Roughly two years ago Asus entered the discrete audio market with quite a bang. Their entry product, the Xonar D2, took everyone by surprise and created quite a storm of talk and not a little bit of controversy. We had one of those first cards in for evaluation and found them to be an amazing first product and, in terms of performance and audio quality, to be more than a match for the X-Fi.
Since then Asus has released a few different derivatives of the Xonar including a USB flavor. We have had the PCI-e variety in house for a few weeks and have been comparing it rather heavily against Creative Lab’s X-Fi Platinum in terms of audio quality and performance impact both for gaming and HTPC usage. Read on to find out if the Xonar can be heard above the noise.

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
As with other members of the Xonar family the DX comes in a white box with blue artistic patterns across the front. Where it differs from its older brother (the D2) is that there is actually a picture of the card on the front letting you know what you are getting right away. (Thus eliminating the chance of it merely becoming a decoration on the mantle) The box also has the usual front flap. Upon opening this flap you are greeted with all of the major features of the DX at a glance. The marketing folks at Asus have even added in some nice illustrations to show you how some of the features work in theory. The back of the box lists the contents in twelve different languages.  Inside all of this we find the usual black cardboard box where the real prize is kept.

The DX does not come loaded up with the same haul of loot the D2 does, instead it runs rather light with only the following;
Asus Xonar DX PCI-e Audio Card
Xonar Driver and Utility CD-ROM
Installation reference guide
1 Toslink adapter
Mini-PCI I/O shield

{mospagebreak title=Features and Design}
Features and Design:
When the Xonar was first launched it promised (and delivered) an amazing range of audio specifications. From a 118 Signal to Noise ratio to just about every Dolby flavor out.  But the most important feature that the Xonar offered was real surround sound for gaming on Microsoft’s Vista. This was something that Creative flatly denied was possible. Yet Asus managed it. The DX one not only follows in this tradition but improves on it with a new version of DS3D. Thrown into the mix is also a new voice technology called VocalFX that allows EAX effects to work with voice input for MMORG games.
On the technical side of things the DX uses all solid capacitors, improved opamps and PCI-e 1x connectivity. The Audio Processor is the AV100 instead of the AV200 (as mentioned before the AVxxx Chips do not provide Hardware encode/decode functions but provide hardware positional audio support. The real work of encode/decode it done in software using the CPU. By leveraging the PCI-e bus this allows for faster I/O to and from the AV100). The DX also requires external power in the form of a 4-pin floppy power connector located at the rear of the card. Although the sample I received did not include this I have heard from others that the retail version does. (After speaking with Asus I have confirmed that all new Xonar DXs will have the Power Adapter included)

{mospagebreak title=Multi Media Performance}
Performance:
For Audio equipment performance should be measured in two parts. The first is what impact will it have on the system? Will the device create an overhead that will reduce system efficiency? Will games, movies and other multimedia applications slow down when in use? Each of these needs to be addressed for the first half of Audio performance. The second half of the performance question is sound quality.
This is not as easy to judge. For the first half it is simply a matter of frame rates and system I/O. For the quality of the sound you really should not rely on one person’s judgment.  What sounds good to me might not sound good to you. We at Planetx64 have come up with what we feel is the answer to that second question, that is to use multiple listeners and ask them what they felt about the quality of sound.
I chose five persons and had each listen to both the X-Fi Platinum and the Xonar DX.
Each of the five rated the two cards based on the following criteria.
Quality, Vibrance, and Depth (all as a single score from one to five)
These were in reference to the sound experience running analog output to a 7.1 surround system, using the following media types
Blu-RayDVD
SD DVD
HD-TV (audio)
CD-Audio
Gaming
I broke these down into two categories for simplicity:
Multi-Media

Test System:
Intel QX9770
Asus P5E64 WS Evolution
2GB (2x1GB) Kingtson
150GB Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM HDD
PC Power and Cooling 1kw PSU
Foxconn 8800GTX
Plextor BluRay Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
CyberLink Power DVD 8 used for all Video Playback

For Home Theatre Quality audio the Xonar beats the X-Fi hands down.
The participants commented that the Xonar had a full and clean sound.
I used Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl on BluRay and Rain Man on SD DVD.
One listener commented that the cannon shots in Pirates of the Caribbean sounded very realistic on the Xonar.
The X-fi was not horrible either but most felt it sounded thin and reedy compared to the Xonar.
Voices were not clear and there was noticeable mud in the mid-range on the X-Fi.

