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Auzentech X-Fi Forte

D

Dark-Colonel

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 11, 2004
Messages
441
I'm going to purchase a new soundcard very soon because my X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro Gamer is driving me nuts ... well only one aspect of it and that's the damn crackling/static that it produces when playing games.

I recently bought Dawn of War II complete from Steam and it is absolutely atrocious with this game ... I can't stand it as I love this game but the sound is just so horrible that I don't want to put up with it.

This issue exists in some other games like Bad Company 2, L4D2, Dragon Age but its not that bad but I hate it! It makes my Z-5500s cry :(

So I looked around quite a bit and narrowed down my selection the Auzentech X-Fi Forte because its apparently the perfect "hybrid" of being a good sound card for audiophile headphones and just general usage for music and games. From what I know, the sub $200 ASUS cards aren't great in gaming/music but excel in headphone usage.

So I have two questions.

1) Any reasons why I shouldn't buy the Forte? At $110 CAD its a great price, has optical which I need since I hook my 360 up to my Z-5500s and monitor.

2) I know that the drawback for the hardware-wise awesome Forte is that it uses Creative drivers which haven't been updated in awhile. My biggest concern is in relation to the static/cracking that occurs while gaming, is it gone?

Thanks in advance for all responses.
 
The crackling may actually be your mainboard (update BIOS) or something else. Worth looking into.

However I've been using the Forte for a while. Great card.
 
I have a Forte. The audio is great until you get pops and tics in your audio. This can be fixed by rebooting your computer. There is also the crackling static that the card has, which can also be fixed by rebooting. There are hundreds of complaints on the forte message board http://community.auzentech.com/forum/22 . The driver releases are once in a blue moon, the last update was about a year ago. If you don't mind rebooting your machine every day then the card is very nice, if you like leaving your machine on for weeks at a time, you will need to learn to live with the rest of us forte owners.
 
I love my forte + AD700 combo. Highly recommended...

My only complaint is I can't figure out how to use ventrilo/headset and speakers -- with only ventrilo going through the headset and only game sound through the speakers. The headphones output jack in the back always puts sound through the headset no matter if in headphones or speaker mode.
 
The forte is great. No driver problems.

You could come across a ground issue with the card. Just take some of those red paper washers you get with cases or motherboards for mounting and put them on the screw that connects the bracket to the card and then bracket+card to the case.
 
Dark-Colonel said:
From what I know, the sub $200 ASUS cards aren't great in gaming/music but excel in headphone usage.
Click to expand...

False. It's true that the Forte is geared more toward gaming, but the ASUS cards do just fine. I own the STX, which is geared even more towards audio fidelity and less towards gaming than the DX and D2X, and it still does very well in games. And to say that the ASUS cards aren't great in music is laughable...yes, they have an onboard amp for headphones but the components and circuitry on the PCB were most definitely chosen with music in mind. It just happens to also do very well with most headphones due to the amp.

spfite said:
I have a Forte. The audio is great until you get pops and tics in your audio. This can be fixed by rebooting your computer. There is also the crackling static that the card has, which can also be fixed by rebooting. There are hundreds of complaints on the forte message board http://community.auzentech.com/forum/22 . The driver releases are once in a blue moon, the last update was about a year ago. If you don't mind rebooting your machine every day then the card is very nice, if you like leaving your machine on for weeks at a time, you will need to learn to live with the rest of us forte owners.
Click to expand...

I can't say that I've ever experienced these pops and tics that you mention. I currently have my STX installed; maybe I'll pop the Forte in for a few days and see if I notice it but I don't even recall having that problem with my Creative cards when everyone else was complaining about it. Are you sure it affects everyone? :confused:
 
Deviationer said:
The forte is great. No driver problems.

You could come across a ground issue with the card. Just take some of those red paper washers you get with cases or motherboards for mounting and put them on the screw that connects the bracket to the card and then bracket+card to the case.
Click to expand...

Most of those noises are caused by the grounding problems, as you pointed out. I had bad problems with mine until I isolated the card from the computer backplane and now it is working great again. Might check into that on your X-fi before you buy a new card.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys.

ecmaster76 said:
The crackling may actually be your mainboard (update BIOS) or something else. Worth looking into.
Click to expand...

