Soundcard - alternatives to Creative

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:33 am

So, Jefe, basically you're saying that the Audigy 2 ZS equals the X-Fi in the music listening area?

If that's the case, I guess the the choice between the X-Fi and the Audigy 2 ZS concerns gaming performance. Since the XtremeMusic does not make it possible to connect a mic AND headphones, the choice is between the X-Fi Platinium and the Audigy 2 ZS. So, what does the X-Fi bring to the table besides the Crystalizer? A new implemantation of EAX? The one thing that might give the X-Fi an edge is the supposedly great sound when using headphones for gaming?

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:14 pm

ah hm headphones you might hear something different from the x-fi.

really, the speakers that would show the differences would cost a LOT of money to buy, and if you owned them, you would not even be buying one of these cards but instead some special sound card for audiophiles.

x-fi is within 1-2% performance in games to 2 zs.

If i had to go with one, and had the cash, I would say the only x-fi worth it is the one with the extra megabytes of ram for audio clip caching. not many programs can use this yet, but they all will shortly. This definitely will be a neat feature, but it is only found on the Fatality one. without that, dollar wise, it really isnt worth it to go from 2 zs to the new x-fi.

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:59 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:If i had to go with one, and had the cash, I would say the only x-fi worth it is the one with the extra megabytes of ram for audio clip caching. not many programs can use this yet, but they all will shortly.

*coughs* hype

Sorry, it's a little hard not to be skeptical while we're still waiting for 64-bit drivers/software and multi-threaded apps

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 1:11 pm

ah, this was on previous soundblaster cards and a few games used it and it did offload the processor back in like 486 VESA days.

Currently, games will not use it, it might be gimic, might be, but nowadays all aspects of both sound and graphics that are developed are actually used. Long ago it was a crap shoot, youd buy more tech, but then nothing would use it, or very few things.

take sata-ii thats a gimic. shrugs.

pci-e, heck, that's a gimic too.

hyperthreading. again gimic. (works with half the programs making them faster, half making them slower, means it doesn zero in totality).

how about amd64 on a 754 board? that's a massive gimic, as we all know that until intel makes a likeable processor M$ wont bother to put out vista 64. still of course it blows away an athlonxp, but thats not because of 64 bits, its because of memory controllers in general etc etc.

2 zs is really the only card to consider I feel. plus you get a firewire port.

Tumlehund · Post by **Tumlehund** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:43 pm

Well, right now I feel the choices are:

SB Audigy 2 ZS
SB X-Fi Platinium

...and then there's the new kid on the block: XMystique 7.1 Gold. This card looks extremely promising, it's got Dolby Digital Live and supposedly very good sound quality. However, it only supports EAX 1.0 and 2.0 and I'm not sure how well it performs in games. The thing I'm wondering is, how usable Dolby Digital is. Anyone knows about this? I mean, if I get the XMystique, can I use Dolby Digital all the time? Music, games etc. Will I need a special amplifier or something? Will the ZS-5500 speakerset do? What about headphones? Hmm... lotsa questions, I hope you can help.

markjia · Post by **markjia** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 6:46 pm

I don't see the use of the XMystique has a Dobly Digital encoder...You would have to have something like a 5.1 receiver (or something that can decode DD signals) to even be able to use it. Plus, why would you need to ability to encode DD? I can only think of either creating your own music or some sort of acoustic processor to alter the original sound. I suppose it is possible that there are some games that have 5.1 sound and you want to encode that into DD to pass on to an external device.

Usually, all you need is a decoder (which even the Audigy has that) to listen to DD encoded material like DVDs.

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:31 pm

I use DDL for watching TV etc on my PC. I have a set of Creative Speakers with a decoder box so I output everything digital to it.

Now, I did own a X-Mystique. It uses a C-Media chipset. Turtle Beach has a DDL card using C-Media, and the makers of the X-Mystique have two new cards based on C-media. I found the drivers rather crummy. They have not updated them in a while either. My main gripe is that the encoder is not always on. When no signal is detected it shuts off. Then when there is a signal, it turns on. Sometimes it will pop or even miss a sound if it's short.

Now, I am using the onboard Intel DDL. My 945 board uses a chipset by Sigmatel and Intel's dolby master studio software. It works great compared to the X-Mystique. I have it hooked up to my Creative box via optical.

EDIT: They happened to have released new drivers for the X Mystique yesterday, the 25th. No word on 3dsoundsurge of the quality of them yet.

markjia · Post by **markjia** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:59 am

I guess TV could be a valid reason. I wouldn't use it for music or DVDs though. The distortion would do more harm.

I guess the use of signal processors is a subjective issue. I'm personally more of a purist.

sgent · Post by **sgent** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:07 pm

I run my audio out using an optical connection to my Denon reciever -- which does the DAC and plays it.

A lot of audiophiles have a similar setup.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 12:57 am

I just bought the audigy 2 zs from http://www.directron.com

OEM model, came with disk, brand new though. 66 dollars shipped.

now, i can say that I am incredibly happy with it. It never makes strange noises or blacks out when theres like 64 people in game and things get laggy in BF2. my ac 97 would crap out on me.

also, cd's and high bitrate mp3's sound really fantastic on it. less distortion when I put it on loud, actually none, and the very quiet levels sound clear. ac 97 sux i didnt realize it.