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X-fi Modes

I

imported_Imp

Diamond Member
For the past week I've been finding that my new x-fi has been sounding rather crappy in music and movies, but since I spent so much on it, I kept convincing myself that it was great.Afterall, it was better than my onboard. Well, turns out I was right (or wrong) all along, it was crap, Reason? It's been running in game mode for an entire week:roll: after I shut my system down on Sunday when I was playing CSS. In said week, no games were loaded once. Now, I can't believe the difference; it's like switching from onboard to a card all over again. So, anyone ever done this? Or has everyone already jumped on the third-party mode changer wagon?
 
I forget to switch that mode all the time, although the problem is instantly identifiable when I load up a music file and it sounds like crap. That XFMC program looks worth trying.

Someone explain to me why anyone would want a mode where the SQ sucks...
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Some games like BF2 need the game mode or they exhibit weird audio bugs.
 
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Someone explain to me why anyone would want a mode where the SQ sucks...
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Game mode is ideal for games that take advantage of EAX and positional audio, however it is not optimal for music or video playback. On my X-Fi XM in Game Mode I enable CMSS-3D Headphone, 24-bit Crystalizer @ 50%, and of course EAX. However as soon as I exit a particular game the X-Fi Mode Changer automatically switches me to Audio Creation. I do all playback thru Winamp and Foobar2K using ASIO, 44.1 kHz, and bit-perfect playback. No EQ or other effects....just perfect playback.

Foobar2K/Winamp/ASIO > X-Fi XM > RAM (Belden 1505F) SPDIF > Zhaolu D2C w/ discrete amp > K701
 
Originally posted by: ta8689
is onboard really that bad compared to a sound card when its on a high end mobo?
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That depends on your definition of bad, your speakers/headphones, and ultimately your own ears.
 
ive got an x-530 speaker set. If i were to even think about getting a sound card id get a z-5500 set with it.
 
Originally posted by: ta8689
ive got an x-530 speaker set. If i were to even think about getting a sound card id get a z-5500 set with it.
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Play BF2? X-FI+BF2+sennheiser=me hearing enemy vehicles much sooner than speakers or onboard sound, yes it's subjective but I sleep easier.
 
The diffrence is night and day between game mode and swtching to entertainment mode.

Btw you HAVE to have game mode enabled to use X-Fi settings in BF2. No way around that.

If you enter the game in entertainment mode the game defaults to software mode.
 
<---------------------Just got his X-Fi yesterday!!! 😀

EDIT: And by the way, that linked app looks fantastic.

 
Originally posted by: imaheadcase
Originally posted by: Navid
Originally posted by: John
http://www.freewebs.com/spectra9/xfmc.html
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Every time the mode is changed, there is a taskbar pop-up notifying that the mode has changed. Is there a way to disable the pop-up?
This is an excellent utility. Thanks for posting the link.
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A option lets you turn it off, here is picture if you did not see it under options..

http://img48.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xfichanger4hc.jpg
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Thanks
 
Creative has not released a single driver update to X-Fi cards, other than latest beta for Vista and XP. It is about 1 YEAR since card has been out to.

They claim to release a offical driver next month, but they claimed that since March so not holding my breath.
 
Originally posted by: imaheadcase
Creative has not released a single driver update to X-Fi cards, other than latest beta for Vista and XP. It is about 1 YEAR since card has been out to.

They claim to release a offical driver next month, but they claimed that since March so not holding my breath.
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The official driver is 7 months old, and the latest beta is less than one month old. The beta 2_09_0001 works like a champ on my rig, and as long as they keep updating I don't mind updating on my end.
 
Humm, I don't even change modes. Game sounds best to me on everything(headphone user).
 
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Humm, I don't even change modes. Game sounds best to me on everything(headphone user).
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Wow, you must not have very musical cans then.

fyleow, I am definitely a Head-Fi'er. 😛 The X-Fi doesn;t have the power to properly drive the Sennheiser 600/650's. The D2 w/ discrete headamp will drive the 600/650's without breaking a sweat (or your wallet). A nice feature with the Zhaolu D2 is that you can swap out opamps & DAC modules to tweak the overall sound signature. I have the CS4398 DAC & (4) 2604 opamps (1 is on the discrete headamp). Eddie Wu in Hong Kong also did the Blackgate and other various cap/resistor upgrades to my unit. My K701's are a real treat to listen to. However since I am always looking to upgrade I have a Headfive that should arrive any day now. I'll disconnect the amp in the Zhaolu to see how it compares.
 
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