Sound Cards-X-Fi vs Audigy 2 ZS Gamer

[dispair]

I see some differences, but not sure which to go with. if i pick the zs 2 i get like 5 games free. anyone got an opinion? thanx

 

[EagleEye]

go for the x-fi, much better quality. Plus the games that come with the gamer suck. It's like halo and the 1st splinter cell or something.

 

[Sqube]

If money isn't an issue, X-Fi wins no contest. It's what I like to refer to as "utter and complete pizzwnage on the n00blets".

 

[PrayForDeath]

Originally posted by: Sqube
If money isn't an issue, X-Fi wins no contest. It's what I like to refer to as "utter and complete pizzwnage on the n00blets".

 

[Some1ne]

X-Fi.

 

[Stangs55]

I upgraded from the Audigy2 ZS Platinum to the X-Fi Platinum and the difference is astounding. So amazing, in fact, that I got all of my buddies over to listen and they left my house to head to best buy for their own.

If you game, then the X-Fi is easily the best choice.

 

[Geomagick]

I have just moved to the X-fi Fatality from the Audigy 2 ZS.

I too was astounded by the difference as well.

 

[Matthias99]

Not to rain any parades, but TechReport reviewed both cards (along with an M-Audio Revolution and Azalia HD onboard), and found that there's not really that much of a difference between the X-Fi and Audigy 2. The X-Fi is a little better than the Audigy 2 in terms of siqnal quality, but not OMGWTFBBQ. Both Creative cards are better than onboard or M-Audio for gaming, though, since CPU usage is lower (especially with lots of sound channels). link to review

That said, I haven't heard an X-Fi card personally -- but I have a hard time believing that it could be *that* much better than an Audigy 2.

 

[Stangs55]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
Not to rain any parades, but TechReport reviewed both cards (along with an M-Audio Revolution and Azalia HD onboard), and found that there's not really that much of a difference between the X-Fi and Audigy 2. The X-Fi is a little better than the Audigy 2 in terms of siqnal quality, but not OMGWTFBBQ. Both Creative cards are better than onboard or M-Audio for gaming, though, since CPU usage is lower (especially with lots of sound channels). link to review

That said, I haven't heard an X-Fi card personally -- but I have a hard time believing that it could be *that* much better than an Audigy 2.

The ability to reproduce 2x as many simultaneous voices/sounds = OMGWTFBBQ

 

[Sqube]

Yeah, Stangs55 is right; all those extra voices/sound locations/whatever are really useful, particularly now that we're getting into gaming where you're going to have that many voices and sounds going off at the same time (Battlefield 2 and similar games).

 

[Finns14]

Can anyone give me a good link to the X-FI or are they just at newegg?

Edit: I just checked some prices sound cards are soo expensive

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Sqube
Yeah, Stangs55 is right; all those extra voices/sound locations/whatever are really useful, particularly now that we're getting into gaming where you're going to have that many voices and sounds going off at the same time (Battlefield 2 and similar games).

I'm not sure that having 128 hardware-accelerated sound channels (compared to 64 on the Audigy2 ZS) is a "must have" feature. How often are you really hearing 65+ different sounds at the same time?

Putting that aside for a moment, according to TR, sound quality and CPU usage on the X-Fi and Audigy2 is very close. They certainly didn't find it to be a night-and-day improvement in these areas by any means. Just trying to put some of this into perspective, since you can get an Audigy2 card relatively cheap these days. That extra $50-100 could buy you a faster CPU or video card, which would make a bigger difference all the time while gaming.

 

[Finns14]

Ok so now the question is whats the best bang for your buck card? and now I don't think I will have to hear 128 things at once

 

[T9D]

The x-fi beats the living crud out of my old audigy 1.

It's seriously worth the money. The cheapest x-fi is really well worth it. And for me it's a bargain considering how amazing it sounds.

 

[Rage187]

I had both (A2 and Xtreme Music)and can't tell the difference.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: tk109
The x-fi beats the living crud out of my old audigy 1.

I don't think there's any contention that X-Fi is not superior (at least on paper) to everything else. The Audigy (1) is pretty dated at this point, and is just not as good as more modern solutions in terms of SNR and frequency response.

It's seriously worth the money. The cheapest x-fi is really well worth it. And for me it's a bargain considering how amazing it sounds.

The question is: is it worth paying $50+ more for an X-Fi than an Audigy 2 ZS (and also, is it worth paying $100+ for an upgrade over decent onboard audio)? If you're on a budget, that money could be put into other components (like more RAM, or a faster video card/CPU).

 

[Finns14]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I had both (A2 and Xtreme Music)and can't tell the difference.

LOL who do I believe?!?!? I hope the A2 is just as good cause I can pick one of those up for like $40

 

[carasage]

I agree with most. When it comes to money, I think the upgrade to X-Fi is not worth the dollar/satisfaction. Some people already mentioned that you'll hardly ever use the X-Fi to its full potential at this current time.

Its like buying a Maserati and only going 60 MPH... whats the point?

Save the money and get a better CPU or video card or RAM.

Soundcard should be the least of your worries unless you WORK mainly with music.

And also, could it be its psychological? Maybe some of you who made X-fi pwns Audigy 2 like OMFGWTFBBQ only thinks like that because your subconscious says it better pwn because i just WASTED 100 bucks to upgrade your sorry butt.

just a thought.

 

[Finns14]

ok so whats the cheapest decent sound card, the only real reason I'm getting one of these cards to take away some stress from the CPU

 

[carasage]

my opinion is to go with creative audigy 2 zs. I think you can get one from the range of 60 - 80. Possibly even cheaper if you go on ebay. i dont know if you care if it was OEM or retail though.

 

[Finns14]

What would be different about OEM as compared to retail for sound cards I assume its missing the driver CD which is no big deal cause I could DL them but what about cables? Would I have to purchase extra cables mysef?

 

[carasage]

OEM comes with just the card + CD drivers. Retail has the other softwares + manuals + cables.

some OEM comes with cables. you have to check with merchant.

 

[mattburk]

quote from the article listed above:"However, the X-Fi XtremeMusic can be had for as little as $110 online. At that price, it's certainly affordable, although still more expensive than a $65 Audigy2 ZS or $80 Revolution 7.1. We think the premium is justified in both cases. The Revolution 7.1, for example, lacks hardware acceleration for 3D audio and DVD-Audio support. It doesn't sound as good as the XtremeMusic, either. Considering that Revolution's generally excellent playback quality has made it one of our favorites for quite some time, the fact that the XtremeMusic surpasses it says a lot."

 

[Finns14]

Whats 3d audio doesn't make sense as long as there is surround sound thats all I care about

 

[Some1ne]

And also, could it be its psychological? Maybe some of you who made X-fi pwns Audigy 2 like OMFGWTFBBQ only thinks like that because your subconscious says it better pwn because i just WASTED 100 bucks to upgrade your sorry butt.

Not sure how it compares to the Audigy 2, but I upgraded from an Audigy 1 to an X-Fi, and the difference is definitely more than "psychological", but that's with an Audigy 1. Maybe it less of a difference compared to the Audigy 2.