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Xonar DX, or X-Fi Titanium?

P

pojut

Gawd
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
541
Hey all...I've read countless reviews, so I figured it was time to ask my fellow [H]ers: Xonar DX or X-Fi Titanium? I pretty much use headphones exclusively, and I do a small bit of audio production as a hobby (although, from my research, it looks like both cards support ASIO drivers, so that shouldn't matter much.) My question to you folks is which one provides the better "emulated" surround? I've heard both for a couple of minutes, and I'm leaning towards the DX for the Dolby Headphone, but I figured I would ask on here. Thoughts? Opinions? Please keep brand loyalty out of it and comment only on your personal experience. Thank you!
 
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If you consider audio production more important then gaming I would go towards the Asus'. They have cleaner DACs and Analog to digital conversion. However if you game more then produce I would go X-Fi. The X-Fi DSP offloads from the CPU and has very effective headphone surround.
 
How do the drivers compare, as far as stability and bloat? All the reviews I found were from 2008, so obviously they're not current :)
 
You talking about the Titanium HD, or the Titanium Fatality? HD is a much nicer card from what I've heard.
 
I believe you are referring to one of these two cards?\
LINK

I can't tell the difference besides the warranty.

However, I am wondering the same thing, to possibly replace a dying X-Fi Xtreme Gamer I have right now. I am also wondering if either of these cards or any sound cards on the market support these three things happening at once.
*Optical In for 2CH audio from my laptop
*Playing that optical in through a pair of speakers
*Games and ventrilo through a pair of headphones

Right now I use my onboard for my laptop sound (for music) with its optical in being played over its 2ch stereo, but the optical in has some problems after sleep, and I figured moving it to a new sound card might fix that. I also though that the sound card would be able to better play the music so might as well try and find one that can have two simultaneous outputs. Thanks!
 
pojut said:
Neither. I'm talking about this guy: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-SB0880-Express-Blaster-Titanium/dp/ B001E25KDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297355820&sr=8-1Same as the Fatal1ty, minus the EMI shield and some kind of extra RAM.

EDIT: gah, can't get it to work properly. Just google Creative Labs SB0880, you'll see what I mean.
Click to expand...

Those are better cards for Gaming than Asus. They I have the one with the shield and x-ram. With the lastest drivers I have had zero issues.
 
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I dunno...I may go with a Mixamp, just to avoid potential driver issues alltogether. Teh, stupid consumer choices... #firstworldproblems
 
Screw it. Amazon has the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty for $115. Just pulled the trigger. Super excited!
 
I have the Xonar Essence STX and the drivers are total shit. For a few days the control panel wouldn't even load, would just crash on startup. Then it started working again randomly. Also, there's a solid 500ms delay on analog input.

That being said, having a pre-amp built into the card is nice for my Sennheiser HD650's.
 
For all the praise the STX gets I was a little disappointed way back when I had one. Lots of reasons really; annoying click when powering up, needed to be powered, I never used the headphone amp b/c I always had better external solutions, the drivers were utter garbage and a workaround had to be used to not crash my computer @ startup, and the price was crazy imo.

The DX for me was a no go because I require both optical output and coaxial output, the latter of which it cannot do.

I would highly rec. the Auzentech line of cards but they seem to be in short supply these days. The Creative x-fi's have bloatware drivers but I can't blame you for getting one.
 
The Titanium HD has an option when installed from the CD to select only drivers and applications you want. You are not required to install the bloatware as you call it.

The package is only bloatware if it is hogging system resources constantly, and during our review we never felt any appreciable lag as a result of anything Creative-related in the task manager.

The Asus cards and all others that use C-Media chipsets have an absolutely tiny install package, but they do not have anything like Audio Creation mode.
 
I know both are decent cards, but when I saw Amazon had the Titanium Fatal1ty Pro for only $115, I knew I'd be stupid to choose anything else. :):NOTE:: In the roughly six and a half hours since I ordered it, the price has gone up $5...only three left in stock, they had five when I ordered mine. Get 'em while they last!)

