Auzentech XFI Prelude - Mini Review with Pictures

EAX will work the same with or without surround. EAX has nothing to do with surround, that is handled by the API (be it dsound or openal.)

EAX = Environmental Audio eXtensions. Literally. They are extensions for directsound and openal that add effects like chorus, reverb, echo, envelope, occlude, etc. to existing sounds to make the audio sound more like it is coming from an environment other than your room, regardless of the number of audio channels. The positional audio, and thus surround, is calculated entirely by directsound3d or openal (whichever the game happens to support.)

Creatives marketing is rather deceptive about this fact.

Sigh, I was merely commenting that EAX does work over the digital output, but the reason people thought it "didn't work" was because currently only a stereo source can be outputted by the digital output (not only were people expecting a 5.1 source, but the effects of EAX on a stereo source are far less profound than on a multichannel source to the point where it's almost not noticeable).

But thanks for the history lesson (I already knew what EAX is). :rolleyes:
 
the effects of EAX on a stereo source are far less profound than on a multichannel source to the point where it's almost not noticeable

How so? I can hear a night and day difference between having effects and having no effects regardless of the number of channels. That is like playing an mp3 file with an echo effect added, vs no echo effect added. It's a pretty clear difference (depending on how much of an echo is added, of course.)
 
How so? I can hear a night and day difference between having effects and having no effects regardless of the number of channels. That is like playing an mp3 file with an echo effect added, vs no echo effect added. It's a pretty clear difference (depending on how much of an echo is added, of course.)

But that doesn't change the fact that reverb effects go "hand in hand" with multichannel. One could argue that essentially EAX "enhances" the audio positioning in a game.

Let's say someone is playing a game in a multichannel setup without EAX effects. If he hears gun fire behind him, he can conclude that there is an enemy behind him (obviously :p). Now with EAX effects enabled, he might hear muddled gun fire behind him. He then can conclude that not only is there an enemy behind him, but there is also some form of a wall between him and the enemy (without even having to turn around). The EAX effects give the player a pretty profound advantage in this situation.

Let's say that person is now playing a game in a stereo setup (ie: a 2.1 system) without EAX. If he hears gun fire, he probably won't be able to pinpoint the location of his enemy. Turning EAX on in this situation won't help the player with audio positioning; it will only change what the gun fire sounds like (giving no advantage to the player). This is where EAX gets a bad rap. Many people in stereo configurations prefer EAX turned off in their games. They don't want to hear muddled gun fire or random echo effects if it serves no purpose. Thus the effects of EAX are much less profound in stereo situations than multichannel.

Of course EAX will always change the sound in any speaker configuration, but whether or not it will make profound difference, is a different question.
 
Depends on the implementation and any need for competitive advantage. I for one prefer EAX to be enabled in most cases, even on headphones, as EAX effects are still well-presented in stereo. In most cases, very little obstruction/occlusion is evident, but the reverb alone sounds solid enough for me to be able to more effectively gauge the environment. It also helps "smooth out" occasionally poor in-game mixing.

For me, EAX tends to be a nice atmospheric enhancer if nothing else, so I generally keep it on.
 
Also depends what EAX the game supports.

Bioshock is EAX 5 HD :D

I haven't played the game yet but i hear the sound is one of the finer points in that game just like Battle Field 2142, so i will test this with my Prelude ;)

But like Moofasa said, it makes noises more pronounced such as footsteps, etc, which gives an edge for those of us who play competitive first person shooter. :cool:

I think EAX can only be enabled on an XFI depending on which mode you area which should be gaming mode. Not sure if the others support it still or not :confused:
 
Depends on the implementation and any need for competitive advantage. I for one prefer EAX to be enabled in most cases, even on headphones, as EAX effects are still well-presented in stereo. In most cases, very little obstruction/occlusion is evident, but the reverb alone sounds solid enough for me to be able to more effectively gauge the environment. It also helps "smooth out" occasionally poor in-game mixing.