{mospagebreak title=Gaming Performance}
Gaming:
Here the gap was a little closer, most of the players did not notice much of a difference but commented that the rear channels sounded cleaner and sounds seemed to move around them during play better on the Xonar.System impact was rated by CPU usage during audio playback and frames per second during gaming.
Something unexpected happened here; the Xonar with its software based encoding had less of a system impact on the higher end audio from BluRay playback.  On Standard Definition DVDs the X-Fi used less CPU than the Xonar by 2% but the audio sounded muddled and “odd”. On the Xonar it was sharp and very clean.

Gaming was also surprising given that most people claim the X-Fi is the clear winner in gaming performance. This was just not the case in our testing. I will concede the point that I only tested with a small number of games but each of these games do have positional audio and HalfLife 2 Episode 2 has settings to utilize 5.1 systems.
Overall the results were not surprising to me given the platform. Creative has been busy bad mouthing Vista for so long that they have missed the boat on getting their drivers running properly.  Even the Xonar DX’s lack of EAX 5.0 hardware was not an issue considering EAX 5 is now supported in the Xonar’s driver package (available for download from Asus.com) granted this is a “fix” and simply reports to the game that EAX 5 compatible hardware is present so that the game will unlock the 128 3D voices for reproduction by the sound card. EAX 3.0 and 4.0 are still not present in the Xonar driver package.

{mospagebreak title=Price/Warranty}
Price/Warranty:
At the time of writing you could get the Xonar DX for around $100. This is a very good price considering the specifications and performance. It was $80 less than the X-Fi Platinum (granted you get more “stuff” with the platinum) and outperformed it in every way we tested.
Warranty is the same as the Xonar D2 with 3-year coverage on manufacturer defects.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
Asus has made it clear that they are in the sound business to stay. The Xonar DX was and is an impressive card. The move to PCI-e will help as more and more boards are moving away from the older PCI bus (not to mention putting PCI slots in unusable places). For gaming enthusiasts the move away from hardware processing should be a bonus as Asus can now implement new signal processing technologies with a simple driver update. This will allow them to keep the same great card for many game/OS generations without losing performance or quality. The 64-bit (XP or Vista) enthusiast will also love the seamless install right from the Driver CD. No need to run to Asus’ web site for drivers and a patch to run the DX (although I would recommend getting the latest drivers). If you are looking to buy a sound card to replace your on-board one or maybe you want to make the switch from Creative I would give the Xonar series and the Xonar DX a long hard look, and while you’re looking grab one and put it in your box.  

Introduction:
Asus, a name once synonymous with quality, high-performance mainboards, now seems to be a name that can be attached to just about anything electronic.Asus seems to make just about everything now. From monitors to laptops to toasters… Ok so maybe they do not make toasters (yet) but if you are looking for high quality gear for your PC or technology fix; for most things you won’t need to look much farther than Asus.
One of Asus’ recent forays has been into discrete sound cards we were fortunate enough to test the Xonar D2 and found it to be every bit the equal to the creative offerings and in many cases (such as sound quality) the clear winner between the two.Now we have another Asus sound device up on the grill; the Xonar U1 the USB cousin to the PCI based Xonar D2. Let’s see if the U1 can live up to its big brother’s name.

Product: Asus Xonar U1
Author: Sean Kalinich
Category: Mainstream Audio
Reviewed on: March 16th 2008
Product cost: $89.99
Manufacturer: Asus
Spelling and Grammatical editor:  John Aubrey, Jason Hambly

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
As with the D2 the U1 has an unassuming blue and white box with the same “hide-and-seek” flap on the front covering up the goods. The difference here is that Asus has put the words “Audio Station” in large friendly letters on the front along with a picture of the U1. Although, even with the picture you still might not get what it does as the U1 is one of the most peculiar looking external sound cards I have ever seen ( I will talk about the aesthetics of the U1 a little later on). Once you have removed the outer cover, and open the plain black box beneath you will see all of the goodies that Asus has packed into the U1’s box.
Here is a list of the toys that you get when you purchase the U1.

