Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Sound Card Review @ [H]

[Zoomer]

Are you serious?
Your completely missing the point, we are talking about game sound, not a high-end playback of a music recording of the royal symphony, doing Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.

DDLs 640Kbit/s has about 3x as mouths bandwidth as DVDs most common used AC3 at 192Kbit/s bitrate, and ware 384Kbit/s the max is.

Most people don't even hear the difference between 64Kbit/s and 128Kbit/s MP3s, and DDL is just used for game sound.

And most audio samples used for games are max 128Kbit/s, so i really don't get your point, as i still take DDL playback over analog.

And sound quality is for 90% dependable on your speakers and amp, and guise what, most reasonable prices "Home Cinema Receiver Systems" win any day over evenly priced PC audio sets, and guise what again, most of them have no 6ch input but only S/PDIF in.

Yes, that's why I stopped buying PC speakers and started buying HT speakers instead. Much more bang for the buck, imho. Sure, it might not make much difference in games. But a PC is not just for games. And since most audio is already lossily compressed, the 2nd round of compression just degrades quality even more.

Many PCIe cards out there utilize a PCIe-PCI bridge internally, anyway.

 

[player-x]

But a PC is not just for games. And since most audio is already lossily compressed, the 2nd round of compression just degrades quality even more.

Don't you know how audio cards work?

• Games: best you can get, DDL or DTS connect 5.1 playback.
• Sound: best you can get, all DD or DTS codecs.

As for all non gaming data, the sound cards just passes through the audio signal from the audio or video file, over the S/PDIF connector, to the external decoder.

 

[ourfpshero]

The fact that Creative decided to litigate against Daniel_K instead of hiring him provides some insight into the disfunction of the management at Creative.

I'm using a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI - 70SB073A00000 with Daniel_K drivers and have no intention of "upgrading" to this new soundcard in the review.

One question though, does this new soundcard have the "what u hear" option for recording?

the whole Daniel k driver issue was because of Dolby. Dolby threatened Creative labs with lawsuits, because the Daniel k drivers werent paying Dolby. Creative labs looked like the bad guy, when it was Dolby the whole time.

 

[Forceman]

the whole Daniel k driver issue was because of Dolby. Dolby threatened Creative labs with lawsuits, because the Daniel k drivers werent paying Dolby. Creative labs looked like the bad guy, when it was Dolby the whole time.

How is Dolby the bad guy in that scenario? If anything, it would be Daniel K. It's not Dolby's fault they aren't paying the royalties they are legally obligated to pay.

 

[ourfpshero]

How is Dolby the bad guy in that scenario? If anything, it would be Daniel K. It's not Dolby's fault they aren't paying the royalties they are legally obligated to pay.

Dolby made creative labs be the bad guy and take the negative pr. the geek community turned against creative labs for stifling daniel k when it was really Dolby. yes- daniel k did do something wrong (he circumnavigated paying for ddl) but everybody was so quick to jump on creative labs we all ignored the biggest player. Even worse- a lot of us started touting dolby headphone sound cards as the way to go to avoid evil creative labs. Dolby laughs all the way to the bank.

 

[XacTactX]

The only way that you can paint Creative to be the bad guy in the DanielK fiasco is if you believe that people should not have to pay for the right to use a licensed piece of software that needs to be paid for. It's about as simple as that. I mean I won't lie, if I could find a free way to get DDL! and other warez, I would (believe me I've tried), but since I can't I have to pay the $4.74 like everyone else. Plus, IMO that's a very reasonable price when you consider that you get both DDL! and DTS Connect by buying that pack. If you look at sound cards like the Diamond XtremeSound (which has a regular version and a version that comes with DDL!) the price difference between the two versions is something like $10, and that's only for DDL!

TLDR: Don't blame Creative for obeying intellectual property.

PS: That's not to say that I would blame them if they did not

 

[ianken]

You want good music? You don't use this. "Fatal1ty" bullshit.

