck taping it on there???

[imperialreign]

Wow this thread is huge, whew I didn't read a whole lot of posts but I do know this, to be frank I think my xtreme gamer is overheating. No way am I replacing the card unless it dies which it hasn't sound cards are just not cheap...

but anyways um I need a good cooling solution for it, now I read that you can place a 40x40mm fan on top of the stock heatsink??? I'm also thinking of pulling mine off and just replacing not sure how to go about that though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119048 is this something I should look into????

not only that there is no mounting holes for the fan so should I just try duck taping it on there???


well - from your description, it sounds as if the card already has the stock cooler over the APU . . . if so, there's no way to remove it without destroying the APU itself. The HS is bonded with thermal epoxy, which is damn near bullet-proof (believe me, I've tried!).


The best bet to bump up the cooling efficiency is indeed to install a fan over the cooler - but a 40mm unit is a bit big; if you can figure out some way to jimmy-rig one on, though, it'll provide higher airflow than a smaller unit that would properly fit the cooler. IIRC, the stock HS on the X-Fi is a 30mm unit, meaning you'd need a fan like this: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?sk=MC71419&productID=6706 - if you do purchase online, just make sure it's a 12v unit, and not 5v

The next best idea would be to make sure your case has good ventilation - if need be, clean the dust out of it (and off the card), and consider rearranging your expansion cards (if possible) . . . a good rule of thumb is to mount the X-Fi closest to the bottom of the motherboard, if possible.

[kysg]

This is true I have to give it some thought. Maybe tomorrow when I get up, right now I'm not sure. Duct taping seems like a possibility but could mess with are flow, could try supergluing it but that may not work...darn its just there is no mounting holes anywhere...wonder if there is some type of metal bracket that can be placed over the fan...

Think a thermal pad would work if I stuck it directly on top of the heatsink even though the fins could possibly mess it up?

[imperialreign]

are you talking a means for attaching a fan?

well, if you can get one small enough, the screws will simply wedge in between the fins.

a larger unit, though, would pose a bit more on an issue Even using a thermal pad, that will effectively block the fans ability to pull air across the fins of the HS.

does your case have a fan on the side panel? If you have a PCI slot available across from the side-fan, you could move it there.



Curious - what specifically has led you to believe the card might be overheating?

[kysg]

Hmmm well I know the thing would get warm, its currently not in use will use it tomorrow I use to remember this thing getting warm, and I had my drivers updated and my onboard disabled, along with the ATI hdmi sound had that disabled too, and and it set to use the card in bios, hmmm Like I would play a game and all of a sudden I'd hear staticy sounds, then after a while I remember the thing would even play any more and I'd have to restart, I figured it was overheating, Mp3s where okay although occasionally when I played a sound I'd get static or a crackle sound... I'll give it a shot again tomorrow and see whats up,

and my case is this one, no fans on the sides, just 3 in the back, 1 in front.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133035

[FreedomEclipse]

just picked up a XFi Fatality Pro for $158.52 (hello European VAT)

[FreedomEclipse]

Problem now is i cant get the console to reconise the card even though the drivers installed correctly

[imperialreign]

Hmmm well I know the thing would get warm, its currently not in use will use it tomorrow I use to remember this thing getting warm, and I had my drivers updated and my onboard disabled, along with the ATI hdmi sound had that disabled too, and and it set to use the card in bios, hmmm Like I would play a game and all of a sudden I'd hear staticy sounds, then after a while I remember the thing would even play any more and I'd have to restart, I figured it was overheating, Mp3s where okay although occasionally when I played a sound I'd get static or a crackle sound... I'll give it a shot again tomorrow and see whats up,

and my case is this one, no fans on the sides, just 3 in the back, 1 in front.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133035


hmmm . . . when gaming, do you have the card set to game mode? Also, is hardware acceleration enabled within WIN?

The small crackle or static when playing mp3s, does that typically occur right at the very beginning of the sound?


Problem now is i cant get the console to reconise the card even though the drivers installed correctly


Part of the old drivers might still be installed. Did your card come with an installation disk?

Use the setup software found in C:\Program Files\Creative\Sound Blaster X-Fi\Program\setup.exe and have it completely remove all drivers and software (if you have problems getting it to run, it should also be on the installation disk, or manually remove stuff through WIN add/remove programs applet). Then reboot the system, and run Driver Sweeper in safe mode.

If your card came with an installation disk, you have to use that disk for installation. For some odd reason, the disks are "keyed" to the hardware. I've tried 4 or 5 different installation disks before, and the only one that would install correctly, or function correctly after installation is the disk that specifically came with that card. :shadedshu

[FreedomEclipse]

update: everything is cool - Dolby Digital Live is like the best thing ever. pairs well with my 5500's

Part of the old drivers might still be installed. Did your card come with an installation disk?

Use the setup software found in C:\Program Files\Creative\Sound Blaster X-Fi\Program\setup.exe and have it completely remove all drivers and software (if you have problems getting it to run, it should also be on the installation disk, or manually remove stuff through WIN add/remove programs applet). Then reboot the system, and run Driver Sweeper in safe mode.

If your card came with an installation disk, you have to use that disk for installation. For some odd reason, the disks are "keyed" to the hardware. I've tried 4 or 5 different installation disks before, and the only one that would install correctly, or function correctly after installation is the disk that specifically came with that card. :shadedshu

Yeah long story -

I uninstalled the original drivers & software - ran driver cleaner twice - restarted PC - Installed new drivers & software - restarted again - GUI wont detect my card - uninstalled everything & ran driver cleaner twice again - restarted pc & reinstalled again - still not working, then i checked out my hardware profiles & found out i had to install some M$ UAA Hi-Def Audio update for the PCI-E bus or something & for some reason it didnt auto update - anyhoo after the last comeplete uninstall & driver flush then reinstall & install with the new drivers which are dated august as the most recent one didnt pick it up & it started working perfectly...

so there you have it - my epic 1 hour battle to get my sound working complements of the bastards at creative.

honestly Creative are like a rampant rabbit - you have to grab it by the vibrating part then yank out the bottom part so its guts fall out

[imperialreign]

update: everything is cool - Dolby Digital Live is like the best thing ever. pairs well with my 5500's



Yeah long story -

I uninstalled the original drivers & software - ran driver cleaner twice - restarted PC - Installed new drivers & software - restarted again - GUI wont detect my card - uninstalled everything & ran driver cleaner twice again - restarted pc & reinstalled again - still not working, then i checked out my hardware profiles & found out i had to install some M$ UAA Hi-Def Audio update for the PCI-E bus or something & for some reason it didnt auto update - anyhoo after the last comeplete uninstall & driver flush then reinstall & install with the new drivers which are dated august as the most recent one didnt pick it up & it started working perfectly...

so there you have it - my epic 1 hour battle to get my sound working complements of the bastards at creative.

honestly Creative are like a rampant rabbit - you have to grab it by the vibrating part then yank out the bottom part so its guts fall out


yeah, their software can be a little bit of a PITA at times - but once you know the "intricacies" it's really not so bad :p

[FreedomEclipse]

I know people say that "Digital: it either works or it doesnt", but im curious -

right now i got a Digitial Optical Audio cable that plugs into my XFi straight to my 5500's - the cable itself works but I bought it years ago in some basement my questions are. Does the Optical signal deteriorate/degrade over time with prolonged use & also would buying a more expensive Digitial Op cable make any difference at all aside from being better shielded from interferance.

[imperialreign]

I know people say that "Digital: it either works or it doesnt", but im curious -

right now i got a Digitial Optical Audio cable that plugs into my XFi straight to my 5500's - the cable itself works but I bought it years ago in some basement my questions are. Does the Optical signal deteriorate/degrade over time with prolonged use & also would buying a more expensive Digitial Op cable make any difference at all aside from being better shielded from interferance.

well - digital coaxial cable is subject to the same degredation that standard cable is - the metal and fiberous material will degrade over time when subject to the elements. It takes a lot longer if in a controlled environment (like your home). Will this really hamper signal quality? Some, but not to an extent that it'd really be noticeable. But, being in the elements can cause the innards of the cable to become more brittle, and more prone to breaking internally if pinched, kinked, etc.

But, technologically, there could be a noticeable difference in quality. Cables have improved a lot over the years, with the addition of shielding, better insulation . . . even down to the specific alloy used for the cable itself. Older cable are more prone to environmental noise, and signal degredation over long distances, as compared to newer ones . . .


As to a difference versus optical - well, yes, there are some major differences . . . in 90% of cases, though, I doubt you'd hear them. Optical cable isn't affected by the same signal loss over distance that coaxial is, you could almost consider the cable "loss-less." It doesn't pick up interference as easily (actually, it's quite hard to introduce noise), either. But, digital coaxial cables are still fully acceptable with short distances, like running through the home. You won't have enough length to actually notice any signal loss, and if you're wise about where you route your cables, you won't pick up any interference, either. Optical can also transmit more channel signals over one link, whereas any coaxial setup takes a number of cables, typically one per two channels.

but if you want the satisfaction of having "the absolute best of the best," optical is the only way to go.

[FreedomEclipse]

Im currently running optical with some cable i bought from some stall in a basement in Hong Kong years n years ago. since it was cheap im taking maybe its shittier quality then ones bought in an actual audio store

[imperialreign]

Im currently running optical with some cable i bought from some stall in a basement in Hong Kong years n years ago. since it was cheap im taking maybe its shittier quality then ones bought in an actual audio store

damn, dude - sorry it's taken me so long to get back to ya on this, I completely forgot about it :o

anyhow, if you bought some optical for dirt cheap . . . well, optical is optical cable. There's not too much of a variety in-so-far as what compromises it's build, at least, compared to coaxial cable . . . there are definitely differences in how well the cable can and will perform, but generally, even the most low-grade optical cables are considered to be superior to most mid-range coaxial.


now, if we're talking about coaxial, though, there are major differences in the dirt cheap variety compared to the upper-shelf counterparts.

[imperialreign]

Incase you haven't already heard, Creative have released an official driver source for Linux 32b/64b . . . it's no longer beta.


For those interested in more nitty-gritty stuffz, Creative seem to have posted up the technical specs of the CA20K2 APU on their business microsite: http://www.creative.com/oem/products/chips/CA20K2.asp

what really caught my attention - this APU can support up to 384kHz sample rates . . . not all too surprising, though, considering the CA201K was originally designed by Creative's E-Mu branch, for audio creation purposes . . .

[eidairaman1]

over the last few days ive been considering getting a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. - my Xtreme Music seems to be the cause of sudden random BSOD's & crashes during boot up as i found out earlier.

the question is - shall i get the Titanium or just another cheapo replacement Xtreme Music OEM??

I have the same card and it hasnt failed me yet, what are you Running as of OS?

[tigger]

For my co-axial digital cable,i am using the thick av cable that came with my 4850,seems to be working fine,and its not overly long as my amp is close to my pc.

I am still on my onboard sound,it seems fine using the digital out to my amp.Plus i just dont really have a clue what to replace the x-fail with.

[FreedomEclipse]

I have the same card and it hasnt failed me yet, what are you Running as of OS?

it doesnt matter anymore as im running a Fata1ity Titainium pro :rockout::rockout::rockout::rockout:

the O/S was XP Pro SP2 as mentioned in my system specs

but i think it was partially down to the way i probably 'man handled' the card when i came to cleaning inside the case or when i was ripping & adding loads of other stuffs - so no suprise there.
ive had it since 2006 anyway i think - back in the days when a Xtreme Music was still about $149.28

my case eats dust like bunnies under the bed

[imperialreign]

it doesnt matter anymore as im running a Fata1ity Titainium pro :rockout::rockout::rockout::rockout:

the O/S was XP Pro SP2 as mentioned in my system specs

but i think it was partially down to the way i probably 'man handled' the card when i came to cleaning inside the case or when i was ripping & adding loads of other stuffs - so no suprise there.
ive had it since 2006 anyway i think - back in the days when a Xtreme Music was still about $149.28

my case eats dust like bunnies under the bed

I've had my first Fatal1ty for about as long . . . oddly enough, I blew a friggin OPAMP on it the other day (first time I've ever done so, and I still can't figure out WTF I did to cause that, either :wtf:).


Anyhow, recently haev upgraded to a Titanium Fatal1ty as well, for a couple of quirky reasons. I'm preparing a review of the card (which will hopefully make it into our TPU review database), and comparing its performance to that of the PCI Fatal1ty. ASIO latency is identicle between the two, but there's a noticeable difference in CPU usage - still wish I had someway of measuring the latency from a source file on the HDD to playback . . .

But, I've got all the info I need, now I just need to put it together and write the review.

[kysg]

hmm blew an opamp I didn't think that was possible.

ah well picking up an X-FI prelude, should be pretty sweet move, solid caps. I looked some info on the custom opamps that could be added, has anyone tried those at all?? I was gonna look into getting the one from TI.

[imperialreign]

hmm blew an opamp I didn't think that was possible.

ah well picking up an X-FI prelude, should be pretty sweet move, solid caps. I looked some info on the custom opamps that could be added, has anyone tried those at all?? I was gonna look into getting the one from TI.

I didn't think blowing an OPAMP was possible, either, especially with the volume via the control panel set at 45% . . .

I at first thought the headset I was using had taken a crap, so I swapped some stuff around, and they were alright . . . all the other channels on the card were fine, save for line 1 - what got me thinking it was the OPAMP, though, was that if you quickly swept the volume setting in the control panel, the output would cut in and out, crackle, pop, even produce a loud droning sound. Recievers don't tend to get that erratic overnight (literally) . . . replaced the OPAMP and all works well.



The Prelude is a great card, high build quality, strong drivers - I'm not sure how cap replacements work out with those cards though . . . there are other users out there who've done such mods, but I don't know of any here at TPU. Although, we do have a couple of really knowledgeable users in terms of caps and some other PCB components.

[Wile E]

OPAMPs, and things of that nature, generally don't blow unless there's a dead short in the speaker leads. Must've been somewhat defective to start with.

[imperialreign]

OPAMPs, and things of that nature, generally don't blow unless there's a dead short in the speaker leads. Must've been somewhat defective to start with.

hard to say, as I still haven't had any issues with the headset on any other system I've plugged them into. As for the card, though, 2.5-3 years of rigorous use can become taxing for PCB components. I'm just glad it was merely and OPAMP and not a cap that decided to go bust, or at the worst, the DAC.

Blowing the OPAMP, though, came on the heels of doing some audio work in SoundForge. I get the feeling it was just a combination of old-age, and me pushing some extremelly boosted frequencies through the output.

[FreedomEclipse]

Anyhow, recently haev upgraded to a Titanium Fatal1ty as well

great - its good to have somebody whose looking at the same page when it comes to drivers!!!

speaking of which - are you still running 'August' drivers??

[imperialreign]

great - its good to have somebody whose looking at the same page when it comes to drivers!!!

speaking of which - are you still running 'August' drivers??

currently, ATM - just wanted to do a whole bunch of testing, make sure things are stable, etc, before installing the beta drivers.

[tigger]

Did you have a look at this imperial?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=76348

Its pretty cool,you can force the digital out to dts/ac3 mode.I tried it on my amp and it works great.Its great for watching film,even sounds good on games.

[imperialreign]

Did you have a look at this imperial?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=76348

Its pretty cool,you can force the digital out to dts/ac3 mode.I tried it on my amp and it works great.Its great for watching film,even sounds good on games.

that's pretty interesting . . . using ASIO completely bypasses the drivers and the dolby encoding lock . . . we've known for some time now that all X-Fis have been capable of encoding, it's just the drivers have that feature locked up . . . that's a nice work-around. So, I'm guessing then it uses a generic ASIO driver and not Creative's ASIO . . .




Just a sample from testing the Titanium vs. the Fatal1ty, CPU utilization in DirectSound3D mode + EAX:

http://img.techpowerup.org/081116/Fatal1ty_DS3D_EAX.jpg
X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro


http://img.techpowerup.org/081116/Titanium_DS3D_EAX.jpg
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro


the Titanium on average requires half the amount of CPU use as the PCI based Fatal1ty - IMO, this shows how well the native PCIE Titanium can capitalize off of the PCIE bandwidth . . . the more information it can move per clock cycle, the less it has to interupt the system BUS.

Although I don't have any software to really prove it, I'd believe this hints to lower audio processing latencies. Although the CA20K2 is practically the same as the CA201K in terms of processing ability, the reduction in system wait times would lend itself to the notion that the APU is now capable of handling the per-clock work load that it was originally desinged to handle.

[Jasper005]

Hi,

I'm thinking of going optical with my X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series and Logitech Z-5500 using the Creative® Digital I/O Module "FlexiJack".

Has anyone got a similar set up or use the flexijack?

Oh I was going to splash out the $4 on the Dolby Digital Live Pack as well.

Good idea?

NB I'm on Vista 64bit now.

[tigger]

The live pack sounds good,i am using the flexi jack on my audigy 4 to my amp via a coaxial cable.

[SoundMan]

Hi. Yesterday i buy X-Fi Titanium Fidel1ty Profess1onal Series and now have question - How i can connect cable from CD-ROM (internal CD-In) or from TV-tuner (internal AUX) to sound card? May be anybody know where and how it's may connect?

P.S. Sorry for my English, i am from Russia.

[eidairaman1]

there should be manuals for your components, use them.

[imperialreign]

Hi. Yesterday i buy X-Fi Titanium Fidel1ty Profess1onal Series and now have question - How i can connect cable from CD-ROM (internal CD-In) or from TV-tuner (internal AUX) to sound card? May be anybody know where and how it's may connect?

P.S. Sorry for my English, i am from Russia.


Sorry, but with the Titanium cards, there isn't a 4-pin header for a CD-ROM interconnect.



If you're lucky, some models (SB0888) have a 3-pin HDMI interconnect that will allow you to connect the card to a video adapter - but all this does is allow the Titanium to output S/PDIF to the video card for passthrough to the HDMI connector. Sadly, there aren't that many video cards with a S/PDIF-in header, and even fewer with a 3-pin.

[SoundMan]

\\\\Hi. Yesterday i buy X-Fi Titanium Fidel1ty Profess1onal Series and now have question - How i can connect cable from CD-ROM (internal CD-In) or from TV-tuner (internal AUX) to sound card? May be anybody know where and how it's may connect?\\\\


There is 18(20)-pin connector on board X-fi Titanium, i think some of this pin is AUX-IN(CD-IN). May be anybody know about it?

[imperialreign]

\\\\Hi. Yesterday i buy X-Fi Titanium Fidel1ty Profess1onal Series and now have question - How i can connect cable from CD-ROM (internal CD-In) or from TV-tuner (internal AUX) to sound card? May be anybody know where and how it's may connect?\\\\


There is 18(20)-pin connector on board X-fi Titanium, i think some of this pin is AUX-IN(CD-IN). May be anybody know about it?

that connector is for connecting the Titanium card to the X-Fi Titanium I/O drive that would sit in a 5.25" bay . . . IIRC, the last 10-pins, though, will interface with an AC97/Azalia connector from your case's front panel.

The other 10/12-pin connector is for a digital connection to the I/O drive.

[SoundMan]

that connector is for connecting the Titanium card to the X-Fi Titanium I/O drive that would sit in a 5.25" bay . . . IIRC, the last 10-pins, though, will interface with an AC97/Azalia connector from your case's front panel.

The other 10/12-pin connector is for a digital connection to the I/O drive.


I know that connector for Titanium I/O drive. But on panel of Titanium I/O drive situated AUX-IN that's why i think that some pin of connector is AUX-IN (CD-IN).

[_jM]

I, nor any other member of this forum, shall be held liable for any damage done to, or any loss of warranty to, any of your hardware, X-Fi or otherwise, by following any posted solutions or advice in this thread!!! If you don't feel comfortable using any resolution or workaround to a problem you encounter, please seek the aide of a professional!

Am I wrong, or isn't that supposed to be aid?

[imperialreign]

I know that connector for Titanium I/O drive. But on panel of Titanium I/O drive situated AUX-IN that's why i think that some pin of connector is AUX-IN (CD-IN).

TBH, I'm not 100% certain as to how things are hooked up on the I/O drive . . . I know there are 3 or 4 headers, but I don't have one to verify waht exactly each is for, and I have yet to see any pics of the rear of the drive.


Am I wrong, or isn't that supposed to be aid?



You're right, it's supposed to be aid - I have a bad habit of slipping an 'e' onto the the end of some words :p

[_jM]

You're right, it's supposed to be aid - I have a bad habit of slipping an 'e' onto the the end of some words :p

No problem bro:toast: I tend to correct people too much anyways. Just glad I saw it, so it can be changed. Wasn't sure if anyone else saw that yet...:D

[kysg]

hmm Wierd bought a headset a few days ago. Tried using with x fi prelude can't get the mic to work. I have their RC8 driver installed from auzentech's site. When plugging in the usb dongle, I get audio, but mic fails to work. Tried changing in CP to usb audio headset and setting everything to headset in vista Control panel but that doesn't work. Disabled all audio except for x fi prelude and usb audio still get nothing. disable the onboard sound in bios, left the front audio jack option on in bios. Try plugging into front audio jack, same issue. Try the actual sound card and I get nothing. This is also when setting the device back to the x fi prelude. Not sure what the heck I did wrong.

