Auzentech XFI Prelude - Mini Review with Pictures

cshaun said:
Need another review that ones not satisfactory.
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It's satisfactorily amusing, anyway.
From these results, you can easily see that any X-Fi will beat an onboard solution. Then the onboard X-Fi comes in third, with the X-Fi in second and ,just in the lead, the Prelude.
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...what?

His RightMark results are also highly suspect. Extremely sloppy across the board.
 
Hmm you know what I just noticed? With my Elite Pro in Vista whatever was played through "Speakers" (analog) would also be simitaniously played through the S/PDIF. So so essentially I always had "Speakers" as my default device and just switched to the S/PDIF input on my receiver when I needed to. This isn't the case with the Prelude. :( I have to set the S/PDIF as the default device in Vista for the S/PDIF to work (then obviously analog wouldn't work). It's quite odd.

So the prelude basically added a second step for me. I have to change the default device in Windows and switch the input on my receiver in order to get either analog or S/PDIF. Nothing major but an inconvenience nevertheless.
 
That's typical practice for Newegg. They'll gouge whenever demand is high.
 
I was rather ticked at Newegg for doing that, but what can you expect.

I am looking for a review from someone (no offense to OP or the guy at head-fi) that isn't just using it for 128bit rate MP3 files, and is using a pair of high quality headphones to see how it compares to its predecessors as well as say an external DAC.
 
feebleminded said:
I was rather ticked at Newegg for doing that, but what can you expect.

I am looking for a review from someone (no offense to OP or the guy at head-fi) that isn't just using it for 128bit rate MP3 files, and is using a pair of high quality headphones to see how it compares to its predecessors as well as say an external DAC.
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qft
 
One thing i found ridiculous about the xsreview is complaints about the green light.

My case has a window and i don't even see the light o_O;

And most cases also don't have panel windows :rolleyes:
 
It's understandable to say that the pending digital features is a con.

But when i bought it i was fully aware of that. I'm using analog speakers anyway :D
 
i wonder if it would be worth it to sell my Elite Pro for 100 bux to a friend and get a prelude for 100, wonder if i would be able to hear any difference really. If anything i would like DDL to use with my home theater.:p
 
Ricey said:
i wonder if it would be worth it to sell my Elite Pro for 100 bux to a friend and get a prelude for 100, wonder if i would be able to hear any difference really.
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I'd doubt it, but it depends on your equipment.
 
I ordered my Prelude from them (I live in CT) and paid for the express shipping. It was something like $20 something or other dollars, I fotget exactly. I odered on a Tuesday morning and Fedex knocked on my door the very next day. I was stunned.

I'd have to say that is pretty timely!!! Don't hesitate to order from them. I have ordered several things from them in the past 8 months and have had incredibly great luck with the items getting shipped very quickly.

Shawn
 
Yeah only they don't deliver outside of US/Canada arggggggggggg

Sitting in New Zealand and really feeling far away. Can't find anyway to purchase the damn thing from at a reasonable price. The few places that do seem to ship worldwide are either very expensive or have insane shipping costs (like 3x what they should be).

Really annoying.
 
I would like an answer to one thing. Does this card match the old soundstorm off the old nf7-s board that was my first computer build?

I have z-5500 and see that it has S/PDIF with a toggle or whatever. I want to know, if I buy this card, will I be able to install drivers and use the digital on the fly encoding a simple soundstorm could do.

I want a fuller sound than the onboard on my current board, and will it also be able to take eax (whatever version) and use it when I game.

Pretty simple -

I don't want to have to switch to analog and back to digital - I want digital optical all of the time and I want it to sound really good.

I don't mean to come across as a whiney punk, but can this card do it? It is supposed to isn't it? when the drivers come out?
 
Hm i am not sure whether this problem is a Creative XFI drivers issue, or just solely Auzentech XFI Prelude issue, but....

After say a few hours computer usage time, after leaving my XFI control panel open so i can just flip to entertainment and gaming mode.