For me, EAX tends to be a nice atmospheric enhancer if nothing else, so I generally keep it on.

headphones != 2.1 setup

EAX works for headphones because headphones, like a multichannel setup, works well with audio positioning. What's the point of reverb in a 2.1 setup? I just don't see how echo's (let alone obstruction/occlusion) in that type of setup help one gauge the environment.
 
By the way can anyone please explain the differences between Creative's XFI Elite with Auzentech XFI Prelude ?


Below is the different dacs they use.


X-Fi Elite Pro - CS4398

X-Fi the rest - CS4832

X-FI Prelude - AKM AK4396VF
The AK4396 is a high performance stereo DAC for 24bit 120dB stereo, 96kHz sampling rate, DSD Input, ultra-low out-of-band noise, 180mW, digital attenuator manufactured by Asahi Kasei Micro systems.



As for opamps

X-FI Prelude - LM4562NA & TI OPA2134 SoundPlus
The LM4562 from the NATIONAL combines extremely low voltage noise density (2.7nV/ √ ^Hz) with vanishingly low THD+N (0.00003%) to satisfy demanding audiophiles.
The OPA134 series are ultra-low distortion, low noise operational amplifiers fully specified for audio applications. A true FET input stage was incorporated to provide superior sound quality and speed for exceptional audio performance.


I find this quite interesting to know, as someone else said

Because they are Creative Labs and have a history of being extremely economical with the truth about the specification of their cards and shipping lines of cards under the same name with wildly different specifications.

Whereas i noticed Auzentech's Prelude page displayed the actual components that they used which is refreshing from Creative :rolleyes:

http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_prelude.php
 
headphones != 2.1 setup
Thanks for the fantastic information. Where would I be without individuals like yourself?

EAX works for headphones because headphones, like a multichannel setup, works well with audio positioning. What's the point of reverb in a 2.1 setup? I just don't see how echo's (let alone obstruction/occlusion) in that type of setup help one gauge the environment.
Reverberation indicates the size of the environment and its construction. In EAX 5, it's naturally a very rough approximation, but were you to close your eyes in a perfect anechoic chamber (a zero-reflection environment), would you be able to gauge the size of the room in any capacity? Not in the slightest bit.

That's essentially the situation when games do lack any sort of reverberation. Every room or area, regardless of size or construction, is a perfect anechoic environment. That doesn't make much sense at all considering the visual fidelity of modern games is approaching photorealism, does it?

Oh, and please do educate me further on the difference between headphones and 2.1 speaker systems if time allows, as I don't believe I've ever realized that they were entirely different things! Kudos to you!
 
Let's say that person is now playing a game in a stereo setup (ie: a 2.1 system) without EAX. If he hears gun fire, he probably won't be able to pinpoint the location of his enemy.

He probably will. 2.1 isn't mono, so the only distinction you lose vs say 4.1 or 5.1 is whether it is in front of you or behind you. Easy to tell when it isn't in front of you.

Of course EAX will always change the sound in any speaker configuration, but whether or not it will make profound difference, is a different question.

Then I don't understand how you can argue that eax currently works with digital on the prelude, but nobody can hear it simply because it isn't greater than two channels.

headphones != 2.1 setup

The primary difference being headphones lack a subwoofer, and since they are right next to your ear you can hear more subtle details than the typical sub $500 speaker setup (decent speakers are a completely different story on the other hand - headphones have no advantages whatsoever there.)

EAX works for headphones because headphones, like a multichannel setup, works well with audio positioning.

Please explain your reasoning.
 
Thanks for the fantastic information. Where would I be without individuals like yourself?

Oh, and please do educate me further on the difference between headphones and 2.1 speaker systems if time allows, as I don't believe I've ever realized that they were entirely different things! Kudos to you!

Sure. All you have to do is ask.


Reverberation indicates the size of the environment and its construction. In EAX 5, it's naturally a very rough approximation, but were you to close your eyes in a perfect anechoic chamber (a zero-reflection environment), would you be able to gauge the size of the room in any capacity? Not in the slightest bit.

That's essentially the situation when games do lack any sort of reverberation. Every room or area, regardless of size or construction, is a perfect anechoic environment. That doesn't make much sense at all considering the visual fidelity of modern games is approaching photorealism, does it?

