Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD Sound Card Review @ [H]

Yep, that's what I was getting at. I just feared that the behaviour might have changed (e.g. only 2.1 selectable in headphone/stereo mode).
 
Just got this sound card, been using it for a week now, i cant tell any difference between this and titanium fatality, im using klipshce pro media 2.1 and fatality mk2 headset. Using the beta drivers from the site. Should i just return this and keep the fatality titanium?
 
gar818 said:
Just got this sound card, been using it for a week now, i cant tell any difference between this and titanium fatality, im using klipshce pro media 2.1 and fatality mk2 headset. Using the beta drivers from the site. Should i just return this and keep the fatality titanium?
Click to expand...

If you can't hear the difference why hold onto it? I'd put that extra money towards something else. :)
 
I have a hard time believing a $100 set of speakers or headset will be able to give you any discernible sq difference between one high end card vs the other. You have to know what you're system is capable of. Any component can be the weak link in the chain.

More than likely, the fatality was capable of making your speakers sound as good as they're ever going to sound. I haven't heard strong evidence one way or another whether the HD card has no improvement in sq over the previous high end xfi's. But, I'd be surprised if it didn't with that DAC, depending on the rest of the system.
 
what setting do you guys use for sound, 24/48 or 24/192, in the control panel.
 
i use 16/44.1 as the default. unless you know that the quality of your source audio is higher than CD audio than there's no point of setting it higher since it won't improve the sound quality.
heck! in some cases it can degrade sound quality.
 
I've been eying this card for a while now, but I'm unsure if I'd be able to tell the difference coming from an X-Fi Titanium. My headphones are the Audio Technica ATH-A900s. I'm really tempted, though...
 
Bop said:
I've been eying this card for a while now, but I'm unsure if I'd be able to tell the difference coming from an X-Fi Titanium. My headphones are the Audio Technica ATH-A900s. I'm really tempted, though...
Click to expand...
The headphone out on the card's back panel gives an excellent headphone experience and I think you will be able to hear an obvious, noiseless difference. I gave up my Titanium original and this card is my card of choice until another brand can topple it.
 
EarlKeim said:
The headphone out on the card's back panel gives an excellent headphone experience and I think you will be able to hear an obvious, noiseless difference. I gave up my Titanium original and this card is my card of choice until another brand can topple it.
Click to expand...

I'm still having trouble deciding on this or the asus stx
 
yang88she said:
I'm still having trouble deciding on this or the asus stx
Click to expand...

I'm debating the same thing. I'd like to see a more detailed comparison between the analogue paths between the two cards. They seem pretty similar, although the STX seems to have a better headphone amp.
 
Well as we said, the Titanium HD can do 330 ohms while the ASUS can do 600 but the highest requirement on headphones I have personally used is only 300. Either way, you should be fine.
 
EarlKeim said:
The headphone out on the card's back panel gives an excellent headphone experience and I think you will be able to hear an obvious, noiseless difference. I gave up my Titanium original and this card is my card of choice until another brand can topple it.
Click to expand...

I made the plunge and I definitely do notice the difference! Just wow! Totally worth it. If anyone is interested you can get $35 off by getting them @ TigerDirect + Google Checkout.
 
Thank you for the review Earl. Perfect timing as I'm looking into a Xmas present for myself!!

I am a total noob when it comes to the audio side of things but am a avid gamer and interested in learning more...as a result, I have a few questions for the gang;

As a lifetime user of relatively cheap PC speakers (Logitech)...how the hell do I hook these up? Cheap speaker input into headphone jack on back of card? Would that take away from the audio experience I imagine?

If the RCA outputs offer a better listening experience, how does one connect them for usage with a PC? Into a stereo receiver/amp then speakers/headphones? I do have a pair of Sennheiser HD 555 headphones for ipod/gaming, which I would definitely use.

As I said, I'm interested in making the leap into a real audio setup but am lost as to how get the best out of a beast of a card such as the titanium HD.

Any insight would be much appreciated,

oli
 
An RCA cable with the male connectors are plugged into the back of the card, and on the other end of the cable you should have a 1/8" stereo male to plug into your PC speakers. If you are plugging this card into a receiver, you can use an RCA (red and white connectors) to RCA cable. These cables are very inexpensive at Radio Shack, Best Buy, or Amazon and NewEgg. Such a cable was included with your card.
raxp9k.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've been doing some digging on the headphone output of the Titanium HD and it appears underwhelming on paper. According to VR-Zone, the op-amp used on the headphone output is the NJM4556A:

http://vr-zone.com/articles/vr-zone...laster-x-fi-titanium-hd-previewed/9020-4.html

Coincidentally, this is the same op-amp used on the main channel output of previous PCI X-Fi cards (not sure about the original PCIE Titanium) that folks have been replacing in favor of the LM4562 (myself included):

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/226975/hotrodding-the-x-fi-a-layman-s-guide-no-56k

So my question is, for those who have replaced older X-Fi's with the Titanium HD and noticed an improvement, are you using headphones or speakers? I'm very interested in this as I am primarily a headphone user and am looking for improvements over my current X-Fi with LM4562. Thanks in advance.
 