But then later it crashes.... then i cannot change modes !!! or close the xfi control panel mode thingy.

I tried ctrl+alt+delete to end the process didn't work either, so i had to restart my pc :/


But keep in mind i was using Foobar during this time using ASIO and when i click a track, sometimes foobar crashes and generates an error problem. So it could because of this that my XFI mode control panel jams/crashes, i don't think so.


So that is the only problem i've had so far with my XFI Prelude ..........
 
azure said:
I would like an answer to one thing. Does this card match the old soundstorm off the old nf7-s board that was my first computer build?

I have z-5500 and see that it has S/PDIF with a toggle or whatever. I want to know, if I buy this card, will I be able to install drivers and use the digital on the fly encoding a simple soundstorm could do.

I want a fuller sound than the onboard on my current board, and will it also be able to take eax (whatever version) and use it when I game.

Pretty simple -

I don't want to have to switch to analog and back to digital - I want digital optical all of the time and I want it to sound really good.

I don't mean to come across as a whiney punk, but can this card do it? It is supposed to isn't it? when the drivers come out?
Click to expand...

I read the word "Soundstorm"........................ Those were the good days.
 
I don't mean to come across as a whiney punk, but can this card do it? It is supposed to isn't it? when the drivers come out?
Click to expand...

Dolby Digital Live support is coming Q4 of 2007 and DTS:Interactive support (DTS version of Dolby Digital Live) is coming Q1 of 2008. So right now you would still have to keep switching between analog and digital with this card, but it will eventually act like a soundstorm.

But keep in mind i was using Foobar during this time using ASIO and when i click a track, sometimes foobar crashes and generates an error problem. So it could because of this that my XFI mode control panel jams/crashes, i don't think so.
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Foobar .9 and its ASIO plug-in does not work with the X-Fi (and in turn the Prelude) atm. If you want to use ASIO you have to use Foobar .8 and its 3rd party ASIO plug-in (and make sure "use Direct input monitor" is unchecked). One cannot change modes while using ASIO or OpenAL. If foobar crashes and gets stuck in memory (with the ASIO plug-in loaded), one will have to restart if he/she wants to change modes. I hope that helps.
 
Thanks Moofasa for the info.

I'm using Foobar 0.9.4.4

Hm but why is "use Direct input monitor" turned off ? Because i thought the XFI Prelude supports it :confused:

I've switched from using ASIO to kernel streaming plugin in Foobar.

I followed this guide

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2007/09/12/pc_audio_101/2

:D


By the way i heard Microsoft released some sound enhancement thingys, how do i access them ? and should i even bother :d
 
Hm but why is "use Direct input monitor" turned off ? Because i thought the XFI Prelude supports it
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Only in audio creation mode, so if you plan to just stay in creation mode, you can enable it. But due to how the X-Fi changes modes, if Direct input monitor is enabled, it will cause stability issues with the ASIO driver after a user changes modes (even if you don't use ASIO in the other modes). You don't lose any sound quality with Direct input monitor disabled; it just slightly increases latency, which is irrelevant for playback anyways (it's used for recording).

By the way i heard Microsoft released some sound enhancement thingys, how do i access them ? and should i even bother :d
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Don't bother.
 
Understood :D

By the way were Creative right in making 3 different modes that only could do some stuff and not all when in any other mode ?

:d
 
Moogle Stiltzkin said:
Understood :D

By the way were Creative right in making 3 different modes that only could do some stuff and not all when in any other mode ?

:d
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Well it's certainly less convenient to have three modes all supporting different features (but it should be pointed out that entertainment mode is practically useless; essentially a user really only needs creation and gaming mode).