OMG so that's what reverb is!?! No way!

:rolleyes:

Tell me, how does one differentiate between reverb effects from behind, side, or infront of the player in a stereo configuration? But it seems phide you have the power to defy that limitation and still be able to judge just how big a room is from all sides; even though you have no idea where that reverb is coming from. Impressive.
 
But it seems phide you have the power to defy that limitation and still be able to judge just how big a room is from all sides; even though you have no idea where that reverb is coming from.
Interestingly, I never said that. I said "reverberation indicates the size of the environment and its construction".

One's able to better judge the characteristics of a virtual environment with a surround system. That's a given. However, the absence of three full-range speakers and a narrow-bandwidth subwoofer does not negate the ability for reverb to allow users to differentiate between environments of different sizes. The absence of these speakers doesn't make reverb vile and meaningless.

All I've said is that reverb, be that EAX reverb or software reverb, increases the atmospheric qualities of gaming by allowing me to get a feeling for the virtual environment in which I'm in without necessarily relying on visual stimuli, while you seem to believe that reverb being approximated on a stereo or 2.1 system is pure heresy. It also seems, to me anyway, that you've decided on backing yourself into a defensive corner in which no differing opinion can be reasonable. Doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me, but you're free to do whatever it is that you wish, regardless of how strange those actions may seem to others.

And, by the way, those Furgles speakers can't possibly be as good as my JBL Creature speakers.
 
He probably will. 2.1 isn't mono, so the only distinction you lose vs say 4.1 or 5.1 is whether it is in front of you or behind you. Easy to tell when it isn't in front of you.

Well I know I can't, nor can any of my friends. We have this problem every lan party. It's very hard to differentiate the difference between enemies to the side/behind you.

Then I don't understand how you can argue that eax currently works with digital on the prelude, but nobody can hear it simply because it isn't greater than two channels.

I never said that. I said the effects are not as profound and fairly pointless.

The primary difference being headphones lack a subwoofer, and since they are right next to your ear you can hear more subtle details than the typical sub $500 speaker setup (decent speakers are a completely different story on the other hand - headphones have no advantages whatsoever there.)



Please explain your reasoning.

I'm going to go ahead and assume you are kidding with these last two lines. Headphones are very much different than stereo speakers, and since they sit on your ears they are also very good for positioning (unlike stereo speakers that sit directly in front of you).

The absence of these speakers doesn't make reverb vile and meaningless

In certain situiations it produces less than disirable results though. For instance, in BF2 one of the maps has a helicopter flying overhead. If I'm out in the open, it sounds like a normal helicopter, but if I'm behind a building, it produces a muddle helicopter noise (which is normally fine when I play with my 5.1 setup). If I'm at a lan party and I'm playing with my stereo configuration, the muddled helicopter sound becomes very overbearing to the point where other sounds (gun fire) are hard to distinguish. If I turn EAX off, all is fine (though I obviously lose the reverb effects).

You're essentially preaching to the choir. I leave EAX on all the time, but I do understand where people are coming from when they say "oh I hate EAX" because there are times at lan parties where I curse out EAX too.

I'm sorry if this makes no sense to anyone, but I'm running late and I'll have to explain it better later. I agree there are situations where EAX is useful in stereo configurations, but there are many times where it does more harm than good.

And, by the way, those Furgles speakers can't possibly be as good as my JBL Creature speakers.

Don't knock them until you've tried them. ;)
 
Where would I find the cracked version of the ALchemy for Vista 64 that's compatible with The Prelude/X-Fi?
 
I got audigy 2 zs Vista 64 bit ultimate.

I am using the universal Alchemy program cracked which works for me :D

From what Auzentech has told me, EAX/Crystalizer/EQ effects should all work for a PCM signal via SPDIF, but not for compressed multi-channel signals (IE DD/DTS pass-through). I'll confirm on DDL/DTS Interactive, but given those are compressed multichannel signals I don't think the effect modes would work there. It sounds like this is a hardware limitation of the X-Fi chip, probably way too much processing involved for it to be feasible. These features will also not work if you are using a bit matching mode. Perhaps some users here could re-test based on the above conditions (PCM, non-multi-channel compressed signal, no bit-matching) and offer feedback to the other users.

