Overhyped???

[Deleted member 89137]

I currently have a SB audigy 2.
What's the difference between the audigy 2 and the X-fi?
I have a 5.1 setup, a 2.1 setup, and 2 different pairs of headphones that I use.
Obviously my card is "outdated" but I don't see how it could get any better than this... Someone want to let me in on why this card is so hyped up and if its really worth it? If I do buy it which one should I get? And what is XRAM, I don't understand this concept...

I see the ultra high setting in battlefield 2 that is only available with the X-fi... Is it just a marketing ploy, or does it really change how the game sounds??

Setup:
Main gaming headset - Sennheiser pc161
Entertainment - HD485
surround sound w/ sub - Creative SMS 5.1
Stereo - 2 Yamaha 150 watt 3 way bookshelf speakers on a Pioneer SX-780 receiver. Yeah, the receiver is about 25 years old... So what? The thing works 10x better than those horrible Sony stereo receivers they have in best buy, and the interface is 10x simpler... The retro look is also pretty nice.

 

[nray]

I currently have a SB audigy 2.
What's the difference between the audigy 2 and the X-fi?
I have a 5.1 setup, a 2.1 setup, and 2 different pairs of headphones that I use.
Obviously my card is "outdated" but I don't see how it could get any better than this... Someone want to let me in on why this card is so hyped up and if its really worth it? If I do buy it which one should I get? And what is XRAM, I don't understand this concept...

The only thing of any significance is EAX 5, and not that many games use it. Personally I haven't heard my X-Fi yet, because I have been completely unable to get any drivers (original, updated, or beta) working without BSODs in Windows XP Pro x64. In the past I've owned a Live, Audigy, Audigy 2ZS, and Audigy 4. After waiting for almost a year for Creative to fix the EAX problems in 64-bit when you have 4GB or more RAM, and getting nothing, I bought the X-Fi hoping things would be better, but now I'm looking at other sound card options.

X-RAM seems to be more of a gimmick to me than anything else, because it's not enough RAM to hold enough uncompressed sounds at a time to really flex the muscle of the sound processor, and very, very few titles use it. And while I've read EAX 5 is nice, I don't recall anyone raving about it being so much better than EAX 4... really I got the X-Fi with the hopes that Creative would have better driver support for such a recent card (Creative tends to neglect older sound cards, except when they feel like recyling old chips into products with new-sounding names like the Audigy SE and X-Fi Xtreme Audio so they can continue to make money off old hardware).

Maybe someone here with working X-Fi drivers can chime in with their experiences.

 

[Shabby610]

I have recently purchased a new setup and am running Vista Ultimate 64-bit with an X-Fi Platinum and have had no problems installing Creative's new 64-bit drivers onto my card. The only problem I had was a IRQ/resource issue with my IP35 Pro (I moved it to a different slot to solve the problem, completely unrelated). I've had my X-Fi Platinum on XP Pro 32-bit, Vista Ultimate 32-bit, and Vista Ultimate 64-bit with no problems and no BSODs. I have yet to try a game because I'm still in the process of getting everything reinstalled and such, but by the end of the weekend I will give BF2142 a spin and let you know what happens (I am very curious as well with what I've been heardin with BSODs and 4GB of RAM, which I have).

Ultra High settings in BF2 and BF2142 will yield a small performance increase (not noticeable). I am unaware of what the changes are in EAX5 compared to 4. I used to have an Audigy 2 ZS and noticed an increase in audio quality when I got my X-Fi Platinum.

 

[TheManko]

One improvement with Eax 5 is the fact that games can use the .1 channel during gameplay, so Bioshock for example has many .1 effects during gameplay. But to be honest I'm not sure that the .1 sounds in Bioshock are thanks to Eax 5 or not since I haven't done any research, but if it is then that would be something big for Eax 5.