Get a decent USB dac (I use a FIIO and matching headphone amp)
Get ASIO4All
Get Winamp
Get ASIO plugin for winamp
Sony 7506 cans.

Hook it all up. Done. Bit for bit to your outboard DAC. Best cans for the buck.

 

[TroyX]

i was able to play BF3 with this sound card today, i believe it was the $99 dollar version and i must say i was really impressed.

control panel was really nice, seamless switching between headphones and speakers. It auto deteced all on its own. Something that older cards were not known to do and were a complete nightmare.

back to sound, it had a really impressive positioning sound during gameplay. i was able to spot the enemies even when they were far away with planes and choppers making sounds above me.

i didnt try any music so i cant comment on that.

 

[TroyX]

You want good music? You don't use this. "Fatal1ty" bullshit.

Get a decent USB dac (I use a FIIO and matching headphone amp)
Get ASIO4All
Get Winamp
Get ASIO plugin for winamp
Sony 7506 cans.

Hook it all up. Done. Bit for bit to your outboard DAC. Best cans for the buck.

you sound like a real jackass with that post of yours.

 

[XacTactX]

Creative Recon3D Fatal1ty (without I/O bay) going for $110 shipped right now at J&R.

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blas...PTT2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1336552458&sr=8-4

 

[cliche]

i was able to play BF3 with this sound card today, i believe it was the $99 dollar version and i must say i was really impressed.

control panel was really nice, seamless switching between headphones and speakers. It auto deteced all on its own. Something that older cards were not known to do and were a complete nightmare.

back to sound, it had a really impressive positioning sound during gameplay. i was able to spot the enemies even when they were far away with planes and choppers making sounds above me.

i didnt try any music so i cant comment on that.

I miss my Xifi Xtreme music for the sound quality, but the Recon3d in games is amazing (changed to it for my new rig with no PI slots)

 

[player-x]

I miss my Xifi Xtreme music for the sound quality, but the Recon3d in games is amazing (changed to it for my new rig with no PI slots)

Get a reasonable priced home cinema sets, and connect it, using Dolby Digital Live and/or DTS connect over optical S/PDIF, and you will never miss your X-Fi again, as there is noting to miss, because it dose not mater how crappy the analog components are on the card, and it looks like they are on the Recon3d, a digital signal dose not change.
(just as a $5 HDMI cable works just as well as a $500 dose)

Just pick a set with good speakers, as that will be the most important. (imo size matters usually the most)
Separate center and two sets of bookshelf speakers and a amp/receivers will get you the best sound quality, but at a price most people are not willing to pay. (starting at $400 and way up)

example at Amazon:
Denon AVR-1312 5.1 Channel A/V Home Theater Receiver $144.40
Mission Audio MV-C Center Channel Speaker $60.64
Mission Audio MV-4 Bookshelf Speakers $108.82 x 2 = $217.64
Subtotal: $422.68

Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System $839.99 the best Dolby Digital PC speaker set, and dose not even come nearly close to the set above

 

[cliche]

Get a reasonable priced home cinema sets, and connect it, using Dolby Digital Live and/or DTS connect over optical S/PDIF, and you will never miss your X-Fi again, as there is noting to miss, because it dose not mater how crappy the analog components are on the card, and it looks like they are, digital signal is digital.

Just pick a set with good speakers, as that will be the most important. (imo size matters usually the most)
Separate center and two sets of bookshelf speakers and a amp/receivers will get you the best sound quality, but at a price most people are not willing to pay. (starting at $400 and way up)

At Amazon:
Denon AVR-1312 5.1 Channel A/V Home Theater Receiver $144.40
Mission Audio MV-C Center Channel Speaker $60.64
Mission Audio MV-4 Bookshelf Speakers $108.82 x 2 = $217.64
Subtotal: $422.68

Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System $839.99 the best Dolby Digital PC speaker set, and dose not even come nearly close to the set above

thanks for the heads up - will have a look at those links when I get home

 

[grifter_66]

Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System $839.99 the best Dolby Digital PC speaker set, and dose not even come nearly close to the set above[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Holy shit! That price can't be real. $800 bucks for logitech speakers? And here I thought Bose was a complete rip off. I paid $600 for the speakers I'm using with my PC and they are so far above and beyond those the Logitech's may as well be tin cans. Not that you have to pay $600+ for good speakers, there are plenty of great speakers out there for far less, just not from Logitech... or Bose for that matter.