DD Live and DTS Interactive are tentatively scheduled for Q4 07/Q1 08. The HDMI 1.3 daughtercard would be a Q1 08 tentative date as well. As I understand it's more of an issue of completing all licensing requirements and agreements.

X-FI PRELUDE PROBLEMS!!!

I just purchased an X-FI Prelude with the X-Tension DIN module and discovered that the instructions don't refer to this combination at all ( the cable header is completely different on both cards and the Prelude doesn't have a connector for the external Mic cable ). I called Auzentech and they acknowledged that the instructions are out of date and new ones should be on their site either tonight or tomorrow. They ALSO indicated that there are compatibility issues with the X-Tesnion card on an X-FI Prelude right now specifically relating to the microphone input on the X-Tension card. Apparently they are working with Creative Labs to find a solution as it appears to be a chipset limitation.

Other than that I've had an ASIO issue when using Absynth 3 that I've been able to work around but oddly never had with my older Delta 2496 card.

I'm a little annoyed at these problems considering the price of the hardware combination and the fact the Auzentech delayed the release of this product several times for what was to have been an extensive testing period. The card does sound quite good when it works though.

Any comments ?



Just imagine if the XFI Prelude has more easily replacable opamp sockets like the Meridian

imageview.php


:d Drool.
 
I got audigy 2 zs Vista 64 bit ultimate.

I am using the universal Alchemy program cracked which works for me :D



Any comments ?

Who ever wrote that is what one might say "not intelligent". EAX/Crystalizer works on raw PCM audio only. The only way for EAX/Crystalizer to work on previous encoded material (ie: DD/DTS on a movie) would be if the X-Fi decoded the DD/DTS streams into raw PCM, applied EAX/Crystalizer effects, then encode the raw PCM audio back into DD/DTS. But then that would defeat the purpose of S/PDIF bypass (it's meant to bypass all processing by the sound card).

You can actually test this right now with your X-Fi. Watch a movie and have your media player decode the 5.1 Dolby Digital stream into raw PCM audio (as if you were going to use the analog out on the card). Then apply the EAX/Crystalizer effects in the X-Fi drivers. Download the software DDL encoder for the X-Fi from driverheaven and run it. Now you can pass through a 5.1 Dolby Digital stream to your receiver with the applied EAX/Crystalizer effects.

So hopefully now you can see why it's a little absurd to say "DDL/DTS:Interactive won't work with EAX/Crystalizer". The EAX/Crystalizer effects are applied prior to the DDL/DTS:Interactive encoding (they won't interfere with each other). As for bit-perfect playback, EAX still works but obviously the Crystalizer does not (because the Crystalizer resamples all the audio defeating the purpose of bit-perfect playback).

I hope that straightens some things out.
 

NO! THX is just a certification. A company sends a sample to LuasArts, if they thing it's good enough the give it THX certification, nothing more. THX bass sounds like a marketing scheme. Speakers can't "support" something, all they do is vibrate. And THX speakers don't always sound better than non-THX speakers. Take the Logitech Z-5500, they're THX certified but sound like crap next to professional quality speakers that aren't.

No Thx console make me a sad panda :rolleyes: ROFLMAO !

Just curious anyway, why didn't they send a sample to George Lucas :d ? is any licensing fee involved or something eh ?
 
and since they sit on your ears they are also very good for positioning (unlike stereo speakers that sit directly in front of you).

Ok answer me this. How is it that two sound sources (right and left) are supposed to add depth (vis a vis, front and rear) solely based on the distance that they sit relative to your ears? In order for the scenario you describe to be even remotely true, both speakers would have to be sitting somewhere less than a 90 degree angle from each other relative to the listener. (Unless you are talking about playing with psychoacoustics, but that is a whole other subject.)

