HT Omega cards Compare to X-Fi?

Col_Hogan

Col_Hogan

[H]ard|Gawd
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Dec 13, 2001
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ok..Heres My problem..I have a X-fi ExtremeMusic(just the card) and Im getting tired of doing the ol Reach around to plug in the Mic and Headphones when I go to play BF2.

I dont want to buy a IO Panel for the X-Fi cause cheapest I can find is 75 bucks..

Was wondering how the HT Omega Striker or the Claro compares to the X-Fi I currently have?

I do listen to Music and I do play games..But I do game more on that Rig.

only reason Im considering the HT Omega Sound cards...are they have the Front panel connectors..so that It would be easier to hook up Headphones.

Basically, Just wondering if anyone has one of these cards..and if its any good?
 
Functionality it is the same like other Oxygen HD cards so you can also read reviews from other Oxygen HD cards like X-Meridian, b-Enspirer and etc.
 
But EAX is still only upto 2.0 on the Oxygen cards isn't it? I've yet to see any non-creative card do better than this, so if I'm in the dark enlighten me!
 
Basically, when it comes to games especially games that want EAX, Creative is it. Partially it is because EAX is Creative's baby. They invented it, they drive the standard. Also it is because only Creative seems to have any interest in making actual audio accelerators. Most companies just whack a codec chip and support hardware on a card, all the processing is done by the drivers in software. Creative is about the only consumer card that actually has hardware to handle it.

So if games are your thing, I'd stick with the X-Fi. Is it perfect? No, but I've yet to find anything that's even close. Also, since the X-Fi can switch in to a more pro mode, it is a good combo.

If all you were doing was listening to music, there could be better choices but for games I just don't think there's a better way to go.
 
Sycraft, you may be right on the gaming part, but the new Oxygen HD chip from CMedia rocks hard for music and games run fine too. The games may not have EAX 4 or 20 or whatever Creative is up to now, but the cards such as the X-Meridian, HT Omega's Claro and Razer's AC-1 all have the Oxygen HD chip and they sound great.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1051&pageID=3082

I'm not gonna say I won't go back to Creative, but since I could not get my X-Fi Fatal1ty to work in Vista I had to go elsewhere and the HT Omega seems to be the answer, at least for my sitch.
 
Speaking of Vista - on creative website there is a Vista driver for X-Fi dated 15th March (yesterday). Did you try it?
 
I have the HT Omega Claro card and am really disappointed as far gaming goes. My onboard realtek sounds better in games. Music and movies are the bomb, but I game alot and really thinking of going back to the onboard sound chip. All this is just my opinion, so everything may very.
 
Col_Hogan said:
ok..Heres My problem..I have a X-fi ExtremeMusic(just the card) and Im getting tired of doing the ol Reach around to plug in the Mic and Headphones when I go to play BF2.

I dont want to buy a IO Panel for the X-Fi cause cheapest I can find is 75 bucks..

Was wondering how the HT Omega Striker or the Claro compares to the X-Fi I currently have?

I do listen to Music and I do play games..But I do game more on that Rig.

only reason Im considering the HT Omega Sound cards...are they have the Front panel connectors..so that It would be easier to hook up Headphones.

Basically, Just wondering if anyone has one of these cards..and if its any good?
Click to expand...

Why not just buy an extension cable to reach around to the front? http://catalog.belkin.com/PureAV_detail.process?Product_Id=172258#
 
aznx said:
Or this... http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cs_id=1021802&p_id=649&seq=1&format=2&style=

for a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...

I looked there first, but check out the reviews: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cs_id=1021802&p_id=648&seq=1&format=2&style=

Anyway, I think Walmart has similar basic cable for less than $10. I got a 12' M/F standard Belkin piece for my Passat to connect my Creative Zen into the rear CD changer connection. Works and sounds great. (Interface: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-cOReXmnSGcG/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=227450&I=581DFVW)
 
Would be cheaper just to use a Splitter adapter and/or extension cables instead of getting another soundcard. If your X-fi has the Pin header AUD_EXT then you can probably figure out the proper way to connect it by using the pin outs and figuring out which pin is for the signal you want.
 
Speaking of Vista - on creative website there is a Vista driver for X-Fi dated 15th March (yesterday). Did you try it?
Click to expand...

From what I gather on Creative's forum is they are not any better. Possibly the same drivers with some other update stuff. So, no I haven't tried and will not for a while.

Oh, the HT Omega has a connector on board for plugging in your cases headpone and other audio connectors.
 
trashcan said:
I have the HT Omega Claro card and am really disappointed as far gaming goes. My onboard realtek sounds better in games. Music and movies are the bomb, but I game alot and really thinking of going back to the onboard sound chip. All this is just my opinion, so everything may very.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what make you disappointed in gaming? I am interested to get this card because it's able to encode audio stream into DTS or Dolby Digital...
 
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