Basically, Digit-Life slammed CL with incomplete testing that lead to faulty assumptions and an incorrect analysis. CL replied with the tech who actually coded the crystallizer to straighten the story out.
The skinny, even in the words of the somewhat biased author of the article:
If you want a simple non engineering explanation of it from the techs who actually created it:
So, do you want it to be a perfect reproduction of the original by using the crystallizer to rip CD's to 24 bit media? You won't get it. What you will get is a processed sound that has dynamically expanded highs and lows based on source signal attack rates at different freuencies. In effect, a punchier sound.
Now I know some here would still bash the technology, but it woildn't change the fact more people who have tried it like than who have tried it and not liked it.
So much for the arrogant conclusion of X-Fi = loudness button.
If you want a great add in sound card that lets you do this type effect, as well as accelerate game audio in hardware, CL is the only place to get it. Bar none.
In fact, no other card on the market even accelerates game audio in hardware! (Discounting the nforce 2 soundstorm that nvidia vowed to drop, as it is NOT a seperate card that can be used as part of today's modern 64 bit enabled systems.)
BTW: The article is here:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/multimedia/creative-x-fi-part2.html
The skinny, even in the words of the somewhat biased author of the article:
At last we've learnt enough about the 24-bit Crystalizer technology. It's quite a complex combination of static and dynamic signal processing, which cannot be defined in a single term. That's why Creative patented Crystalizer as an independent creation.
If you want a simple non engineering explanation of it from the techs who actually created it:
Creative's 24-Bit Crystalizer is best understood as a signal-dependent, dynamic EQ.The source of its intelligence is an analysis front end that continuously calculates dynamically-normalized, separate low-frequency and high-frequency energy flux signals, based on nonlinear processing of the input audio streams.These two flux signals are used to apply proportionally-weighted, transient, low-frequency and high-frequency boosts to the input audio.
The careful design of the front-end analysis and the proportional response of the dynamic EQ are both critical to allowing audio signals to be perceptibly altered without introducing objectionable processing-induced artifacts. There is also an additional static component to the EQ, which contributes to the overall perceptual effect.
So, do you want it to be a perfect reproduction of the original by using the crystallizer to rip CD's to 24 bit media? You won't get it. What you will get is a processed sound that has dynamically expanded highs and lows based on source signal attack rates at different freuencies. In effect, a punchier sound.
Now I know some here would still bash the technology, but it woildn't change the fact more people who have tried it like than who have tried it and not liked it.
So much for the arrogant conclusion of X-Fi = loudness button.
If you want a great add in sound card that lets you do this type effect, as well as accelerate game audio in hardware, CL is the only place to get it. Bar none.
In fact, no other card on the market even accelerates game audio in hardware! (Discounting the nforce 2 soundstorm that nvidia vowed to drop, as it is NOT a seperate card that can be used as part of today's modern 64 bit enabled systems.)
BTW: The article is here:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/multimedia/creative-x-fi-part2.html