 

[EPOQ]

Holy shit! That price can't be real. $800 bucks for logitech speakers? And here I thought Bose was a complete rip off. I paid $600 for the speakers I'm using with my PC and they are so far above and beyond those the Logitech's may as well be tin cans. Not that you have to pay $600+ for good speakers, there are plenty of great speakers out there for far less, just not from Logitech... or Bose for that matter.

It's because they are discontinued. You can only find these used now, or at a price blown out of proportion by some seller on Amazon.

 

[player-x]

Holy shit! That price can't be real.

I think it mainly because its out of production, and when it still was sold, it was and still is the best dedicated PC set you could get.

I checked the price history, when it still was sold, it was between $300 and $500

It's because they are discontinued. You can only find these used now, or at a price blown out of proportion by some seller on Amazon.

Actually there are a couple more, ware they even ask more money for it, but that are properly really the last new one's you can get.
But i think $300~$350 would be a fair price for them.

Not that you have to pay $600+ for good speakers

You right, but that was just the point is was making, for $400 to $500 dollar you can get a real great set, as you can see below, you just have to look for it a bit.
And with the 6" Bass/Mid unit in those speakers, you don't even have to bother with a sub-woofer, as your lucky if you have a PC sub-woofers with a 6" unit.

 

[davidm71]

I just wanted to say that I returned my Recon3d back to Bestbuy today thanks to their 60 day Silver Premiere return policy. I had enough with this card and lack of 4.1 software support. That was the nail in the coffin for the Recon3d card. The HardOcp review was actually the coffin. Sorry creative.

 

[Deleted member 214115]

I wanted to drop my 2 cents here for this card. Oddly enough, as it may seem, I think it is a good card and I like it better than the X-Fi Fatality. However at first I was a bit worried from the reviews that I would not like it and be sending it back.

The very first attribute of the sound quality was what stuck in my my from one of the many reviews I read; the sound was "flat." Quickly I learned that the the quality varied by the configuration(s) used. The main cause of the flatness was due to the surround sound. Although it did not effect all music, some songs via Pandora or even my MP3 collection caused some distortion and flatness.

I also found that the bass needed to be scaled, and even the EQ, at a flat rating, is better to have on then none at all. Once I changed the bass and such the sound has surpassed the ability of the X-Fi.

One major thing to note is the offloading. There are moments of some processing done to audiodg, but for the most part it is completely offloaded. This is one of the reason as to why I recently purchased this card was audiodg processing that was occurring with the X-Fi was too much.

It is not a bad card, but requires some configuration to truly enjoy. Other audiophiles my hate it and disagree, but I don't think it is bad at all for movies, music, and gaming. It work s for me.

 

[EPOQ]

I think it's a great card for gaming, headphones, and lower end speaker audio. I think if you go to higher end speakers you are going to be left disappointed and are much better off going the direction of a USB DAC solution, but most people purchasing audiophile grade equipment would already know this.

 

[player-x]

but most people purchasing audiophile grade equipment would already know this.

Sure, but only if you connect it analog, if you go digital and bypass the DAC, i think this would be a great card, and if i had to pick now i would pick it over my Xonar DX.

 

[Forceman]

If you are going to go digital and bypass the DAC, why not just use onboard or HDMI?

 

[player-x]

If you are going to go digital and bypass the DAC, why not just use onboard or HDMI?

Most onboard sound solutions dose not have DDL and the Recon3D has more audio options then onboard sound.