It cost $30 less to get it with overnight shipping than it would have to buy it at my local Microcenter :)
 
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As a long time user of both Asus and Creative cards not developed for Win 7/Vista, they can be finicky. The Titanium HD? Not one single problem since day one under Windows 7 64 bit. None, nada, zip.

Titanium Fatality Pro?

Here is the best advice I can give with two years' experience to back it up.

Get the newest Creative driver here:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11479/0x8267DB7B/XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe

Then get the following applications:

Product Identification Module fix for Creative's AutoUpdate:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11222/0x9F697C65/PID_W7PCAPP_US_2_11_01.exe

After installing the drivers, reboot, then install the Product ID fix. Reboot.

Run Creative's autoupdate, and it will show you everything Creative has for the card under Windows 7. The updates take awhile, but they install flawlessly.

At one point in time, I used Daniel K. driver packs. Then I formatted one day, and installed everything as above. Perfect. No issues. No crashes.

If you need DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live those will show up in the autoupdate after the second reboot listed above. Alchemy and everything else are available too.

If you prefer an ASUS card, some users report luck with the user-created "unified driver packs," but try the official drivers first.
 
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EarlKeim said:
As a long time user of both Asus and Creative cards, I can say they are finicky under Windows 7. The Titanium HD? Not one single problem since day one under Windows 7 64 bit. None, nada, zip.

Titanium Fatality Pro?

Here is the best advice in the world.

Get the newest Creative driver here:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11479/0x8267DB7B/XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe

Then get the following applications:

Product Identification Module fix for Creative's AutoUpdate:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11222/0x9F697C65/PID_W7PCAPP_US_2_11_01.exe

After installing the drivers, reboot, then install the Product ID fix. Reboot.

Run autoupdate again, and it will show you everything Creative has for the card under Windows 7. The updates take awhile, but they install flawlessly.

At one point in time, I used Daniel K. driver packs. Then I formatted one day, and installed everything as above. Perfect. No issues. No crashes.

If you need DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live those will show up in the autoupdate after the second reboot listed above.
Click to expand...
That seems like a bunch of BS for a piece of hardware that should work out of the box.

I want to try the Titanium HD, but maybe once the price is lowered a bit. It seems to lack some 5.1 features for a card of that price. I just hope that the drivers remain solid for Windows 7, 8, etc.
 
When you say "should work fine out of the box" I understand your reasoning. The card was not designed for Windows 7/Vista. It was designed for Windows XP. The driver model for the XP kernal and Windows 7 kernal are 100% different.

A Ford (Windows XP) has an engine and a Chevy (Vista/Windows 7) have an engine. Both are engines so they should work in each car, right? Nope.

The Titanium HD was the first card designed for Windows Vista/Windows 7. The new driver model was accounted for in the card's design. There are no drivers for XP at all. This card would not work out of the box for Windows XP.

So again, after a long period of XP to Vista and later to Windows 7, I wrote what I personally found to work best with the original Titanium and Titanium Fatality Pro.

I did not list any sort of workaround, I listed official drivers. Creative did issue a Vista CD for the card after it was released, but its newest drivers are what work best in Windows 7 without any compatibility mode workarounds, etc.

Using 2.17.008 of the Titanium drivers under Windows 7 64 bit worked really well for me for over a year.
 
Hey, thanks Earl! You may have just saved me from a huge headache! Oh man...the card should be at my door step this afternoon, and I'm picking up my 560ti Twin Frozr today after work. YAY UPGRADES! (and yay tax returns!)
 
Once again, much thanks to Earl...your instructions worked perfectly!

Music is definitely better, although the Crystalizer makes things a bit harsh for my ears. Barring that, music is VASTLY better than it was with my onboard Realtek ALC889A. Games are much more intense, too...Dead Space 2 is even crazier than before (which I didn't realize was possible), and the soundtrack for On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness sounds PHENOMENAL. Day of Defeat: Source is a little wonky with CMSS, though...it sounds like your gun is under a heavy blanket. Really weird.