In the end you still have just left and right audio. The only thing that headphones can add to anything is that since they sit closer to your ears, you are able to perceive the higher frequencies better since the amplitude remains largely intact when it hits your ears. But, if you have larger speakers that are properly balanced and aren't too dark (e.g. pretty much any of the logitech brand speakers, while not bad speakers for the price, are horrible when it comes to the higher frequency sounds) then there is nothing to be gained with the use of headphones.
 
I got audigy 2 zs Vista 64 bit ultimate.

I am using the universal Alchemy program cracked which works for me :D





Any comments ?

Of course it wouldn't work with passthrough, that is pretty much a given, unless you want to modify the source audio in a lossy way, only to add effects that would probably take away from the movie rather than add anything to it. I don't see the point in it really as it seems rather counterproductive, but I guess some do *shrug.*

If it works with uncompressed PCM audio, then that still leaves the possibility of 8 channel linear PCM audio via the HDMI xtension board. That is, of course, assuming that the DSP/Crystalizer (whatever fancy marketing/gimmicky name they want to give it) can output LPCM audio. Either way, I am not going to get this card until some kind of 6+ channel digital audio (lossy or not) is available first.

Until I heard about the possible up and coming issues WRT DDL and DTS, I was waiting with bated breath for this card. Regardless of the hardware design, there are numerous ways that these effects could be add to real-time compressed signals, but most of them would involve adding rather annoying audio latency among other potential issues.

That in mind though, if you ever buy any product based on future promises or potential features from the manufacturer, you risk being quite disappointed, as even the most well known brands have failed to deliver on many occasions.
 
AlphaWolf - Thanks.

Nope.

THX is a certification.
But the hardware/software must contain certain functions.

e.g. a speaker calibration.

They is now way for speaker calibration on the prelude momentarily.

independently of the THX, also the following X-Fi functions momentarily are missing.

Dolby Digital and DD EX decoder
DTS and DTS ES decoder
Dolby Pro Logic decoder
DTS NEO:6 decoder
and
DVD Audio MLP decoder


In addition the Prelude the following functions seem to be missing.

one mixer channel less
Automatic headphone recognition.
and the bass subwoofer level

should i be worried :confused:


We have the card inbound for a review.

Some stuff on the drivers,

THX - it seems there are a number of bugs including THX. However I just read a driver bug report, those that are missing the THX TAB Auzentech assumes that a past X-Fi driver installation is influencing this issue.

The previous or past driver need to be removed completely.

Alchemy - Creative ALchemy driver has a mechanism that will check the hardware ssid to determine if he can download for free. Creative will add the support for Prelude 7.1 ssid into their next web release and Auzentech will provide a link on their website to connect to the Auzentech download URL. Auzentech will add this software and make it part of the full driver refresh together with other open issues that require fixes/customization.

Temperary solve: version 1.3.0.0' installs on X-Fi Prelude. However, the Alchemy 'version 1.00.07'(Aug, 07) does not find it.

Generic stuff - Dolby Digital Live for Vista and XP scheduled for Q4 of 2007, DTS® Interactive for Vista and XP, scheduled for Q1 of 2008 and DTS NEO PC for for Vista and XP scheduled for Q1 of 2008.
 