 

[Forceman]

There are cheaper cards that do DDL, if that is all you are looking for. I just don't know why you'd pay $100+ for a sound card if you are just going to port the sound to a receiver digitally. But maybe I'm just skeptical that those "audio options" make much difference.

 

[player-x]

But maybe I'm just skeptical that those "audio options" make much difference.

I would say read the reviews and then decide if you pay the extra, or like me, i just order 2 or 3 different cards, en test them out, and send the other one's back.

 

[cliche]

I wanted to drop my 2 cents here for this card. Oddly enough, as it may seem, I think it is a good card and I like it better than the X-Fi Fatality. However at first I was a bit worried from the reviews that I would not like it and be sending it back.

The very first attribute of the sound quality was what stuck in my my from one of the many reviews I read; the sound was "flat." Quickly I learned that the the quality varied by the configuration(s) used. The main cause of the flatness was due to the surround sound. Although it did not effect all music, some songs via Pandora or even my MP3 collection caused some distortion and flatness.

I also found that the bass needed to be scaled, and even the EQ, at a flat rating, is better to have on then none at all. Once I changed the bass and such the sound has surpassed the ability of the X-Fi.

One major thing to note is the offloading. There are moments of some processing done to audiodg, but for the most part it is completely offloaded. This is one of the reason as to why I recently purchased this card was audiodg processing that was occurring with the X-Fi was too much.

It is not a bad card, but requires some configuration to truly enjoy. Other audiophiles my hate it and disagree, but I don't think it is bad at all for movies, music, and gaming. It work s for me.

not happy with tweaking the EQ as I usually have it turned off. However, thanks for you insight into the card, I may give it a try. I was on an xtreme music xfi, now on a recon3d.
Also enlightening was the offloading comment

 

[ShamisOMally]

Tried a Recon3D, non-fatality version over my PCI-E X-Fi Titanium Fatality

First off, I dunno what the reviewer was talking about, with headphones, positional sound is dead even with my Sony MDR-V700 DJ's, I could find zero difference between the two cards for positional sound for the ten games I tried

Second, it just frankly sounds worse. Everything sounds muddy, especially highs, listening to Harry Potter with all its trumpets and trombones felt flat as hell

Returned it ASAP and bought 5 more Noctua fans instead

Overall, giant waste of time, the X-Fi Titanium Fatality sounds far better, and is cheaper to boot

That and I am told processing ability was never a problem for X-Fi's regardless, the newest form of the X-Fi chip in the Titanium and HD series even when processing 3D sound for stereo sources like headphones, it was only at most loaded 20% of its possible ability, throw in crystalizer and 24-bit 96Khz and it only loads up 30%.

Just makes me wonder why the Recon3D needed a QUAD core when X-Fi Titanium/HD's sound processor wasn't overworked to begin with

 

[EPOQ]

I think it's already been said a few times brotha, it's gimmicky marketing targeted towards the "gaming" crowd. I had the Recon3D and switched over to the X-Fi Titanium because I was moving to a home theater speaker setup and needed the RCA plugs, it sounds better in every way minus the fact that I'm no longer using headphones.

 

[davidm71]

I just saw BestBuy has the Recon3D Pro Fatality on Sale for $99. Seems priced right as you get what you pay for. I for one am glad I returned mine for a full refund. Waiting for the price of an Asus Phoebus to come down a bit and for its drivers to mature as some people have reported excellent sound quality with the Phoebus but may crash a few games. Seems very expensive at $200 but must sound a hell a lot better than the Recon3d which IMHO never sounded crisp at all. Got to go for the Phoebus!

