What is the best Creative sound card?

[Kristijonas]

Hello, I would like to get ahold of the best Creative sound card I can get. I am not rich, I'm just a stupid guy who wants that I live in a second world country, so no newegg or similar sites here. Ebay unfortunately is also off-limits I suppose.

Currently I have three options:
Sound Blaster ZXR for 150 pounds
X-Fi Titan HD for 140 pounds
X-Fi Elite Pro (used) for 90 pounds (perhaps a little lower)
X-Fi Platinum (used) for 50 pounds (perhaps a little lower)

Please advice...
I understand the X-Fi is years old, but then, perhaps they can still stand up to ZXR? That would save my pockets from having even wider holes.
I realize that my current card, Xonar D1, is not bad either, but I want to try the best of Creative. Any advice is very appreciable. I have spent the last 3 days researching sound cards and there's so much to learn, I didn't even begin reading about X-Fi series or comparing them to ZXR as I believe that would require some technical literacy as well.

The card will be used 1 for gaming and 2 for music with good 2.0 speakers.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Any card that is not a Creative card.

 

[denis280]

you should look for asus.

 

[bononos]

Hello, I would like to get ahold of the best Creative sound card I can get. I am not rich, I'm just a stupid guy who wants that I live in a second world country, so no newegg or similar sites here. Ebay unfortunately is also off-limits I suppose.

Currently I have three options:
Sound Blaster ZXR for 150 pounds
X-Fi Titan HD for 140 pounds
X-Fi Elite Pro (used) for 90 pounds (perhaps a little lower)
X-Fi Platinum (used) for 50 pounds (perhaps a little lower)

Please advice...
I understand the X-Fi is years old, but then, perhaps they can still stand up to ZXR? That would save my pockets from having even wider holes.
I realize that my current card, Xonar D1, is not bad either, but I want to try the best of Creative. Any advice is very appreciable. I have spent the last 3 days researching sound cards and there's so much to learn, I didn't even begin reading about X-Fi series or comparing them to ZXR as I believe that would require some technical literacy as well.

The card will be used 1 for gaming and 2 for music with good 2.0 speakers.

I think your D1 is already better than the x-fi titanium. Its already a good card so stick with it. Better to spend your money on something else.

The only reason creative might be better would be for better 3d positioning during fps games. Not a whole lot better but it was noticeable. But that was a while back when eax was still in use. I don't know if that still holds true now.

 

[taq8ojh]

Any card that is not a Creative card.

Wrong.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/soundblaster_zxr_review,1.html

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Wrong.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/soundblaster_zxr_review,1.html

still the mis-informed i see

 

[Kristijonas]

I realize my Xonar D1 is not bad/worse, but I really want to try out something good from Creative. In part because I want to try out how gaming (with and without EAX: I like playing old games) is, with Creative. So it's for "educational" purpose as well.

BTRY B 529th FA BN, could you elaborate on your opinion a bit, please?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

BTRY B 529th FA BN, could you elaborate on your opinion a bit, please?

Unless driver has support has changed in the last 4 years, I would avoid them like the Black Plague and drink Beer. If you are finding good reviews on their driver support then continue with your interest in Creative. I haven't looked back at them in 4-5 yrs. It's just my personal experience with them so I apologize for my opinion but the majority of people's opinions I've read about them during that time was concurrent with what I felt. ha20x2k.sys would kill my machine at any random time. Gaming. Desktop. etc. It was related to Creative. After 4 yrs of waiting and trying work arounds I finally decided to just get another card. I really liked creative that much. Since then, my system hasn't crashed with that ha20x2k.sys error.

 

[taq8ojh]

I used to have X-Fi based card up until some two years ago, and it was horrible.

Creative actually pulled their thumbs out of their asses this time, and the drivers WORK. Seriously. They're not even in beta state anymore, couple days ago a stable version was released.

