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For gaming the Z is better.
That is not correct. You need to feed a surround signal to CMSS-3D for it to be effective. Games typically rely on that Windows setting to determine your speaker configuration, if you set Windows to stereo, games will see that and send only stereo audio. If you feed a stereo signal to CMSS-3D, it doesn't have anything useful to work with when trying to create a virtual surround effect.if you can get the X-Fi Titanium for a good price I would get that.
been happy with mine for some time, cmss3d with bf1 is truly amazing, just make sure to set windows and bf1 to stereo and let the sound card do the work.
Some of those tests seemed unnecessary considering they amounted to sending audio into a void, but I won't knock them for being diligent."For headphone, you have more options, but the first step is to set your sound card to headphones. Setting it to 5.1 speakers won't work with CMSS-3D (if you don't like CMSS-3D, it will work fine as long as the game is set to stereo though). You can then either a) set Windows to 5.1 and your game to whatever or b) set Windows to stereo and your game to stereo. These will give the same sound and both will work with CMSS-3D."
http://www.overclock.net/t/1184474/setting-up-your-x-fi-sound-card-for-gaming
That's not quite accurate. If you use OpenAL it's not just "virtual 7.1" but you get height and full HRTF too. SBX doesn't have to be enabled (in fact, it should be disabled - it's not meant for games that use OpenAL or when you use Alchemy). Same applies when you use Alchemy. Witch Z/Zx/ZxR you can't disable elevation filter and macrofx which is a bit shame because that causes issues in Oblivion for example. X-Fi's hardware solution sounds a bit different but basically they do the same thing.The X-Fi Titanium is superior in gaming where hardware DirectSound3D and OpenAL are concerned, no question about that.
If you still play the classics, stuff like the first three Thief games, System Shock 2, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, up through later titles like Battlefield 1942 through 2142, F.E.A.R. and the original 2007 release of Bioshock, then a proper X-Fi with a hardware DSP running in Game Mode is the way to go. Grab the Daniel_K drivers, apply ALchemy to any game that needs it, and off you go.
On top of that, I find CMSS-3D Headphone to offer superior positioning all around, especially in DS3D/OAL titles where it can provide full 3D sound and not just virtual 7.1, but that's just my own head and set of ears.
Now, if you don't care about PC games that are over a decade old by this point, then the X-Fi lineup loses a considerable amount of its appeal over newer sound cards, particularly ones with less quirky drivers or even outright "driverless" USB audio devices like the Sennheiser GSX 1000.
Here's the good news: you have both cards at no extra charge now. If you don't mind the hassle of switching out the cards (or possibly installing both if you have another PCIe slot to spare), you can just test them both for yourself and pawn off the one you don't like.