Drivers for the Xonar work with both X86 and X64 systems making it an almost “turn-key” item.
{mospagebreak title=Features}
Features:
The Xonar U1 as with its bigger brother the D2 has a ton of audio features bundled into it.
Just a few software based features listed on Asus’ website are:

Operation System
Windows Vista (32-bit)
Windows Vista (64-bit)
Windows XP (32-bit)
Windows XP (64-bit)

Dolby® Technologies
Dolby® Headphone
Dolby® Virtual Speaker
Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx
Dolby® Digital Live

DirectSound3D Game Extensions 1.0/DirectX
DS3D GX 1.0 supports EAX gaming sound effects and DirectSound 3D hardware enhanced functions on Windows Vista. (DirectX/DirectSound 3D compatible)

Smart Volume Normalizer™
Normalizes the volume of all audio sources into a constant level and also enhances your 3D sound listening range and advantages in gaming

Magic Voice™
Modifies the sound of your voice, for VOIP and online chat applications

Karaoke Functions
Music Key-Shifting and Microphone Echo effects

Xear 3DTM Virtual Speaker Shifter
Virtual 7.1 speaker positioning

Array Microphone
Reducing environmental background sounds and noises; keeping your front side voice input as clean as possible

Other Effects
10-band Equalizer/27 Environment Effects

EAX 2.0 support

Now I am sure you noticed that I listed these as software features, what this means is that the U1 relies on the CPU to process the audio information in real-time. I know this sounds like it would have a huge impact on performance but in reality the amount of processing power in most modern CPUs is large enough that the audio overhead has almost no impact (see performance section below).

All of these items are controlled by the Xonar software which is very user friendly.

As you can see from the screen shots above Asus has included a very nice Equalizer, this comes in hand when using non-powered speakers. With this tuning the Xoanr U1 is capable of making even "base-challenged" speakers sound good.
For volume control Asus has come up with a rather clever idea, the whole top of the U1 is the volume knob. This means that to turn up (or down) the volume all you have to do is twist the top.
to mute everything you simply have to push down on the top. While muted the light on the top turns red.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}

Aesthetics:
The Xonar U1 looks like two cones stacked one on top of the other and with the top cone having its point cut off. When I first showed it to friends they had no clue as to what it was although the guesses were pretty entertaining including “it’s an air purifier?” Once we got past all of the questions and I ensured everyone that the Xonar U1 was indeed an external sound card the comments on its appearance were much more complimentary.

Since appearance is a very subjective item I (as I have in the past) included opinions other than my own to make sure I give you a good idea of the visual impact of the U1.
The questions asked were:

                On a scale of one to five how would you rate the Xonar U1 for appearance? (one being horrible and five being great)
                On a scale of one to five how would you rate the Xonar U1 for “coolness”? (one being laughable and five being Very Cool)

I was surprised at the results:

Looks:

"Coolness":

{mospagebreak title=Performance}
Performance:
For anything audio related you have to include another subjective test, that is sound quality. It is a simple truth that not everyone likes the same sounds. What I might find pleasant or high quality the next person might think is akin to fingernails on a blackboard.
Again my circle of “volunteers” comes to the rescue of another evaluation.
As with the D2 I had the guinea pigs… um I mean volunteers listen to a few different types of sound (using both 2.1 speakers and SPDiF out) and rate each on a scale of one to five. I also asked for a single word to describe the sound.

The second part of sound performance is its actual impact on system performance, if you plug the U1 is it going to slow your gaming or movie watching down?

For this test I used a desktop system with fairly high-end parts to represent an average gaming rig. I used FRAPs to track actual “in-game” performance using the onboard sound CODEC and the U1.
I used the following games for my testing.
BioShock
HalfLife 2 Episode 2
Call of Duty 4

Test System:
AMD AM2 5000+ Black Edition
Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5
4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 RAM (2x2GB)
ATI/AMD Radeon HD2900 XT
Muskin 1.1KW PSU
2x Western Digital 10k RPM 74GB Raptors (Non RAID Legacy IDE)
Generic 16x DVD-ROM

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (x86 and x64 versions)

The sound CODEC on the MA79FX-DS5 is the ALC889A by Realtek. This offers some good features all on its own with DTS connect, Blu-Ray and HD full rate lossless audio, and 7.1+2 channel surround.

With 106db signal to noise ratio it will be stiff competition for the U1.
The results below are all based on individual listening. The subjects would listen to each without knowledge of what was processing the sound. I then asked for a number from one to five, with one being horrible and five being the best sound they have heard.
For gaming and Movies I used SPiDF out (I used an optical to coax converter as the speakers I was using did not allow for direct optical in) for all other sounds I used 2.1 speakers.