There is not really a way to compare headphone listening with the two on high end headphones. The Titanium original could only do headphones if you plug them into the Front Channel out on the back of the sound card or use the front panel connector. The front panel connector can only do justice to low impedance headphones.
 
EarlKeim said:
There is not really a way to compare headphone listening with the two on high end headphones. The Titanium original could only do headphones if you plug them into the Front Channel out on the back of the sound card or use the front panel connector. The front panel connector can only do justice to low impedance headphones.
Click to expand...

Earl- I may be missing something, but it seems to me if the main channel output on the older X-Fi cards uses the same op-amp as the headphone output of the HD that both cards would be capable of driving the same headphones. I don't know whether or not the PCIE Titanium uses the NJM4556 as well, but the older PCI based X-Fi cards did (Xtreme Music, Fatal1ty, etc.).
 
Hello all,

Ryan from Creative here. Sorry I haven't responded in here earlier. I'm blasting through the threads here and will be giving some input / clarifications / answers after I get through them.

We've got CES coming up so it's definitely a VERY busy time for us here.

More in a bit from me! Just wanted to let you guys know I'm still here and around!
 
welcome, looking forward to some feedback as I am looking @ this card a few others for xmas
 
kniah said:
So my question is, for those who have replaced older X-Fi's with the Titanium HD and noticed an improvement, are you using headphones or speakers? I'm very interested in this as I am primarily a headphone user and am looking for improvements over my current X-Fi with LM4562. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I'd like to try replacing the headphone output opamps with LM4562s.
Is there a way to determine which opamp handles what?

edit: nevermind, one of the links had the answer.
 
DarkStryke said:
I've owned creative cards since the early 486 days with the original Soundblaster, through SB Pro, SB 16, SB Live! and X-Fi

Part of me says it's nice to see them back pushing the top, and that it's a great card, but then I remember how bad Creative shit on their user base for countless years. With the whole vista fiasco forcing people to buy newer cards that had proved to work 100% fine with the marvelous Daniel_K driver sets, that then got yanked, then after much bitching finally allowed again, to buggy release sets even on the newest cards, to outright drops in support, etc..

They can have the best hardware in the world but the software and support has been utter shit for far too long to repair things at the drop of a hat.

Nice review work.

*Forgot the X-Fi
Click to expand...

Oh man I never felt burnnnned by a company like that. I never bought a nother creative product after that.
 
I want it so stinkin bad! ... if only i really hard the money and knew how to mod these card it would be mine!
 
I have posted this in a separate thread called Speaker Calibration but I thought it might be more suitable here.

Is there a way I can calibrate my 5.1 speakers over Toslink? I think I can only obtain 5.1 sound using my Titanium HD over Toslink Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect encoding. However when I try to make adjustments in the Creative console over Toslink DDL/DTS connect 5.1 encoding it does not work. I can also connect the analogue stereo outputs from the Titanium HD to my Onkyo TX-SR600 receiver (using 2 x RCA to 2 x RCA plugs) and the Creative speaker calibration software then works fine but this is only stereo mode.

There is some great stuff in the Creative Speaker Setup Console which is only available in 5.1 mode, including a bass management sweep test and crossover frequency setup. However the only way I can obtain 5.1 is over Toslink DDL/DTS Connect encoding.

I can calibrate my speakers basically over Toslink using my Onkyo TX-SR600 receiver but the Creative software console I think is more advanced. I have an older model receiver.

Hope I have explained myself clearly.

Thanks

I run windows 7 and all the creative drivers found on disc included with my sound card.
 
Last edited:
Hi, would this Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD work with the 7.1 Sound Blaster Gigaworks speakers?
 
The cover is made of Perspex which is simply acrylic. My brother blows glass for a living and Perspex is used in many, many areas of construction, art, etc.
 
K10 said:
i really want to like this sound card, but the occasional snap/crackle/pop is the deal breaker. the beta drivers haven't resolved this issue either. it's time to look at the asus xonar.
Click to expand...

Have you tried a fresh install or other PCIE slots? I haven't had any issues with mine so far using the beta drivers in Win 7 Pro x64.
 