[imperialreign]

hmm Wierd bought a headset a few days ago. Tried using with x fi prelude can't get the mic to work. I have their RC8 driver installed from auzentech's site. When plugging in the usb dongle, I get audio, but mic fails to work. Tried changing in CP to usb audio headset and setting everything to headset in vista Control panel but that doesn't work. Disabled all audio except for x fi prelude and usb audio still get nothing. disable the onboard sound in bios, left the front audio jack option on in bios. Try plugging into front audio jack, same issue. Try the actual sound card and I get nothing. This is also when setting the device back to the x fi prelude. Not sure what the heck I did wrong.

check in WIN audio control panel, under the "recording" tab, that 'line-in' is selected, or 'mic' - it can vary sometimes.

[kysg]

yea I see when I have my USB plugged in both my headset mic, and the prelude mic. I set everything to the USB in everything and set little audio panel to audio creation still get nothing. so annoying from the mic

[imperialreign]

yea I see when I have my USB plugged in both my headset mic, and the prelude mic. I set everything to the USB in everything and set little audio panel to audio creation still get nothing. so annoying from the mic

well, I'm not 100% sure on Auzen's drivers, as they're further tweaked than Creative's . . .

but, a lot of times, Creative's control panel doesn't properly synch with WIN control panel. Even though you may set the recording device within the console launcher to 'mic' or 'line-in,' WIN might still have the recording device set to WIN default, or 'digital-in' or otherwise.

[kysg]

actually I think the mic is dead, tried another headset, mic came up fine gonna RMA the other pair.

[imperialreign]

actually I think the mic is dead, tried another headset, mic came up fine gonna RMA the other pair.

sorry to hear that . . . actually, that's quite unusual - was it a new mic, or and older one?

[kysg]

I dunno bought it off Ebay, description was as new, its less than 30 days old, ah well its only the 2nd piece of equipment that I have ever ordered that went was DOA.

[imperialreign]

I dunno bought it off Ebay, description was as new, its less than 30 days old, ah well its only the 2nd piece of equipment that I have ever ordered that went was DOA.

well, if it's under warranty, then nothing off your back but the headache of the RMA . . .

still strange, though - do you haev another rig you could test it on?

[kysg]

nah I wish I did, but they have the same 3.5mm jack on both headsets, its just the 1 in question has a USB dongle, that I can just plug in matter of fact I gotta test the other pair with the USB dongle just to be 100% sure.

[imperialreign]

nah I wish I did, but they have the same 3.5mm jack on both headsets, its just the 1 in question has a USB dongle, that I can just plug in matter of fact I gotta test the other pair with the USB dongle just to be 100% sure.

does the USB power the headphones, or the mic?

[kysg]

I don't think it powers it the USB is more like a converter. left an attachment.

[imperialreign]

I don't think it powers it the USB is more like a converter. left an attachment.

that is odd - try using the mic without the USB dongle

[Elementlmage]

The X-fi club eh? I would like to join and add my Elite Pro to the ranks. IMO, the EP is the best thing since sliced bread. It, and my Sennheiser HD 650s produce a flawless sound (well I am sure there are flaws, but none that I can tell.) that is as smooth and sexy as a soaking wet Halle Berry.

Very nice article though; it's nice to see all of the differences in the PCB layouts. Do you have any idea of when you will get material for the modding section?

[FreedomEclipse]

as smooth and sexy as a soaking wet Halle Berry.


Shes so overated..... I can think of a few better.

[Elementlmage]

You get the idea, just <insert woman of choice here>. But man, I don't know what I would do if that card ever went kaput; I'd probably go nuts.

[FreedomEclipse]

hey if anything at all went kaput in my rig id go nuts - one of the things im afraid of the most next to injections.....

feeling the shit run down your legs after a bad system failure & crossing your fingers n hoping it aint the worst case scenario...

[kysg]

yea that is always a bad feeling, or when the thing just shuts off completely and you can't get it to POST >.<

[imperialreign]

The X-fi club eh? I would like to join and add my Elite Pro to the ranks. IMO, the EP is the best thing since sliced bread. It, and my Sennheiser HD 650s produce a flawless sound (well I am sure there are flaws, but none that I can tell.) that is as smooth and sexy as a soaking wet Halle Berry.

Very nice article though; it's nice to see all of the differences in the PCB layouts. Do you have any idea of when you will get material for the modding section?


Alrighty - I'll add ya up :toast:


I have more material for the modding section - whenever I can get around to firing up the soldering iron for my current card . . . I had done some with my previous XGFP . . .

there's another user I need to get back in touch with as well over some more technical stuffs - he knows the caps a lot better than I do.

I'm also planning on attempting to swap the DAC at some point - I have a unit that will work, but there's one hurdle to get over, as well as having to solder all those tiny legs :twitch:

[Elementlmage]

Alrighty - I'll add ya up :toast:


I have more material for the modding section - whenever I can get around to firing up the soldering iron for my current card . . . I had done some with my previous XGFP . . .

there's another user I need to get back in touch with as well over some more technical stuffs - he knows the caps a lot better than I do.

I'm also planning on attempting to swap the DAC at some point - I have a unit that will work, but there's one hurdle to get over, as well as having to solder all those tiny legs :twitch:

Yeah, that would suck if you bridged two joints. So what kinda DAC are you gunna use? Have you heard nice things about it?

[imperialreign]

Yeah, that would suck if you bridged two joints. So what kinda DAC are you gunna use? Have you heard nice things about it?

The DAC I have is a CS4385, which is hardware compatible with the CS4382.

It's still a 24b/192kHz, 114db SNR output device - from what I've read, though, it's much better in terms of accuracy and it's ability to convert sounds quickly compared to the CS4382 - haven't seen anything on it's overall tone, though . . . Should really boost the overall subjective sound quality either way, and coupled with the new caps and OPAMPs should *hopefully* have a marked improvement.

[imperialreign]

New X-Fi driver set available - driver version 2.18.008

release notes:


This download supports the following audio devices only:


Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi



Added Features:

For systems using Windows Vista


Dolby® Digital and DTS® decode re-established for sound cards that included decoding in their Windows XP drivers (Not applicable for products that included a 3rd party software DVD player license in the package).
DVD-Audio playback re-established for sound cards that included the application in their Windows XP software suite (For Windows Vista 32-bit only).
Requires the latest Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player software. Click here to download.


Fixes:


Resolves issue of audio popping when playing AC-3 Wave files or using Dolby Digital Live via the digital output on Windows Vista.
Resolves Audio Control Panel issue of incorrect X-Fi CMSS®-3D behavior while using Audio Creation Mode.



Requirements:


Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or Windows XP MCE 2004
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

[Elementlmage]

Ya, snagged me those last night. Had to do an emergency re-install and checked for new driver sets instead of using my back-ups. Haven't had a chance to test them out yet, but it looks like they added a few nice things for Vista users... even though it appears it doesn't have true Bluray support for Vista yet. I wonder if they have any plans to make Media Source BD/HD-DVD compatible?

[kenkickr]

I just picked up a X-fi Titanium Fatal1ty for a hell of a deal at Best Buy!! After everything I paid 96 bucks so I decided the card can't be that bad. So far I'm very impressed and love the clarity over the onboard Soundmax. No more popping so far and tomorrow I'll see how it does with movies.

[FreedomEclipse]

I think somebody should write to or email Creative & let them know that they 'DO' Acutaly have a card called 'Titanium Fata1ty Professional' floating out on the deep blue market & 'Actualy' write some new drivers for us....

Last official drivers (unless im wrong - so i havent looked but i know the latest 2.18.008 pack wont have anything for me/us/idiots who bought a Titanium Fata1ity Professional) were last August. A few bugs have then since then appeard - such as FALLOUT 3 - breaking the console.

I set the thing in game mode & play some Fallout 3 but after i end the session the console jams up & i can no longer switch to Entertainment mode unless i restart my machine.


what the hell are those creative muppets doing??? dont tell me their gonna blame their 'inactivity' due to the laying off of much need programmers, which would be a bonus in creatives case because they are useless anyway who then will blame their sacking on the credit crunch????


there should be a regulatory body/council formed to monitor Creatives 'Customer Satisfaction' ratings to make sure they dont slack off & of course to higher the right sort of people to do their dirty work. - I dont mind slackers. dont get me wrong. Id rather they take forever to whip up a package that actually works rather then them taking forever & whipping up a package that thinks its an installer package for a f**king finger print scanner....

=====

& i know you dont tolerate bashing on this thread, please allow me to vent my frustration in this 1 post.

[mamoose124]

Just found this Forum. Have been reviewing posts. Looks as though you folks may be able to help. This will be a long post as I want to be clear that there is no problem with my X-Fi but rather my problem is the proper way to hook my card up to an old set of speakers. Hopefully the following will explain:

I have a problem. Recently, my on board sound system quite working. I decided to purchase a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatality Pro. So far so good. However, my speaker system is about ten years old and although it still works flawlessly, its two audio inputs (analog & S/PDIF) don't jibe with my new sound card (I think?). At least I am confused regarding how to hook things up.

My speaker system is an Altec Lansing ADA880. This is a multimedia amplified speaker system featuring Dolby Digital AC3 and Dolby Pr0-logic surround and stereo reproduction. The unit is comprised of a subwoofer and two satellite speakers. This combination provides surround sound on a desktop by utilizing side firing speakers. For enhanced surround sound the tip speaker portion of each satellite can be separated and placed on a provided stand with long speakers wires. This enables the separated speakers to be placed for text surround sound performance. All four speakers and plugged into the back of the subwoofer. The amplifier inputs can simultaneously operate on analog and digital (S/PDIF) auido signals. Still OK, but here is the problem.

The input lines to the Subwoofer are 1) an analog line w/mini-stereo plugs (green) and 2) an S/PDIF line with RCA plugs (black).

The question is, how do I hook these two lines to the Sound Blaster card. The sound plaster has five Jacks or Connectors:

1)AD_Link connector; a 26 pin connector for an X-Fi I/O Console,
2) Line out 3 Jack: On 5.1 systems for the Front Center speakers and Subwoofer. On 6.1 systems for Front Center, rear center speakers and Subwoofer. On 7.1 systems: Front Center, Side left speakers and Subwoofer.
3)Line Out 2 Jack: On 4.15.1 and 6.1 systems for Rear Left and Rear Right speakers. On 7.1 systems for Rear Left and Rear Right speakers.
4)Line out 2 Jack: Connect the Front Left and Front Right inputs on powered analog speakers or a home theater receiver to this jack. You can also connect your stereo headphones with a 3.50 mm (1/8-inch) plug to this jack.
5)FlexiJack: Connect one of the following to this jack:
1.Analog devices like cassette and other lin-in sources
2.a microphone
3.the digital I/O Module
4.external digital audio devices that accept stereo PCM or compressed Doldy Digital/DTS Bitstream from the S/PDIF output.d

What this suggests to me is that I only need to hook up my S/PDIF cord from the Subwoofer to the FlexiJack on the X-Fi audio card. Right? Or am I missing something? It does make me nervous to leave unplugged the analog input.

Any suggestions?

[eidairaman1]

Ask people over on the Creative Labs Forums for Assistance in hooking your system up.



On another note, i hope these latest stable drivers are better than the betas ive tried in the past, as they would cause lag spikes, i wound up goin with a driver from 2006.

[mamoose124]

Hey, I have already asked the Creative Labs Forum Tech's for help. They responded but I was hopeful of getting a second opinion from others. It looks to me like all I need to do is purchase a mini-stereo adapter for my RCA cord and plug it into the X-Fi's FlexiJack. Should I also plug in the analog line to X-Fi's line out 2? What do you think?

[mikek75]

A late joiner to the party, I've just upgraded my Audigy 4 to an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fata1ity Pro. Definitely impressed with the sound quality so far, with the Crystalizer on in FarCry 2 the reports from the rifles are fantastic. Running the latest drivers without any issues so far, although I only have a 2.1 speaker set.

I reckon I got a good deal, PC World (of all places) were selling it at £50, half the price of the current Xtreme Gamer which was £97. Sure, the X Ram will probably never be used but I feel the upgrade was still well worth it

[FreedomEclipse]

A late joiner to the party, I've just upgraded my Audigy 4 to an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fata1ity Pro. Definitely impressed with the sound quality so far, with the Crystalizer on in FarCry 2 the reports from the rifles are fantastic. Running the latest drivers without any issues so far, although I only have a 2.1 speaker set.

I reckon I got a good deal, PC World (of all places) were selling it at £50, half the price of the current Xtreme Gamer which was £97. Sure, the X Ram will probably never be used but I feel the upgrade was still well worth it

for £50???? was it in their 'bargain' section?? even if it was wrapped in cling film i doubt they would sell it that cheaply - thats what happend with a set of Logitech V20 speakers - they were just sitting there - no box, no manual, no additional cables or accessories - & how much do u think they were selling it for???? £10 off the full retail price which made me ROFL in the assistants face for like 5mins before i was able to tell her i didnt want them.

Marketing like that is hilarious - like the time i was in a Sainsbury's supermarket & they had a sign above boxs of peeled shrimp that said something along the lines of this - "Sainsbury's keeps tabs with all supermarket retailers to ensure they wont be beaten on price"

THEY were selling the shrimp @ 1p less per box then Asda - a fact they also quoted on their little note thing.


I love people/retailers who think their curing cancer by lowing their prices by 1p.

[Elementlmage]

Yes yes, I have worked retail, and I too know of such rofltacos. I have never understood the way management thinks. They honestly think they are going to sell an open box used item with half the crap missing for a mere 10 percent discount. For some reason they seem to think that if they take more off they are losing money. When in fact, they fail to realize that said item has already been bought and paid for... by the store. So, in fact, by not selling the item (which they definitely won't at that pathetic discount) they are losing more money than if they were to just put 30 percent off. Better to lose 30 percent than 100...

[mikek75]

for £50???? was it in their 'bargain' section?? even if it was wrapped in cling film i doubt they would sell it that cheaply - thats what happend with a set of Logitech V20 speakers - they were just sitting there - no box, no manual, no additional cables or accessories - & how much do u think they were selling it for???? £10 off the full retail price which made me ROFL in the assistants face for like 5mins before i was able to tell her i didnt want them.

Marketing like that is hilarious - like the time i was in a Sainsbury's supermarket & they had a sign above boxs of peeled shrimp that said something along the lines of this - "Sainsbury's keeps tabs with all supermarket retailers to ensure they wont be beaten on price"

THEY were selling the shrimp @ 1p less per box then Asda - a fact they also quoted on their little note thing.




I love people/retailers who think their curing cancer by lowing their prices by 1p.Straight up bud, no shit. Go to PC Worlds' site and have a look for yourself. Fully boxed and sealed too. I had to drive 35 miles to get it at the Gloucester store, but I'm glad I did. Just loaded up Quake 4 and with the X-FI, 4870 and 1920x1080 on Ultra Textures I nearly shat meself, LOL
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1933730731.123042684 4@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadegdghjlffcflgceggdhhmdfol.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=289718&category_oid=

[Elementlmage]

Zgrats on an excellent purchase mon friar. I hope it brings you many years of beautiful music. And just to be witless... once you go black, you never go back. :toast: *Holds up a Guinness* To another successful conversion!

[imperialreign]

Ya, snagged me those last night. Had to do an emergency re-install and checked for new driver sets instead of using my back-ups. Haven't had a chance to test them out yet, but it looks like they added a few nice things for Vista users... even though it appears it doesn't have true Bluray support for Vista yet. I wonder if they have any plans to make Media Source BD/HD-DVD compatible?

On BR support - not certain yet. Technically, any audio card is capable of supporting HD-DVD audio quality playback (24b/192kHz), but only in 2-channel mode - this is the only mode this audio is encoded in. But, not sure what features might be supported in the future, only time will tell . . . it's possible, seeing as how the Titaniums are the first X-Fis to fully support Dolby encoding.


I think somebody should write to or email Creative & let them know that they 'DO' Acutaly have a card called 'Titanium Fata1ty Professional' floating out on the deep blue market & 'Actualy' write some new drivers for us....

Last official drivers (unless im wrong - so i havent looked but i know the latest 2.18.008 pack wont have anything for me/us/idiots who bought a Titanium Fata1ity Professional) were last August. A few bugs have then since then appeard - such as FALLOUT 3 - breaking the console.

& i know you dont tolerate bashing on this thread, please allow me to vent my frustration in this 1 post.


I don't have much of a problem with people airing their grievances with Creative on occasion, as long as they at least try to provide some reason aside from the "they just suck" excuse so common with the majority of bashers . . . and as long as negative comments don't get too out of control . . .

but, in regards to your issue - it might be possible it could be an issue with the game not backing out properly . . . doubtful, but possible.

Curious - were you using EAX (does FO3 even support EAX?)?

Just found this Forum. Have been reviewing posts. Looks as though you folks may be able to help. This will be a long post as I want to be clear that there is no problem with my X-Fi but rather my problem is the proper way to hook my card up to an old set of speakers. Hopefully the following will explain:

I have a problem. Recently, my on board sound system quite working. I decided to purchase a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatality Pro. So far so good. However, my speaker system is about ten years old and although it still works flawlessly, its two audio inputs (analog & S/PDIF) don't jibe with my new sound card (I think?). At least I am confused regarding how to hook things up.

My speaker system is an Altec Lansing ADA880. This is a multimedia amplified speaker system featuring Dolby Digital AC3 and Dolby Pr0-logic surround and stereo reproduction. The unit is comprised of a subwoofer and two satellite speakers. This combination provides surround sound on a desktop by utilizing side firing speakers. For enhanced surround sound the tip speaker portion of each satellite can be separated and placed on a provided stand with long speakers wires. This enables the separated speakers to be placed for text surround sound performance. All four speakers and plugged into the back of the subwoofer. The amplifier inputs can simultaneously operate on analog and digital (S/PDIF) auido signals. Still OK, but here is the problem.

The input lines to the Subwoofer are 1) an analog line w/mini-stereo plugs (green) and 2) an S/PDIF line with RCA plugs (black).

The question is, how do I hook these two lines to the Sound Blaster card. The sound plaster has five Jacks or Connectors:

1)AD_Link connector; a 26 pin connector for an X-Fi I/O Console,
2) Line out 3 Jack: On 5.1 systems for the Front Center speakers and Subwoofer. On 6.1 systems for Front Center, rear center speakers and Subwoofer. On 7.1 systems: Front Center, Side left speakers and Subwoofer.
3)Line Out 2 Jack: On 4.15.1 and 6.1 systems for Rear Left and Rear Right speakers. On 7.1 systems for Rear Left and Rear Right speakers.
4)Line out 2 Jack: Connect the Front Left and Front Right inputs on powered analog speakers or a home theater receiver to this jack. You can also connect your stereo headphones with a 3.50 mm (1/8-inch) plug to this jack.
5)FlexiJack: Connect one of the following to this jack:
1.Analog devices like cassette and other lin-in sources
2.a microphone
3.the digital I/O Module
4.external digital audio devices that accept stereo PCM or compressed Doldy Digital/DTS Bitstream from the S/PDIF output.d

What this suggests to me is that I only need to hook up my S/PDIF cord from the Subwoofer to the FlexiJack on the X-Fi audio card. Right? Or am I missing something? It does make me nervous to leave unplugged the analog input.

Any suggestions?


hmmm . . .

I get the feeling the one mini-jack connection coming from your speakers is for the left/right channel speakers. If this is true, this connection with go into line_out 1.

The RCA cable sounds like it feeds the subwoofer seperately (although I can't be 100% certain), but if this is true, you'd need a mini-jack to RCA adapter that would plug into line_out 3 (center/sub channel).

Again, this is just kinda a guess - it sounds like you have a rather unconventional hook-up configuration for common computer speakers.

[kysg]

hmmm I just thought about something how many games actually utilize EAX...I know there is a ton but there are some I question though, because for some reason they just advertise on the back of the box. Like GRID....


Also what would be a good set of headphones for these. I may go cheap and get Sennhd201's but if anyone has any other suggestions I'm open, Selling off my x540's because I'll be moving pretty soon here I hope.

[imperialreign]

hmmm I just thought about something how many games actually utilize EAX...I know there is a ton but there are some I question though, because for some reason they just advertise on the back of the box. Like GRID....


Also what would be a good set of headphones for these. I may go cheap and get Sennhd201's but if anyone has any other suggestions I'm open, Selling off my x540's because I'll be moving pretty soon here I hope.


As to EAX - it's become a little ambiguous . . . any game that uses OpenAL can technically claim to support EAX. Although I'm sure to use the EAX image and all they must pay some kind of royalty for it . . .