	U1		ALC899A
CD	4		2.6
	3		2.5
	3.2		3
	3.5		3
	3.4		3
	3.1		3.1
	3.2		3.4
	4		3.2
Total	3.425		2.975

	U1		ALC899A
MP3s	3		2.6
	3		2.7
	3		3
	3		3
	3.25		3
	3.1		3.1
	3.25		3.1
	3.5		3.1
Total	3.1375		2.95

	U1		ALC899A
BioShock	3.75		3
	3.4		3
	3.5		2.8
	4		2.9
	3.2		2.9
	3.3		3.1
	3.25		3.25
	3.1		3
	4		3
Total	3.46875		2.99375

	U1		ALC899A
HL2	3.25		3
	3.3		2.8
	3.75		2.9
	3.2		3
	3.6		3.1
	4		2.8
	4		2.8
	3.4		3
Total	3.5625		2.925

	U1		ALC899A
COD4	3.4		3
	3.3		3
	3.5		2.8
	3.25		2.9
	3.1		2.9
	4		3.25
	3.6		3
	3.35		3.1
Total	3.4375		2.99375

As you can see from the results the U1 seems to be the clear winner on sound quality.
{mospagebreak title=Gaming Performance}
Gaming performance:
While no External Sound adapter, that I know of, will ever replace an internal card for sheer performance the U1 did admirably well.
I was honestly expecting the U1 to run just behind the ALC889A (due to inherent latencies in the USB bus) but this was not the case. The U1 performed a little faster in all games except one.  HalfLife 2 Episode 2 running in 64bit mode seemed to give the U1 some trouble where it lagged behind by a couple of frames per second but was still very playable even at 1920×1200.

The resolution and extras enabled on each game are shown below.

Call of Duty 4:
Resolution – 1920×1200
All "eye-candy" on.

HalfLife 2 Episode 2
Resolution – 1920×1200
All "eye-candy" on
4xAA 16xAF

BioShock:
Resolution – 1920×1200
All "eye-candy" on
DX10 and EAX sound on

{mospagebreak title=Price/Warranty}
Price/ Warranty:
The Xonar U1 will cost you roughly $90; not a bad price for the quality and performance you get and when you consider there is not another external sound card in its price range that offers optical SPDiF out (toslink) with USB 2.0 connectivity.

The warranty offered on the Xonar U1 from Asus is a little interesting; according to the Asus website all audio cards carry a three year limited warranty. They then go on to say that this applies to “most” territories and that you should contact your reseller to be certain. 

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}

Conclusion:
When Asus entered the sound card market they knew they were going to be up against some serious competition. Creative Labs has dominated the market for so long that only truly great product would be able to keep pace. We saw this with the D2 and now we are seeing the same thing from the U1.
With an amazing ability to reproduce sound and stellar performance in a compact and good looking package the U1 looks like it will truly follow in its big brother’s footsteps when it comes to the external market and oust the current king.
If you are looking for an external card for your gaming and other audio needs the U1 is going to be your best bet.

For its great combination of price performance and audio excellence we are happy to give the Xonar U1 our Best on the Planet award.

Discuss this review here

Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank Eric Chen at Asus for his help in getting this evaluation put together

Introduction:
Most people know Asus for their mainboards; but Asus has quite a bit more than just mainboards in its list of offerings.  There are Asus notebooks, phones, PDAs, network switches, CPU coolers, you name it and I think Asus makes it. The only thing that Asus lacked in PC peripherals was a sound card. But now all of that has changed. Asus, one of the leading tier one hardware manufacturers has jumped into the previously Creative dominated sound card market. This offering named the Xonar D2 is set to go head to head with Creative’s X-Fi but will it be able to measure up to the reputation the X-Fi has?
Let close our eyes and listen to find out.

Product: Asus Xonar D2
Author:
Sean Kalinich
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Category: Enthusiast
Reviewed on: November 20th 2007
Product cost: $189.99
Manufacturer: Asus
Spelling and Grammatical editor:  Carlos Echenique, Jason Hambly

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
The Xonar’s box is nice but does not reach out and grab you. If this was sitting on the shelf next to the other offerings you might pass it by. If you did stop and pick the box up (perhaps due to the large number of Dolby and other Logos along the bottom of the front cover), you might open the front flap. If this is what you did, then you would be impressed with what you saw. Under the front flap Asus put the color print that should have been on the outside and even allows you a look at the Xonar.

After you have marveled at the packaging (this is of course after you picked it up, lifted the front flap, and paid the nice person at the checkout counter) you will probably want to open the box up and see just what Asus has stuffed inside.
If you did do this and not simply put it on the fireplace mantle for decoration, you would not be disappointed.