K10 said:
i really want to like this sound card, but the occasional snap/crackle/pop is the deal breaker. the beta drivers haven't resolved this issue either. it's time to look at the asus xonar.
Click to expand...

Odd. I get none of that with my card...I've heard of some guys needing to insulate the mounting brackets for their sound cards so that it's not metal-to-metal with the case or the screw.
 
so hows that card different from the original titanium? i read the reviews but other than changing the CMSS-3D to something else, i cant tell the difference. For 2.1 speakers that is, can someone with z-2300 who used both cards tell me what the difference is sound wise?
 
So from all the feedback here I'm not sure if this is worthwhile. I generally don't contact companies unless the product dies but if the support is crap and the software is garbage it's not worth it.. but I'd like to know! Snap, Crackle, Pop = bad!
 
Snap, crackle and pop is associated to the best of my personal knowledge (I visit the Creative forums regularly to monitor feedback on this card) happens with the old Nvidia Nforce motherboards and lack of drivers, and Nvidia chipset motherboard and Intel processors. I am running an AMD/ATI chipset and have never had a problem. I also used the Titanium PCI-E original and the Fatality Pro with those boards and had no problems. I ran the card on a very new Gigabyte/Intel board for 9 days and had no problems there either.

I am still running the drivers from the original CD. I have used no beta drivers whatsoever.

Did you format your system recently before installing the card, or did you upgrade? I am just curious.
 
i'm running my titanium hd on a intel c2q with a gigabyte x48 motherboard. the soundcard is nestled right next to my hulking hd6970 video card and i'm not getting any static or crackling. i'm still using the original drivers from the CD.
for the person that's having issues with the cracking and popping sound, try moving the sound card to another pci-e slot. i'd also suggest reseting your bios-setup settings to factory defaults. also, are you using analog output? another idea: either try installing a asio output plugin for winamp or get foobar2k w/ their asio plugin. try playing music via asio to see if that makes a difference.

note: i wanted to also add that there is a noticeable difference when jumping from my old xfi titanium fatality to this HD version. there was a definate improvement in detail and a tighter bass. the other surround HTPC-like features are nice, but woopty doo! if you count yourself as a sound-enthusiast or an audiophile than this is a worthy upgrade if you have any of the previous X-FI soundcards.
 
Last edited:
I have a hard time with the Hardop review saying a complete clean install of Windows is necessary for this card (if you had a previous Creative Card installed). This is completely unacceptable to me. Either that comment is not right or Creative is really screwed up with their driver implementation. Imagine if a clean install of the OS was required for a new video card or switching from Nvidia to ATI. I just don't believe it. Windows 7 is plenty capable of handling a change with having to install it again. For now I'll just keep my X-Fi Gamer Pro, still sounds damn good to me.
 
No problems for me going from an Audigy2 ZS to the Titanium HD in Windows 7. The reviewer was probably being overly cautious.
 
I was not trying to be overly cautious at all.

Some users in the Creative forums were mixing and matching all sorts of software from Audigy and X-FI cards to come up with the "best package." At first, it worked, or so it seemed.

So with the software for those cards being so much older and never compiled with the Windows 7 software model and requirements, I wanted to make it very clear that unwanted side effects might cloud or compromise a user's results with the card because he or she was using it with a brand new card never designed for the older software. The Titanium HD was the first card to be truly designed for Vista/Windows 7's driver model and the older software had a lot of carryovers from the XP days with some patches and fixes to allow it to work.

In the past, I used the Daniel K. software packs with my Audigy 2 ZS, Fatality Pro PCI, and my Titanium Fatality PCI-Express. Now with any of those cards, I use Creative's Windows 7 drivers and separately downloadable programs. I use no carryover, user created, or legacy software.
 
Ok so i just got my p67 sandy bridge system up and running and it seems to have an issue with this card, on a brand new install of windows 7 64 ulitmate, the sound dissapears when switching modes and at times it dissapears without switching modes, not all the time, some times. I tried using the cd drivers, and the beta drivers from creatives site, which is down right now, has been down for a month now. I didnt have this issue with my X58 setup. Using a gigabyte ud4 board. Any ideas? thanks.
 
The card has to be fully seated. Some of the PCI-Express sound cards tend to shift forward or backward in the slot. The Console Launcher program and different modes of the card will not engage if that card is not 100% seated properly.
 
EarlKeim said:
The card has to be fully seated. Some of the PCI-Express sound cards tend to shift forward or backward in the slot. The Console Launcher program and different modes of the card will not engage if that card is not 100% seated properly.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Is this a matter of sticking a 1x card in a full PCIe slot?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top