OpenAL pretty much includes EAX 2.0 extensions, and the EAX 2.0 SDK is free, IIRC, and the OpenAL SKD is 100% free. So, any developer that feels like using these audio extensions can get away with it, and technically support EAX (although it might no be EAX 5-HD).

Take STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, for example, it supports EAX and Open AL . . . but only EAX 2.0.



Oh, and on the headphones . . . it's a little rough to recommend something. Altec Lansing makes some good headsets, some of the 5.1 headsets are great (if you're willing to pay for them) . . . theres just so much on the market, though . . . just make sure to do some reading before making a purchase. Look up reviews, look if other's have post their opinions, etc. Take it all with a grain of salt, though, not all users who share their comments on a specific product might have the "ear" to really back up their statements - same goes for reviewers as well. I see a lot of reviews for speakers, etc where they're reamed by users for stoopid reasons that have nothing to do with output quality nor build quality.

[kysg]

As to EAX - it's become a little ambiguous . . . any game that uses OpenAL can technically claim to support EAX. Although I'm sure to use the EAX image and all they must pay some kind of royalty for it . . .

OpenAL pretty much includes EAX 2.0 extensions, and the EAX 2.0 SDK is free, IIRC, and the OpenAL SKD is 100% free. So, any developer that feels like using these audio extensions can get away with it, and technically support EAX (although it might no be EAX 5-HD).

Take STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, for example, it supports EAX and Open AL . . . but only EAX 2.0.



Oh, and on the headphones . . . it's a little rough to recommend something. Altec Lansing makes some good headsets, some of the 5.1 headsets are great (if you're willing to pay for them) . . . theres just so much on the market, though . . . just make sure to do some reading before making a purchase. Look up reviews, look if other's have post their opinions, etc. Take it all with a grain of salt, though, not all users who share their comments on a specific product might have the "ear" to really back up their statements - same goes for reviewers as well. I see a lot of reviews for speakers, etc where they're reamed by users for stoopid reasons that have nothing to do with output quality nor build quality.

Yea this is true. In audio land it's always tough trying to find that right piece of equipment, that goes for speakers, headphones, headsets, heck even the audiophile setup. but I'll take a look though, sennhd201's were the first thing that came to my mind though.

[Elementlmage]

I've heard that the Senn 280's are a nice set for the money. However, if you have the spare scratch I would suggest doling out $250 for the 580's or the full $380 for the 650's. Personally, I will never use anything other than Sennheiser ever again. There shear level of build and sound quality is amazing. I have dropped my 650's on solid concrete well over a dozen times and they sound just as good as the day I bought them.(They got a few scratches and dents, but nothing major). I have never listened to anything the same way after owning these. Which may or may not be a good thing, as I have now acquired champagne taste on a beer budget.


Also, a slight caveat, almost all of the full sized headset from Sennheiser have around a 100 hour break in period. When you first get them they sound like crap. The best thing to do is gather up all of the unused pillows and blankets and bury the headset. Then leave it on for a while with the volume fully cranked. In about 12 hours you will have a great sound that will be more than tolerable until the break-in period has passed.


(Estimated prices from Newegg.com)

[FreedomEclipse]

Straight up bud, no shit. Go to PC Worlds' site and have a look for yourself. Fully boxed and sealed too. I had to drive 35 miles to get it at the Gloucester store, but I'm glad I did. Just loaded up Quake 4 and with the X-FI, 4870 and 1920x1080 on Ultra Textures I nearly shat meself, LOL
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1933730731.123042684 4@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadegdghjlffcflgceggdhhmdfol.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=289718&category_oid=

thats a great offer!!! but its probably a lot easier for you to get to Glouchester from where you are :P - obviously petrol didnt cost you too much otherwise you'd probably paying the equivalent for the other XFi cards that are bought localy/online.

shame they dont do home deliveries with that offer which makes pc world that bit much more gay

[mikek75]

Ah yes, but it was Boxing Day and at least it got me out of the house, LOL.

EDIT: Colin Mcrae DiRT uses Open AL and says EAX Advanced HD on the sound setup screen

[FreedomEclipse]

Boxing day??? sorry i was lying in a gutter somewhere in london witha terrible headache - couldnt go anywhere :P

[mikek75]

LOL, I'm originally from London too bud, I vaguely remember Christmas there too. Quiet life in the country for me now. Its my age y'know! Too many squat parties when I was a dispatch rider...Anyone for K?

[kenkickr]

Last night my daughter and I watched "Tinkerbell" for the 2nd time...what can I say, I like it!! J/K I couldn't get over how much cleaner and crisp the sound is now. I'm highly impressed with the X-Fi Titanium Pro.

What's up with the activation key on the CD Sleeve? When I brought the card home I just downloaded the driver, Alchemey, DTS and Dolby packages, and the audio control center; and haven't had any issues.

[imperialreign]

Last night my daughter and I watched "Tinkerbell" for the 2nd time...what can I say, I like it!! J/K I couldn't get over how much cleaner and crisp the sound is now. I'm highly impressed with the X-Fi Titanium Pro.

What's up with the activation key on the CD Sleeve? When I brought the card home I just downloaded the driver, Alchemey, DTS and Dolby packages, and the audio control center; and haven't had any issues.

Activation key? :confused:

That's the first I heard of it . . . I honestly couldn't tell ya, man . . . maybe for a software demo or something, IDK . . .



@mamoose124 - it dawned on me after my last post . . . the RCA connection is probably for digital SPDIF . . .

if so, there's no digital connection to the back of the PCI-based X-Fi cards. You would need either the Digital I/O module (~$20) or the external X-Fi I/O console to connect the RCA cable.

The external consle connects to the 26-pin D-Sub connector, and your RCA connection will attach to the console.

The I/O module connects to the line_in and line_out connections on the back of the card, and converts the analogue signal back to digital (IIRC).

[human_error]

Thought i'd pop in here and register that i have a titanium championship edition (pci-e with front module).

It's in my system listed under my system spec (p6t deluxe, i7 920, 6gb ram, vista 64) and i'm getting serious crackling and popping with all versions of their drivers.

I've tried the card in all 3 of my spare pci-e slots (1 is in use for graphics card) and it doesn't seem to fix the issue, which looks to be driver related as if i run off vista's default drivers i get very little/no crackling but as soon as i install the creative drivers the crackling returns. I have had once when i had reseated the card in another pcie slot and re-installed all the drivers after a system restore that the card ran wonderfully (like my old xfi platinum on my old rig) with full accleration, but after the pc had been shutdown over night starting her up next day it had the crackling issues back :(

One other issue i get it when i am having the crackling issue sometimes game or entertainment mode won't work (no sound comes out the speakers at all for anything) and switching round to audio creation and back sometimes fixes it, sometimes it requires a full restart. When it is able to output sound but when there is no sound to play i also get a lot of noise down the speakers as well which is some sort of electrical noise (happens in my headphones connected to the front port as well, so it isn't a connection issue). The crackling seems to be some sort of excessive bass (or sounds like what would happen if i pushed a lot of base through my speakers, though it isn't the speakers themselves as they can deal with more base than what is being outputted).

I've tried the drivers on the cd, the latest whql drivers from their site (17. something) and the 17. something beta drivers from their site, the 18.something ones recently released are not available for the card at the moment :( I've also used the card in 3 different pci-e slots, disabled all overclocking, messed with all the settings in all the control panel options, enabled and disabled the digital output, reseated the card and nothing seems to be working, so any more ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

I'm using a 5.1 philips surround sound kit which i've had for 3 years and worked brilliantly with my xfi platinum.

[imperialreign]

Thought i'd pop in here and register that i have a titanium championship edition (pci-e with front module).

It's in my system listed under my system spec (p6t deluxe, i7 920, 6gb ram, vista 64) and i'm getting serious crackling and popping with all versions of their drivers.

I've tried the card in all 3 of my spare pci-e slots (1 is in use for graphics card) and it doesn't seem to fix the issue, which looks to be driver related as if i run off vista's default drivers i get very little/no crackling but as soon as i install the creative drivers the crackling returns. I have had once when i had reseated the card in another pcie slot and re-installed all the drivers after a system restore that the card ran wonderfully (like my old xfi platinum on my old rig) with full accleration, but after the pc had been shutdown over night starting her up next day it had the crackling issues back :(

One other issue i get it when i am having the crackling issue sometimes game or entertainment mode won't work (no sound comes out the speakers at all for anything) and switching round to audio creation and back sometimes fixes it, sometimes it requires a full restart. When it is able to output sound but when there is no sound to play i also get a lot of noise down the speakers as well which is some sort of electrical noise (happens in my headphones connected to the front port as well, so it isn't a connection issue). The crackling seems to be some sort of excessive bass (or sounds like what would happen if i pushed a lot of base through my speakers, though it isn't the speakers themselves as they can deal with more base than what is being outputted).

I've tried the drivers on the cd, the latest whql drivers from their site (17. something) and the 17. something beta drivers from their site, the 18.something ones recently released are not available for the card at the moment :( I've also used the card in 3 different pci-e slots, disabled all overclocking, messed with all the settings in all the control panel options, enabled and disabled the digital output, reseated the card and nothing seems to be working, so any more ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

I'm using a 5.1 philips surround sound kit which i've had for 3 years and worked brilliantly with my xfi platinum.


All driver versions cause isues, right?

Do you have another system with a similar operating system you could try out? There have been a few issues in the past with more than 4GB of RAM and Vista64 setups . . .


But, honestly, I get the feeling it might be due to the new hardware. There hasn't been a driver release for the Titanium cards yet since the i7 platforms rolled out . . . what you're describing sounds like hardware related issues, like the device IRQ being given too low a priority for the system (the crackling and popping is typically a result of not having enough access to the system BUS). Not being able to switch to entertainment mode sounds like a broken driver issue . . . but could still be hardware related.


For the moment, the only other recommendation I could make would be to try a clean-install of the drivers. Use the setup utility found in the Creative folders on your HDD and remove all drivers and software. Then use Driver Sweeper in Safe Mode to finish removing all Creative-related files and references. Follow that up with a good registry cleaner for anything else. Then install the drivers and software - start with the instalation CD first. If that works out and you have no issues, my best advice is to leave it alone and not worry about any updated drivers - unless you're really willing to give them a shot. In general, I've gotten to the point of recommending things be left alon once you have a driver set that works . . .

The only idea past that would require formating the HDD and re-installing the OS; once the OS is installed, install chipset drivers, then install the X-Fi drivers before any video drivers, if you can, put the card in the closest sot to the CPU - if your motherboard has onboard video, run off that first as well without any GPUs in the PCIE slots. I'm not definite on Vista, but XP only passes out temporary, default IRQs to new devices until the drivers are installed. Once the drivers are installed, it's permanent, and it's almost impossible to change a device's IRQ without some serious registry hacks.



Truthfully, though, I get the feeling it's that the drivers aren't fully compatible with the new hardware just yet - if you're not up for trying out the advice I posted just above, you might want to consider being patient until the next Titanium driver package is out . . . but, I have no idea when that would be (I'm hoping soon, the PCI cards and Xtreme Audio just recieved driver updates).

[human_error]

Thanks, i'll try and do a full clean of all my drivers (using driver cleaner.net) in safe mode and see if that helps. I don't think it is a hardware conflict as it did work fine once, with full acceleration, if there was a hardware conflict i'd have thought that it would have prevented it working even once...

I do have a 2gb vista 64 rig in my house i can try and use, but it only has 1 pci-e slot so i need to remove the graphics card when i test (and use onboard) which takes a while, i'll try that later today/tomorrow if a full system clean doesn't do the trick. Unfortunately i dont have any onboard video on my rig's mobo, and i only have a couple of high end gpus spare in my house, all ATi.

One other issue i noticed since i installed the new sound card is when i do get issues with it the computer never shuts down correctly, it goes to the shutting down screen and then is happy to remain there forever (i just remembered as all my G15 lcd apps were reset when i started up, as i had to just hit the reset button to get the machine to shutdown and startup after removing the creative drivers earlier...). I never had any issues like that before I installed the new card.

UPDATE: Just installed the latest whql drivers on their website onto a clean system and i'm getting the issues still :( I have noticed odd behaviour with it - when i hover over different things on my start menu it makes a odd noise each time i move over new ones, like a faint electrical hum, through the speakers. When scrolling through firefox pages with no sound embedded i get a faint noise that sounds like what you get if you blow onto a microphone (no my mic isn't plugged in) - this is looking a lot like a driver issue to me...

[mamoose124]

hmmm . . .

I get the feeling the one mini-jack connection coming from your speakers is for the left/right channel speakers. If this is true, this connection with go into line_out 1.

The RCA cable sounds like it feeds the subwoofer seperately (although I can't be 100% certain), but if this is true, you'd need a mini-jack to RCA adapter that would plug into line_out 3 (center/sub channel).

Again, this is just kinda a guess - it sounds like you have a rather unconventional hook-up configuration for common computer speakers.[/QUOTE]

Yes, the mini-stereo cable is essentially the analog signals from the left & right speakers and should connect to Line_out 1. I agree that the RCA cable needs a mini-stereo adapter on one end but since this cable transmits S/PDIF signals shouldn't it be connected to the X-Fi's FlexiJack which supports S/PDIf connections? This is where I am confused. Why hook this cable to Line_out 3 (center/Sub channel) which does not handle S/PDIF signals?

[imperialreign]

Yes, the mini-stereo cable is essentially the analog signals from the left & right speakers and should connect to Line_out 1. I agree that the RCA cable needs a mini-stereo adapter on one end but since this cable transmits S/PDIF signals shouldn't it be connected to the X-Fi's FlexiJack which supports S/PDIf connections? This is where I am confused. Why hook this cable to Line_out 3 (center/Sub channel) which does not handle S/PDIF signals?

Well - you're right, if the RCA cable is SPDIF, then it'd need a RCA<=>mini-jack adapter, which would connect to the flexi-jack (which is Mic_out).

If the RCA simply carries the bass signal to the subwoofer it'd connect to line_out3.



Thanks, i'll try and do a full clean of all my drivers (using driver cleaner.net) in safe mode and see if that helps. I don't think it is a hardware conflict as it did work fine once, with full acceleration, if there was a hardware conflict i'd have thought that it would have prevented it working even once...

I do have a 2gb vista 64 rig in my house i can try and use, but it only has 1 pci-e slot so i need to remove the graphics card when i test (and use onboard) which takes a while, i'll try that later today/tomorrow if a full system clean doesn't do the trick. Unfortunately i dont have any onboard video on my rig's mobo, and i only have a couple of high end gpus spare in my house, all ATi.

One other issue i noticed since i installed the new sound card is when i do get issues with it the computer never shuts down correctly, it goes to the shutting down screen and then is happy to remain there forever (i just remembered as all my G15 lcd apps were reset when i started up, as i had to just hit the reset button to get the machine to shutdown and startup after removing the creative drivers earlier...). I never had any issues like that before I installed the new card.

UPDATE: Just installed the latest whql drivers on their website onto a clean system and i'm getting the issues still :( I have noticed odd behaviour with it - when i hover over different things on my start menu it makes a odd noise each time i move over new ones, like a faint electrical hum, through the speakers. When scrolling through firefox pages with no sound embedded i get a faint noise that sounds like what you get if you blow onto a microphone (no my mic isn't plugged in) - this is looking a lot like a driver issue to me...


the sounds you claim when moving the mouse . . . sounds like it's picking up noise being induced by the USB on the BUS . . . this has become quite common with various audio cards, and can be tricky to eliminate.

First, though, I'd recommend trying to get to the bottom of the audio issues . . . the hanging shut-down sequence defi sounds like a driver related problem . . . perhaps try lowering your system RAM to 2GB or 3GB for testing purposes, and see how it acts overall.

also, what kind of USB devices do you have hooked up and operating ATM? Some devices, or some USB chanels, can throw a wrench in the whole works and for some reason (that I still don't understand) cause features to not work, or other strange issues.

[human_error]

the sounds you claim when moving the mouse . . . sounds like it's picking up noise being induced by the USB on the BUS . . . this has become quite common with various audio cards, and can be tricky to eliminate.

First, though, I'd recommend trying to get to the bottom of the audio issues . . . the hanging shut-down sequence defi sounds like a driver related problem . . . perhaps try lowering your system RAM to 2GB or 3GB for testing purposes, and see how it acts overall.

also, what kind of USB devices do you have hooked up and operating ATM? Some devices, or some USB chanels, can throw a wrench in the whole works and for some reason (that I still don't understand) cause features to not work, or other strange issues.

I've tried the system with a single 2Gb stick and the issue was still there. The hanging seems to be the sound drivers doing a LOT of work, it has resolved itself now as i left my pc for 35 mins when it eventually shut down correctly and was ok since shutdown wise.

USB devices i have a logitech G7 wireless mouse, the wireless receiver is a looong way from the tower and it didn't affect my xfi platinum card, my keyboard is a logitech G15 rev 1 with the lcd screen, those drivers are upto date and have no audio modifying applications installed. I also have a logitech joystick installed, but because the drivers for it are notorious for causing lag issues in some of my online games i am using the vista default drivers for it. I also have the USB overclocking palm device that came with my mobo, again on latest drivers.

I installed the card in another PC with vista 64 and 4gb ram but on an OEM motherboard and an AMD 4400+ in it and i still got the issues with the noise (and when moving the mouse). The usb devices in that are a logitech g11 (no lcd) keyboard and a logitech wireless mouse. I got the same issues with the different drivers available however im unsure on the stability on the oem board as after i finished testing on it i put a spare audoligy pci card into it and it isn't detecting it, although that is probably an unrelated issue. It may be that the card is faulty since it doesnt work in either rig, what do you think? (i'm gonna return it tomorrow, depending on what you think i may get a straight swap for a replacement or just get my money back).

[imperialreign]

I've tried the system with a single 2Gb stick and the issue was still there. The hanging seems to be the sound drivers doing a LOT of work, it has resolved itself now as i left my pc for 35 mins when it eventually shut down correctly and was ok since shutdown wise.

USB devices i have a logitech G7 wireless mouse, the wireless receiver is a looong way from the tower and it didn't affect my xfi platinum card, my keyboard is a logitech G15 rev 1 with the lcd screen, those drivers are upto date and have no audio modifying applications installed. I also have a logitech joystick installed, but because the drivers for it are notorious for causing lag issues in some of my online games i am using the vista default drivers for it. I also have the USB overclocking palm device that came with my mobo, again on latest drivers.

I installed the card in another PC with vista 64 and 4gb ram but on an OEM motherboard and an AMD 4400+ in it and i still got the issues with the noise (and when moving the mouse). The usb devices in that are a logitech g11 (no lcd) keyboard and a logitech wireless mouse. I got the same issues with the different drivers available however im unsure on the stability on the oem board as after i finished testing on it i put a spare audoligy pci card into it and it isn't detecting it, although that is probably an unrelated issue. It may be that the card is faulty since it doesnt work in either rig, what do you think? (i'm gonna return it tomorrow, depending on what you think i may get a straight swap for a replacement or just get my money back).

The Audigy, IIRC doesn't have supported Vista drivers.


The reason I mentioned the USB stuff - I've had one incident myself, and I've seen a few other incidents, where having a certain USB device will (for some unknown reason) disable some features . . . such as hardware acceleration (which includes all EAX, CMSS-3D, Crystalizer features), sometimes it's only one audio feature and not another, sometimes it prevents switching hardware mode . . .

I've seen where swapping around devices on the USB hubs can clear this issue up, other times (such as with my case), the device simply needs to be left disconnected.

It's strange, and I wish I had further knoweldge as to what causes it - whether it's and OS/chipset issue, hardware issue, or driver issue.


Hmmm . . . another thought, if you might be up for it - you could always attempt to clear out the Creative drivers again, and instead install 3rd-party drivers from over at YouP-PAX: http://hosted.filefront.com/robertmc814 . . . I believe there might be some X-Fi daniel_k drivers floating around as well, but many of those seem to be disappearing . . .

but, be aware installing 3rd party drivers is at your own risk . . . I've never gotten around to trying any of them out, so I have no idea how well they'll work. Based on community response, they seem stable . . .

TBH, I can't really think of much else aside from a possibly defective card . . . if you try 3rd party drivers, and it's acting exactly the same as it is now, it's quite possible something on the card is defective. :ohwell:

[human_error]

The Audigy, IIRC doesn't have supported Vista drivers.


The reason I mentioned the USB stuff - I've had one incident myself, and I've seen a few other incidents, where having a certain USB device will (for some unknown reason) disable some features . . . such as hardware acceleration (which includes all EAX, CMSS-3D, Crystalizer features), sometimes it's only one audio feature and not another, sometimes it prevents switching hardware mode . . .

I've seen where swapping around devices on the USB hubs can clear this issue up, other times (such as with my case), the device simply needs to be left disconnected.

It's strange, and I wish I had further knoweldge as to what causes it - whether it's and OS/chipset issue, hardware issue, or driver issue.


