X-fi HD USB box

[Imp]

Has anyone had any experience with this thing? There aren't many reviews out there.

http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-HD/M/B004275EO4.htm

It's external, and suppose to be pretty high quality. I'm considering it due to its price (~$90), and the fact that it's external. My mobo is a bit crambed, and I wouldn't mind taking out my X-fi Xtreme Music (5 years old by now) and replacing it with this. I don't use any of the signal processing (Crystalizer, CMS3d, etc.).

Otherwise, I'll just save up for the X-fi Titanium HD.

 

[darkswordsman17]

If you want the X-Fi features for gaming, don't buy it, I don't think this one has them at all. I don't believe it even has an X-Fi chip on it, and actually, I believe the usual X-Fi simulated processing goes by a different name (Creative struck a deal with THX so it goes under THX branding).

This card is essentially a USB DAC with some extra features (phono input, and then the software X-Fi processing). Its better quality than these types of products Creative made in the past, but its not a real external X-Fi card.

The Titanium HD is getting good feedback (I know its well liked for the most part on Head-Fi), so if you want a high quality gaming card, that'd be a good choice. Keep in mind, it is aimed at stereo playback, so there's no analog surround speaker output on the card.

I believe Auzentech also was supposed to be working on a new X-Fi card, and you might still be able to find one of their other ones somewhere.

 

[Imp]

With my X-fi Xtrememusic, I try to have minimal processing in the signal. It plugs into a hi-fi 2.1 speaker system (bookshelves, sub and receiver). I don't have much concern for game sounds since I usually run that at pretty low volume. Music and movies, to a lesser extent, are my concern.

The Titanium HD internal card definately looks good, but sitting at double the price of the X-fi HD, I may sit on it a bit longer. Surprisingly, BestBuy is the only store in my area that has a reliable supply of both Titanium HDs and X-fi Hds, and luckily, I have a $100 BB Rewardzone 'card' coming my way shortly.

 

[hans030390]

I picked one up for $70 at Fry's ($50 after MIR), and it's a nice little external sound card. It has good specs, has phono in (with RIAA equalization), optical in/out, line out, headphone out, mic in, etc. The headphone output is amped and can apparently power high impedance headphones. I haven't been able to test it with my 2.1 stereo setup, but I can confirm that my Denon AH-D2000 headphones sound great out of it!

I took a peek at the internal hardware. It has a nice AKM DAC, Cirrus Logic ADC, seemingly high quality parts, etc. The only weak aspect is that the opamp for the headphone amp isn't the best one around (and is not swappable).

The Titanium HD internal card probably has slightly better sound quality in the end, but if you're looking for a cheap 2.1 USB sound card with some nice features thrown in, it's a nice product. It just doesn't have anything extra for games (EAX) and such.

 

[Imp]

I picked one up for $70 at Fry's ($50 after MIR), and it's a nice little external sound card. It has good specs, has phono in (with RIAA equalization), optical in/out, line out, headphone out, mic in, etc. The headphone output is amped and can apparently power high impedance headphones. I haven't been able to test it with my 2.1 stereo setup, but I can confirm that my Denon AH-D2000 headphones sound great out of it!

I took a peek at the internal hardware. It has a nice AKM DAC, Cirrus Logic ADC, seemingly high quality parts, etc. The only weak aspect is that the opamp for the headphone amp isn't the best one around (and is not swappable).

The Titanium HD internal card probably has slightly better sound quality in the end, but if you're looking for a cheap 2.1 USB sound card with some nice features thrown in, it's a nice product. It just doesn't have anything extra for games (EAX) and such.

Good to know. Hope you get a shot at trying it with your 2.1 stereo, I'm very curious as to how compares to onboard or an older gen X-fi. Most reviews seem to say that at a minimum, it's a lot better than onboard audio.

 

[hans030390]

Good to know. Hope you get a shot at trying it with your 2.1 stereo, I'm very curious as to how compares to onboard or an older gen X-fi. Most reviews seem to say that at a minimum, it's a lot better than onboard audio.

Oh, yeah, it is definitely better than onboard audio. I'm sure at the very least it sounds as good as the older X-Fi cards, but I'm guessing it'll sound closer to the Titanium HD card. I could pop it open again, see what chips it specifically has, and then maybe compare that to what the Titanium HD has.

 

[hans030390]

Good to know. Hope you get a shot at trying it with your 2.1 stereo, I'm very curious as to how compares to onboard or an older gen X-fi. Most reviews seem to say that at a minimum, it's a lot better than onboard audio.

Just hooked it up to my 2.1 stereo. No complaints! I was running a Xonar DX before, and I'm satisfied with this.

 

[Imp]

Just hooked it up to my 2.1 stereo. No complaints! I was running a Xonar DX before, and I'm satisfied with this.

Awesome, and thanks for checking. My only other concern would be 'lag', but a mouse on USB is practically seemless, so that's probably not going to be an issue.

Going to further weigh the ups and downs of this for a bit (been raping my Visa the past month). I can't find the USb X-fi HD for any less than $120, but I've found the Titanium HD for $155. Lot of places just don't carry the USB one.


My mistake, just found it for $89 at Amazon.ca. Out of stock, but Amazon's pretty reliable for this kind of stuff.

 

[hans030390]

Awesome, and thanks for checking. My only other concern would be 'lag', but a mouse on USB is practically seemless, so that's probably not going to be an issue.

Well, lag shouldn't be noticeable in most cases. However, when I run my turntable through the phono in (which acts as a recording input that I play through the speakers), I can definitely tell that the sound coming from my speakers is slightly delayed compared to the noise you get actually coming from the turntable. Playing something straight from the computer (meaning USB to line out or headphones), though, has yet to make me notice any sort of lag.

 

[Imp]

So, 11 months later, I finally "splurged" (un-cheap-blocked myself) and got this thing yesterday. AMAZING.

Sound is as good, if not better than my X-fi Xtrememusic. Bass response is better: I suspected there were driver issues with the Xtrememusic as bass response was abysmal while I was still using it. Being a 5 year old card designed for XP, that's not too surprising. Previously, the subwoofer wouldn't even turn on (auto-on) when some of my music was playing. Also, using an SPL meter, a foot away from the woofer, the db is definitely higher (more than 5+). No lag/response issues noticed so far in games either.

My 6850 also has more than 5mm to breath now... Temps have dropped about 10 degrees-C on average, and the fan doesn't have to work as hard so it's quiter. Very impressed for ~$90.

Only complaint is that I have an extra 6' USB cord running from the back of my computer, and another 6' RCA cable from the external card to the receiver. Woe is me...

 

[scootermaster]

That's PC only, I presume? I'm looking to upgrade my DAC for my Macbook Pro, and this seems like a decent fit. Except for, you know, the whole not-Mac-compatible thing. =]

 

[Imp]

That's PC only, I presume? I'm looking to upgrade my DAC for my Macbook Pro, and this seems like a decent fit. Except for, you know, the whole not-Mac-compatible thing. =]

This is from the Amazon product info page:

Compatibility and System Requirements
The X-Fi HD USB sound card is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP (Professional x64 Edition, Service Pack 2 or above), Windows Vista, and Windows 7. (The card is not Mac compatible.)

 

[hans030390]

That's PC only, I presume? I'm looking to upgrade my DAC for my Macbook Pro, and this seems like a decent fit. Except for, you know, the whole not-Mac-compatible thing. =]

I hooked it up to a Mac and got basic functionality at the very least. I didn't test to see if everything worked.