recommendation for x-fi replacement?

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xappie

[H]ard|Gawd
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Hi all

I have finally gotten tired of dealing with my X-Fi issues regarding the "squeal of death" etc, and so I am looking for replacement.

It seems that there are an overwhelming amount of choices out there, so I have no idea what to pick up.

I use my pc for watching tv and movies alot, and for gaming. I have an external DD/DTS decoder so I need a sound card with SPDIF output. I also want something that will allow 5.1 gaming. Am I correct in my understanding that no cards other the soundblaster line support EAX?

Any recommendations are appreciated! Something PCI or PCIe is good. (Do PCIe sound cards exist yet?)
 
You may want to look into the new Auzentech Prelude card. This card will have all the features of the X-fi for gaming but will have alot better sound quality and Dolby Digital Live! output...Should be out in a few more weeks.
 
I'd have to assume that the Prelude may have similar issues, which means it's probably best to rule that out.

I think the "cheap" C-Media Oxygen HD-based cards are probably the best choice here. Take a look at the Bluegears b-Enspirer 7.1 or the Sondigo Inferno 7.1. Both have essentially the exact same capabilities and very similar components. They both only support up to EAX 2.0, though.
 
phide said:
I'd have to assume that the Prelude may have similar issues, which means it's probably best to rule that out.
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Interesting - why do you say that?

Edit - just figured it out. The new prelude is using a creative chipset. DOH!
 
The card will use the same chip and most probably the same crappy driver from Creative.
 
alg7_munif said:
The card will use the same chip and most probably the same crappy driver from Creative.
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Right. Yeah I am done with creative. Been dealing with their lousy drivers etc for a long time. Always seems like a crap-shoot when you buy a new mobo whether or not your creative soundcard is going to work with it.

The Auzentech AuzenTech HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS seems to be avaialble locally - how's that for what I need?

Right now I am using the onboard audio and it is working perfectly and no squeeling or lockups. Havent tried any games etc yet though.
 
Oh another criteria I just thought of - I need a card which will work in MCE 2005. Not sure if this is a typical issue or not though.
 
I would suggest an Oxygen HD sound card over the X-Plosion. Oxygen HD is a newer chip so it has more features and it will get a better support. Read the first post of my X-Meridian thread, there are some Oxygen HD cards listed.
 
Yes but this is quite expensive, there are other cheaper cards. Eventhough the X-Meridian is expensive, the sound is really impressive and it is worth it imo.
 
HT Omega cards are pretty popular around this forum, though I've never tried them. The Audigy 4 has been working well for me, but I'm going to upgrade to the X-Meridian or X-Prelude depending on reviews.
 
I just got the HT Omega Striker 7.1 and it's amazing! I had SO many problems with Creative's cards so I gave up and got this.
It comes with a 3M. optical cable and it does DTS interactive and Dolby digital live.
It installed easy, no issues at all.
If you can't get it where you are contact Howard at HT Omega and maybe he can help you.
I currently live in Japan and they sold me one directly($60) and shipped it here, great service!!:)
 
He would be better off getting the Sondigo since it just 19 bucks more then the HT omega striker, I did see the blue gears drop in price to 89. its 10 more then the Sondigo. both are good card no matter which one you pick.

For the Sondigo there isnt X64 vista drivers but I can fix that by doing the same thing I did for my card for vista 64.And upload them for you if you do get the Sondigo.
 
no it isnt i have a buddy with that card. for 79 bucks you better off buying the card i was talking about. Since its better. and is the same price as that one your looking at.

Because that isnt a oxygen HD card. plus thats a rip off at its price.
 
The Oxygen HD equipped cards are a great deal for the features you get. I use the XM and wouldn't trade it for any of Creative's current cards. They don't sound good enough and the drivers are crap. There are lots of great cards out there. That Diamond model is probably using the same chipset as the X-Plosion. Alot of people are moving away from Creative Labs these days.
 
One thing about the x-meridian I don't understand is the optical spdif output. I need COAX spdif output, and it looks like the X-Meridian card only supports optical here. Is that correct?

My receiver (logitech z5500) has optical input, but I am using that for my xbox 360 so I need COAX.
 
The Xmerdian has both. those can be taking off to turn the plugs into what you need. the Z5500 has both tos link and coxial. you can take those clear connectors off which will then turn the plug into a Coax plug on the card.
 
AdmiralFlameberg said:
The Xmerdian has both. those can be taking off to turn the plugs into what you need. the Z5500 has both tos link and coxial. you can take those clear connectors off which will then turn the plug into a Coax plug on the card.
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Whoa, that is cool. I guess that's what the pictures on the auzentech website are showing - wasn't sure.
 
Have a look. There are adapters for optical. They are clear plastic and they plug into the Coax jacks. Internally there is a optical sensor, so basically the adapter is just to hold the cable inplace.
http://www.auzentech.com/site/images/xmeridian_angle_verylarge.jpg
If you buy this card for connection to your Z-5500's your better of going with the analog side of the card. You will get better sound quality.
 