Hmmm . . . another thought, if you might be up for it - you could always attempt to clear out the Creative drivers again, and instead install 3rd-party drivers from over at YouP-PAX: http://hosted.filefront.com/robertmc814 . . . I believe there might be some X-Fi daniel_k drivers floating around as well, but many of those seem to be disappearing . . .

but, be aware installing 3rd party drivers is at your own risk . . . I've never gotten around to trying any of them out, so I have no idea how well they'll work. Based on community response, they seem stable . . .

TBH, I can't really think of much else aside from a possibly defective card . . . if you try 3rd party drivers, and it's acting exactly the same as it is now, it's quite possible something on the card is defective. :ohwell:

I have noticed that the card is picking up some usb signals from some of my usb devices (no matter what port they are in) but this only happens when running the card off of creative's drivers, when on the vista default drivers i don't get any of the noise at all, to add to the confusion when using the latest whql drivers now the card will sometimes vanish from device manager and only registry cleaning and re-installing the drivers does it return in all it's crappy noise glory. I have had a quick look and can't see any other devices with the same IRQ as the card when it is installed, however there are about a gajillion different devices under device manager so i can't manually check them all, is there an IRQ chacker that could do a check for me? (in case it has the same irq as say, a usb hub :wtf:).

I've tried fully emi shielding it with sealed water containers all around it (or as much as poss) and that doesn't affect the noise, plus when vista is set to mute i still get the noise and sounds through, almost as if the card is completely unaware it is sending the noise out, but this isn't a hardware defect as it doesn't happen when using the vista default drivers (well i don't think it is a hardware defect, but i'm more of a gpu man - sound cards are not my expertise).

I did try the PAX christmas drivers but they didnt seem to install properly, i'll give them a final attempt now - i made a thread on the creative forums where someone with a x38 is having similar problems and someone with a x58 based mobo gave some steps that made theirs work, though they had a different issue with the mic. I have also experimented with all the pci-e settings in my bios, i've tried ocing the pci-e frequency, boosting the voltage, changing the pcie-e spectrum settings (whatever they do :o ) none of which helped...

I also emailed creative about the issue, but i doubt they will come back with anything constructive, i was a pre release adopter of the retail version of vista ultimate 64 and they denied they had any serious driver issues to me with vista just before vista was officially released, and we all know how stable they were back then :rolleyes:

Thanks for your thoughts with this problem, i've decided to keep the card a couple more days since it's a 2.5 hour trip to return it to see if creative - or more likely you guys can come up with a solution...

(oh and there are some vista 64 audology drivers available from creative, but i think it's a audology 2 or something, the drivers just lack 99.99% of all xp functionality).

[imperialreign]

I have noticed that the card is picking up some usb signals from some of my usb devices (no matter what port they are in) but this only happens when running the card off of creative's drivers, when on the vista default drivers i don't get any of the noise at all, to add to the confusion when using the latest whql drivers now the card will sometimes vanish from device manager and only registry cleaning and re-installing the drivers does it return in all it's crappy noise glory. I have had a quick look and can't see any other devices with the same IRQ as the card when it is installed, however there are about a gajillion different devices under device manager so i can't manually check them all, is there an IRQ chacker that could do a check for me? (in case it has the same irq as say, a usb hub :wtf:).

I've tried fully emi shielding it with sealed water containers all around it (or as much as poss) and that doesn't affect the noise, plus when vista is set to mute i still get the noise and sounds through, almost as if the card is completely unaware it is sending the noise out, but this isn't a hardware defect as it doesn't happen when using the vista default drivers (well i don't think it is a hardware defect, but i'm more of a gpu man - sound cards are not my expertise).

I did try the PAX christmas drivers but they didnt seem to install properly, i'll give them a final attempt now - i made a thread on the creative forums where someone with a x38 is having similar problems and someone with a x58 based mobo gave some steps that made theirs work, though they had a different issue with the mic. I have also experimented with all the pci-e settings in my bios, i've tried ocing the pci-e frequency, boosting the voltage, changing the pcie-e spectrum settings (whatever they do :o ) none of which helped...

I also emailed creative about the issue, but i doubt they will come back with anything constructive, i was a pre release adopter of the retail version of vista ultimate 64 and they denied they had any serious driver issues to me with vista just before vista was officially released, and we all know how stable they were back then :rolleyes:

Thanks for your thoughts with this problem, i've decided to keep the card a couple more days since it's a 2.5 hour trip to return it to see if creative - or more likely you guys can come up with a solution...

(oh and there are some vista 64 audology drivers available from creative, but i think it's a audology 2 or something, the drivers just lack 99.99% of all xp functionality).

Sorry I can't really be of much further help, man -

TBh, what kinda leads me to believe the card might possibly be defective is how the issues mimic both hardware and driver issues - usually it's symptoms of one or the other. Although, defective cards do happen, and quite frankly, it's more noticeable than should something be defective on a video card.

Anyhow, if you do run across a solution that works, be sure to let me know!


As to asking Creative what to do - I can tell you their response without even thinking about it - clean and reinstall the drivers

Oh, and be careful fiddling with PCIE settings in BIOS - they'll affect your video cards, as well as any other devices that are piped into the PCIE BUS.

Good luck, man!

[MrHydes]

have anyone notest that switching beetween modes [Game] to [entertainment] and vice-versa, the cpu utilization in the task bar manager,
it jumps to almost 90% easily

and how about X-FI processes?

volpanlu.exe uses 20,200k :twitch:
CTxfispi.exe 344,468k :eek:
CTXfihlp.exe 4,668k :shadedshu

not to mention...
CTsched.exe
CTaudsvc.exe

i have X-FI titanium & Z5500 in XP PRO 32 SP3

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp94/MrHydez/ProcessesX-FI.png

the PF usage is so high because this screen was taken after game play session
after reboot usally is under 300MB of mem usage. i have some win servces apps disabled
and wierd apps too.

[imperialreign]

CPU utilization will spike when changing hardware modes, but it typically won't stay that way. The spike is due to changing the actual hardware configuration that the drivers will be accessing. The change is somewhat similar to if you enable Crossfire or SLI to go from one GPU to two GPUs. There's a very intense accessing of the system to make it happen . . .



As to the services - the volume panel typically runs lower, unless you run it at startup. Personally, I prevent it from loading during startup, and just open it as needed - volume settings will stay the same, as it makes those changes within the WIN control panel. Just for example - with my setup, Volpanelu.exe uses 11,212k

some of the others can be done away with:

ctsched.exe - I believe this is the service that will routinely check Creative's site for driver and application updates . . . TBH, it's not a major necessity; as well, it's not always 100% accurate.

ctaudsvc.exe - should leave this one, required for proper operation of the device drivers.

ctxfihlp.exe - not required - allows for acessing the X-fi installed manual, as well as the diagnostics and speaker-setup wizards (IIRC).

ctxfispi.exe - allows for proper operation of the flexi-jack and headphone detection. Not needed if not used. (although, I find the amount of resources this service is using on your system to be a cause for concern . . . I've never seen it use more than 15k, usually about 7k).

[MrHydes]

CPU utilization will spike when changing hardware modes, but it typically won't stay that way. The spike is due to changing the actual hardware configuration that the drivers will be accessing. The change is somewhat similar to if you enable Crossfire or SLI to go from one GPU to two GPUs. There's a very intense accessing of the system to make it happen . . .



As to the services - the volume panel typically runs lower, unless you run it at startup. Personally, I prevent it from loading during startup, and just open it as needed - volume settings will stay the same, as it makes those changes within the WIN control panel. Just for example - with my setup, Volpanelu.exe uses 11,212k

some of the others can be done away with:

ctsched.exe - I believe this is the service that will routinely check Creative's site for driver and application updates . . . TBH, it's not a major necessity; as well, it's not always 100% accurate.

ctaudsvc.exe - should leave this one, required for proper operation of the device drivers.

ctxfihlp.exe - not required - allows for acessing the X-fi installed manual, as well as the diagnostics and speaker-setup wizards (IIRC).

ctxfispi.exe - allows for proper operation of the flexi-jack and headphone detection. Not needed if not used. (although, I find the amount of resources this service is using on your system to be a cause for concern . . . I've never seen it use more than 15k, usually about 7k).

thanks a lot mate :toast:

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp94/MrHydez/X-FIlicePro.png

yes that CTxfispi really worries me i'll reboot later and check it, could be a worm or some
conflict/bug whatever i'll pay attention to it

what about audioengine licensing service, can it be disabled in services?

the flexijack is needed when we are using analog, so i need it, even though i switch
DAC and analog

[imperialreign]

As a general rule of thumb - most non-system realted services that are idle shouldn't require that much memory . . . if they do, they're either a running and busy application, or otherwise - and typically up to no good.

Not all sevices are like this, some do procure insane amounts of memory.

I'd defi double check the system with a couple of anti-malware apps, at the extreme, I'd cleanout then re-install the drivers.


I've also gotten into the habit of running a registry cleaner after any driver update, for any hardware - it's not always necessary, but tidies up loose ends and keeps everything runing smoothly.



The other services - I'm not 100% sure as to what the audio engine licensing service does. It can probably safely be disabled - It's installed on my system as well, but it's set to manual start, and has been that way for a very long time - I've never needed it. you could always try that with some of the services. Go to Start>Run>services.msc - from there you can set a service to disabled, automatic or manual start, as well as either start or stop the service itself.

For most services, setting them to manual will prevent them from loading with WIN, but will start the service if you run an application that requires it. Some, though, won't, and you'll need to manually start the service yourself (i.e. Windows Defender).

[MrHydes]

The other services - I'm not 100% sure as to what the audio engine licensing service does. It can probably safely be disabled - It's installed on my system as well, but it's set to manual start, and has been that way for a very long time - I've never needed it. you could always try that with some of the services. Go to Start>Run>services.msc - from there you can set a service to disabled, automatic or manual start, as well as either start or stop the service itself.

For most services, setting them to manual will prevent them from loading with WIN, but will start the service if you run an application that requires it. Some, though, won't, and you'll need to manually start the service yourself (i.e. Windows Defender).

the procedure of cleaning, and driver update you do as i do, probably we just use diferent tools, and i've checked services.msc and saw that mine allready is set to manual.

i'll provide further results on this issue later, thank you so mutch for your attention and wise support imperialreign :toast:

[imperialreign]

the procedure of cleaning, and driver update you do as i do, probably we just use diferent tools, and i've checked services.msc and saw that mine allready is set to manual.

i'll provide further results on this issue later, thank you so mutch for your attention and wise support imperialreign :toast:

ain't a problem, man! :toast:

Let me know what you find out behind the ctxfispi.exe services - I'm curious as to what might be causing such resource usage.

[Kursah]

Well, I am getting an X-Fi Platinum (card only) to replace my recently sold X-Fi Xtreme Music. I sold my card because my gaming buddy lost his onboard sound, and wanted an X-Fi, gave me the cash..I had spent all day looking, found an Xtreme Music on Ebay and Shadowfold just happened to be getting ready to sell his X-Fi and gave me dibs on it which I took up right away. Got it for a good deal, granted I'm broke and it was all the money I had left, lol I can't live too long w/onboard sound lol. Not after having my X-Fi for so long, and in my searching it seems to me that creative cards have gone up in price since I last looked a while back...that was kind of a bummer.

But I'm doing some researching on my "new" X-Fi, seems to be an Xtreme Music w/the front bay and remote junk, since I'm getting card only (which is great, I didn't want the rest! :D ), is there anything else in difference between the Music and Platinum series? My Music had a heatsink on it, the Platinum doesn't, it's got the sticker, but I can fix that if need-be. My Xtreme Music heatsink never really got beyond luke-warm to the touch.

I'm just curious if it might use better op-amps or have slightly better sound quality, I'm not worried about it not having X-Ram. My Xtreme Music works great in Vista x64, and made my speakers and Turtle Beach HPA2 headset sound great for everything...just curious of your knowlege of this card imperial...I'm digging through google..but I'll check back. Also please add me to the list!

:toast:

[imperialreign]

Well, I am getting an X-Fi Platinum (card only) to replace my recently sold X-Fi Xtreme Music. I sold my card because my gaming buddy lost his onboard sound, and wanted an X-Fi, gave me the cash..I had spent all day looking, found an Xtreme Music on Ebay and Shadowfold just happened to be getting ready to sell his X-Fi and gave me dibs on it which I took up right away. Got it for a good deal, granted I'm broke and it was all the money I had left, lol I can't live too long w/onboard sound lol. Not after having my X-Fi for so long, and in my searching it seems to me that creative cards have gone up in price since I last looked a while back...that was kind of a bummer.

But I'm doing some researching on my "new" X-Fi, seems to be an Xtreme Music w/the front bay and remote junk, since I'm getting card only (which is great, I didn't want the rest! :D ), is there anything else in difference between the Music and Platinum series? My Music had a heatsink on it, the Platinum doesn't, it's got the sticker, but I can fix that if need-be. My Xtreme Music heatsink never really got beyond luke-warm to the touch.

I'm just curious if it might use better op-amps or have slightly better sound quality, I'm not worried about it not having X-Ram. My Xtreme Music works great in Vista x64, and made my speakers and Turtle Beach HPA2 headset sound great for everything...just curious of your knowlege of this card imperial...I'm digging through google..but I'll check back. Also please add me to the list!

:toast:


added :toast:

as to your question - there's no difference between the Xtreme Music, and the card that was offered with the Platinum series. Hardware is identicle. OPAMPs, DAC, ADC, etc. There might be a difference in caps, as Creative change brands of caps occasionally, but these only have a very marginal difference on output quality between the brands. There might be a difference in the amount of RAM on the card - I've seen reports of some that have 32MB, some with 64MB. 32MB is the most common. All XM cards do have DRAM on them, though.

Sad it's not used more frequently . . . y'know, I had come to find out about a month ago that it's not just the Creative's EAX instructions that can make use of the XRAM . . . the OpenAL API has an instruction set for accessing and using XRAM, or potentially other audio-onboard DRAM modules . . . I can't imagine how invaluable this would be in Vista; heck, even ASUS could start offering onboard DRAM with their cards - then everyone juse needs to push software developers to make use of it with the EAX/OpenAL API.

Anyhow, the Platinum was one of the earlier revision packages (hence why no HS on the APU), and was removed from the market once the Fatal1ty Champion series was released, and the stand-alone Xtreme Music was removed soon thereafter as well. The only thing that the Platinum offered that stood out from the XM was the 5.25" bay Front Panel drive (which is an $80 value by itself).

Oh, and I'd recommend installing a HS on that APU! :toast:

[Kursah]

Cool, well I can handle having the same sound ouput and quality. I'll have to find an HS and some AC cermaique or something similar lol. We'll see how it goes when I get the card, I'm still using my buddies' rig atm :D. But it'll be returned pretty soon and I'll be stuck with onboard till my next x-fi shows up.

:toast:

[imperialreign]

Creative have released a new version of the Console Launcher, version 2.60.35 for the USB Surround Sound 5.1 and USB X-Fi Xtreme Audio Karaoke

release notes:


This download contains the Creative Console Launcher application for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Surround 5.1 / USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Karaoke. For more information, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio devices only:


Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Surround 5.1
Creative USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Karaoke



Fixes:


Rectifies the output delay when using line-in/microphone monitoring.



Requirements:


Microsoft® Windows Vista® 32-bit or 64-bit, Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

[imperialreign]

Cool, well I can handle having the same sound ouput and quality. I'll have to find an HS and some AC cermaique or something similar lol. We'll see how it goes when I get the card, I'm still using my buddies' rig atm :D. But it'll be returned pretty soon and I'll be stuck with onboard till my next x-fi shows up.

:toast:

at least ya've got a replacement en-route! :toast:


The HS doesn't have to be anything fancy . . . I've recommended before a good copper, stick-on style 40mm HS from CoolerMaster or something similar. Preferably something not too extremelly heavy, though . . . the APU is mounted via a ball-grid array, too much stress could potentially rip if off the board.

Just make sure to thoroughly clean the APU surface before applying the HS.

[Black Panther]

Hey guys I got a little problem.

I just recently went from XP x86 to Vista x64.

Now whereas in XP I used to play at good high volume on my X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card and Z-5500's using barely half the volume...
In Vista I have to even go into boost mode (ie full volume plus tweaking to get more) to get decent sound.

This is when I compare the same songs I used to play on XP and now on Vista, so it's not a problem with the song quality.
I've installed Vista Drivers for my x-fi.... they seem less... bloated then they were under XP but I'm sure I'm missing out something. I'm certainly missing out something because I have to up the volume a lot, and the Z5500's aren't exactly minuscule unpowered speakers either... so I think something is amiss?

[Wile E]

My volume is lower in Vista with my Audigy2 ZS as well. I thought it was just me. lol.

[DaMulta]

Hey guys I got a little problem.

I just recently went from XP x86 to Vista x64.

Now whereas in XP I used to play at good high volume on my X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card and Z-5500's using barely half the volume...
In Vista I have to even go into boost mode (ie full volume plus tweaking to get more) to get decent sound.

This is when I compare the same songs I used to play on XP and now on Vista, so it's not a problem with the song quality.
I've installed Vista Drivers for my x-fi.... they seem less... bloated then they were under XP but I'm sure I'm missing out something. I'm certainly missing out something because I have to up the volume a lot, and the Z5500's aren't exactly minuscule unpowered speakers either... so I think something is amiss?
mess with the pci latency in bios

if you have that setting.

and or make your motherboard redo it's irq and swap pci slots

[DaMulta]

also


control panel settings for vista


look there. it controls the x-fi differently

[Alex Clarke]

It's been a while since I've checked this forum... and yes, my X-fi is still knackered!

I was just wondering if anyone has found a way to reset the firmware on an X-fi card yet? I know that imperialreign was looking in to this at one point.

The 2.15.0006 drivers (for Windows XP x64) updated my firmware and caused major issues to my card. :mad:

Also, does anyone know the previous driver release (again for Windows XP x64) before 2.15.0006?

I'd like to try and rollback again, but can't find many old drivers online. I did contact Creative and asked for a copy, but they refused!

[imperialreign]

It's been a while since I've checked this forum... and yes, my X-fi is still knackered!

I was just wondering if anyone has found a way to reset the firmware on an X-fi card yet? I know that imperialreign was looking in to this at one point.

The 2.15.0006 drivers (for Windows XP x64) updated my firmware and caused major issues to my card. :mad:

Also, does anyone know the previous driver release (again for Windows XP x64) before 2.15.0006?

I'd like to try and rollback again, but can't find many old drivers online. I did contact Creative and asked for a copy, but they refused!


Sorry to hear you're still having issues . . . and it doesn't surprise me that Creative wouldn't cough up an older driver pack - their tech support, last I checked, is still ridiculously poor :shadedshu

as to the firmware, I don't know of any means to re-instate an older version . . . possibly, an older driver pack that updates the firmware, but there's a good possiblity it'll ignore the update if it sees a newer version installed to the card.

Possibly an RMA - but that can't guarantee that it hasn't already been updated at some point . . .

there are older driver packs available from various sources on the i-net . . . Creative doesn't leave them up on their site, though . . .

2.07.0004 (http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/194/Creative_Sound_Blaster_X-Fi_series_Driver_2.07.0004.html)
2.09.0007 (http://www.softwarepatch.com/utilities/creative-x-fi.html)
2.14.0001 beta (http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/CREATIVE/Creative-Sound-Blaster-X-Fi-Beta-Driver-2140001.shtml)

IIRC - 2.09.007 was the last official driver release before 2.15.0006 . . . almost everything in-between (aside from 2.14.0001b) are Vista alpha and beta drivers.

I'm not sure if they'll be of any help, though.


Just curious - have you tried the most recent driver update 2.18.0008 (http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=10659)? If you try to roll back to an earlier driver, and still have issues, it might be worth giving the most recent pack a shot.

Oh, and BTW, when rolling back, make sure you do a clean driver sweep, install and registry clean to drastically reduce any possibilities of driver version conflicts :toast:

[FreedomEclipse]

It's been a while since I've checked this forum... and yes, my X-fi is still knackered!

I was just wondering if anyone has found a way to reset the firmware on an X-fi card yet? I know that imperialreign was looking in to this at one point.

The 2.15.0006 drivers (for Windows XP x64) updated my firmware and caused major issues to my card. :mad:

Also, does anyone know the previous driver release (again for Windows XP x64) before 2.15.0006?

I'd like to try and rollback again, but can't find many old drivers online. I did contact Creative and asked for a copy, but they refused!



a huge 'archive' of drivers >Here< (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?cat=30&sort=&page=2) - pick your poison.

on the subject of Creative 'refusing' to give you a copy - you shoulda just make you position clear that you will send their card back to them in peices as well as discontinuing to recommend them to friends & family & also that you will be investing a huge amount of money into the top model Asus Xonar - a great product that actually works & is made even better by Asus's own drivers/support.