Best of all though, my overall system volume is MUCH higher. I used to have the sliders in the mixer pegged full blast, and the sound could only be described as "comfortably loud". Now, I have to have the sliders only a quarter of the way up! This will hopefully fix the issue I was having with my music stuff: Everything that came out of Reason (either real-time or from an exported .wav) was REALLY quiet. Haven't had a chance to try out the music creation mode, but if everything else is an indicator, I think it will do fine (just fine!)

Quite happy with my purchase, overall. I can see why this card appears in so many gaming rigs on the [H] forums :)

EDIT: Microphone is a bit wonky, too. Really quiet, and really hissy...didn't have a problem like that with the onboard. No matter, I read a lot of people reporting as such, so it's not much of a suprise. I'll just drop the $20 on this guy, should solve any problem with the mic input on the card :)
 
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EarlKeim said:
As a long time user of both Asus and Creative cards not developed for Win 7/Vista, they can be finicky. The Titanium HD? Not one single problem since day one under Windows 7 64 bit. None, nada, zip.

Titanium Fatality Pro?

Here is the best advice I can give with two years' experience to back it up.

Get the newest Creative driver here:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11479/0x8267DB7B/XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe

Then get the following applications:

Product Identification Module fix for Creative's AutoUpdate:
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/11222/0x9F697C65/PID_W7PCAPP_US_2_11_01.exe

After installing the drivers, reboot, then install the Product ID fix. Reboot.

Run Creative's autoupdate, and it will show you everything Creative has for the card under Windows 7. The updates take awhile, but they install flawlessly.

At one point in time, I used Daniel K. driver packs. Then I formatted one day, and installed everything as above. Perfect. No issues. No crashes.

If you need DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live those will show up in the autoupdate after the second reboot listed above. Alchemy and everything else are available too.

If you prefer an ASUS card, some users report luck with the user-created "unified driver packs," but try the official drivers first.
Click to expand...

Like Earl has experienced, I too have been using the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E and Windows 7 (64-bit) for two years with flawless, perfect performance.
Have also used the installation algorithm that he described to easily install the XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe driver set; the installation program offers you options to include as many, or as few, features or secondary programs during it's installation. The driver set will also install a Creative Console Launcher that is smart in appearance and user friendly.

Perhaps readers have seen my postings on the Harbeth User Group, e.g. http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/...ed-the-LFD-LE-IV-Signature-Amplifier-A-review

Creative did their homework in preparing that sound card and driver set for the Windows 7 operating system. Integrated into my high fidelity sound system the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro sound quality has been outstanding.

=================================
Windows 7 Pro (64-bit)
Rampage III Formula motherboard
Intel i7-960
Kingston HyperX 1633 12 Gigs
NVIDIA GeForce 580 x 2 (SLI)
ISP Monitor: NEC LCD2690WUXi
Monitor Calibration Hardware: NEC SpectraView II
Speakers: Harbeth Compact 7 ES-3
Amplifier: LFD LE-IV
Chord and LFD cables and interconnects
Sound Card: X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E.
Creative Drivers: XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe
 
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I followed EarKeim's directions but when I try to open the creative control panel it keeps telling me there's no compatible device. I've done this about 6 times now, it's starting to really annoy me. X-Fi Fatal1ty Titanium Pro in Windows 7 64 bit, non-sp1.
 
IIRC Creative never re-wrote the Windows 7 drivers to get hardware level support of the EMU chipset. ASUS has the market cornered on true hardware based audio right now. Why bother using something that just does all the calcs using the cpu?

Creative really burned themselves, and I'll not bother using their products until they get this issue resolved. And no, I don't have an ASUS Xonar board, but I've been using Creative products since the Soundblaster Pro days.
 
Ruoh said:
IIRC Creative never re-wrote the Windows 7 drivers to get hardware level support of the EMU chipset. ASUS has the market cornered on true hardware based audio right now. Why bother using something that just does all the calcs using the cpu?

Creative really burned themselves, and I'll not bother using their products until they get this issue resolved. And no, I don't have an ASUS Xonar board, but I've been using Creative products since the Soundblaster Pro days.
Click to expand...