The guy reviewing sound cards over at Guru3d is no idiot btw, and is not sponsored by any company at all. Those reviews can be believed.

edit: I find it hillarious how you say it's all shite and in the same post admit you haven't seen anything from them in five years.

 

[Kristijonas]

edit: I find it hillarious how you say it's all shite and in the same post admit you haven't seen anything from them in five years.

And don't forget this :biggrin:

still the mis-informed i see

I haven't looked back at them in 4-5 yrs.

So ironic. No offense, BTRY B 529th FA BN !

Octopuss, which X-FI did you have?
Is the sound quality of ZXR noticeable? How are you liking it so far? Have you tried it in games?

 

[taq8ojh]

I didn't exactly have Creative X-Fi, rather Auzentech X-Fi Forte, which is based on the same chip, and thus plagued by the driver nightmares. It wasn't pleasant.

I cannot comment on the quality too much, but it's definitely a LOT better than onboard sound, if you have quality speakers (I use 2.0 setup only). If you have dog/cat/something ears, you could probably tell a difference from other good cards. If not, and what you have works, it might not be worth spending the money (the card is not exactly cheap).

What I can say with certainity is that Creative went a long way with drivers. And I mean LONG, compared to the ridiculous state of last years.
I didn't run into any problems at all. Everything installed just fine, and everything works. But then again, I only use stereo speakers, and I did hear some things about problems with surround, and with headphones. It might be rumours, and it might not. But Creative seems to be much more serious with driver development this time, so there are problems, chances are they will be fixed before the end of the year
I also run Win7 x64.

That's all I can say about this card from my own experiences.

 

[Kristijonas]

I too use 2.0 quality speakers and this is what I prefer.
As for the drivers, I especially like the fact that their latest driver is only from July 10th, which was just over a week ago, which probably means they are updating their drivers often.
I guess my best choices if I really want to try Creative is either the basic Z, or Zxr... The basic Z would be the logical choice when I look at my pockets (that are now empty), but I would really like to own Zxr and know that I have the best of best... even if I will have to eat crumbles ;X

 

[taq8ojh]

From what I read so far, going with Z or Zx is not a good idea. While they are good cards, it's the ZxR where the quality jump is, and you wouldn't get too much improvement over older quality cards (for example, I used to have Xonar Phoebus, which is a little under ZxR specs-wise, but above Z/Zx).

 

[Puffnstuff]

I've been eyeing up the zxr myself as a replacement for my asus xonar d2x when and if it gives out. It took creative long enough to step up with this card.

 

[Falacer805]

Unless your job/hobby calls for it, mobo sound is sufficient for general usage & gaming. At least in my experience it is.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Once you've had a good sound card with good speakers onboard sound is like speaking to someone with a string and a Dixie cup.

 

[Kristijonas]

Can't decide between Zxr and Z...
Zxr looks like a really perfect card, but then... I don't really need half of, nor the daughter board nor the ACM. But Z is currently not on the market in my country, for some reason, and it is worse-sounding than ZxR. Hmm... Perhaps I should take just the basic Z, judging by my poor budget.

 

[Kristijonas]

I have ordered the Zxr (because basic Z was not available in my country and won't be shipped for several weeks!)

Could someone please give me advice so I could test my Xonar D1 against the Creative Sound Blaster Zxr ?

1. Is it possible to have both cards at the same time, in the same PC, working? So I could switch my RCA cable between them, to check how the sound differs, in real time?

2. Is there any kind of good software which would let me record audio/video so I could record as I play games, with both cards? I could then make a video comparisson of both cards sounding in games.

Thanks!

 

[Kristijonas]

I have received the Creative Sound Blaster Zxr card and I am very happy with it. I am still thinking of writing a review of comparison between Zxr and Xonar D1. I already favor Zxr though. ( I have both sound cards in my system now )

I have a question, though. In the control panel, I can choose between Stereo, 5.1, headphones and "stereo direct".
What is this stereo direct and how does it differ from simple "stereo" ?