Obviously your not investing in a Xonar but you want them to call your bluff & see you as a potential 'valued' customer & not some guy thats fallen into their 'idiot' trap.

if they they laugh in your face then, ask for the RMA address where you can send the broken card back to.

if they hang up on you - then do as you wish i suppose...Asus Xonars are nice cards.

If they are still on the phone, then just continue to rant on about their shoddy customer services & if possible that you will be launching some sorta online petition & sending the results to & getting some governing body or commitee involved to make sure to make them learn that Customers dont like to be treated like shit.

there are quite a few places where a consumer can write to & complain such as UK's own Office Of Fair Trading.

& if the governing body does pick the case up & launch an investigation into it, im sure with the amount of complaints they have already had or are still recieving. they maybe faced with Legal action which Id think they would wanna avoid.

there really should be some sorta board or comittee that monitors Creatives 'customer satisfaction' ratings.

[FreedomEclipse]

Sorry to hear you're still having issues . . . and it doesn't surprise me that Creative wouldn't cough up an older driver pack - their tech support, last I checked, is still ridiculously poor :shadedshu

as to the firmware, I don't know of any means to re-instate an older version . . . possibly, an older driver pack that updates the firmware, but there's a good possiblity it'll ignore the update if it sees a newer version installed to the card.

Possibly an RMA - but that can't guarantee that it hasn't already been updated at some point . . .

there are older driver packs available from various sources on the i-net . . . Creative doesn't leave them up on their site, though . . .

2.07.0004 (http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/194/Creative_Sound_Blaster_X-Fi_series_Driver_2.07.0004.html)
2.09.0007 (http://www.softwarepatch.com/utilities/creative-x-fi.html)
2.14.0001 beta (http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/CREATIVE/Creative-Sound-Blaster-X-Fi-Beta-Driver-2140001.shtml)

IIRC - 2.09.007 was the last official driver release before 2.15.0006 . . . almost everything in-between (aside from 2.14.0001b) are Vista alpha and beta drivers.

I'm not sure if they'll be of any help, though.


Just curious - have you tried the most recent driver update 2.18.0008 (http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=10659)? If you try to roll back to an earlier driver, and still have issues, it might be worth giving the most recent pack a shot.

Oh, and BTW, when rolling back, make sure you do a clean driver sweep, install and registry clean to drastically reduce any possibilities of driver version conflicts :toast:

damn you!!! I was ranting for so long u beat me to the crunch

[imperialreign]

a huge 'archive' of drivers >Here< (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?cat=30&sort=&page=2) - pick your poison.

on the subject of Creative 'refusing' to give you a copy - you shoulda just make you position clear that you will send their card back to them in peices as well as discontinuing to recommend them to friends & family & also that you will be investing a huge amount of money into the top model Asus Xonar - a great product that actually works & is made even better by Asus's own drivers/support.

Obviously your not investing in a Xonar but you want them to call your bluff & see you as a potential 'valued' customer & not some guy thats fallen into their 'idiot' trap.

if they they laugh in your face then, ask for the RMA address where you can send the broken card back to.

if they hang up on you - then do as you wish i suppose...Asus Xonars are nice cards.

If they are still on the phone, then just continue to rant on about their shoddy customer services & if possible that you will be launching some sorta online petition & sending the results to & getting some governing body or commitee involved to make sure to make them learn that Customers dont like to be treated like shit.

there are quite a few places where a consumer can write to & complain such as UK's own Office Of Fair Trading.

& if the governing body does pick the case up & launch an investigation into it, im sure with the amount of complaints they have already had or are still recieving. they maybe faced with Legal action which Id think they would wanna avoid.

there really should be some sorta board or comittee that monitors Creatives 'customer satisfaction' ratings.



although I agree with your post, in general . . . the better idea, instead of sending it back in pieces, is to send the whole thing via RMA . . . if you get another, and it still acts up, RMA it again, and again, and again if needs be

If they refuse, explain to them that you're entitled to an RMA until the product works as intended - if it's something that could've been solved with an older driver, they should be more than willing to cough it up.

I find it in extreme bad taste when every other MAJOR hardware manufacturer routinely keeps an ongoing archive of outdated drivers publicly available - but Creative doesn't. One of my few "real" gripes with the company. It's not that users are entitled to outdated drivers, as we're really not (besides, the companies in question don't fully support outdated drivers) . . . it's the fact that it's been standard industry practice for at least the last 10 years, from software companies to hardware companies.


damn you!!! I was ranting for so long u beat me to the crunch


s'all good :toast:

[FreedomEclipse]

it amazes me. With the amount of bad press that creative gets/recieves, dont they ever step back & wonder what their actually doing or why so many of their customers are pissed off?? even my main source for hardware are very very reluctant to sell creative products due to the amount of complaints & returns they get.

[Alex Clarke]

Thanks for the information FreedomEclipse and imperialreign.

When I contacted Creative Support they basically told me that my card was out of warranty. They eventually offered me a discount on one of the new Titanium cards.

Quotes from some of their emails back to me...

If the sound card is faulty we won't be able to replace it anymore as based on your first email, you purchased it on 02/23/2006. Sound card warranty is only 24 months from date of purchase.

So, I guess I can't simply RMA this again, and again and again... until it works. :(

We can offer you X-Fi Titanium - Fatal1ty Champ Series for only £143.99inc VAT and X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series for only £107.99 inc VAT.

At the time, this discount worked out to be around £12 or £20!

I've had around 3 or 4 of Creatives cards over the years, never experience problems and always recommended them to others. But since this little saga, I might have to change my mind! Yes, I've told Creative Support this, but they just don't care... :shadedshu

At the moment I'm testing out every single driver release I can get my hands on. Uninstallation and installation is being performed as detailed below.

Uninstallation:


Uninstall all Creative items from Add or Remove Programs
Reboot
Run the driver uninstall utility (on the X-Fi CD)
Reboot
Reboot into Safe Mode
Run Driver Sweeper
Reboot


Installation:


Run the driver setup (e.g. SBXF_PCDVRBETA_LB_2_14_0001.exe)
Reboot


Currently I'm finding that all the drivers I install work until I reboot my computer for a second time.

For example...

Uninstall (as per above) -> Install (as per above, inc. the reboot) -> Drivers work great!

Now, if I reboot again, I get the usual pop/cracks and broken sound in general. Some drivers give different results. For example, the SBXF_PCDVRBETA_LB_2_14_0001 drivers cause constant left channel static.

So, this pretty much confirms that the card itself (hardware wise) is fine... I guess!

What I don't understand is why the drivers fail after this second reboot.

Does anyone know of a way to monitor files (or maybe the registry) to see if anything major changes before/after this reboot?

Once again, thanks for everyones help. :)

[Tatty_One]

Have just got the Elite pro so I am in, still tinkering with it at the moment but initial impressions are good, i read in many places that going from my old Audigy 4 (non pro) to this would give little or no audio improvement, i have gotta say thus far that i can hear the improvements already!

[imperialreign]

Thanks for the information FreedomEclipse and imperialreign.

When I contacted Creative Support they basically told me that my card was out of warranty. They eventually offered me a discount on one of the new Titanium cards.

Quotes from some of their emails back to me...



So, I guess I can't simply RMA this again, and again and again... until it works. :(



At the time, this discount worked out to be around £12 or £20!

I've had around 3 or 4 of Creatives cards over the years, never experience problems and always recommended them to others. But since this little saga, I might have to change my mind! Yes, I've told Creative Support this, but they just don't care... :shadedshu

sorry to hear it's out of warranty - but Creative's response seems typical . . . pathetic.

From this point, I'd recommend that if you were to get a new card, and if you were to consider another X-Fi . . . go to a local Best Buy, or PC parts store, or somewhere that has a "no questions" return policy; purchase a card, try it out, if you have issues or aren't happy with it at all - take it back and get yourself a Xonar or Auzen. Although they have their share of problems, their customer and tech support is far superior to Creative's . . . and if need be I'm always willing to help as I can as well. :toast:

Curious, though - do you have another computer you can test your card in?



At the moment I'm testing out every single driver release I can get my hands on. Uninstallation and installation is being performed as detailed below.

Uninstallation:


Uninstall all Creative items from Add or Remove Programs
Reboot
Run the driver uninstall utility (on the X-Fi CD)
Reboot
Reboot into Safe Mode
Run Driver Sweeper
Reboot


Installation:


Run the driver setup (e.g. SBXF_PCDVRBETA_LB_2_14_0001.exe)
Reboot


Currently I'm finding that all the drivers I install work until I reboot my computer for a second time.

For example...

Uninstall (as per above) -> Install (as per above, inc. the reboot) -> Drivers work great!

Now, if I reboot again, I get the usual pop/cracks and broken sound in general. Some drivers give different results. For example, the SBXF_PCDVRBETA_LB_2_14_0001 drivers cause constant left channel static.

So, this pretty much confirms that the card itself (hardware wise) is fine... I guess!

What I don't understand is why the drivers fail after this second reboot.

Does anyone know of a way to monitor files (or maybe the registry) to see if anything major changes before/after this reboot?

Once again, thanks for everyones help. :)


hmmm . . . it sounds like there's still stuff left over after the uninstalls - which would be why the card seems to work fine until the next reboot when WIN digs some fluff out of the pantry.


My thoughts - use the setup utility to remove all driver files, then go into Add/Remove Programs, remove all Creative software still listed. Open WIN explorer, expand Program Files, and manually delte the Creative\ folder. If there's a file or two that won't delete, you might have to kick it in Safe Mode.

Reboot into safe mode - run driver sweeper and remove all Creative traces. You might have to run the utility a few times to get everything. As long as the only things it still sees are folders listings, you should be good.

Next - remove the card from the mobo. Reboot into WIN, run a good registry cleaner (e.g.
System Mechanic, RegistryFix, etc), and have it search for any errata (make sure to do a backup prior to cleaning) and clean it. Reboot again, without the card - rerun the cleaner again, just to make sure there are no issues.

Power down, if you have another PCI slot, try installing the card there, if not re-install the card and boot up - install the drivers from your installation CD first.

Test it out - if everything seems fine, leave it at that. If there are some issues, move to the next oldest driver update and install that, etc.


At the very worst, maybe a re-install of the OS on a freshly formatted drive . . . but I won't ask you to go that route unless you're willing to do so. It's a PITA, no matter what.



Have just got the Elite pro so I am in, still tinkering with it at the moment but initial impressions are good, i read in many places that going from my old Audigy 4 (non pro) to this would give little or no audio improvement, i have gotta say thus far that i can hear the improvements already!

Nice to have you on-board, Tatty! Not sure what reviews you were reading, though, but there's a major difference in hardware alone between an Au4 and the Elite Pro. I'd be shocked if you couldn't hear the difference! :p

[Tatty_One]

Well thats why I got the Elite pro (at a 65% discount also :)) because a lot of the reviews Iread said that there was no great leap forward between say an Audigy 4 and a Xtreme gamer.

[eidairaman1]

well i downloaded the latest driver set and also the latest console, i was wondering, the new driver put in 2 services

Creative Audio Engine Licensing Service
Creative Audio Service

are they needed for proper operation, if there is the Creative Audio Service do i even need Windows Audio (service) enabled anymore?

can i disable both the above services?\

also another question, is there anway of switching the channeling of my speakers because my Control Speaker is on the Left of my monitor and the console says that's my right speaker, i want to switch them for proper audio distribution in games (improper detection of enemies can cause a headache)

i have the Logitech X230 speaker set

[FreedomEclipse]

is there anway of switching the channeling of my speakers because my Control Speaker is on the Left of my monitor and the console says that's my right speaker, i want to switch them for proper audio distribution in games (improper detection of enemies can cause a headache)

i have the Logitech X230 speaker set

make sure you have the 'right' & 'left' speakers plugged into the correct places on sub.

[Alex Clarke]

sorry to hear it's out of warranty - but Creative's response seems typical . . . pathetic.

From this point, I'd recommend that if you were to get a new card, and if you were to consider another X-Fi . . . go to a local Best Buy, or PC parts store, or somewhere that has a "no questions" return policy; purchase a card, try it out, if you have issues or aren't happy with it at all - take it back and get yourself a Xonar or Auzen. Although they have their share of problems, their customer and tech support is far superior to Creative's . . . and if need be I'm always willing to help as I can as well. :toast:

Curious, though - do you have another computer you can test your card in?




hmmm . . . it sounds like there's still stuff left over after the uninstalls - which would be why the card seems to work fine until the next reboot when WIN digs some fluff out of the pantry.


My thoughts - use the setup utility to remove all driver files, then go into Add/Remove Programs, remove all Creative software still listed. Open WIN explorer, expand Program Files, and manually delte the Creative\ folder. If there's a file or two that won't delete, you might have to kick it in Safe Mode.

Reboot into safe mode - run driver sweeper and remove all Creative traces. You might have to run the utility a few times to get everything. As long as the only things it still sees are folders listings, you should be good.

Next - remove the card from the mobo. Reboot into WIN, run a good registry cleaner (e.g.
System Mechanic, RegistryFix, etc), and have it search for any errata (make sure to do a backup prior to cleaning) and clean it. Reboot again, without the card - rerun the cleaner again, just to make sure there are no issues.

Power down, if you have another PCI slot, try installing the card there, if not re-install the card and boot up - install the drivers from your installation CD first.

Test it out - if everything seems fine, leave it at that. If there are some issues, move to the next oldest driver update and install that, etc.


At the very worst, maybe a re-install of the OS on a freshly formatted drive . . . but I won't ask you to go that route unless you're willing to do so. It's a PITA, no matter what.





Nice to have you on-board, Tatty! Not sure what reviews you were reading, though, but there's a major difference in hardware alone between an Au4 and the Elite Pro. I'd be shocked if you couldn't hear the difference! :p

Thanks for the detailed response.

I plan on testing this over the weekend. Hopefully I can get it to work! :)

I'll report back in a few days.

[imperialreign]

Thanks for the detailed response.

I plan on testing this over the weekend. Hopefully I can get it to work! :)

I'll report back in a few days.

hope you can too . .. it'd be a shame otherwise. Good luck!


well i downloaded the latest driver set and also the latest console, i was wondering, the new driver put in 2 services

Creative Audio Engine Licensing Service
Creative Audio Service

are they needed for proper operation, if there is the Creative Audio Service do i even need Windows Audio (service) enabled anymore?

can i disable both the above services?\

also another question, is there anway of switching the channeling of my speakers because my Control Speaker is on the Left of my monitor and the console says that's my right speaker, i want to switch them for proper audio distribution in games (improper detection of enemies can cause a headache)

i have the Logitech X230 speaker set

like any WIN service, be advised that enabling or disabling something could cause various effects. That being said, if you disable a service, and something no longer works right, you can always re-enable it.

Creative audio engine licensing service, IIRC, can be disabled if need be - this is only used with Dolby encoding/decoding and some other 3rd party functions

creative audio sercvice - I'd leave this one alone . . . IIRC, it's needed for proper functioning of the different hardware modes and channel mixing.

As to WIN audio service, I believe that still needs to stick around - there are some kernel operations that WIN needs that service for. Although, having both enabled, I'm fairly certain, is the cause of Creative's volume panel and WIN's volume panel not playing nice together . . . I might be wrong, though.


As to switching the speaker channels - aside from double checking your connections, first, as Freedom pointed out . . . IIRC, you can go into the console launcher, then click on the THX button to bring up the THX dialouge. Here, you should be able to set channel assignment and output polarity.

[eidairaman1]

well, heres the deal i have a XFi Extreme Music (2006) my speakers are Logitech X230 (Sub hooks into Right Driver via Dsub Serial connector) which is currently on the left due to room setup), so they are hooked up properly, i just want to change the polarity of them if possible and there is no setting to do that i can see.

[Kursah]

well, heres the deal i have a XFi Extreme Music (2006) my speakers are Logitech X230, so they are hooked up properly, i just want to change the polarity of them if possible and there is no setting to do that i can see.

I have the same card, and the same speakers...and I do not have that issue...what version of drivers you using? I am using the most recent release w/o issues. Something's going awry on ya if the LH sound is coming out of the RH speaker and vice-versa. I just powered them up to verify...I primarily use my Turtle Beach HPA2's for gaming, movies, music, etc...but sometimes I fire up the 230's for some good n' loud tunes.

That is just an odd issue...but alas I have never found a reverse polarity for X-Fi's...I needed it back when I was using my LTB Magnum AC97 5.1 headset as the center/sub needed to be reversed...ended up giving those to the G/F where her onboard would reverse polarity on that channel.

I doubt you will find something for the primary output. I'd say mess with everything tho...set it to 5.1, then back to 2.1, etc. You sure you have the speakers in the right locations? The RH speaker should be the one with the power button/volume switch/headphone jack, you probably do and know that, but just checking.

Also, if it continues, just switch speaker locations, verify the jack connection (try onboard sound to verify, etc).

:toast:

[eidairaman1]

No no, physically the speaker is on the left but the CL Driver (latest version) which has its own audio ctrl pnl and then i installed the latest CL Console, i did a test in the console and it states the driver that is physically on the left (Control speaker) is the right speaker and same with the speaker on the right is the left speaker< i just want to switch polarity is all because the cable for the sub is not long enough to be placed on the right side, and i cant find that setting in the Audio Control Panel or the CL Console.

If im not mistaken the speaker that is on the left side of me is actually the right side speaker (labled that way i believe)


I have the same card, and the same speakers...and I do not have that issue...what version of drivers you using? I am using the most recent release w/o issues. Something's going awry on ya if the LH sound is coming out of the RH speaker and vice-versa. I just powered them up to verify...I primarily use my Turtle Beach HPA2's for gaming, movies, music, etc...but sometimes I fire up the 230's for some good n' loud tunes.

That is just an odd issue...but alas I have never found a reverse polarity for X-Fi's...I needed it back when I was using my LTB Magnum AC97 5.1 headset as the center/sub needed to be reversed...ended up giving those to the G/F where her onboard would reverse polarity on that channel.

I doubt you will find something for the primary output. I'd say mess with everything tho...set it to 5.1, then back to 2.1, etc. You sure you have the speakers in the right locations? The RH speaker should be the one with the power button/volume switch/headphone jack, you probably do and know that, but just checking.

Also, if it continues, just switch speaker locations, verify the jack connection (try onboard sound to verify, etc).

:toast:

[razvan_day]

today i have just bought a x-fi extreme music sound card from a friend. i have reinstall windows vista on my computer (64 bit) and install the cd drivers and softwar. after that i have downloaded from creative the latest driver update for my x-fi . no problem with that . after a restart i wanted to change my 2.1 configuration to 5.1 because i have a z5400 logitech system . so here is the big problem i cannot select 5.1 speker setings . at the speker configuration it is set on 2.1 and cannot aplay any changes. sory for my poor english but i am romanian . hope you will undestand an replay back. have a good day . i have also send an e mail to imperialreign

[eidairaman1]

go thru the regular sound properties and make the change thru there, the Creative Labs Console ties in with the windows audio system.

[razvan_day]

where can i find the regulator saund properties?

[Kursah]

No no, physically the speaker is on the left but the CL Driver (latest version) which has its own audio ctrl pnl and then i installed the latest CL Console, i did a test in the console and it states the driver that is physically on the left (Control speaker) is the right speaker and same with the speaker on the right is the left speaker< i just want to switch polarity is all because the cable for the sub is not long enough to be placed on the right side, and i cant find that setting in the Audio Control Panel or the CL Console.

If im not mistaken the speaker that is on the left side of me is actually the right side speaker (labled that way i believe)

I've yet to see a CL driver for my X-fi that didn't have the standard panel which I despise using due to the lack of an EQ which is vital to tuning these cards to connected speakers/headphones imo.

So which speaker has the power/volume/headphone jack for you? Left or right?

You're trying to swap the speaker placements for ease of connectivity is what I got out of what you said there, and assuming such, I have yet to see a solution in Creative's software to alleviate your situation...you'll have to arrange the speakers as intended for proper audio output. There might be a hack or reg-edit somewhere that you can do..I dunno because I've yet to need to swap polarity on the primary out channel...as I said before I wanted it for the Center/Sub which is common on many onboard sound devices...yet on X-Fi is also non-existant as an option..but I no longer need it at this point.

Unless Imperial has a solution or "fix" for ya, I'd say you'll have to set up your speakers as they were designed to be setup to get the sound output correct...maybe you could craft an extension cable of sorts to the sub/amp? Maybe contact logitech? If they have one I'm sure it'll be a pain to get or overpriced as I've never heard of one...but it might be possible and worth a shot.

Keep me posted if you find a solution, definately interesting issue you have here!

[eidairaman1]

This new Console does have a Equalizer, but i have 1 option with my setup, i noticed the SUB uses a RS232 9pin connector, i was going to buy a 3 foot Serial Cable and switch the speakers around properly.

I've yet to see a CL driver for my X-fi that didn't have the standard panel which I despise using due to the lack of an EQ which is vital to tuning these cards to connected speakers/headphones imo.

So which speaker has the power/volume/headphone jack for you? Left or right?