Truly hardware based audio? LOLs. Everyone on this forum knows that the Asus cards use Cmedia chipsets which use the CPU to do ALL the work. The chip is basically is there to control the DACs. That's it. I'll admit Asus for a long time had MUCH better audio output and better drivers but hardware DSP they have not.
 
Just wanted to jump in on this. Just picked up a Fatality Pro from frys yesterday with some other wonderful upgrades (omg RAM is so cheeeeeaaapppppp again). Win7 64bit, see sig for system.

Following Earl Keim's install procedure, I got a nice quick and fast install. Music sounds rediculously clear and vibrant.... the old Xtreme audio I had did a decent job.... but this sound card DEMOLISHES it. About to jump into a game of MOH to test out its gaming abilities. should be fun!

Oh and btw, Frys is aggressively price matching whether the price is stated in print or online. got this card and a game price matched yesterday. gogogogogo
 
As an X-Fi Titanium Pro owner I can tell you that its a great sound card....when it works. While it doesn't happen OFTEN, my card occasionally decides to take a crap and drops out, requiring either a restart or a driver reinstallation before I can get any sound out of it. This is usually the result of bullshit involving foobar2000 and Creative ASIO, however just recently I got the exact result after I had switched to WASAPI output (which, frankly, its worlds easier to manage then fricking ASIO).

I have an HT Omega Striker 7.1 installed as a backup when the Creative card drops out. That card has NEVER dropped out due to ASIO or WASAPI in foobar2000.

tl;dr

Good card, but finicky as hell at times.
 
Having owned the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E for a few months now I can say it sounds great. I have the Entertainment mode tweaked for movies. And switch to Audio creation for music and with foobar ASIO pluginand WSAPI it sounds amazing. Only problem I get very rare is it crashes changing modes sometimes otherwise very good drivers from creative.
 
<Removed> Not trying to get into a pissing match.
 
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If you use headphones exclusively I recommend only card that have amps. That includes the 30 dollar Xonar DG. Using headphones that card will give you more action packed sound than any of the more expensive cards that don't have amps.

All other cards can give clear decent sound through headphones, and to many that haven't heard otherwise they will say "it's great!". Until you hear a card with an amp. You won't go back. And the xonar audio control center is great.
 
I use speakers only occasionally, should I still go for a card with amps? How would the X-Fi Fatal1ty compare to say, an HT Omega eClaro?
 
rive22 said:
If you use headphones exclusively I recommend only card that have amps. That includes the 30 dollar Xonar DG. Using headphones that card will give you more action packed sound than any of the more expensive cards that don't have amps.

All other cards can give clear decent sound through headphones, and to many that haven't heard otherwise they will say "it's great!". Until you hear a card with an amp. You won't go back. And the xonar audio control center is great.
Click to expand...

hmm I even used a uDAC2 with built in amp and I didn't hear any difference from my X-Fi titanium.
 
Last few entries are a bit misleading. Every soundcard has amps. Even onboard. I believe what was trying to be said was better QUALITY amps. Asus does an excellent job with their analog equipment they choose for their cards. However I've owned almost every generation of X-Fi except for this brand new HD and they all sound very good to me with good headphones. I guess to each his own.
 
I guess I should have gone with an external soundcard or dac when I had the blank slate to start from. I got the Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro from Fry's instead, and now with Creative's drivers (which I have always hated) I get crashing in games and every other time I change "modes" I get a hard lock and have to reset with the reset switch. I am either going to go with an HT Omega eClaro or go completely external and find a dac/amp entry level to switch to. Anyone else have a devil of a time working with Creative's drivers? I'm using the drivers mentioned in EarlKeim's short instructions.
 
Only game I get a audio driver crash in is Linage2 when I exit the game but it is a 8 year old game.
 
I'm crashing mostly in Civ V, but before I had the Fatal1ty I don't remember crashes period.
 
The Fatal1ty is now $99 bucks !!!

I got Windows 7 and im kinda worried about the drivers :eek:
 
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