Creative X-Fi Soundcards + Vista?

[TehBluebear]

Hey guys, I'm looking into getting a Creative X-Fi Gamer soundcard (namely, this), but I've heard a few things about them not working right with Vista?

I have Vista Ultimate, which is 64-bit, would this cause problems?

Also, are there any other sound cars you would recommend? Budget is at least £60-£70, as I'm probably going to be getting a load of other stuff at the same time, which will suck up my funds.

Cheers for any info you may have,
Bluebear

 

[ViRGE]

Vista has a new audio stack that cuts off the X-Fi from doing hardware acceleration of sound for programs using DirectSound. Creative has a program called Alchemy that resolves the issue.

 

[TehBluebear]

Ah, ok. Are there any other soundcards that you'd recommend?

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Vista has a new audio stack that cuts off the X-Fi from doing hardware acceleration of sound for programs using DirectSound. Creative has a program called Alchemy that resolves the issue.

AFAIK ALchemy only works for certain games.

http://www.soundblaster.com/alchemy/

Click under "Games List".

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: jonmcc33

Originally posted by: ViRGE
Vista has a new audio stack that cuts off the X-Fi from doing hardware acceleration of sound for programs using DirectSound. Creative has a program called Alchemy that resolves the issue.

AFAIK ALchemy only works for certain games.

http://www.soundblaster.com/alchemy/

Click under "Games List".

Meh, it's good enough. I can't think of any major games that don't work at the moment.

 

[Sheninat0r]

The Asus Xonar is okay, but no fancy EAX. For pure sound quality, Auzentech makes very good cards - the X-Meridian is highly recommended by audiophiles, and the X-Fi Prelude is even better, but it's an X-Fi and uses [for the time being] stripped-down Creative X-Fi drivers. However, if you do get the Prelude, then you should know that Auzentech is writing their own drivers for it, which should fix a lot of the Vista/X-Fi problems that people are having,

 

[jonmcc33]

I'd go here before I go praising anything with an X-Fi and Vista...

http://forums.creative.com/cre...s/board?board.id=Vista

 

[cozumel]

Three words:
Auzentech Prelude 7.1

Edit: It's out of your budget but unless you sepnd that sort of money you might as well use the on-board sound. Creative is quite simply poor build quality.

 

[TehBluebear]

ah right. Well, the only reason I'm looking into geting a soundcard, is because I have just got Crysis. And the sound is very, very poor, with stuttering and looping 99% of the time playing. Currently using onboard sound on my P5B mobo.

Just wondering, would more RAM fix it? Currently have 2GB DDR2 atm, however, I will be getting some more soon. (At least another 2GB). As well as a Q6600 on top of that

 

[Pollock]

I'm not completely sure of the causes, but I have an X-Fi Gamer, and I often get static in my games, which persists after I exit and affects my music. This has been present on both Vista and currently XP, so I figure it's either the card itself or some compatibility issue with my (Nvidia) motherboard. Given the choice again, I would see how onboard sounded to my ears. Your onboard shouldn't be doing that, though. :shrug;

 

[jonmcc33]

I'd get anything but a Creative sound card if you are using Vista. There are tons of options. EAX is gone so there's no more reason to use Creative's cards over anything else.

 

[Sheninat0r]

Originally posted by: Pollock
I'm not completely sure of the causes, but I have an X-Fi Gamer, and I often get static in my games, which persists after I exit and affects my music. This has been present on both Vista and currently XP, so I figure it's either the card itself or some compatibility issue with my (Nvidia) motherboard. Given the choice again, I would see how onboard sounded to my ears. Your onboard shouldn't be doing that, though. :shrug;

Maybe there's EMI messing with the sound card? Is it placed near your graphics card or any other major components?