 

[TroyX]

Tried a Recon3D, non-fatality version over my PCI-E X-Fi Titanium Fatality

First off, I dunno what the reviewer was talking about, with headphones, positional sound is dead even with my Sony MDR-V700 DJ's, I could find zero difference between the two cards for positional sound for the ten games I tried

Second, it just frankly sounds worse. Everything sounds muddy, especially highs, listening to Harry Potter with all its trumpets and trombones felt flat as hell

Returned it ASAP and bought 5 more Noctua fans instead

Overall, giant waste of time, the X-Fi Titanium Fatality sounds far better, and is cheaper to boot

That and I am told processing ability was never a problem for X-Fi's regardless, the newest form of the X-Fi chip in the Titanium and HD series even when processing 3D sound for stereo sources like headphones, it was only at most loaded 20% of its possible ability, throw in crystalizer and 24-bit 96Khz and it only loads up 30%.

Just makes me wonder why the Recon3D needed a QUAD core when X-Fi Titanium/HD's sound processor wasn't overworked to begin with

i have the sound card unlike you and its the best audio position gaming card i've used.

take your bu bu i did this, i tried that bs and go troll at Creative forums.

 

[cliche]

i have the sound card unlike you and its the best audio position gaming card i've used.

take your bu bu i did this, i tried that bs and go troll at Creative forums.

I got rid of my X-fi as was upgrading my whole rig. The sound quality is not as good, but I bought this card for gaming.

I agree that the positional audio is so much better than my X-fi Extreme Music

 

[Comixbooks]

Just picked on of these up on E=bay the Fatality edition for 75.00 on ebay. I have a pretty good ear for stuff I have a Xonar DG right now but I'm not impressed with it sounds like Crystal Clear China breaking. I had a Xonar DX too but sold it two months back.
Was going to just go with Realtek Onboard but I had too much snap crackle and pop.

I have a Audigy in my surfing machine and I really like that card alot but couldn't get it to work in a 64 bit machine it says 2004 on the PCB of that card.

So I hope the Recon is decent with my logitech Z906 speakers.

I don't play games that use midi files anyway and if you tube videos sound good that is about the only audio I have time to listen to.
Just looking forward to better sounding games.

 

[MavericK]

I think I will just stick with my Xonar D2X.

I tend to prefer DH over CMSS-3D, anyway.

 

[EPOQ]

Just picked on of these up on E=bay the Fatality edition for 75.00 on ebay. I have a pretty good ear for stuff I have a Xonar DG right now but I'm not impressed with it sounds like Crystal Clear China breaking. I had a Xonar DX too but sold it two months back.
Was going to just go with Realtek Onboard but I had too much snap crackle and pop.

I have a Audigy in my surfing machine and I really like that card alot but couldn't get it to work in a 64 bit machine it says 2004 on the PCB of that card.

So I hope the Recon is decent with my logitech Z906 speakers.

I don't play games that use midi files anyway and if you tube videos sound good that is about the only audio I have time to listen to.
Just looking forward to better sounding games.

Funny, I've had mine listed on Craigslist for 2 weeks at $75 and haven't gotten a single response. Maybe I should go to Ebay too.

 

[Comixbooks]

Just installed this baby it's better then my Xonar DG and Xonar DX I was looking for better ambient sounds I only tried Left for Dead 2 and Duke Nukem cause I usually limit my gaming one or two days a week on my days off. But I played for about a hour or so just to try it out.

In Duke Nukem your character really comes to life the jumping sound gunt sounds better =) All of the ambeint sounds sounded more impressive.

In Left for dead I wanted to see if the Rain sounded like Rain it sounds way better with the Recon 3D then the Xonar card which makes it sound like needles hitting the screen just unatural. When a Jockey jumped me I was holy nuts this is Great stuff =) The distress music was awesome and loud.

I tried a FLV file of Russ Ballard's Voices it sounds better then my Xonar Cards it doesn't sound like China breaking. You can watch the video and you won't be distracted by unnatural sounds comming from the sound card.

I just got this card for Guild Wars 2 which I seen has amazing sound qualities about it
the sound designers tried to make the as Realistic as possible.

 

[Comixbooks]

Midi files my old Ultima Online files sound great still not sure what the lack of a midi synthesizer is anyway.
Do they not play in game or something? Like would all of the sounds just be gone?

