Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD

123Lanoix said:
what about the X-fi forte with better drivers based on the x-fi chipset with upgradeable opamps? I think the Auzentech Forte is a good option
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I would be careful with Auzentech. The cards they offer are very good (I've tried the X-Fi HOMETHEATER HD and the Forte), but there is a rumor going around about them going out of business. I'm not saying it's the case, but the apparent lack of response to RMA request and support inquiries (if the numerous complaints on their forum are to be believed) is rather peculiar, even more so since they are actively promoting the upcoming X-Meridian 7.1 2G...
 
mumstead said:
I'm amazed that in this day and age there are still people that will put up with subpar bloated Creative drivers and mediocre sound for the small benefit of audio acceleration. I am primarily a headphone gamer (Denon AH-D7000) and let me tell you the sound quality difference between my Xonar Essence and any Creative card I have tried is very apparent. I would gladly sacrifice 5-10 FPS for proper audiophile sound. The Xonar Essence is actually a steal at $199. A proper headphone amp that sounds as good would cost far more.

To be fair I have not tried the Titanium HD yet but I will. I have a bit of a sound card fetish so I try nearly every new high end sound card that comes out. I have tried the X-Fi Titanium Fatl1ty, which is very similar to the Titanium HD, and was not at all impressed with the sound quality. The drop in FPS between it and the Essence was not noticeable using an i7 at 3.8Ghz and GTX 470s in SLI but the difference in sound quality was. If I find the Titanium HD to be superior to the Essence I will post back.
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I may not be as high-end as you are audio-wise (for example, i'm only looking at the denon 2000s, not the 7000s!) but I do tend to spend more money to make certain it sounds better than I do to make certain it looks better. I just don't want an extra card in my box right now. I have drooled over the Xonar cards at Fry's, and will spend that money eventually. I figure this card in a USB box will tide me over.
 
Major Yoohoo said:
I may not be as high-end as you are audio-wise (for example, i'm only looking at the denon 2000s, not the 7000s!) but I do tend to spend more money to make certain it sounds better than I do to make certain it looks better. I just don't want an extra card in my box right now. I have drooled over the Xonar cards at Fry's, and will spend that money eventually. I figure this card in a USB box will tide me over.
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The Soundblaster X-fi HD (USB) is intriguing. It sounds like it may be a pretty good option at only $99. I really like external audio because it gets the audio subsystem out of the chassis. I want to read up a bit more on it but I might just pick one up. They carry them at my local Best Buy so if it is no good I can return it.
Don't hesitate to get the Denon 2000s they are a fantastic headphone and a great value. The only problem for me is that they were a gateway drug. Once I got them I had to upgrade to the 5000s then recently the 7000s. I love the sound of the Denon phones, amazing bass. some people think they are too dark but for me they are perfect. The only problem is the cord sucks on the 2000 and 5000. It is sonically good but tangles and deforms very easily.
 
Ok, well got the HD, but decided I'd rather have analog inputs as well. So, I've ordered an Auzentech BRAVURA since it's PCI-e. Will send HD back to Newegg unopened.
 
We were hoping that Creative would have released a module similar to the ASUS H6 for the Titanium HD shortly after the card's release, but no plans have been announced. It is strange to have a large expansion connector on the card and no listing for what it may or may not do. This is not the first time a manufacturer has done this. Sometimes it may have plans for an add on device and those plans are later dropped, but labels on such ports are necessary. Some users may tried connecting this to their old I/O bays......wont fit, but some may try.:)
 
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I didn't realize the Bravura wasn't a true X-fi card.:mad: It is a Creative chip, but not the Creative X-Fi CA20K audio processor. I don't understand how they can call it an 'X-fi' card. I guess I try it and see how well it sounds. Don't know that I can tell any difference, but still sort of pisses me off.
 
Well the Bravura may have the analog outputs you want, but it is a step back from the Titanium HD in nearly every respect. Gaming with the Titanium HD with headphones, 2.1 and digital out to a 5.1 speaker set is absolutely excellent. Playing legacy games is excellent. FEAR really did sound excellent through headphones.
 