You're trying to swap the speaker placements for ease of connectivity is what I got out of what you said there, and assuming such, I have yet to see a solution in Creative's software to alleviate your situation...you'll have to arrange the speakers as intended for proper audio output. There might be a hack or reg-edit somewhere that you can do..I dunno because I've yet to need to swap polarity on the primary out channel...as I said before I wanted it for the Center/Sub which is common on many onboard sound devices...yet on X-Fi is also non-existant as an option..but I no longer need it at this point.

Unless Imperial has a solution or "fix" for ya, I'd say you'll have to set up your speakers as they were designed to be setup to get the sound output correct...maybe you could craft an extension cable of sorts to the sub/amp? Maybe contact logitech? If they have one I'm sure it'll be a pain to get or overpriced as I've never heard of one...but it might be possible and worth a shot.

Keep me posted if you find a solution, definately interesting issue you have here!

[razvan_day]

i have manage to select 5.1 but now i have another problem . my rear spekers work only when i select x-fi cmss 3d / enable x-fi cmss 3d then select surround and mark stereo expand . this is the only way that i can make my rear spekesr work and they sound like crap :( is it any other setting to work with the rear speakers? sry for my english

[imperialreign]

No no, physically the speaker is on the left but the CL Driver (latest version) which has its own audio ctrl pnl and then i installed the latest CL Console, i did a test in the console and it states the driver that is physically on the left (Control speaker) is the right speaker and same with the speaker on the right is the left speaker< i just want to switch polarity is all because the cable for the sub is not long enough to be placed on the right side, and i cant find that setting in the Audio Control Panel or the CL Console.

If im not mistaken the speaker that is on the left side of me is actually the right side speaker (labled that way i believe)

hmmm . . . sorry about that THX dialogue thing - I guess it's only the Vista drivers and the Titanium drivers that have the upgraded THX console. The older console doesn't allow for polarity changes.

Otherwise, I kinda agree with what Kursah has mentioned - it sounds that you've got the speakers setup for ease of installation . . . do you have another set you can try to verify that the outputs from the card are correct? Perhaps the speakers themself are wired incorrectly . . . rather odd and unusual, though . . .



i have manage to select 5.1 but now i have another problem . my rear spekers work only when i select x-fi cmss 3d / enable x-fi cmss 3d then select surround and mark stereo expand . this is the only way that i can make my rear spekesr work and they sound like crap :( is it any other setting to work with the rear speakers? sry for my english

Hmmm . . . sounds as if WIN is not set to a 5.1 output. If only your front channels work, without CMSS-3D, more than likely WIN thinks you're setup for 2-channel. All CMSS-3D will do in such a case is upmix the channels from 2 to 5, giving you "surround" output.

Curious - what kind of audio are you trying to play? Game, mp3, DVD? Channel output issues can be caused by the type of audio as well, within Vista.

[razvan_day]

i have send you another pm :) i am playng music through winamp. she subwwofer volume is very low :(

after a restore deafult the problems are solved . the subwoofer volume is good . what are the best settings for music ?

[EastCoasthandle]

Anyone tried these drivers (http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=135215) yet?

[imperialreign]

i have send you another pm :) i am playng music through winamp. she subwwofer volume is very low :(

after a restore deafult the problems are solved . the subwoofer volume is good . what are the best settings for music ?

well - best settings is really up to personal taste. I prefer to use Entertainment mode for listening to music and watching films . . . Audio Creation is really only for doing recording work, and Game Mode is best suited for games, when all of the APU and the cards abilities can be focused on one such task.

As to specific settings, such ass CMSS-3D, EAX, EQ, etc. It's best to adjust for how you prefer things to sound. First, you might want to take the time to adjust your subwoofer gain properly, and then spend the time to adjust your equalizer settings to accomodate your listening environment. Then go over all the other stuff, like the positional audio, subwoofer crossover, etc.

Take a look here for some other good information: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=64921 - the end of the 3rd section has some good tips for adjusting gain and equalizer :toast:


Anyone tried these drivers (http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=135215) yet?

interesting . . . I thought dan_k had stopped doing X-Fi drivers altogether . . . I also thought he was banned permanently from Creative's forums . . .

. . . I wonder if Creative had change their mind in their best interest? . . .

[Black Panther]

Has anyone here been testing Windows 7? Any drivers you found which work?

[imperialreign]

Has anyone here been testing Windows 7? Any drivers you found which work?

I haven't gotten around to testing it, yet . . .

although, I do have some more system upgrades in the mail (including another HDD) . . . somewhat thankfully purchased before my trips to the ER . . .

I might do a WIN7 split partition with XP just for testing.

hopefully, Creative will be more on the ball with beta drivers before WIN7's release . . . to the best of my knowledge WIN7 is built off of the Vista OS, so . . . I would assume that Vista drivers might work . . .

[Black Panther]

I would assume that Vista drivers might work . . .

Apparently not however because this is what I get when I tried to install (it's asking me to 'upgrade to XP' which is funny in a way! --

http://img.techpowerup.org/090116/7xfidriver.jpg

Thank you for helping imperial, and take care. :)

[GREASEMONKEY]

Vista drivers will work with 7.Just have to force it to use them under compatability mode.

[Black Panther]

Vista drivers will work with 7.Just have to force it to use them under compatability mode.

Thanks that did the trick! :toast:

[eidairaman1]

Did you read my entire post?

As i was saying, Data is sent from the sound card to the control speaker and is then fed to the Slave speaker (internal Splitting in the main speaker) and then Data is also sent to the sub via a RS232 9Pin Serial Connection, with my setup on this desk, chair is on the left where the drawers are on the right, so the tower is on the right side and the control speaker is on the left of the monitor because the Sub Cable isnt long enough. i was thinking about getting a extension cable for the Sub (keep it as short as possible) and then switching the speakers around so i can have proper polarity.

hmmm . . . sorry about that THX dialogue thing - I guess it's only the Vista drivers and the Titanium drivers that have the upgraded THX console. The older console doesn't allow for polarity changes.

Otherwise, I kinda agree with what Kursah has mentioned - it sounds that you've got the speakers setup for ease of installation . . . do you have another set you can try to verify that the outputs from the card are correct? Perhaps the speakers themself are wired incorrectly . . . rather odd and unusual, though . . .





Hmmm . . . sounds as if WIN is not set to a 5.1 output. If only your front channels work, without CMSS-3D, more than likely WIN thinks you're setup for 2-channel. All CMSS-3D will do in such a case is upmix the channels from 2 to 5, giving you "surround" output.

Curious - what kind of audio are you trying to play? Game, mp3, DVD? Channel output issues can be caused by the type of audio as well, within Vista.

[Kursah]

I'm curious if that extension cable works...looking at that connection, it does look like it should.

I have a similar setup to you, but it must be a smaller desk...maybe 45" lengh, then I have the speakers mounted on the wall on each side of my 22" Acer (love the swiveling bases for this), and the sub is at the lower LH corner of the desk...I don't have any cable length issues, but like I said I must have a smaller desk, it is very basic..one small cabinet...but it's gotten the job done for quite a while. I do have to say the sound stage sound better with the speakers raised to about ear level on the wall. It's kinda rigged with thumb-tacks (one for the hanger, two at each lower corner for stability lol)...but the mounts are solid, and the speakers are light enough that it does the trick quite well.

:toast:

[imperialreign]

Creative have released a WIN7 beta driver for the X-Fi Titanium series cards - downloads can be found here: http://support.creative.com/downloads/welcome.aspx?nDriverType=11#type_11


(this is a good sign - beta drivers LONG before the OS official release :toast:)

[Alex Clarke]

Ok, I've finally got to the bottom of my X-Fi issue!

For those of you that remember, I was able to install my X-Fi and it would work fine until I rebooted my computer.

After lots of trial and error (and hours spent surfing the web) I've found out the cause.

It's all to do with me running Windows XP x64 with 4GB of RAM, with memory hole enabled in my BIOS. Everything did run fine until the firmware update that was included with one of the driver releases.

The following thread explains a little more.

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=64297&query.id=177989#M64297

I've disabled the memory hole setting in my BIOS and everything works fine. However, I now only have 3.25GB of RAM registered with Windows (as oppose to 4GB).

I'm going to contact Creative about this and see if there are any plans to address this issue in a future driver release. According to the above thread, it should be a very easy fix.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum that helped me out.

I hope that the information I've posted is helpful to other.

All the best,

Alex

[imperialreign]

Ok, I've finally got to the bottom of my X-Fi issue!

For those of you that remember, I was able to install my X-Fi and it would work fine until I rebooted my computer.

After lots of trial and error (and hours spent surfing the web) I've found out the cause.

It's all to do with me running Windows XP x64 with 4GB of RAM, with memory hole enabled in my BIOS. Everything did run fine until the firmware update that was included with one of the driver releases.

The following thread explains a little more.

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=64297&query.id=177989#M64297

I've disabled the memory hole setting in my BIOS and everything works fine. However, I now only have 3.25GB of RAM registered with Windows (as oppose to 4GB).

I'm going to contact Creative about this and see if there are any plans to address this issue in a future driver release. According to the above thread, it should be a very easy fix.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum that helped me out.

I hope that the information I've posted is helpful to other.

All the best,

Alex

much thanks for that post :toast:

I never would've guessed the 4GB issue was a problem with XP64, as the only OS they've had 4GB issues with has been Vista.

either way, I'll keep it in mind should someone else ever have an issue similar to yours.

Glad to hear that you've been able to get everything working, though! :toast:

[eidairaman1]

BTW Latest CL driver for my card works just like the one from 2006 (good) just wonder how it does in Vista with all that EAX disable BS (Never used EAX other than 2.0 on my SB PCI 512)
64bit shouldnt matter about these drivers, but i guess your situation it does, because 64bit was supposed to break beyond the 3.25GB barrier that 32bit hits (Despite apparently Win 98Se supporting 4GB Physical Ram)


It is possible to get 32bit to read and utilize 4GB ram properly but it takes alot of tweaking to the system code that its just easier to upgrade to the next version that does support more than 3.25Gigs of ram.
Ok, I've finally got to the bottom of my X-Fi issue!

For those of you that remember, I was able to install my X-Fi and it would work fine until I rebooted my computer.

After lots of trial and error (and hours spent surfing the web) I've found out the cause.

It's all to do with me running Windows XP x64 with 4GB of RAM, with memory hole enabled in my BIOS. Everything did run fine until the firmware update that was included with one of the driver releases.

The following thread explains a little more.

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=64297&query.id=177989#M64297

I've disabled the memory hole setting in my BIOS and everything works fine. However, I now only have 3.25GB of RAM registered with Windows (as oppose to 4GB).

I'm going to contact Creative about this and see if there are any plans to address this issue in a future driver release. According to the above thread, it should be a very easy fix.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum that helped me out.

I hope that the information I've posted is helpful to other.

All the best,

Alex

[imperialreign]

Creative have released the 2.18.0008 WIN 7 beta driver for the non-titanuium / non-Xtreme Audio cards.

Can be downloaded here: http://support.creative.com/downloads/welcome.aspx?nDriverType=11#type_11

[GlouGlou]

Hello,

I would like to know if some of you own a Creative HS-1200 Headset.
I am currently having problem with the microphone: the volume is too low.
In my recording options, i only have "Wave In" which is the mic. But, since it is recognized as a Wave In device, it seems that I can't access the +20db gain option.

I used the installation CD to install drivers.

Anyone having the same problem ?

Thanks in advance.

OS: WinXP64
Drivers version: 5.10.0.3622

[imperialreign]

double check the slected recording device in WIN audio control panel. Go to Start>Control Panel>Sounds & Audio Devices . . . click on the 'Audio' tab, under sound recording, click on the 'volume' button, and check that 'line-in' or 'microphone' is selected, and that the volume level is at least 50%.

[GlouGlou]

I've done that before posting here :)
I even tried to use my Headset with Windows 7 x64 beta.

There my mic is recognized as a mic, but no +20db boost checkbox either.

I will try to install the drivers listed above and see if that can help.

Edit: The drivers listed above does not support my Headset. Anyone has solved this problem before ?

[imperialreign]

I've done that before posting here :)
I even tried to use my Headset with Windows 7 x64 beta.

There my mic is recognized as a mic, but no +20db boost checkbox either.

I will try to install the drivers listed above and see if that can help.

Edit: The drivers listed above does not support my Headset. Anyone has solved this problem before ?


sorry I missed this post . . .

how do you have the mic connection from your headset plugged into the card? At the PCI plate, or at through a front panel connection?

[imperialreign]

Creative have released a WIN7 only beta driver package for the PCI-Express X-Fi Extreme Audio, and X-Fi Extreme Audio notebook (currently no beta is yet available for the PCI Xtreme Audio) version 1.04.0000: http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7

This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 Beta support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.


Take note of the following:

•THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
•We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.
•Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio series driver available.


This download supports the following audio devices only:

•PCI Express® Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook


Requirements:

•Microsoft Windows 7 Beta
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio series audio devices listed above






Also of note, as of February 2, Creative have also recently released newer versions of the following applications: http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7

Creative MediaSource 5 Player / Organizer version 5.25.02

Creative SoundFont Bank Manager version 3.21.00

Creative Media Toolbox version 6.02.09

Creative Diagnostics version 5.11.00

Creative WaveStudio version 7.11.00

Creative 3D MIDI Player version 1.11.00

[GlouGlou]

sorry I missed this post . . .

how do you have the mic connection from your headset plugged into the card? At the PCI plate, or at through a front panel connection?

And i missed your reply :).

Well, this wireless headset is using its own X-Fi soundcard. Thus, I can't be wrong about the mic connection.

Here is a picture of the product: http://images.europe.creative.com/iss/images/artwork/A4_RGB/HS1200_1.jpg

I don't think there is much I can do except praying for new drivers :)

Thank you for helping me.

[Polaris573]

Have any of you used the Linux drivers for the X-Fi? I'm glad after years they finally exist, but the sound quality is awful. I would still be better off with my integrated audio if I wasn't too lazy to switch in the inputs whenever I logged into linux.

[btarunr]

Have any of you used the Linux drivers for the X-Fi? I'm glad after years they finally exist, but the sound quality is awful. I would still be better off with my integrated audio if I wasn't too lazy to switch in the inputs whenever I logged into linux.

I am. Actually not the drivers, but a manually installed OSS. Believe me the card sounds better than it does on Windows.

Will post the procedure in a while...

[btarunr]

This procedure applies to FC9 and upward. I'm on FC10 x64.

1. The OSS Fedora bundles doesn't detect X-Fi. OSS uses internal modules to detect and run sound cards. You need not install the Creative driver. Download the latest OSS from here (http://www.opensound.com/oss.html). Download the RPM, it's the easiest to install.

2. Install the RPM in the way you like. Graphically, or "rpm -i <filename>" in the terminal as a SU. This will replace the existing OSS. Reboot.

http://img.techpowerup.org/090227/1.jpeg

3. Check if OSS detected your X-Fi. Navigate to /dev/oss/ . You should see the X-Fi card mapped.

4. "pcm0" is the device map for the front-out channel, the primary stereo line-out. Fedora's Sound Manager in some cases won't be able to detect the new OSS altogether, but you can specify each app, including KDE to use X-Fi, by manually pointing it to "/dev/oss/oss_sbxfi0/pcm0". If the name looks too hard to remember, simply "copy" the device in Dolphin/Nautilus like you'd copy a file, and paste in in any application's setting that ask you to specify the output device (don't forget to remove "file://" if it also gets copied). I'm showing it for VLC and XMMS, but you can do the same for every app, including Control Center.

http://img.techpowerup.org/090227/2.png

http://img.techpowerup.org/090227/3.png

http://img.techpowerup.org/090227/4.png

It is important to know that in cases where Sound Manager doesn't detect OSS yet it exists, Sound Manager has no control over the card's output volume. Without OS-level volume control, the card will give out full-blast 200% output. That's 100% signal + 100% amplification. In Windows, we would note that 50% volume is 100% signal, and 100% volume is 100% amplification (200% volume). That volume can damage your headphones.

http://img.techpowerup.org/090227/5.png

Here are some safe 100% signal volumes you can set manually in each app (when you can't using KMix / OS-level control): 50% for pre-amplified speakers (most of today's speakers), 15~20% (!) for headphones, even lower for earbuds.



Now check the audio quality ;)

[Polaris573]

Thanks bta I'll give that a try. I'm using the drivers downloaded from the creative website and they have zero functionality besides volume control. It sounds like I'm listening through a metal pipe.

[iStink]

Great thread. Lots of useful information. Thank you.

[4PLaY]

Hi all,

I have an OEM Xtrememusic, on the board it says SB0460, but on the says something like MASB0467****** - This thing came with a DELL Dimension, and I think it is a DELL OEM. Now my problem lies in the fact that I could never for the life of me get the Decoder TAB to show up in audio console, plus the logos of Dolby and DTS, also does not show up in the main screen of the console launcher like in the picture below, I already know that DELL oems are crap coz they say DTS and Dolby are supported via software only e.g. PowerDVD, but I also know some people have gotten it to work with some modded drivers or the like. Now a few things I need to know that someone here might be able to answer.

http://www.fcenter.ru/img/article/sound/Creative_SoundBlaster_X_Fi/75660.png

1. If there are modded drivers/software suite out there like YouP-PaX that does what I want, which ones do I get, and what is the order of things that I would install them? I kinda need a guide to follow.

2. I've also noticed that the X-FI Platinum and the Xtrememusic are essentially the same card, I want to be able to Flash my card and turn it to a Platinum so I don't need modded drivers/software suite. If this is too much to ask, I would just like to Flash my card with a RETAIL Xtrememusic BIOS/Firmware, for the same reason, so I don't need to use modded drivers/software suite.

[btarunr]

Those features you see are present only with the Elite Pro/Titanium. Flashing the firmware might brick your card, since the Elite Pro and Xtreme Music use essentially different PCBs and DAC configurations. The CA20K1 on the Elite Pro is also programmed to access the EAX-RAM, which the Xtreme Music lacks.

[rakoch04]

So the issue is I have a MSI K9A2 Platinum version 1. I have updated the bios to 1.74 (when it was at version 1.3 my 8 GB ram wouldn't work (4 x 2GB)) and since haven't been able to get the card to even show up. I have taken it out and put it in, made sure that the onboard audio is disabled, (can't figure out how to totally erase it). I don't know why it won't recognize my board. There are only 2 PCI slots and the other I have a 4 port USB installed. I had issues before updating but briefly had it functioning. I used to have the x-fi in the other slot but it wouldn't show up there and so moved it to the lower slot. Is this possibly a problem with having both PCI slots filled? It seems crazy that I wouldn't be able to fill both. The only other thing I have on the system is a Powercolor 4870 graphics card. Thanks for any help you can give.

[4PLaY]

Those features you see are present only with the Elite Pro/Titanium. Flashing the firmware might brick your card, since the Elite Pro and Xtreme Music use essentially different PCBs and DAC configurations. The CA20K1 on the Elite Pro is also programmed to access the EAX-RAM, which the Xtreme Music lacks.

1st of all I am not talking about DDL or DTS Connect. I need driver decode for DTS and DOLBY, dont believe me?, check this link out http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=54530 Xtrememusic is supposed to support Driver decode for both Dolby and DTS. Xtrememusic and Platinum even have the same model numbers SB0460. My only issue here is that DELL crippled the card through BIOS.

2nd of all I never mentioned your Elite Pro/Titanium in flashing. ofcourse it will brick the card, I'm not an idiot. I said XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL. I need someone to be able to tell me how to do it, what software to use, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out even if you dont tell me how to do it. ofcourse I need the bios files of either XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL.

[iStink]

1st of all I am not talking about DDL or DTS Connect. I need driver decode for DTS and DOLBY, dont believe me?, check this link out http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=54530 Xtrememusic is supposed to support Driver decode for both Dolby and DTS. Xtrememusic and Platinum even have the same model numbers SB0460. My only issue here is that DELL crippled the card through BIOS.

2nd of all I never mentioned your Elite Pro/Titanium in flashing. ofcourse it will brick the card, I'm not an idiot. I said XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL. I need someone to be able to tell me how to do it, what software to use, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out even if you dont tell me how to do it. ofcourse I need the bios files of either XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL.

Nobody is saying you're an idiot. He was only trying to help. Calm down.

[imperialreign]

1. If there are modded drivers/software suite out there like YouP-PaX that does what I want, which ones do I get, and what is the order of things that I would install them? I kinda need a guide to follow.

2. I've also noticed that the X-FI Platinum and the Xtrememusic are essentially the same card, I want to be able to Flash my card and turn it to a Platinum so I don't need modded drivers/software suite. If this is too much to ask, I would just like to Flash my card with a RETAIL Xtrememusic BIOS/Firmware, for the same reason, so I don't need to use modded drivers/software suite.

. . .