 

[cliche]

Just installed this baby it's better then my Xonar DG and Xonar DX I was looking for better ambient sounds I only tried Left for Dead 2 and Duke Nukem cause I usually limit my gaming one or two days a week on my days off. But I played for about a hour or so just to try it out.

In Duke Nukem your character really comes to life the jumping sound gunt sounds better =) All of the ambeint sounds sounded more impressive.

In Left for dead I wanted to see if the Rain sounded like Rain it sounds way better with the Recon 3D then the Xonar card which makes it sound like needles hitting the screen just unatural. When a Jockey jumped me I was holy nuts this is Great stuff =) The distress music was awesome and loud.

I tried a FLV file of Russ Ballard's Voices it sounds better then my Xonar Cards it doesn't sound like China breaking. You can watch the video and you won't be distracted by unnatural sounds comming from the sound card.

I just got this card for Guild Wars 2 which I seen has amazing sound qualities about it
the sound designers tried to make the as Realistic as possible.

Thanks for the comparison. Glad I bought mine now !

 

[ShamisOMally]

i have the sound card unlike you and its the best audio position gaming card i've used.

take your bu bu i did this, i tried that bs and go troll at Creative forums.

"Wah! Your opinion differs from mine! I can't be argued with, you must be a troll to think differently then I do!"

Piss off skippy. You invalidated your entire argument when you turned too personal attacks.

Its one thing to go "I dunno, I have a recon3d, I found the posistional sound was better", but instead you went "Lulz, iz have recon3d and sounds betterz for posastions sound! You must be trollzor!" and completely invalidate your point.

EDIT: Something I thought about was about the reviewer saying he was hearing sounds "Above and below" him, when game's sound is not programmed in such a way. There is, literally, no way to process sound coming from above or below you, either with CMSS-3D, THX TruStudio Surround, or Dolby Headphone, because all of these only work on the matrix sound system, where it uses sentura sound to replicate 5.1/7.1 speaker setups in a 2.1/headphone environment.

But that's the thing, these speakers are only around the player, either in reality or in simulation with surround simulation, there is no speaker setups where speakers are above, or below you. This is why EAX was such a big deal back in the day, because it had specialized protocols to have sound come above or below you.

The only way this could be replicated is if the game itself through its audio system replicates above and below sound simulations, but this would not operate any differently on CMSS-3D, THX TruStudio Surround or Dolby Headphone, as all of these sound processing systems only process virtual speakers surrounding you, they have no way of telling apart sound cue's from games that are "Above and below" the player because all these games use their own sound protocols, thus impossible to say subjectively that any of these virtual speaker surround systems can produce above and below sounds.

Completely unimpressed with the Recon3D. I could tell no difference between my X-Fi PCI-E Faltality Titanium, and neither could the reviewer with said quoted comment "The Recon3D plays Left 4 Dead 2 as well as its hardware-based X-Fi predecessors"

This just feels like a rushed out the door product. There was nothing wrong with the X-Fi chip as it was horribly under-used to begin with processing duty wise, to replace it with the Recon3D chip I see zero difference.

Sad thing is that if the Recon3D got the same build quality as the X-Fi Titanium/X-Fi HD, the sound quality would greatly improve. Personally, hold onto your pennies and wait. If you have a X-Fi that -ACTUALLY DOES SOUND PROCESSING- (The X-Fi Xtreme music does -ZERO- processing, its all CPU side, all of you saying the Recon3D sounds better then the X-Fi, all of you commented coming from X-Fi Xtreme music's, not X-Fi Titanium/HD's that actually did sound processing and proper CMSS-3D) there is no reason to buy a Recon3D until they up the build quality

 

[TroyX]

"Wah! Your opinion differs from mine! I can't be argued with, you must be a troll to think differently then I do!"

Piss off skippy. You invalidated your entire argument when you turned too personal attacks.