Audioguy said:
If you buy this card for connection to your Z-5500's your better of going with the analog side of the card. You will get better sound quality.
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Even for DTS and DD movies? I typically use the speakers to decode movies, since I like the way they sound better than the way my current card (x-fi) sounds.
 
The X-Meridian is alot better sounding then the X-fi. You like the sound of the DAC in your speakers more then the DAC in your X-fi. By all means if you buy it, use what works for you..
 
Audioguy said:
The X-Meridian is alot better sounding then the X-fi. You like the sound of the DAC in your speakers more then the DAC in your X-fi. By all means if you buy it, use what works for you..
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BOOOOOOO for the x-fi!!!
 
What about the Prelude? It has the gaming features of the X-fi and shuold have the sound quality of the X-Meridian. Alot of current Creative guys are waiting for this card..So I hear...
 
Audioguy said:
What about the Prelude? It has the gaming features of the X-fi and shuold have the sound quality of the X-Meridian. Alot of current Creative guys are waiting for this card..So I hear...
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To be honest, if it has a creative chip on it, and therefore likely requires creative drivers - then I'm not interested.

The "squeal of death" is killing me right now on my M2R32-MVP and I don't want to buy a new card just to have the same issue.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20061224201110258&board_id=1&model=M2R32-MVP&page=1&SLanguage=en-us
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=76653
 
Just offering suggestions. I would say grab the XM aswell. You won't be sorry. If your going digital FOR SURE you may aswell get one of the cousins -
 
Even though the Prelude will have a Creative chip, the drivers will be worked on by Auzentech right? Hopefully they will have better luck with the drivers.

Also I'm debating if I should wait or go for the XM. I looked on Newegg and the HT Omega CLARO has the same chip as the XM. Is the XM worth the extra money? Does anyone know anything about the Claro? Thanks!
 
jchen012 said:
Even though the Prelude will have a Creative chip, the drivers will be worked on by Auzentech right? Hopefully they will have better luck with the drivers.

Also I'm debating if I should wait or go for the XM. I looked on Newegg and the HT Omega CLARO has the same chip as the XM. Is the XM worth the extra money? Does anyone know anything about the Claro? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I bet the drivers are written primarily by creative for the main functions of the chip... just a guess though.
 
Yes they'll be written by Creative. Then for those of us who don't have the SOD or SCP, that's a good thing. I was jumped because I don't like nVidia motherboards as much as some folks here don't like Creative. But check this out?

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39492

What Nvidia got from Intel
The deal explained
By Charlie Demerjian: Wednesday 09 May 2007, 09:56

In a similar vein, Intel will put NV chipsets on Intel boards like they used to do with ATI before they became the enemy. Look for low end and specialty boards, not mainstream business grade boards here, NV chipsets are too buggy for that kind of application. It also might bundle GPUs with boards as a package for OEMs.
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Then you have folks acting like I'm the only one saying that LOL! Please note, Charlie is NOT a friend of Intel. X-FI has fewer problems on Intel based Chip Sets and all the flames in the world can't change that.
 
For ME, im not sure my issues with the x-fi have been related to the fact that I use AMD cpus. It seems more to do with when I use ASUS boards. My last two asus boards have had issues with my sound card, and my last two DFI boards haven't. All have been AMD boards.
 
People are having problem across all boards, CPU and chipset, the problem occurs a lot on some chipset and occurs rarely on other but it does occur. I can only see one similiarity, the sound card :D
 
xappie said:
For ME, im not sure my issues with the x-fi have been related to the fact that I use AMD cpus. It seems more to do with when I use ASUS boards. My last two asus boards have had issues with my sound card, and my last two DFI boards haven't. All have been AMD boards.
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I use Intel and AMD CPUs, I use nVidia and Intel Chip Sets the only thing I'm loyal to is my Wallet. I got to see some anomalies with just about all Chip Sets out there from My buds and mine. I don't know of ANY perfect hardware. As I helped one bud pick a b-Enspirer instead of X-Fi simply because the X-Fi wasn't worth him making the rest of his system unstable. I'm NOT advocating changing over a whole system for a Sound Card, that's crazy. Only a fool thinks every piece of Hardware is 100% compatible with a 100% of all Hardware on the market.

Asus was having more problems than the others and I had two Asus boards. The X-FI had NO problems on my Asus A8N(16X) SLI but had all kind of problems with a A8N 32D SLI a bud tried to trade me. In the end I told him no thanks and sent it back. To this day, that old one is the most stable, dependable and compatible nVidia board I've owned. Well as long I don't install the software and drivers LOL!
 
alg7_munif said:
People are having problem across all boards, CPU and chipset, the problem occurs a lot on some chipset and occurs rarely on other but it does occur. I can only see one similiarity, the sound card :D
Click to expand...

Right! Like I said, "fewer".
 
ANYWAY. To the original poster...you are done with the X-fi as you said. There are lots of great cards out there. You'll find a good replacment.
 
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