1st of all I am not talking about DDL or DTS Connect. I need driver decode for DTS and DOLBY, dont believe me?, check this link out http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=54530 Xtrememusic is supposed to support Driver decode for both Dolby and DTS. Xtrememusic and Platinum even have the same model numbers SB0460. My only issue here is that DELL crippled the card through BIOS.

2nd of all I never mentioned your Elite Pro/Titanium in flashing. ofcourse it will brick the card, I'm not an idiot. I said XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL. I need someone to be able to tell me how to do it, what software to use, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out even if you dont tell me how to do it. ofcourse I need the bios files of either XFI Platinum or Xtrememusic RETAIL.[/QUOTE]


Well, for starters - I'd advise being a little more polite in how you phrase your responses . . . it works a lot better for everyone as a whole . . . when you come across brash and confrontational like that, other users aren't fully willing to dive right in and help out. We're not payed to put up with crap . . . hell, we're not payed to do this at all.

Anyhow - you could attempt to try one of Creative's official driver packs. OEM drivers, such as the one you're using, will sometimes have reduced features and functionality . . . it's all dependant on what the OEM is willing to license and pay for at the cheapest price to be able to install the hardware in the first place.

The retail XM cards should have the decoding capabilities, and as far as I know, it's never been deactivated in any driver pack . . . except possibly OEM drivers. Creative's can be found here: http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster&subCatID=208&subCatName=X-Fi&prodID=14066&prodName=X-Fi+XtremeMusic


As to flashing the BIOS to turn an Xtreme Music into a Platinum . . . it'd be rather pointless. The card that accompanies the non-Fatal1ty Platinum series is the Xtreme Music. The cards are identicle in-so-far as capabilities, there might be some slight PCB differences (such as different DRAM modules, different capacitors and VRMs, etc.), but these differences are only due to card revisions and manufacturing changes. The idea with the Platinum series were to be able to offer the X-Fi I/O bay drive, along with the sound card, for a price that is *somewhat* cheaper than if you were to purchase both components seperately.


So the issue is I have a MSI K9A2 Platinum version 1. I have updated the bios to 1.74 (when it was at version 1.3 my 8 GB ram wouldn't work (4 x 2GB)) and since haven't been able to get the card to even show up. I have taken it out and put it in, made sure that the onboard audio is disabled, (can't figure out how to totally erase it). I don't know why it won't recognize my board. There are only 2 PCI slots and the other I have a 4 port USB installed. I had issues before updating but briefly had it functioning. I used to have the x-fi in the other slot but it wouldn't show up there and so moved it to the lower slot. Is this possibly a problem with having both PCI slots filled? It seems crazy that I wouldn't be able to fill both. The only other thing I have on the system is a Powercolor 4870 graphics card. Thanks for any help you can give.


Are you running XP64 or Vista64?

So, unless I didn't understand you properly . . . your X-Fi works now, correct? But when you had it installed in the other, it didn't?

[KBD]

Can i offer a suggestion about this thread? Its very long and it would be nice to see some kind of a page index for the topics discussed. For instance, on the first page there are updates, why not put a page number next each so it would be easy to find that particular topic?

[iStink]

Can i offer a suggestion about this thread? Its very long and it would be nice to see some kind of a page index for the topics discussed. For instance, on the first page there are updates, why not put a page number next each so it would be easy to find that particular topic?

good suggestion. I second this.

[WhiteLotus]

good suggestion. I second this.

get to it then, as i understand Imperial is a very busy man

[btarunr]

I can work on a thread sub-topic index in my spare time, that I can ask a senior mod to append to the first post.

[4PLaY]

@btarunr - I am extremely sorry if that came across as brash and confrontational, believe me I did not mean it to be so. So I sincerely apologize. Not only to you but to everyone who read and replied to my question. I understand everyones position and consider me put in my place. :)

@imperialreign - thank you also for replying, I've already tried installing the latest driver downloaded from the creative side, now i've downloaded an ISO for retail xtrememusic installer CD, which I doubt is going to work since I already know from others that it really is the case that OEM xtrememusic cards from DELL are limitted via bios. be that as it may, you seem to also get where im coming from. a couple of questions again for everyone... Is it possible to flash my xfi or not, regardless of what it will do to my card. treat this as your disclaimer, I will not blame anyone here if I brick my card. :) you can also consider this for all intents and purposes and purely educational. Just sizing up my options. what application/program do I need, to backup my soundcard bios and flash it with something else. :)

[imperialreign]

@imperialreign - thank you also for replying, I've already tried installing the latest driver downloaded from the creative side, now i've downloaded an ISO for retail xtrememusic installer CD, which I doubt is going to work since I already know from others that it really is the case that OEM xtrememusic cards from DELL are limitted via bios. be that as it may, you seem to also get where im coming from. a couple of questions again for everyone... Is it possible to flash my xfi or not, regardless of what it will do to my card. treat this as your disclaimer, I will not blame anyone here if I brick my card. :) you can also consider this for all intents and purposes and purely educational. Just sizing up my options. what application/program do I need, to backup my soundcard bios and flash it with something else. :)

TBH, I've heard that it's possible to flash the BIOS . . . but not with any software that I'm aware of. IIRC, the process involves removing the MEM module from the card that stores the information, and having to hardware flash it with the proper equipment (or the card itself can be flashed with the proper equipment).

Either way, I don't yet know of a means of flashing the APU BIOS with any application like we could a GPU, for example. If there is such an application, I'd love to know about it - I think the only aspect of the APU BIOS that would need to be changed would be the vendor ID to be able to use Creative's driver packs.

The youp-pax site probably has some of the best hard-modding threads about, which is where I remember seeing the discussions over flashing the BIOSes, and how it's accomplished. I'd pull up some thread links for you, but youp-pax.org seems to be down, ATM. :ohwell:


Can i offer a suggestion about this thread? Its very long and it would be nice to see some kind of a page index for the topics discussed. For instance, on the first page there are updates, why not put a page number next each so it would be easy to find that particular topic?

that's actually a good idea - as WL pointed out, though, I've been rather busy recently, and have barely even had the time to be around TPU much . . . but I'll still make an effort to respond to this thread.

I've still be meaning as well to fully update the first post with some other issues, some more general info, and expand the modding sections a bit . . . a thread index would be a great start, especially if a specific subject has been discussed in-detail within this thread; it would allow for a brief explanation within the OP, and then a link to more info.


I can work on a thread sub-topic index in my spare time, that I can ask a senior mod to append to the first post.

that would be much appreciated! If I can get some free time in the near future, I'm more than willing to help out as well. If you happen to notice anything that would be relevant for posting in the OP, or anything you'd like to add - such as Linux issues/quirks, etc. - feel free to let me know.



For everyone else, consider it an open invite to volunteer information in regards to WIN7 betas (which will hopefully ease any headaches once the retail WIN7 is released next year); and other Vista issues that might not have been covered yet . . . I don't use Vista, personally, and I have a hard time remembering a lot of the mundane and rare issues that crop up.

[imperialreign]

Creative have recently released a new WIN7 beta driver (as of Mar 04) for the X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI cards (NOT the PCI-Express varieties!). Beta version 1.04.0079, available here: http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7


Release Notes:
This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 Beta support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.


Take note of the following:

•THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
•We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.
•Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio driver available.


This download supports the following audio devices only:

•Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio


Requirements:

•Microsoft Windows 7 Beta




With that, there is now available a WIN7 beta driver for all X-Fi series of cards. If you are currently trying out the WIN7 beta, and own an X-Fi, please download and try out the beta drivers if you're willing, and return feedback and error reports as needed. Early feedback will more than likely greatly help in having stable drivers available once the official WIN7 OS is released.

[4PLaY]

TBH, I've heard that it's possible to flash the BIOS . . . but not with any software that I'm aware of. IIRC, the process involves removing the MEM module from the card that stores the information, and having to hardware flash it with the proper equipment (or the card itself can be flashed with the proper equipment).

Either way, I don't yet know of a means of flashing the APU BIOS with any application like we could a GPU, for example. If there is such an application, I'd love to know about it - I think the only aspect of the APU BIOS that would need to be changed would be the vendor ID to be able to use Creative's driver packs.

The youp-pax site probably has some of the best hard-modding threads about, which is where I remember seeing the discussions over flashing the BIOSes, and how it's accomplished. I'd pull up some thread links for you, but youp-pax.org seems to be down, ATM. :ohwell:

Yeah, Thanks they've been down for about 4 days now since I started messing with my x-fi. Good information about that vendor ID. I've come across something about using wpcredit to this effect, maybe you can confirm if it could be done this way. Vendor ID and all.

[DRDNA]

Just received my 2nd HD4870X2 and now running CFX and loving it ...got go get the Misses and then benching!Fur did nice;)

[rakoch04]

@ imperialreign - In response to both questions, both times the system was vista64 (never changed that install). I swapped the PCI slots again and for some reason it is now running. Don't know why but I'm just going to let it be for now. Otherwise nothing about the set-up changed, same bios settings, same OS settings, etc. It works and that is all that matters. Thanks for your help.

[4PLaY]

ok, forget about the hard modding. I just need some software driver fix to make the decoder tab appear in audio console.. anyone else have any ideas? links to the drivers i need what versions and anything else special that I need to do?

Recap:
Dell OEM SB0460/SB0470 - Xtrememusic
Windows XP SP2
No Decoder TAB in Audio Console.
No Dolby or DTS logos in Main Screen of the Console Launcher.

[Specsaver]

OT, kind of
Have you guys seen the thread on realtek x-fi mod by ketxxx? Here (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=87523).
All cool. But.
I don't get this guy... He modded the realtek driver to add x-fi features. (that he btw hates :wtf:) Everybody says how better their onboard sounds now with X-Fi. Free X-Fi sound so to say. Cool. The guy says he aint doing wrong or illegal cus he is not asking for money.
(going by this rationale - well, if someone burns your car or rapes your hamster whichever means more to you - just for kicks, not for money - is it allright with you? Is it?)

He says he "just" copy-pastes bits into text files - that does not make it OK either. It is still someones intelectual property, isn't it? Not going to say this there cus this guy is insane and anyone saying else is labeled "a troll" (read my sig) But I feel he is actually taking what's not his. If I wrote this code and he grabbed it like that and gave it out to everyone I would not like it... I mean there is a difference between unlocking certain features and freely copying code written for device A into driver for device B. By doing that you effectively undercut A.

I have used several Creative products and still running X-Fi in my PC. It is a good product and I doubt it is all software only. (I remember reading a lot of the processing chip was dedicated to calculate resampling. I can't imagine soft modding can take care of that...)

Anyway, I just thought this should be said somewhere.

[btarunr]

Ketxxx used the 30-day trial version of X-Fi MB. That's not illegal. There's nothing epic about that mod. Just that from being Gigabyte exclusive, it runs on any Realtek codec, which BTW, is what it was designed to be. When Ketxxx releases an X-Fi Realtek driver that is free and runs forever (no 30-trial), let us know.

[imperialreign]

ok, forget about the hard modding. I just need some software driver fix to make the decoder tab appear in audio console.. anyone else have any ideas? links to the drivers i need what versions and anything else special that I need to do?

Recap:
Dell OEM SB0460/SB0470 - Xtrememusic
Windows XP SP2
No Decoder TAB in Audio Console.
No Dolby or DTS logos in Main Screen of the Console Launcher.

In regards to your first statement, wpcredit, not sure if and/or how well it would work - or if would even work for XP. It might be worth a shot, but without any real knowledge of the software, I have no idea if you'd run the possiblity of fubaring your card . . .

First, I would attempt to change the Vendor ID stored in XP's registry (make sure to properly backup your registry first!) [more info here: registry hardware values (http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:_1YDRUGCoRAJ:driversupdate.org/pci-device-drivers.htm+changing+vendor+id+in+win+registry&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us)], Creative's Vendor ID is 0x1102 (http://www.pcidatabase.com/search.php?device_search_str=X-Fi)- if Creative's driver packs only double check with the vendor ID stored in WIN, it might go ahead with the install. If it actually queries the hardware . . . you might be out of luck, as (aside from possibly wpcredit) I've never heard of any software that can change a hardware components vendor ID without being able to flash the hardware's BIOS.

Well, if the official Creative drivers won't work . . . you could also try daniel_k's drivers (I believe these are the most recent): http://www.driversdown.com/drivers/Creative-X-Fi-Daniel_K-driver-2.20.0000.0-WinXP-2003-Vista-2008-Win7_87836.shtml


OT, kind of
Have you guys seen the thread on realtek x-fi mod by ketxxx? Here (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=87523).
All cool. But.
I don't get this guy... He modded the realtek driver to add x-fi features. (that he btw hates :wtf:) Everybody says how better their onboard sounds now with X-Fi. Free X-Fi sound so to say. Cool. The guy says he aint doing wrong or illegal cus he is not asking for money.
(going by this rationale - well, if someone burns your car or rapes your hamster whichever means more to you - just for kicks, not for money - is it allright with you? Is it?)

He says he "just" copy-pastes bits into text files - that does not make it OK either. It is still someones intelectual property, isn't it? Not going to say this there cus this guy is insane and anyone saying else is labeled "a troll" (read my sig) But I feel he is actually taking what's not his. If I wrote this code and he grabbed it like that and gave it out to everyone I would not like it... I mean there is a difference between unlocking certain features and freely copying code written for device A into driver for device B. By doing that you effectively undercut A.

I have used several Creative products and still running X-Fi in my PC. It is a good product and I doubt it is all software only. (I remember reading a lot of the processing chip was dedicated to calculate resampling. I can't imagine soft modding can take care of that...)

Anyway, I just thought this should be said somewhere.

I agree with btarunr's post . . . he's not doing anything "illegal" ATM - but were he to do the same to drivers that you have to pay for (i.e. after the 30-day trial is up), then there's an issue. As to the Creative bashing - meh . . . I think the majority of it is unfounded, as many of the bigger issues people seem to have are starting to crop up with competing audio cards as well (mostly ASUS).

As to being able to better your audio quality with those drivers . . . that's 100% questionable, subjective and hard to discern (partly why I requested someone to test the output audio quality with RMAA before and after installation of the drivers - I'd do it myself, but I don't have a RealTek equipped motherboard). Sure, the majority of Creative's "features" (such as EAX, CMSS-3D, Crystallizer, etc.) are software based and onboard chipsets (as well as chipsets on competing audio cards) are capable of executing these instructions, as far as full functionality and accuracy is concerned, X-Fi APU equipped cards will be able to execute those instructions many times better than competing hardware . . . the majority of the software effects, and how many can be rendered at a single instance, are dependant upon the number of hardware and software voices an audio processor is capable of - in effect, it's abilit to multi-task.

The only thing that the drivers actually do, is tell the audio hardware how it's supposed to be processing the audio - you can easily fool people into thinking the audio quality is much better than it is by applying slight reverb and echos tweaks, amplifying certain frequency ranges, and normalizing channel volumes (for example, what the Crystallizer feature does, see this page for more info: http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/multimedia/creative-x-fi-part2.html). The real audio quality, though, is fully dependant on the capabilities of the hardware that's involved with the output stream processing . . . specifically the primary DSP, the DAC and output OPAMPs.

I'm very leary of any claims that state to increase real audio quality by applying a simple driver or software package - the stream itself might be cleaned up a little by processing it differently, but the actual audio quality dependant on the hardware will not change.

Anyhow, it's nice to see Creative starting to open up their software functionality to other hardware manufacturers, especially EAX. I'm hoping this trend will continue.

[imperialreign]

As of March 11, Creative have released a new driver pack for the X-Fi Titanium series for both XP and Vista x32/x64 OSes, version number 2.17.0006: http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7


Release Notes:
This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows Vista® and Windows® XP support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.


This download supports the following audio devices only:

•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty® Champion Series
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional Audio
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium


Added Features or Enhancements:

•Enables the 'What U Hear' recording device for Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium in Windows Vista.


Resolves the following issues:

•Unable to launch Audio Control Panel after installing drivers on a system using Windows XP Service Pack 3.
•X-Fi Crystalizer resets to the default value after restarting system.
•X-Fi Crystalizer resets to the default value in all modes instead of the current selected mode only after pressing the default button.
•No sound output occasionally while Dolby® Digital Live is enabled.
•BSOD when disabling audio drivers on certain systems.
•Game Mode LED on X-Fi I/O Drive does not light up when Game Mode was the current selected mode after system has awakened from hibernation.


Requirements:

•Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows Vista 32-bit with SP1, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or Windows XP MCE 2004
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series audio devices listed above




Also released March 11, a new version of the Creative Console Launcher version 2.61.09 for XP and Vista x86/x64 OSes:

Release Notes:
This download contains the Creative Console Launcher application for use with your Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices on Microsoft® Windows Vista® and Windows® XP. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following devices only:

•Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty® Champion Series
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional Audio
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
•Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1
•Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Karaoke
•Sound Blaster X-Fi


Added Features or Enhancements:


•Added Microphone Reverb effect.
•Added controls for Silencer settings (for certain audio devices only).
•Improved controls for Wireless Music settings (for certain audio devices only).


Resolves the following issues:


•Display for X-Fi CMSS-3D settings is not synchronized.
•Display for mixer settings is not synchronized.
•Custom EQ option does not appear when adjusting EQ values.
•Text is truncated in certain menus.
•Error message does not appear when hot-plugging a 'Plug and Play' device.
•Error in VoiceFX presets selection.
•Unable to restore default volume settings.
•Unable to select the external decoder option automatically while Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect is enabled in the encoder settings.
•Noise can be heard when enabling 'Use Built-in Decoder' and 'Dolby Digital Live' or 'DTS Connect'.


Requirements:

•Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005.
•Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

[hbkl]

Hi, im new on this of sound cards... i have byed the sound blaster x-fi music edition and i have it with a logitech x-530 sound sistem i think the sound its very good so can i join to your team? thanks

[imperialreign]

Hi, im new on this of sound cards... i have byed the sound blaster x-fi music edition and i have it with a logitech x-530 sound sistem i think the sound its very good so can i join to your team? thanks

sure thing, and welcome aboard! :toast:

[Nitro-Max]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Fi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card

[DaveK]

Sign me up, gots an X-Fi Platinum, cost me €20 :D Has a retail sticker of €229 on the box lol. Only problem is I broke the cable that connects the 5.25" drive to the sound card :( I should also try get my front panel headphone jack working.

[imperialreign]

Sign me up, gots an X-Fi Platinum, cost me €20 :D Has a retail sticker of €229 on the box lol. Only problem is I broke the cable that connects the 5.25" drive to the sound card :( I should also try get my front panel headphone jack working.



welcome aboard ! :toast:

As to the cable that connects the X-Fi to the I/O drive bay, IIRC, it uses a standard IDE cable.

[imperialreign]

Creative have released an updated version of the ALchemy software for both X-Fi and Audigy series of cards under the Vista OS. New version 1.25.10, available here: http://support.creative.com/downloads/?h=7


Release Notes:
Creative ALchemy restores 3D audio and EAX® effects for certain DirectSound®3D games in Windows Vista. With Creative ALchemy, you can:

•enable the DirectSound3D game audio to be processed by your Sound Blaster audio device to deliver EAX effects, 3D audio spatialization, sample rate conversion and hardware audio mixing. Without this, most DirectSound3D games will be reduced to stereo output without any EAX effects.
•improve 3D audio processing for host-based Sound Blaster audio devices.


Requirements:

•Microsoft® Windows Vista with Service Pack 1


Notes:

•Do not install this application if you do not play DirectSound3D games in Windows Vista.

[btarunr]

Method of OSS installation that lets Gnome/KDE list OSS and its detected cards:

ctrl+alt+F3

login as root, change run-level to 3 (type "init 3") this will stop X.

login as root again, install the rpm with the common "rpm -i <filename>" syntax

You will see that it installs all the kernel modules, X-Fi included, and detects all installed cards

reboot (type "init 6")

login normally, open a terminal window and type "osstest". It will test all your cards, all output channels, including SPDIF.

[hv43082]

Just skim through the section on crackling audio in certain games (BF2 for me), I still have no clue what could have caused this. Too many variables to take into account. Any thought?

[btarunr]

Are you using a digital (SPDIF) connection to your speakers? If so, have you tried using a different output sample rate (provided your speakers support it)? Try 96 kHz.

[hv43082]

I am using the analog connection to my Logitech Z5500. Not a single problem with mp3, movies, or other games, just BF2. I will try 96Hz when I have time...gotta catch some sleep so I can study for my Ophthalmology-Dermatology exam on Monday...so much material!

[btarunr]

W00t another medico.

[eidairaman1]

argh, i think the latest Stable Xfi Driver is causing lag spikes for me in games, gonna go back to old version, Unless if its SP3 causing it.

