Thanks OP...been wanting to upgrade my aging Philips AE as it is poorly performing with newer games...not unexpected when the drivers haven't been updated for at least a couple years...
Bleh.... something tells me to just stick with my regular live....are these prices gonna be droppin anytime? (i know this is as low as it's been)
You are using a original Live! on the system in your sig? Your hardware specs look good, what sort of speakers do you use? If they are anything decent, than you would notice a significant difference over the aging Live...it's sound quality was only good for the time it came out, which was quite a long time ago. If you just use some POS $15 Labtechs or something...don't bother.
IMO...
if i had an original live i would jump on this
won't notice much of a difference upgrading from an audigy2 zs
great deal otherwise
won't notice much of a difference upgrading from an audigy2 zs
great deal otherwise
*first post*
I jumped on this one. Been running on a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for several years, recently got that X-530... so hoping that it's gonna be worth it for awhile
I jumped on this one. Been running on a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for several years, recently got that X-530... so hoping that it's gonna be worth it for awhile
well I jumped on this even though I have the audigy 2 zs right now. Its just a higher quality more advanced card all around, and I also believe my audigy 2 zs has some issues (missing voices, crashes).
I have the Logitech z5500s with a SoundBlaster Live card. Would the difference be astonishing between the two? I'm thinking of grabbing the X-fi, but I have never listened to it.
- Aug 24, 2005
- 6,783
- 27
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A huge difference, even the 5300s that i have sound way better then onboard, 5500s must just sound amazing with an x-fi.
I ordered one..upgrading from my onboard sound from my ASUS board..is it gonna make like a huge difference? I can't wait for it and I'm using DELL 5650 5.1 speaker set with a Pioneer AMP + 2 BOSE rear speakers.
I think everyone here who is buying this for speakers will be slightly disappointed if they already have something decent (audigy, live, etc). Don't get me wrong, it's going to help but the vast improvements take place with headphones. I'd recc getting these with some nice Sennheisers or something of the sort.
Thats what I thought too. I really shouldnt be spending money, but if the difference isnt significant then I wont buy. I have logitech x-530's(5.1) and a soundblaster audigy. Would I notice much difference?
I would sort of agree between this and a Audigy2, but you can't lump an Audigy or the EXTREMELY old Live! in there..
Most onboard sound on recent boards is much better better than the Live!...
Audigy should sound pair pretty well with your current setup considering you're running a pretty modest pair of speakers. I did notice improvements with my Klipsch when I upgraded, but my original sound was worse than your current one. You'll notice for music that your stuff will sound slightly warmer and more defined. I still think this purchase would be worthwhile for you though. Although you don't have (as far as I know) the headphones to really get your money out of this, you'll have the source set in place for when that does arrive. What makes x-fi so great is that it can keep pace (but not necessarily beat) many of the popular audiophile cards for headphones, which the past creative cards were horrible for while simulaneously offering the most accurate spatial sound needed for games (once again, something you REALLY need headphones for to get the most accurate surround sound for your games). Prior to X-fi, people had to pair up an audiophile card (Juli@, EMU, etc) for listening to music and an audigy for playing games due to this.
So go for it if you have the money and if you plan to eventually get a pair of headphones to fully enjoy it. I'd recommend the Sennheiser HD 555/580/595 series as they can notably sound very good without needing a DAC/Headphone Amp combo (something I'm working on right now). I'd recommend checking out Head-fi.org if any of this interests you.
You know? I agree with you. I think I'm going to have to retract my past statement and take SB live out of the grouping. It's clearly dated compared to audigy/X-fi and can be noticably improved on.
Hell I'm using onboard with my P3 500mhz
2.1 and it sounds great on my x-530
I can't tell the difference... i might just get an audigy for my "upgrade"
2.1 and it sounds great on my x-530
I can't tell the difference... i might just get an audigy for my "upgrade"
i have a pair of nice 3-way floorstanding speakers and my comp is hooked up to my receiver. im using an audigy ls, would i notice a big difference if i got the x-fi xtrememusic?
I am interested in this card mainly for music. Gaming is secondary. I'm wondering if the conversion of mp3s into 5.1 surround is as good as I would hope for (it does offer this feature, correct? or have i misread something?). Also, the crystilizer has my interest as well, but i'm thinking that could be a bit of marketing hype.
You'll use Creative's CMSS 3D I believe to get the surround from non-surroud sources. Its ok, not terribly great, but not really any worse than any other solution I've heard (such as Dolby PLII). Personally, I don't think it sounds good and normal 2 channel (plus the sub) sounds better. The Crystalizer is ok if you only have MP3s, but thats because its helping to make up for the shortcomings of the low quality. It is gimmicky but there are people who like it.
For music, I prefer to hear it as it was intended to sound, and thus I don't like the surround upmixing or Crystalizer. There are people who do like it though.
At the very least, they have gotten their music quality up to the standard of everyone else.
It'll sound about about the same, as the reciever is really taking over and adding amplification. Music quality should be improved.
How do you have your reciever hooked up to it now? I guess it doesn't really matter much that you could only get surround sound from doing a direct analog connections since you only have the two speakers.
i have a 3.5mm to two regular red/white rca plugs adapter, which is hooked up to the audigy ls, then i run the regular rca red/white audio cable to the receiver. i also have two rear bookshelf speakers but i dont use those much
Spikesoldier
Diamond Member
- Oct 15, 2001
- 6,766
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good deal, im ready to pull the trigger however i saw at the last minute that winxp SP2 is the only OS supported, and is required.
does anyone have this and can confirm that it works without SP2?
i know how finicky creative products are about that kind of stuff, there is no way youre gonna get me off of my SP1
does anyone have this and can confirm that it works without SP2?
i know how finicky creative products are about that kind of stuff, there is no way youre gonna get me off of my SP1
Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
good deal, im ready to pull the trigger however i saw at the last minute that winxp SP2 is the only OS supported, and is required.
does anyone have this and can confirm that it works without SP2?
i know how finicky creative products are about that kind of stuff, there is no way youre gonna get me off of my SP1
Why are you so adamant about staying SP1?
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