Why not just give it all up for HDMI audio? Games can pass the untouched 7.1 directly to a receiver, that can do any 32 bit DSP processing that you want with barely a wisp of CPU use. No BS Creative driver headaches, incredible surround sound and only 1 cable from the video card to the receiver. Easy peasy.
 
seanmcgpa said:
Why not just give it all up for HDMI audio? Games can pass the untouched 7.1 directly to a receiver, that can do any 32 bit DSP processing that you want with barely a wisp of CPU use. No BS Creative driver headaches, incredible surround sound and only 1 cable from the video card to the receiver. Easy peasy.
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The main issue is that you need a really expensive receiver to match DACs to match the sound quality of not so expensive sound card. Other that that, HDMI is probably the way to go if you have a good home theater setup already.
 
I'm trying to figure out if this card amps the signal or not, I want a card with RCA outs that does not amp the signal as I have my own external amp and i believe it would degrade the quality

I have a headamp gilmore lite and a pair of HD-650's
 
0V3RC10CK3D said:
I'm trying to figure out if this card amps the signal or not, I want a card with RCA outs that does not amp the signal as I have my own external amp and i believe it would degrade the quality

I have a headamp gilmore lite and a pair of HD-650's
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No card with RCA outs are "amped". You will always get a line-level signal from analog RCA outputs.
 
I was wondering if there was a way to use my Klipsch Pro-Media 2.1 with this card.Maybe some kind of RCA adapter or is it not possible at all due to the digital signal
 
I use the Pro Media 2.1 with this card, you need a male rca's to female 3'5
 
seanmcgpa said:
Why not just give it all up for HDMI audio? Games can pass the untouched 7.1 directly to a receiver, that can do any 32 bit DSP processing that you want with barely a wisp of CPU use. No BS Creative driver headaches, incredible surround sound and only 1 cable from the video card to the receiver. Easy peasy.
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It's kinda a pain in the ass is why. I do indeed have an HDMI audio setup myself, but it is a bit of a pain.

For one you have to have a receiver and said speakers. Fine and well, but expensive. You'll spend as much on a cheap receiver as you would on a whole 5.1 computer speaker system. Now they are much higher quality, of course, but the cost is an issue for many people. You have to be willing to spend a good bit more to do a receiver + speakers setup.

Another is just that video card HDMI outputs don't seem to be very good when it comes to sound. I played with my 5870 when I got it and HDMI audio was problematic. Whenever audio streams stopped playing for a bit, it would shut down the signaling to the receiver. So then when something new played, you didn't hear it at first as the stream came up and the receiver locked on to it. Because of that (and wanting EAX) I got a HTHD.

Yet another problem is that in many setups you may have to run a second cable and do dual monitor outputs, even though you don't have two monitors. I have to with my setup. Problem is that going through the receiver I can't get the resolution I want, and also can't communicate with the monitor for colour control. So I have to have a setup where the computer thinks I have two monitors, but in fact only one of them is a monitor, the other is a dummy video feed for the receiver to get sound over (HDMI audio requires a video clock).

It all works, don't get me wrong, but it isn't the simplest solution in the world. I can see why people aren't that interested. Also games are doing all their processing in software, on the CPU, in a setup where you use the video card for HDMI sound. Games don't store their sounds in a fixed format like movies, since they have to react to the environment. That means that they have to process it for the final output, before sending it out. That is done by the CPU, unless you happen to have a hardware soundcard (like an X-Fi) and a game that knows how to use it. The receiver's DSP doesn't deal with that kind of thing, it just handles levels, bitstream decoding, room correction, that kind of thing.
 
