Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

...Installation is easy and although Creative drivers on Windows Vista are still under development, I haven't been experiencing any problems under Windows XP. The chip on the X-fi is the same as the one used on the high-end models, with the lack of more memory (64 MB for the Fatl1ty version) and the front panel connector box (which can make it very expensive indeed). After I managed to lose the installation disc and needing to reinstall my system, ...
...system. With this card, Creative has been able to launch an affordable and high-quality solution, with a very good Signal-To-Noise ratio (>108 db/mA, although it will be your speakers or media that will be the limiting factor). Please note that upscaling any music from 16 to 24-bit via the Crystallizer function will result in varied results, determined by the original quality of the media. All in all, the card is recommended for audiophiles, gamers ...

frozenace 15.07.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

...bought this card with some Creative 5.1 Speakers (T6060). The sound quality going from standard MP3, with no upmixing, 24Bit Crystaliser and no EAX effects, to everything turned on, is STUNNING! There is no other word for it. However, the software is slow and there are to many menus to do a simple task. PERFORMANCE: To establish this I had to start by taking a 235Kbps (VBR) track, kindly delievered from ripping a Linkin Park album. I started by ...
...turning on CMSS-3D in the Creative Console, more of an application sweet (but I'll get to that later), the track was playing in 5.1, stunning, somehow, the Creative X-Fi had pulled out every instrument and given them an appropriate speaker!? I don't know how it did it but it was pretty amazing, vocals in the centre, beats on all channels, other instruments on the left, background vocals on the rear speakers. Sensational. After this I turned on Creative's ...

ratkid132 30.08.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

I've used all the creative card models from the soundblaster 5.1 to this latest card, and I can say it is an amazing leap forward. Even using headphones the differnce in sound quality from the Audigy 2 is noticeable, with truly amazing effects during both games and DVD playback. There is no distortion or noise whilst playing music, which was the case with some of the earlier cards. However plug in to a decent 7.1 speaker set, like the creative inspire ...
...Software as usual with creative packages will leave you wanting for nothing. The entertainment centre allows fine tuning sound for music/DVD or games independantly. Creative mediasource player is the best player/MP3 decoder I've used, and with the ability to plug in any musical instrument (I've plugged in my base and had a play with the recorder and audio creation packages), and tweak till you're hearts content. Short of full on proffesional suite ...

Dave1508 20.03.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

...My previous card was a creative also, a basic soundblaster live card, the x-fi improves the quality of sound sooo much. Ive used it with online gaming, mp3s & dvds and have noticed a vast improvement in all areas. The main use for me is with online gaming. The biggest issue with these games is squeezing frames per second -FPS - out of the machine. Remarkably this sound card gave me an instant boost of about 20fps, which was about 30% for me. The ...
...competitors can do this, but any card that can give me surround sound from a basic 2.1 speaker setup is a huge thumbs up for me. No moving of the speakers, they stayed infront of me, but the sound didnt. The only downside is the cost. My previous card cost about £30, this was a big jump upto £80. Given that people are willing to spend £250 on a graphics card i think this is a worth while investment as it gives a similar increase in performance in ...

Daimonde 07.06.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

...an OEM Version of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music from eBay for around £30 around 3 months ago. It is very easy to install, simply slot it into an empty slot and install the drivers and software. Wow! What a difference! I upgraded from onboard sound and the quality difference is unbelievable. I have the card paired with Logitech z-640 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers and a Medusa Speedlink 5.1 Surround headset. Not only does the card come ...
...use and configure with the Creative Audio Console. The card make sounds in games beautiful and music is perfect. However. I had a lot of teething problem with the card. At first, whenever I reset my PC, the card settings were defaulted to headphones, when my speakers were plugged in, muting my speakers. This problem eventualy went away however. Another problem I have is when I switch modes (Game mode -> Entertainment Mode) there is a horrible ...

Xlixen 13.04.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

...newest ones out direct from Creative to be sure you experiance as little of this as possible. I have been using P5800's and a Plantronics Gamecom1 headset and both had the sound sound increased greatly on products that were already of high standard (search them for reviews). All in all its the perfect soundcard for anyone other then extreme autophiles, once the driver issues are sorted out there is nothing to worry about at all, you can even grab ...
...quite exellent value for money, because for some people its still way too much to spend on a soundcard, and there are very good options for cheaper.. the older audigy and soundblaster ranges are both great. But once you have heard it you wont want to go back :) Jake's Reviews ...

jake_m_06 17.09.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

I was a bit sceptical at first, as I already had Intel HD audio on my motherboard, and was debating the need to upgrade. However, I read so many good reviews about the X-fi that I just had to bite the bullet and try one for myself. Thankfully, all my thoughts of getting ripped off were crushed when I played my first MP3 using the excellent 24-bit Crystalizer, which upmixes plain Mp3 files into high quality 24-bit sound files. I noticed a huge improvement ...
...files sound as good as a CD file, if not better in some cases! I also notice that when playing games, the load which was taken off the CPU (and placed onto the 400MHz processor on the X-Fi) for sound improved my framerate in some cases, gaining the extra 3-4 frame per second. Sounds such as gunshots and speaking were also made more realistic, thanks to CMSS-3D, which improves positional sound in games to a nearly realistic level, especially through ...

fiorenza2 15.12.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic

I purchased this card for £80, and i must say when i first used Media Center to play a song i was just amazed. With my speakers (Creative P5900) when you turned the bass up it began to sound like you put a pilow in front of the sub. After installing this i found that the bass was alot cleaner and removed the 'pillow effect' The software that came with this card is very much up for the task, i was especially impressed with the recording software. ...

steveee101 06.06.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic