Wow! Creative's new Audio Processor: X-Fi!!!!

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sparkyclarky

Platinum Member
May 3, 2002
2,389
0
0
Originally posted by: StormRider
I'm pretty sure this chip will power everything from affordable basic soundcards to high-end soundcards.

I like Creative Labs -- they are the only company that is developing sound accelerators. I can't stand the current trend of using the host CPU for sound processing. The only thing I hate about Creative Labs is their driver policy. They are the only company I know of that requires you to have the original driver CD in order to update drivers. It's a pain in the butt! And their drivers are the most confusing of any company I have encountered. It's difficult to know which drivers you need.
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You can thank creative for them also being the ONLY company that is developing sound accelerators. Aureal was showing them strong competition in that arena 5 years ago until Creative essentially drove them into the ground with lawsuits.
 
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cheapherk

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,976
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Has anyone been able to find out how much this beast is going to cost?
I haven't found any place to preorder one either.
 
Patrick Wolf

Patrick Wolf

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2005
2,443
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I hope it's $140 or less. Going from a SB Audigy (not Audigy 2) will be a big upgrade for me.
 
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Brian48

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
3,410
0
0
Originally posted by: sparkyclarky
You can thank creative for them also being the ONLY company that is developing sound accelerators. Aureal was showing them strong competition in that arena 5 years ago until Creative essentially drove them into the ground with lawsuits.
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Oh come on. That's a perpetuated myth. Aureal tanked on their own with or without the lawsuits.
 
akugami

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
6,210
2,552
136
I think Creative's sound cards are mostly overrated. They've driven most competitors out of business by buying them out. I thought Aureal had a better product at the time but those guys managed to kill themselves off with only minimal nudging from Creative.

I remember installing Creative sound cards and then butting my head on the wall because of all the utter sh!t that was installed on my system. That's why I haven't used a Creative product in years. I've heard that they've improved but while my onboard sound may not be the best, it's "good enough" that I don't feel compelled at this time to buy an add on sound board so I don't know from any recent experience how good or bad their drivers are now. Maybe the new X-FI will convince me to buy one, maybe not. I'm reserving judgement until I see one out and there are reviews from at least two reputable web sites that says it's a good product.
 
JBDan

JBDan

Platinum Member
Dec 7, 2004
2,333
0
0
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I dislike Create Labs because years after SoundStorm they still have not delivered real-time dolby digital encoding of game audio. Stringing 6 analog cables instead of 1 digital cable to a receiver is annoying.
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I strongly 2nd that! :)
 
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Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
Originally posted by: rnp614
My tube preamp cant wait to be hooked up to this X-FI!!!
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You really shouldnt be looking at anything less than the Cambridge Audio Azur 640H if you really have a tube preamp...
 
rstrohkirch

rstrohkirch

Platinum Member
May 31, 2005
2,434
367
126
Need to add that less 1/10th of the provided apps will be useful

There should be fully variable bandpass crossovers on every output, a 31 band graphic and *unlimited* band parametric eqs, phase adjusts, time delay, tone generators and spectrum analyzers/rta, noise gates, etc, etc

I could go on and on - all the stuff that this thing COULD do and make life easier/save money on other software/hardware components....yet more then likely none of that will be included
 
V

Valkerie

Banned
May 28, 2005
1,148
0
0
Originally posted by: minofifa
MOTU card... very nice. I wish i had the cash for the mkII. RME is also excellent and would squash creative for many applications. Arguably the best soundcard for many application are those made by lynx...

sound blasters do well because of their gaming features.
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You don't get it, Audigy has different lines. Besides, for the price of Audigy cards, they will splash any vendor out of the water. There advertising is far more superior than any other sound accelerator company in the world. M-Audio is nice, but they won't catch up with Creative marketing any time soon. You have to consider what an Audigy is capable of, and how much hardware it is limited to, and the expansions.

Think about the gamers, and developers, slightly different target market here.

What kind of gamer would want an MKII? And what would you use it for? Stadium sound FX?
 
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remagavon

Platinum Member
Jun 16, 2003
2,516
0
0
Originally posted by: StormRider
I'm pretty sure this chip will power everything from affordable basic soundcards to high-end soundcards.

I like Creative Labs -- they are the only company that is developing sound accelerators. I can't stand the current trend of using the host CPU for sound processing. The only thing I hate about Creative Labs is their driver policy. They are the only company I know of that requires you to have the original driver CD in order to update drivers. It's a pain in the butt! And their drivers are the most confusing of any company I have encountered. It's difficult to know which drivers you need.
Click to expand...

The latest audigy 2 drivers don't require the CD. I was shocked. :)
 
So

So

Lifer
Jul 2, 2001
25,923
17
81
<sniff> I miss aureal. The only reason I dropped it from my rig was b/c there was nobody to make decent 2k drivers for it. :(
 
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joanknn

Member
Mar 31, 2005
32
0
0
Yeah I like the headphone bit. The 3D panning effect has got be very useful for gaming in the dead of the night when I do not want to wake my partner! I am trying very hard to get him to set aside some money to upgrade to this card when it is out in the market.

Another thing, I noticed from several articles that they are somewhat skeptical about the card's 24 bit crystalliser ability. And I also noticed that those review sites that actually experience the simulation or product wrote very rave reviews about it. Could it be a need to be there and listen to it once thing? I am not sure about Tomshardware.com but I will bet my money on IGN.com and Cnet.com
 
Zebo

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
19
81
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
I dislike Create Labs because years after SoundStorm they still have not delivered real-time dolby digital encoding of game audio. Stringing 6 analog cables instead of 1 digital cable to a receiver is annoying.
Click to expand...

Not as much as I dislike nV for discontinuing it.;)

Best chipset of all time IMO and it was tough to upgrade to A64 for me at least.
 
F

fixxxer0

Senior member
Dec 28, 2004
357
0
0
Originally posted by: remagavon
Originally posted by: StormRider
I'm pretty sure this chip will power everything from affordable basic soundcards to high-end soundcards.

I like Creative Labs -- they are the only company that is developing sound accelerators. I can't stand the current trend of using the host CPU for sound processing. The only thing I hate about Creative Labs is their driver policy. They are the only company I know of that requires you to have the original driver CD in order to update drivers. It's a pain in the butt! And their drivers are the most confusing of any company I have encountered. It's difficult to know which drivers you need.
Click to expand...

The latest audigy 2 drivers don't require the CD. I was shocked. :)
Click to expand...



the drivers do not, but if you want any of the software to adjust things like EAX and such, you need the CD
 
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Skiguy411

Platinum Member
Dec 4, 2002
2,093
0
0
My best guess would be the NDA for all the test units that people have will expire on 8-21-05(the date in the ad) and they will ship out early sept.
 
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