I'm guessing though Creative went this route because the X-Fi DSP probably does not have enough power to support all of its features at once in one mode. Therefore it uses the "mode system" so it can support certain features depending which mode it's in. I guess it's better than dropping support for certain features, but surely it's not better than supporting them all at once in one mode.
 
mito said:
Will Vista64 ASIO in Foobar?

no?
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Moofasa~ said:
Foobar .9 and its ASIO plug-in does not work with the X-Fi (and in turn the Prelude) atm. If you want to use ASIO you have to use Foobar .8 and its 3rd party ASIO plug-in (and make sure "use Direct input monitor" is unchecked). One cannot change modes while using ASIO or OpenAL. If foobar crashes and gets stuck in memory (with the ASIO plug-in loaded), one will have to restart if he/she wants to change modes. I hope that helps.
Click to expand...

This goes for both x86 and x64 (I use Vista x64, if that makes you feel better).
 
Moofasa~ said:
Well it's certainly less convenient to have three modes all supporting different features (but it should be pointed out that entertainment mode is practically useless; essentially a user really only needs creation and gaming mode).

I'm guessing though Creative went this route because the X-Fi DSP probably does not have enough power to support all of its features at once in one mode. Therefore it uses the "mode system" so it can support certain features depending which mode it's in. I guess it's better than dropping support for certain features, but surely it's not better than supporting them all at once in one mode.
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So when i am watching videos and listening to music, should i be using audio creation mode or entertainment mode :confused:
 
I will try that now on ;)


Many settings :d few questions.

Should all these options be enabled ?

1. bit matched playback ( i left this unticked - don't know what this is :x )

2. Eax ( enabled - I know this is awesome for games but for music and movies i am not sure ... )

3. Crystalizer ( enabled - Supposedly makes the music/movies sound better some people are giving mixed messages to leave it off and on :/ not sure either )

4. EQ ( enabled - I used flat EQ since many people said to do that, but i've tried jass pre configured setting with Jass music. Should these settings be changed depending on music or should i leave flat always ? )

5. SVM ( i left this unticked. I am guessing this is like replaygain but i am not sure how the audio will be affected whether good or for worse )

6. Ear Monitoring ( i disabled it just like you told me :] )



My vista playback devices >> speakers properties >> advance, was set to resample 24bit 48 khz ( or should i set this higher 24bit 192khz ? )


Foobar is using kernel streaming. Output data format 32 bit ( or should this be set 24 bit o_O: )


My screenshots

moogledesktopaq3.jpg


moogleaudiosettingsrx1.jpg
 
Manny Calavera said:
Is that still the case now ? :confused: It works very well in game with my X-Fi Plat.
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No I don't know what mito is talking about. EAX works on my prelude with bioshock.

1. bit matched playback ( i left this unticked - don't know what this is :x )
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Enable it if you use the S/PDIF, it disables Creative's Sample Rate Converter (SRC). If you use the analog output, the X-Fi uses its SRC no matter what (so it doesn't matter if you enable or disable that option).

2. Eax ( enabled - I know this is awesome for games but for music and movies i am not sure ... )
Click to expand...

Disable.

3. Crystalizer ( enabled - Supposedly makes the music/movies sound better some people are giving mixed messages to leave it off and on :/ not sure either )
Click to expand...

Disable.

4. EQ ( enabled - I used flat EQ since many people said to do that, but i've tried jass pre configured setting with Jass music. Should these settings be changed depending on music or should i leave flat always ? )
Click to expand...

Set it to whatever sounds best to you.

5. SVM ( i left this unticked. I am guessing this is like replaygain but i am not sure how the audio will be affected whether good or for worse )
Click to expand...

Disable.

6. Ear Monitoring ( i disabled it just like you told me :] )
Click to expand...

Disable.

My vista playback devices >> speakers properties >> advance, was set to resample 24bit 48 khz ( or should i set this higher 24bit 192khz ? )
Click to expand...

Set it to whatever you want.

Foobar is using kernel streaming. Output data format 32 bit ( or should this be set 24 bit o_O: )
Click to expand...

For the X-Fi there is no difference between 24/32 bit; leave it set to 32 bit.

My screenshots
Click to expand...

Next time (or maybe even edit your post) make your screenshots thumbnails like this:

 
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