Here is what I have gathered thus far about this card

My Preferences and settings for Entertainment & Game Mode are as follows:
A. Speakers - 5.1
B. X-Fi CMSS-3D = on (Upmix Mode: Stereo Surround / Stereo Envelope = 60% toward surround)
C. X-Fi Cyrstalizer = on (50%)
D. EQ = on (flat)
E. EAX = on ( -10.0dB)
F. Bass/Treble ( 50%)
G. Master Volumn ( 85%)
* I use the logitech Z-5500 to convienantly switch from SPDIF/Analogue for game/movie use.
> The soundcard has blinking green activity ready light on the PCB that always flashes when the computer is on.
> When a particular Mode (Entertainement/Gaming/Audio Creation) is selected settings can be made for any given mode and even upon rebooting the computer it remembers the users last mode and the settings made for it!
> In Entertainment Mode someone said that the Bass adjustment was unresponsive, so I checked using both Analogue/Digital and the adjustment worked just fine!
> Also someone mentioned that the toslink>coax adaptor was loose and very susceptable to coming loose or unplugged if bumped. This worried me as I hate flimsy connections. This was the first thing I checked when taking the card out of the box and the connection is tight and acceptable IMO.
>> DDL/DTS did not ship with the drivers at this time so we all wait in Expectation of them to get this functionality soon.
>> Installation was quick and easy:
, uninstall current drivers
, disable onboard sound in BIOS (if applicable)
, plug card into PCI slot and reboot
, cancel the windows Hardware Detection Wizard dialogue box
, insert the driver CD and click "install driver"
, Thats it no need to reboot
> I have played Starwars Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast and was impressed with much better sound than my previouse EVGA 680i mobo onboard sound
> I have listened to the "Finding Nemo Soundtrack" the sound is clear and crisp
> I have listened to "Starwars EP. I" and sound was much better with instruments sounding much more distinct and separate while blending naturally
> Using SysInternals Process Explorer the software of this souncard shows 3 separate process images which total about 8.5MB of RAM with about 11 total open threads (this is at an idol state) There is A. CtXfiSPI.exe 3.9mb (main) , CtXfihlp.exe 2.5mb , CtHelper.exe 2.0mb. ((CtXfispi.exe is at 6.7mb when music from Finding Nemo is playing)).
> After testing with 75 different frequency specific test files/game/movie/music/OS sounds, I have not heard any "Crackling/Noise/Artifacts".

I hope this helps

:D another mini review added.
 
In my experience the virtual surround effects of CMSS and EAX work better if you have a system actually capable of producing a soundstage, so the EAX effects are hardly wasted on a 2.0 or 2.1 system if you have bookshelf or floorstanding speakers since they can without a problem produce the often huge mass of sounds a game plays but still "fit in" the reverb and at the same time place the sounds pretty convincingly in a virtual soundstage. The same applies for headphones, so if you use a headset at a lan it's possible that the headset is incapable of producing the mass of sounds that BF creates and not make it an annoying mess. I doubt that EAX and CMSS would be an issue with Beyerdynamic 770 for example.

EDIT: Also I'm very interested in the Prelude since I'm using a "proper" home theater speaker system with my computer and should be able to hear the difference from the Opamps without any problem.
 
Some stuff that I didn't feel life reading

But for some surround sound, particularly 3D positional computer audio, headphones can actually work better than speakers.
The reason for this is that you've only got two ears. The way you tell whether a sound's in front, behind or above you, rather than just to your left or your right, is by processing the complex differences in phase, time delay and frequency balance that're imparted to differently located sounds by nearby objects (like walls), and by the sonic characteristics of your head.

Your pinnae - the outer parts of your ears - strongly influence sound waves that pass through and bounce off them. 3D game audio uses Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF) algorithms to fake the effects of the pinnae, the head and various listening environments, so that injecting the sound straight into the ear canal can produce the impression of real 3D audio sources.

When you've got HRTF-massaged two-channel audio already, for instance when you're playing a game, headphones are obviously the best way to get the sound into your head. There's no way for speakers to do the job as well, because there's no way for them to stop each ear hearing the sound that's intended for the other.

This is common knowledge. Stop pestering me about it and google it yourself.
 
The reason for this is that you've only got two ears. The way you tell whether a sound's in front, behind or above you, rather than just to your left or your right, is by processing the complex differences in phase, time delay and frequency balance that're imparted to differently located sounds by nearby objects (like walls), and by the sonic characteristics of your head.

Eh...I already mentioned this, and this can be done with a regular set of stereo speakers. You haven't answered anything.
 
Haven't you ever heard of SRS? Probably not since you asked that question. But it has been around since the 80's and was the first technology to implement HRTFs.
 
Haven't you ever heard of SRS? Probably not since you asked that question. But it has been around since the 80's and was the first technology to implement HRTFs.

Yeah and SRS sucks. I hope that's not your proof.
 