Its one thing to go "I dunno, I have a recon3d, I found the posistional sound was better", but instead you went "Lulz, iz have recon3d and sounds betterz for posastions sound! You must be trollzor!" and completely invalidate your point.

EDIT: Something I thought about was about the reviewer saying he was hearing sounds "Above and below" him, when game's sound is not programmed in such a way. There is, literally, no way to process sound coming from above or below you, either with CMSS-3D, THX TruStudio Surround, or Dolby Headphone, because all of these only work on the matrix sound system, where it uses sentura sound to replicate 5.1/7.1 speaker setups in a 2.1/headphone environment.

But that's the thing, these speakers are only around the player, either in reality or in simulation with surround simulation, there is no speaker setups where speakers are above, or below you. This is why EAX was such a big deal back in the day, because it had specialized protocols to have sound come above or below you.

The only way this could be replicated is if the game itself through its audio system replicates above and below sound simulations, but this would not operate any differently on CMSS-3D, THX TruStudio Surround or Dolby Headphone, as all of these sound processing systems only process virtual speakers surrounding you, they have no way of telling apart sound cue's from games that are "Above and below" the player because all these games use their own sound protocols, thus impossible to say subjectively that any of these virtual speaker surround systems can produce above and below sounds.

Completely unimpressed with the Recon3D. I could tell no difference between my X-Fi PCI-E Faltality Titanium, and neither could the reviewer with said quoted comment "The Recon3D plays Left 4 Dead 2 as well as its hardware-based X-Fi predecessors"

This just feels like a rushed out the door product. There was nothing wrong with the X-Fi chip as it was horribly under-used to begin with processing duty wise, to replace it with the Recon3D chip I see zero difference.

Sad thing is that if the Recon3D got the same build quality as the X-Fi Titanium/X-Fi HD, the sound quality would greatly improve. Personally, hold onto your pennies and wait. If you have a X-Fi that -ACTUALLY DOES SOUND PROCESSING- (The X-Fi Xtreme music does -ZERO- processing, its all CPU side, all of you saying the Recon3D sounds better then the X-Fi, all of you commented coming from X-Fi Xtreme music's, not X-Fi Titanium/HD's that actually did sound processing and proper CMSS-3D) there is no reason to buy a Recon3D until they up the build quality

there is so much fail in your post, the best thing for you is to stop posting.

 

[EarlKeim]

EDIT: Something I thought about was about the reviewer saying he was hearing sounds "Above and below" him, when game's sound is not programmed in such a way. There is, literally, no way to process sound coming from above or below you, either with CMSS-3D, THX TruStudio Surround, or Dolby Headphone, because all of these only work on the matrix sound system, where it uses sentura sound to replicate 5.1/7.1 speaker setups in a 2.1/headphone environment.

Try playing Battlefield 3 in any level with a helicopter flying around. Once it flies overhead, you will not see it onscreen, you will hear it overhead. Close your eyes. It is there.

Dolby Headphone gives a very similar effect. Either you have a poor quality set of headphone or gaming headset, or your sound card settings are incorrect.

I do not use a gaming sound card for simple stereo. I use it for elevation, depth of sound, and clarity.

 

[cliche]

Try playing Battlefield 3 in any level with a helicopter flying around. Once it flies overhead, you will not see it onscreen, you will hear it overhead. Close your eyes. It is there.

Dolby Headphone gives a very similar effect. Either you have a poor quality set of headphone or gaming headset, or your sound card settings are incorrect.

I do not use a gaming sound card for simple stereo. I use it for elevation, depth of sound, and clarity.

My IT contracts have finished and am looking for work. So I decided to go through my Steam collection in the meantime and enjoy my gaming rig.


Bought a new rig with 680GTX 2 xSSDs etc and a Recon 3d. I missed the sound quality of music of my old Xfi Music at first.
However, playing Metro 2033 in the market scene, I felt that I was there (compared to playing the same game on my Xfi Music previously)

I noticed I was smiling at the auditory ambience. I made the choice of gaming taking a higher priority. I'm glad I did.