I have the most recent update for my P55-UD3R, this issue existed before my update and even on my C2D setup. I've searched around quite a bit, and it seems like this is an issue a lot of people are having. The odd part about is that it varies games to games, and does not occur while watching movies or listening to music.

DaMaDo said:
My only complaint is I can't figure out how to use ventrilo/headset and speakers -- with only ventrilo going through the headset and only game sound through the speakers. The headphones output jack in the back always puts sound through the headset no matter if in headphones or speaker mode.
Click to expand...

Thats awesome actually, I usually prefer it this way. It seems to me like its also very easy to make all audio come through a headset which will be great for me at night when I game and my roommates are passed out.

Deviationer said:
The forte is great. No driver problems.

You could come across a ground issue with the card. Just take some of those red paper washers you get with cases or motherboards for mounting and put them on the screw that connects the bracket to the card and then bracket+card to the case.
Click to expand...

I've read that attaching electrical tape all around the bracket helps. I'm gonna give this a try after I install the card.

spfite said:
I have a Forte. The audio is great until you get pops and tics in your audio. This can be fixed by rebooting your computer. There is also the crackling static that the card has, which can also be fixed by rebooting. There are hundreds of complaints on the forte message board. The driver releases are once in a blue moon, the last update was about a year ago. If you don't mind rebooting your machine every day then the card is very nice, if you like leaving your machine on for weeks at a time, you will need to learn to live with the rest of us forte owners.
Click to expand...

Ah this is a bit concerning but I do power off my PC almost every night so I hope this won't be an issue while gaming.

imyourzero said:
False. It's true that the Forte is geared more toward gaming, but the ASUS cards do just fine. I own the STX, which is geared even more towards audio fidelity and less towards gaming than the DX and D2X, and it still does very well in games. And to say that the ASUS cards aren't great in music is laughable...yes, they have an onboard amp for headphones but the components and circuitry on the PCB were most definitely chosen with music in mind. It just happens to also do very well with most headphones due to the amp.
Click to expand...

My mistake, I didn't mean to include music. I know and have read that ASUS cards are particularly good for listening to music, watching movies, both through speakers and especially headphones .

Your STX goes for $210 here, and the D2X goes for $185, you also gotta add 13% sales tax on top and at that point they are both overkill for me. Not out of my budget, but just not necessary. I do enjoy good audio, but I'm not a die hard audiophile with the best headphones or speakers which is why I was thinking that the $110 Forte is my best bang for the buck for gaming, listening to music from my Z-5500s and headphones.

I've looked around quite a bit and I doubt any one is going to come up with another suggestion other than the Forte. I know that the Fatal1ty Titanium is around $130, but after having this horrible experience with the Pro Gamer I doubt I'll be buying a made-by Creative sound card for awhile.

I'll be making the purchase within the next week or so.

EDIT - Ha speaking of the devil, new driver updates from Creative! http://downloads.guru3d.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-X-Fi-series-driver-2.18.0015-download-2570.html
 
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Don't forget the Xonar DX as an option. Cheaper than the other Asus cards you mentioned.
 
What About the Ht-Omega cards? I have a Striker7.1 it does me very well. No static or hissing.
 
HT omega are -very- nice cards. Owned a few myself, but really stick with a card with a amp in it, trust me you'll thank me later!
 
spfite said:
I have a Forte. The audio is great until you get pops and tics in your audio. This can be fixed by rebooting your computer. There is also the crackling static that the card has, which can also be fixed by rebooting. There are hundreds of complaints on the forte message board http://community.auzentech.com/forum/22 . The driver releases are once in a blue moon, the last update was about a year ago. If you don't mind rebooting your machine every day then the card is very nice, if you like leaving your machine on for weeks at a time, you will need to learn to live with the rest of us forte owners.
Click to expand...

This happens to me, except it's anything slightly loud and it just goes fuzzy. I've noticed that this occurs frequently when flash based music players (pandora) AND winamp are both on. I'm sure it's not isolated to either, as it's happened with one and not the other, but it's aggravating. I've just lived with it, as I hadn't had much time to trouble shoot it up 'til now. However, I"ll be looking into it more as time goes on.
 
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