Wow, after 5 years, creative seems to have gone under. I have the Pre order'ed Sound blaster Audigy 2 ZS platinum pro, and it sounds amazing, has great ASIO drivers with 2 ms audio latency, 1line-in/mic, 2 line in's, 1 dobly in and 1 out, a digital out, 1 midi in and 1 out, a spidif in and out, and 7.1 audio!!! I'm truly amazed and even to this day using this card at the Studio and at game sesh'es. oh and it has CMSS 3D. Seriously, what has happened to creative.:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(
 
FlameHaze said:
Wow, after 5 years, creative seems to have gone under. I have the Pre order'ed Sound blaster Audigy 2 ZS platinum pro, and it sounds amazing, has great ASIO drivers with 2 ms audio latency, 1line-in/mic, 2 line in's, 1 dobly in and 1 out, a digital out, 1 midi in and 1 out, a spidif in and out, and 7.1 audio!!! I'm truly amazed and even to this day using this card at the Studio and at game sesh'es. oh and it has CMSS 3D. Seriously, what has happened to creative.:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(
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Where are you getting that they are out of business? And I'm not sure what you are talking about with regard to "after 5 years." Creative Labs has been in business for at least three times that amount of time.
 
Oh, not saying out of business, just 5 years ago they had they're stuff done right. now it seems like they've lost the ability to make drivers for shit and properly support their customers.
 
FlameHaze said:
Oh, not saying out of business, just 5 years ago they had they're stuff done right. now it seems like they've lost the ability to make drivers for shit and properly support their customers.
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No they haven't. Their driver issues started with the introduction of PCI sound cards. They also haven't put out new sound cards very frequently ever. They've always created one card and then spawned several cheap versions off of it. The same is pretty much the case today.
 
Well thats what i've gathered from all the reviews i checked out in the last 24 hrs and it also is with their headphone line too.
 
FlameHaze said:
Well thats what i've gathered from all the reviews i checked out in the last 24 hrs and it also is with their headphone line too.
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Since the proliferation of onboard audio and really since Windows XP became the OS of choice, Creative has really struggled. They've also been behind on technology frequently. They were late to the PCI sound card market and late to PCI-Express sound cards. They also crippled their cards via drivers and software, their drivers / software are bloated to hell and they've got terrible legacy driver support. I've had to toss a few of their cards due to being unable to get them to work in newer machines / operating systems properly. For analog output I'd say that sound cards can still be worth having but for digital output there isn't any reason to go with anything more than the onboard audio.
 
I've had no bloat or driver issues with this particular card. All of the issues I've read about really stem from some weird issue of having an SSD coupled with a specific type of hardware set up. Odd. Also, this card will not work on a Windows XP machine, they are built around Vista/7.

I think Earl nicely detailed why this card is very competetive as a flagship soundcard.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
I've had no bloat or driver issues with this particular card. All of the issues I've read about really stem from some weird issue of having an SSD coupled with a specific type of hardware set up. Odd. Also, this card will not work on a Windows XP machine, they are built around Vista/7.

I think Earl nicely detailed why this card is very competetive as a flagship soundcard.
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Just the fact that their driver packages are like 300 MB while a Xonar driver package is like 10 MB tells me that they are still bloated.
 
krameriffic said:
Just the fact that their driver packages are like 300 MB while a Xonar driver package is like 10 MB tells me that they are still bloated.
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Yep. I don't see how it can be viewed any other way. The Creative card driver software wants to load a bunch of bullshit you don't need to get working sound out of it. After all these years, Creative still can't adopt a decent driver model. No wonder they are becoming less and less relevant by the day.
 
krameriffic said:
Just the fact that their driver packages are like 300 MB while a Xonar driver package is like 10 MB tells me that they are still bloated.
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The driver + console launcher are about 100mb, but yes, still heavier than the Xonar. Though, bloat more refers to the system resources used, which with this card, is negligible.

There isn't a bunch of shit you need to load, since you can download the drivers, console, and alchemy separately. You're not likely to need anything else, and alchemy is very optional as games don't use EAX anymore.

The standalone drivers are ~60mb. It looks like the newest beta driver is 40ish mb.
 
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