Head-related Transfer Function. Essentially, it models the way our ears work, relying upon differences in time-arrival to determine positionality of sound sources. Works quite well on good headphones (and some manufacturers have made headphones specifically for binaural recordings), but it simply doesn't work with speakers in the conventional manner -- no matter how complex the algorithm, nor how much Bose acts like it does.

On the Prelude, you can enable Creative's headphone HRTF with CMSS 2.
 
The reason i ask is because my CCCP codec pack has a few options such as 2.1 stereo, 5.1 surround sound speakers, HRTF ( head related transfer function HR1), headphone virtual spatialization.

So since i am using headphones do i use HRT or the headphone virtual specialization :confused: I am using Audio Technica ATH-A900 by the way :D
 
Basically you want your computer to think you have 5.1 speakers (so select 5.1 in your codec packs or any application). Creative's drivers then take that 5.1 source and applies the HRTF to produce the desired audio for your headphones.
 
@Moogle: How would you rate the sound quality over X-Fi XtremeMusic or any other good sound card that you've heard (music / games) ?

Has anyone run RMAA tests to verify dynamic range?

Thanks.
 
Yeah and SRS sucks. I hope that's not your proof.

Ok now you are just proving to me that you are entirely full of sh*t and really have no idea what the hell you are talking about except for repeating crap you read from creatives marketing team, as your point keeps on changing and the level of bullsh*t in your posts keeps increasing.

SRS will work much better than headphones if used with proper speakers, not the $30 drivers that you find in most SRS enabled TV's.

However HRTF in general sucks no matter what source it comes from, and is by far a horrible substitute for a true surround setup.
 
never heard a XFi at all previously :X

Also i am on an audigy 2 zs atm....

My prelude is half way to me will be a few more days before i get it :/ and more delay with customs...
 
SRS will work much better than headphones if used with proper speakers, not the $30 drivers that you find in most SRS enabled TV's.

However HRTF in general sucks no matter what source it comes from, and is by far a horrible substitute for a true surround setup.

Keep telling yourself that. I think you will find the vast majority will agree that HRTF is pretty decent and SRS is pretty weak. But believe what you want it doesn't make a difference to me.

And for the record, I think Dolby Headphone is pretty good too, not sure if that's covered by Creative's marketing team or not. :rolleyes:
 
Has anyone run RMAA tests to verify dynamic range?
Not that I've seen so far. Besides, RMAA loopback testing tends to be somewhat meaningless unless the overall quality of the input chain is superior to that of the output chain, which is not something that occurs often. That being said, with the Prelude's AK4396 ADC, a loopback test might be pretty valuable, though I prefer more accurate measurement techniques :)

Ok now you are just proving to me that you are entirely full of sh*t and really have no idea what the hell you are talking about except for repeating crap you read from creatives marketing team, as your point keeps on changing and the level of bullsh*t in your posts keeps increasing.
Easy...that isn't necessary. While "SRS sucks" isn't much of a counter-argument, the idea is that speaker virtualization, from a fundamental perspective, isn't as effective as common HRTFs on high-end headphones (which is a typical piece of equipment around here in comparison to higher-end speaker systems). My own experiences with speaker virtualization methods have been disappointing to say the least, yielding very little positive effect, having instead been veiled behind destructive over-filtering and a significant loss of clarity to "get the point across". Then again, maybe I haven't heard the "right technique". That being said, I'm not really one for any type of DSP-induced virtualization/HRTF, regardless of playback medium -- I'm a dummy-head or bust sort of guy, I guess.

However HRTF in general sucks no matter what source it comes from, and is by far a horrible substitute for a true surround setup.
I wouldn't say it necessarily "sucks", but pairing HRTFs with high-end headphones is significantly more cost-effective, at least quality-wise, than mid-high-end surround systems (say, within the $1500-$3000 range), so it's kind of an incomparable thing. If being able to determine where things are is super-critical, but quality isn't critical at all, I guess cheap-o 7.1 systems would make sense, but we're discussing this in a topic about a $200 card geared for quasi-ultimate quality.

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to each. I for one prefer headphones considering the low cost of entry in comparison to speakers that are only good enough to "get you by".
 
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