[hayder.master]

what about new realtek x-fi mods is this belong here

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

maybe you guys can help me, I purchased an x-fi fatal1y xtreme gamer on ebay. When I try to install the drivers, it wont detect it. Just get multimedia audio device in device manager. When I try to force the drivers manually I get a code 10 error and the card wont function. Ive got the same issue in 2 different computers. I tried formating and reinstalling vista 64 but still no luck. I tried beta drivers, daniel k drivers, YouP-Pax drivers, you name it I tried it. Different pci slots and all. The card did take 1 time, mic worked but got a loud screech out of my head phones and upon restart the card wasnt detected again. The lady I bought from on ebay said it was guarenteed to work and she would exchange it for me. Should I exchange it or is there something special I need to do to get it to work. My xtremeaudio works fine but I really want eax 5.0 for bf2. That was the hole reason for me buying the card.

[Tatty_One]

maybe you guys can help me, I purchased an x-fi fatal1y xtreme gamer on ebay. When I try to install the drivers, it wont detect it. Just get multimedia audio device in device manager. When I try to force the drivers manually I get a code 10 error and the card wont function. Ive got the same issue in 2 different computers. I tried formating and reinstalling vista 64 but still no luck. I tried beta drivers, daniel k drivers, YouP-Pax drivers, you name it I tried it. Different pci slots and all. The card did take 1 time, mic worked but got a loud screech out of my head phones and upon restart the card wasnt detected again. The lady I bought from on ebay said it was guarenteed to work and she would exchange it for me. Should I exchange it or is there something special I need to do to get it to work. My xtremeaudio works fine but I really want eax 5.0 for bf2. That was the hole reason for me buying the card.

TBH.... sounds like a bad card to me sorry.

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

Yeah I agree, seeing how easy the xtremeaudio works. I think its bad too.

[eidairaman1]

Hmm i wonder how much all the CL cards run for in compare to the Likes of Auzentech, HT_Omega, and Blue Gears.

[imperialreign]

argh, i think the latest Stable Xfi Driver is causing lag spikes for me in games, gonna go back to old version, Unless if its SP3 causing it.

That'd be a little unusual . . . but I wouldn't entirelly rule it out, either. You're using the official driver, and not a beta, correct?


what about new realtek x-fi mods is this belong here

hmmm . . . TBH, I don't intend to offer "support" for these; I might make a link in the OP to Ket's thread, but, seeing as they're his deamon . . .

asides, it's still RealTek hardware, with an X-Fi "skin" over it, I guess you could say. I'm still willing to help others with any audio related issues they might have, but I don't want to come across as fully supporting or condoning those modded drivers.


maybe you guys can help me, I purchased an x-fi fatal1y xtreme gamer on ebay. When I try to install the drivers, it wont detect it. Just get multimedia audio device in device manager. When I try to force the drivers manually I get a code 10 error and the card wont function. Ive got the same issue in 2 different computers. I tried formating and reinstalling vista 64 but still no luck. I tried beta drivers, daniel k drivers, YouP-Pax drivers, you name it I tried it. Different pci slots and all. The card did take 1 time, mic worked but got a loud screech out of my head phones and upon restart the card wasnt detected again. The lady I bought from on ebay said it was guarenteed to work and she would exchange it for me. Should I exchange it or is there something special I need to do to get it to work. My xtremeaudio works fine but I really want eax 5.0 for bf2. That was the hole reason for me buying the card.

I agree with Tatty - it definitely sounds like a dead card -especially if WIN sees that new hardware is installed, but it can't even figure out what it is . . . I'd go ahead and exchange it, if you can . . .


Hmm i wonder how much all the CL cards run for in compare to the Likes of Auzentech, HT_Omega, and Blue Gears.

It really depends on the type of card you're looking for . . . low-end, midrange or top-tier.

In the top-tier category, and if you're looking for the best audio quality possible, the Auzentech's, HT Omega's and ASUS cards offer better audio quality at a reasonable price (comparing to the audio quality of the Fatal1ty cards, and the price tag of the Elite Pro). The Elite Pro's audio quality can run with the best of them, but it's not a cheap card.

As to the midrange segment, they're all in the same ballpark, both in price, and audio quality. None of them are really further ahead in their capabilities as compared to their competition, it really ends up boiling down to what specifically you intend to do with the card . . . if you'll be spending more time playing games, watching films/DVD, or listening to audio tracks.

Low-end, again, they're all pretty much on the same price scale and it really depends on what you'll be doing with the card. There are some great values, though, targeted at the low-end segment . . . specifically from HT Omega and ASUS.

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

Well my xtreme music got mailed out to the seller today. should have a different one in about a week so wish me luck. for now im back on my audigy se(modded to x-fi xtreme audio)

[eidairaman1]

I used a beta along time ago, which then i used the newest stable driver and it was doing the same thing as that beta driver so i switched back

[FreedomEclipse]

does anyone know where i can find a short 'guide' on XFi Alchemy???? I think a few of my games need a bit of tweaking but im not sure what everything does.

but if there aint then theres really one thing that i need to know......

what does 'buffers' do & how many can u have for a high end system???

[imperialreign]

does anyone know where i can find a short 'guide' on XFi Alchemy???? I think a few of my games need a bit of tweaking but im not sure what everything does.

but if there aint then theres really one thing that i need to know......

what does 'buffers' do & how many can u have for a high end system???



I don't know of any guide for ALchemy . . . it's fairly straight forward to use, and adding in a new game .exe is fairly simple (IIRC). I don't personally use the software myself, as I'm still on XP, so I'm not sure if there are any "tweaks" that can be made . . .

TBH, though, I don't really think there are - all ALchemy does is capture EAX calls within a game, and translate them into their OpenAL counterparts . . . there can be the occasional issue if an EAX call is translated wrong, or if it doesn't have a corresponding OpenAL equivalent . . .

Have you made sure to update ALchemy recently? A new version of the software was just released within the last few weeks. Double check that you've also updated OpenAL, too.


As to audio buffers - there's no real "set" amount that your hardware will use. Basically, what an audio buffer is in regards to computing audio hardware, is a means of using system memory to temporarily store a processed audio stream . . .

for example - if you're recording something - what's being recorded is stored into a buffer while the audio hardware is processing the input stream, which can include the conversion from analogue to digital, applying any filters, etc. Same goes with output streams, the audio information is pulled from a file, and may be placed into a buffer while it's being processed . . .

a buffer is also used for special effects, such as a delay echo or reverb - both are common effects with EAX/OpenAL.

For the most part, there isn't any need to adjust the buffer size unless you start running into odd problems - crackling and popping during some EAX enabled games, choppy recordings, etc. In general, the default buffer length allocated by WIN is typically more than enough.

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

guys I am freakin excited. I sent back my bad x-fi xtremegamer fatal1ty to the lady on ebay I bought it from. She also sells regular xtremegamers so I asked her if I could have that one instead. Shes sending me one of each free of charge for my problems. that is so freakin awesome I cant believe it.

[imperialreign]

guys I am freakin excited. I sent back my bad x-fi xtremegamer fatal1ty to the lady on ebay I bought it from. She also sells regular xtremegamers so I asked her if I could have that one instead. Shes sending me one of each free of charge for my problems. that is so freakin awesome I cant believe it.



that's effin' sweet, man! Awesome as well that you've been able to have a good expierience with an honest seller! :toast:

[DaMulta]

guys I STILL LOVE MY X-MOD

http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/55/xmod.jpg

I have to say for a person that uses headphones....it has to be one of the best things I have ever bought

[DaMulta]

I wonder if I could mod the xmod to work with the console.

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

got my x-fi's today. so for just installed the xtreme music in my media pc. it really is a xtremegamer fatal1ty pro. x-ram and all. It works flawlessly. So the other had to be bad. I plan on installing the normal xtremegamer that I got for free in my gaming rig later tonight. the lady on ebay sold me the xtremegamer fatality but she thought it was an xtrememusic. So I ended up getting the xtremegamer and the xtremegamer fatality for 50 bucks total. OMG Im so freakin happy.

EDIT:

Installed the xtremegamer. PLayed some BF2 and man does it make a difference. I would put the fatal1ty in my gamer but from what I read the x-ram doesnt make a difference and I need the low profile card cause its too close to my 4850 and restricts air flow. the smaller xtremegamer only cuts off about 1/3 of the fan so less restriction. both cards are rocking and it does make my movies and my music sound better on my media pc.

[FreedomEclipse]

Installed the xtremegamer. PLayed some BF2 and man does it make a difference. I would put the fatal1ty in my gamer but from what I read the x-ram doesnt make a difference

X-ram does make a moderate amount of difference but at the same time its a little bit sad that not many games even recent ones have X-ram support

[FreedomEclipse]

the whole thing was set up as a marketting gimmick. & thats the only way it will go on the shelf as, until Creative start working with game studios a bit more. the only games i really played which took advantage of the X-Ram was BF2 & U.T2003 im not sure about the other games. I highly doubt that Creative will pull their finger out of their ass now just to make X-ram support widely available since XFi cards have already benn out on the market for so long.

[hbkl]

Hi im new here, i got the sound blaster x-fi music edition... and i want to know how to change sub/center like in the integrated audio sistems thanks

[imperialreign]

X-ram does make a moderate amount of difference but at the same time its a little bit sad that not many games even recent ones have X-ram support

the whole thing was set up as a marketting gimmick. & thats the only way it will go on the shelf as, until Creative start working with game studios a bit more. the only games i really played which took advantage of the X-Ram was BF2 & U.T2003 im not sure about the other games. I highly doubt that Creative will pull their finger out of their ass now just to make X-ram support widely available since XFi cards have already benn out on the market for so long.


Mostly correct . . . although it's been used heavily as a marketing gimmick - as has been pointed out, it does help somewhat. The notion that the 64MB of "X-RAM" is only meant to be used with games and applications is incorrect. Cards that are equipped with any amount of DRAM will use this available space for audio buffering and temporary storage, eliminating the need to re-access the SYS BUS to swap back and forth between MEM. But, it's full benefit can't be seen unless running an application that has been coded for X-RAM support.

The thing is, though, if developers aren't willing to pay for the EAX5.0 licensing, then X-RAM can't be used, and it's abilities are somewhat rendered pointless. Although some blame can be placed on Creative for their proprietary holdings of EAX 3, EAX 4, EAX 5HD, and the relatively high cost of EAX licensing (which can put a kink in struggling software developer's pockets) . . . I also put some blame on lazy software developers that don't spend nearly enough time on the audio aspect of their software . . . it's no longer an issue as to whether or not they feel like coughing up the funds for EAX5 licensing and usage . . . OpenAL supports X-RAM usage, and OpenAL SDK is freely available to developers at no charge. OpenAL at it's very base is EAX 2.0, and the EAX 2.0 SDK is also available for free to the public. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that many people (devs included) don't view audio as a strong selling point of a game, and that it's not worth the time and effort to do the audio well.

Even though we all know well done audio can aid immersion and over all "polish" of a game (look at the quality audio in Crysis, for example, which uses no EAX or OpenAL implimentations), it tends to be overlooked. But compare games that were done with poor audio implimentation or had EAX added as an after thought (e.g. Doom3, STALKER: SoC) to games where the audio is highly developed and implimented well (Thief: Deadly Shadows, FEAR).


Hi im new here, i got the sound blaster x-fi music edition... and i want to know how to change sub/center like in the integrated audio sistems thanks

how exactly do you mean, change the sub/center channels? You mean like swapping the channels?

[hbkl]

how exactly do you mean, change the sub/center channels? You mean like swapping the channels?

yes , i mean in the integrated audio card when the center is not working you can select change sub/center output you know what im saying now :D

[FreedomEclipse]

Hi

Hi im new here, i got the sound blaster x-fi music edition... and i want to know how to change sub/center like in the integrated audio and i am thank u.....


http://www.*****.com

Seo master (http://www.**.com)http://******.com/senter/happy.gif

is being a member here not enough that you feel the need to spam??

[imperialreign]

yes , i mean in the integrated audio card when the center is not working you can select change sub/center output you know what im saying now :D


Hmmm . . . if you're running Vista, you could open the THX console and see if you can change the polarities of the channels . . . but I don't think that will do exactly what you're asking for.

Thing is - the output channels are preset, there's really no way to change them - not without re-wiring your speakers . . . or having access to some form of program that can change it at the driver level - which would still be a long shot. It's a hardware issue, from the APU to the mini-jacks, the output channels are preset and can't be changed.


Hi

Hi im new here, i got the sound blaster x-fi music edition... and i want to know how to change sub/center like in the integrated audio and i am thank u.....



http://www.*****.com

Seo master (http://www.**.com)http://******.com/senter/happy.gif



see my above response :toast:

[Polaris573]

Freedom eclipse please report members you suspect of spamming so we can deal with them. This is a new trick they are up to. They'll couch their advertisement in a legitimate question or ask a question and put their advertisement in their signature. If you suspect a member of spamming let us know, don't just call him/her a spammer, and we'll decide if he/she actually is or not.

Thank You!

[FreedomEclipse]

Freedom eclipse please report members you suspect of spamming so we can deal with them. This is a new trick they are up to. They'll couch their advertisement in a legitimate question or ask a question and put their advertisement in their signature. If you suspect a member of spamming let us know and we'll decide if he/she actually is or not.

Thank You!

apologies, this is my first encounter with a spammer of this sort, i will be more vigilant in the furture!

[FreedomEclipse]

Just a little heads up....Im just about to attempt a driver reinstall as my mic no longer works in 'game' mode for some reason. It works in entertainment mode though. I hope the Flexi-jack hasnt died on me again......

Ive had this XFi Fatality Plantinum for less then 6 months but my Xtreme Music had problems with the Flexi Jack also....anyway I'l be back in a sec. but i could be well on my way to getting a Xonar Dx2....

::EDIT::

the Reinstall fixed it. I dont have a clue why the mic just suddenly stopped/started functioning like that. :Confused: I dont touch the mic settings once i get them set up & the only time i noticed it wasnt working was when i was gettin butt raped by a hunter in L4D. I was screaming down the mic for help & my team were right in the next room. they coulda helped me but they didnt hear me LOL

& no its not as if my team hated me. 2 of the guys on the team were people (friends) i know personally & id burn their house down if they left me to die like that deliberately.


anyway - problem solved

[WhiteLotus]

Hey, sorry no idea where to ask this question so came here.

Right it seems i am a little deaf in my right ear and i want to make it so more sound goes to the right ear via the headphones. Sure there was once a way to do this in XP but now on Vista and i have no idea what to search for in google. Any help?

[imperialreign]

Just a little heads up....Im just about to attempt a driver reinstall as my mic no longer works in 'game' mode for some reason. It works in entertainment mode though. I hope the Flexi-jack hasnt died on me again......

Ive had this XFi Fatality Plantinum for less then 6 months but my Xtreme Music had problems with the Flexi Jack also....anyway I'l be back in a sec. but i could be well on my way to getting a Xonar Dx2....

::EDIT::

the Reinstall fixed it. I dont have a clue why the mic just suddenly stopped/started functioning like that. :Confused: I dont touch the mic settings once i get them set up & the only time i noticed it wasnt working was when i was gettin butt raped by a hunter in L4D. I was screaming down the mic for help & my team were right in the next room. they coulda helped me but they didnt hear me LOL

& no its not as if my team hated me. 2 of the guys on the team were people (friends) i know personally & id burn their house down if they left me to die like that deliberately.


anyway - problem solved


As of now - and my recent week and a half experiment with Vista x64 - I attribute the random, intermittent, unnatural channel loss to . . . .


you guessed it!!!

VISTA


I've already had a couple of instances of losing the center/sub channel - strange panning from the front channels, and other odds and ends . . .

<sigh>

Why can't we have DX10.1 on XP?!! :banghead:


Hey, sorry no idea where to ask this question so came here.

Right it seems i am a little deaf in my right ear and i want to make it so more sound goes to the right ear via the headphones. Sure there was once a way to do this in XP but now on Vista and i have no idea what to search for in google. Any help?



Go to Start>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Sound>

select your primary output device (HDMI, speakers, SPDIF, etc.) - click 'properties' - click on the 'levels' tab, hit the 'balance' button next to the Play Control slider, and adjust the channel volumes as needed.

[FreedomEclipse]

well... win them all. the only reason why I moved to vista was:

#1 - to get with the times, more & more friends had issues with new systems running vista & at the time i wouldnt touch Vista as far as i could through the disc (which is quite far as I came 2nd/3rd for my schools shotput/discus throwing on sports day)

#2 the sexy black 'Aero' layout which stole my heart..... which is the main reason. I dont care too much about DX-10 for games as none of the games i play make use of it.

vista is a headache in itself but im am quite happy with it.

[Craigleberry]

Got a question for you guys.... I have a thermaltake m9 case sitting next to me that has a xfi xtreme music pci-e in it. The front panel audio has Hd and ac97 plug combined can i plug the hd in and have audio on the front jacks without frizzling the X-fi????

[FreedomEclipse]

Got a question for you guys.... I have a thermaltake m9 case sitting next to me that has a xfi xtreme music pci-e in it. The front panel audio has Hd and ac97 plug combined can i plug the hd in and have audio on the front jacks without frizzling the X-fi????

Looking at some of the reviews online - you have 2 USB port & a 1x audio & mic out on the front

& the answer is no - its either 1 or the other, but i dont understand why you would want to run a AC97 over a XFi


Or maybe you could plug your mic into it & use it as a 'recording' device instead of playback but that might cause a lot of conflicts so its best if you dont

[Craigleberry]

I dont I just want to use have funcionality of the two front plugs. They are there and it sucks if they cant be used. So in short my x-fi cant be pluged in to support the front panel audio

[FreedomEclipse]

I dont I just want to use have funcionality of the two front plugs. They are there and it sucks if they cant be used. So in short my x-fi cant be pluged in to support the front panel audio

no - you'd need a break out box from Creative for that. - it might be possible a but im not the right person to ask. but i wouldnt do anything just yet as you risk shorting out your card if you do.

[Craigleberry]

no - you'd need a break out box from Creative for that. - it might be possible a but im not the right person to ask. but i wouldnt do anything just yet as you risk shorting out your card if you do.

I understand that.... I need the wiring diagram for the pin header on the x-fi so I can study the wiring setup on the case and change the configuration of the wires. I have done it before on motherboards but this is different and need a diagram.

I know all about what damage can be done I learn things the hard way and lets just say I had to get a soundcard to replace my onboard on my first ever build due to premature death :roll:

[FreedomEclipse]

hmmm Ive never hear of a short just shorting out the onboard sound. but your lucky i suppose.

[Craigleberry]

Well luckily that is all it fried on me :) I thought the pin header on the x-fi xtrem audio was intel hd audio

Anyone who actually knows about this feel free to help me out :rolleyes:
The standard hd audio front panel plug is azailia I know that wont work but if I could get my hands on a diagram for the card itself then I may be able to re-pin the plug.

[kenkickr]

I was checkin out creatives Win 7 support cause I cant decide if I want to get another X-fi or go with the Azuntech Forte(I traded my X-fi Titanium Pro for a 4850) and creative has release new beta drivers for Win 7.

Beta Driver
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Series Beta Driver 2.18.0013
Filesize : 49.04 MB Download
Hide Details
Release date : 24 Apr 09
This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 Beta support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.
File Name : SBXF_W7DRVBTA_US_2_18_0013.exe

This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows® 7 Beta support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

* THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
* We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.
* Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster X-Fi series driver available.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

* Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
* Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
* Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
* Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
* Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
* Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
* Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
* Sound Blaster X-Fi

Added Features and Enhancements:

* Enables Dolby® Digital Live and DTS® Connect features.

Requirements:

* Microsoft Windows 7 Beta
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series audio devices listed above

Notes:

* To install this driver
1. Download the .exe file onto your local hard disk.
2. Double-click the downloaded file.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

http://support.creative.com/downloads/welcome.aspx?nDriverType=11#type_11

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

go with a forte, thats what I really wanted. but thanks for thetrade. im still happy with the titanium.

[EarlZ]

[SIZE="5"][B]

To make use of the proprietary connector on the X-Fi without having to do some extensive soldering/modding, you'll need to purchase the following components from Digi-Key (http://www.digikey.com):
455-1127-1-ND - crimp style female wire terminals to fit the proprietary 10-pin connector
WM2522-ND - 10-pin AC97/Azalia style terminal header(if you want to make an "adapter" style cable similar to the one in the link above)
WM2515-ND - crimp style male wire terminals to fit the AC97/Azalia style terminal header (if you want to make an "adapter" style cable similar to the one in the link above)
455-1151-ND - 10-pin proprietary style connector to fit the 10-pin header on the X-Fi


This is the pinout legend for the 10-pin proprietary connector:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 - Analog ground
2 - Left out
3 - Audio backpanel mute (grounded with headphone jack plugged in - I think this is Left Return)
4 - Right out
5 - same as pin 3 (I think this is Right return)
6 - Mic In from front panel
7 - no pin
8 - VREF Mic out (voltage reference for mic)
9 - Mic In mute (ground when mic isn't plugged in, +12V with mic plugged in)
10 - Audio Detect (ground when headphones plugged in, not normally used)




Basically i just connect the proper azalia pins from 1 to 10 to get the front panel audio working ?