| Reviewed by: Jason “PhatSOB” Hambly Date: February 20, 2006 Manufacturer: Creative Labs Supplied By: Creative Labs Model: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Price: $129.99US (€109) Edited By: Sean May and Ian King |
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| Introduction:
After a couple of quiet years in the sound card business, Creative has fought off the threats of onboard sound taking over and remained the top contender for your PC audio needs. The last time there was a big step with sound cards was back when the original Audigy was released. The Audigy 2 improved a little and every now and then you would see a forum thread in Chinese about an Audigy 4. The latest big step in audio is easily the greatest we have seen from Creative; the X-Fi series. Today I am running a Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic. |
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{mospagebreak title=Specifications}
Specifications:
Technical Specs
– 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate
– 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
– 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output
– 16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
– ASIO 2.0 support at 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44.1kHz 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring
– Enhanced SoundFont support at up to 24-bit resolution
Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms)
– Signal-to-Noise Ratio (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Weighted)
o Stereo Output: 109dB
o Front and Rear Channels: 109dB
o Center, Subwoofer and Side Channels: 109dB
– Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (20kHz Low-pass filter) = 0.004%
– Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ) = <10Hz to 46kHz
– Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input) = <10Hz to 88kHz (Stereo only)
Connectivity
– FlexiJack (Performing a 3-in-1 function, Digital I/O1 / Line In / Microphone) via 3.50mm mini jack
– Line level out (Front / Rear / Side / Center / Subwoofer) via 3.50mm mini jacks
– AUX_IN line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector on card
– One AD_Link (26 pin) connector for linking to the X-Fi I/O Console (upgrade option)
Contents:
– Sound Blaster X-Fi™ PCI Card
– Quick Start Leaflet
– Installation and Applications CD containing:
o Drivers for Windows® XP
o Creative Software Suite
o Doom 3™ Sound Blaster EAX patch
o User’s Guide
Requirements:
Basic Requirements
- Genuine Intel® Pentium® III 1 GHz, AMD® 1 GHz processor or faster
– Intel, AMD or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
– Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
– 256MB RAM
– 600MB of free hard disk space
– Available PCI 2.1 slot for the audio card
– CD-ROM/CD-RW or CD/DVD-ROM required for software installation
– Graphics card with DirectX® 9 and OpenGL® compliant 3D graphics accelerator
Additional Requirements (where applicable)
Gaming
– DirectX® 9 and OpenGL® compliant 3D graphics accelerator with at least 32 MB of texture RAM
DVD-Video and DVD-Audio Playback
– 6x or faster DVD-ROM drive with one of the following recommended software DVD players: InterVideo WinDVD or CyberLink PowerDVD (latest version recommended)
– 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 speakers for optimal listening experience
Entertainment Center and Remote Control Usage
– Graphics card with DirectX 9 compatible video drivers to ensure proper interaction between
Entertainment Center and software DVD players
– Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 97 or later to control PowerPoint presentations wirelessly using the remote control
Audio Creation
– 256 MB RAM and above is required for loading 24-bit SoundFont banks
Note
Other applications, especially games, may have higher system requirements. Refer to the applications’ documentation for details.
Specifications: 4.75/5
{mospagebreak title=Overview}
Overview:
When you first open up the X-Fi XtremeMusic you are greeted with a nice looking black PCB and gold PCI bracket / connectors. Other than that it looks a lot like previous soundcards from Creative. One thing I noticed that I had not before on my previous versions of Creative cards was the heatsink on the Creative chip. With 51 million transistors, it is probably wise that there is something there to help keep it running cool.
Creative has added small amounts of memory to all of the X-Fi series cards. The XtremeMusic comes with 2MB of onboard memory. The Fatal1ty and Elite Pro versions come with 64MB of X-RAM. This is to help remove the pressure from the CPU.
On the outside of the card are the conectors. As I have noticed before, the uncolored jacks make it very hard to tell which is which. This time around, Creative has provided a very small sticker in the box to place on the PCI bracket around the jacks. The sticker has small colored blocks below each hole to help you discern which jack is for what.
There are only four jacks on the XtremeMusic, the first is the most interesting. Creative labels it “FlexiJack” since it acts as a 3 in 1 jack that will switch between Mic-In, Line-In, and Digital I/O connection. The other three jacks are for surround sound speakers. The remaining item on the outside of the card is the “AD_Link” port, Creative uses this for connecting their external audio products such as the X-Fi I/O console.
Overview: 4.5/5
{mospagebreak title=Performance}
Performance:
To test the X-Fi XtremeMusic I ran the card through several game tests followed by some subjective tests listening to music and movies.
Game Tests:
Test System:
AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice Core @2.5GHz
Kingston HyperX PC4300
2x Leadtek 7800GT in SLI
2x Samsung SATA 3G NCQ HDDs in RAID 0
Antec True Power 2.0 550w PSU
Antec Titan case
All game tests were run using “Game Mode” in the Creative Audio Console.
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Call of Duty 2
Battlefield 2: Special Forces
There is a slight increase in frame rate in each game tested. This is not a noticable difference in game but the increased audio quality with the X-Fi is definitely noticable.
Audio Tests:
All audio tests were run using “Entertainment Mode” in the Creative Audio Console.
Music and DVD:
Using several CDs and DVDs from my collection, I found that the sound was fuller and more pronounced when using the X-Fi soundcard over onboard audio. This was emphasized even more when the 24-bit Crystalizer was enabled.
Performance: 4.5/5
{mospagebreak title=Price and Warranty}
Price and Warranty:
The X-Fi XtremeMusic has a suggested retail price of $129.99, however it is available online from retailers such as Newegg.com for $121.99. Creative offers a one year warranty on their X-Fi line of sound cards and 60 days on the software. Full information on obtaining an RMA can be found on Creative’s website .
Price and Warranty: 4.25/5
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
After several days running the X-Fi I have found myself getting used to the very full sound coming from my surround speakers that I was not used to previously. With the 24-bit Crystalizer enabled, the sound is fuller and gives you a much better feeling that you are actually in the game or movie. I highly suggest the Creative X-Fi series to anyone looking to improve their audio performance over onboard sound. Frame rates may not have seemed like they improved a lot, however even one or two FPS could mean the difference of a frag or a death. The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic receives our Best on the Planet Award.
Pros:
- Improved frame rates in gaming
- Incredible audio quality in games, movies, music
Cons:
- XtremeMusic version doesn’t have a front panel
Scores:
Specifications: 4.75/5
Overview: 4.5/5
Performance: 4.5/5
Price/Warranty: 4.25/5
Total: 18/20
Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank Amy Stojsavljevic at Creative for sending us this hardware for review.