The contents of the box are quite impressive, here is the list:

Xonar D2 7.1 Channel Surround Card

Driver Support CD (Including Portable Music Processor utility)
Abletion Live 6 Lite software CD
Valuable Cakewalk Production Plus Pack CD (Sonar LE, Dimension LE, and Project5 LE)
PowerDVD 7 software DVD Player

1x Additional MIDI Bracket and adapter cable
2x S/PSIF TOSLINK optical adaptors
1x S/PSIF TOSLINK optical cable
4x 3.fmm to RCA cables for 8 channel output
Dolby Demo CD

Quick Start Guide

Not a bad haul, the optical cable and adaptors alone are quite nice but to add in the extra analog cables to allow for analog surround makes the “stash” even better.
The software is entry level product but still nothing to thumb your nose at either.

{mospagebreak title=Design and Features}
Design and Features:

The Xonar was designed from the ground up to be a hardware based 7.1 digital surround card. Unlike Creative’s X-Fi (which decodes in software and is very bus dependent), Asus decided to move just about everything into hardware. The nice thing about this is you lose much of the PCI polling that is common with the Creative Cards. It also tends to add a much cleaner sound to the mix.
The major features (taken right from Asus’ website are)

As you can see the Xonar is an impressive creation on paper, with specifications that exceed the X-Fi in many respects. True, Asus does not have EAX 5.0 but that sound standard has not been implemented in many games and even with games that do have it there is a performance impact as well as other issues when this is enabled.

Speaking in terms of aesthetics, (any of you that have read one of my case reviews knows I am big on this) the Xonar is an impressive site. Asus have added a black EMI shield with a small circular yellow light. While this is attractive it is somewhat pointless as the card faces the bottom of your case. Now do not misunderstand me the EMI shield is not pointless; just the light.
The outputs along the back are very interesting, the fact that they light up the color of the cable that should go into the jack (Pink light for the Mic jack etc) is a very nice touch. They also have dual purpose SPDIF jacks; you can use either optical or coaxial cables for these two jacks. As I mentioned above Asus provided cables for just about any type of sound set up, or for you to tie someone up pretty well (if you are into that sort of thing).
Software Controls:
For controlling your new Xonar, Asus has provided a control panel that is very functional and easy to learn. As you can see from the screen shots below; everything you need to configure and control your Xonar sound is right at your fingertips.
While I know all of this is interesting, I am pretty sure you want to know how well it performs and sounds.

{mospagebreak title=Performance}Performance:
As previously mentioned, Asus put pretty much everything in hardware
**Editor’s Note**
I have an official statement from Asus on the Xonar D2.
It would appear that the AV200 is based on the 8788 but not the same chip.
They do admit that the Dobly Digital is done in software but also explain that due to dirver optimizations the proccesing is not a system bottleneck.
EAX 1.0 and 2.0 are done in hardware and provide positional audio support.

to reduce the amount of CPU overhead you usually find on “the other guy’s” sound cards and most Audio Codecs built into mainboards. This also allows for on-the-fly encoding of surround sound for non-surround streams such as games.

The real proof though is in the actual quality of sound that comes out when you are playing your favorite game or watching an HD or BluRay DVD movie. However, this is not something easy to convey; there are no numbers to use and no real benchmarks that tell you how good something sounds. While there are analyzers that will graphically display sound and show you the distortion that is in the sound waves; none of that can really let you know how good something will sound.
To give you the most accurate review of the Xonar D2 possible, I used a method similar to my case reviews but more in depth.

I asked eight people to watch a BluRay movie (The Fifth Element), play two video games, Watch HD-TV, and finally to listen to both CD and MP3 quality music.
This was done for both the Xonar D2 and a Creative Labs X-Fi Platinum.
Speakers used were a set of Logitec  Z-5500 Digital speakers using the Toslink Digital Optical cable for surround sound playback.
Now these people did not know which cards was which but I asked them to give me a score of 1 to 5 for sound quality and vibrancy.
Below are the numbers and some of the comments I received on the Xonar.

Smooth, Clean, Crisp

Full, Vibrant

Crisp, Full

Yup, you guessed it, another vote for Clean and Sharp.

More of the same Full, Crisp, Ballsy

Again the Xonar was described as having the fuller and cleaner sound.The overall impression from everyone was that the Xonar reproduced sounds with more clarity and fullness than the XFi did. For me the sounds even in gaming seemd to less processed and cleaner. The differences between the lows and highs were more apparent and there was no mud in the midrange.

{mospagebreak title=Pricing/Warranty}

Pricing/Warranty:
The pricing of the Xonar D2 is set to compete with Creative’s offering directly with a price point running around $189.99 this is a little more than the standard X-Fi without the “break-out box” but since the features exceed those found on the X-Fi Platinum and the Azuntec X-Fi offering the price is right about what you would expect.

The warranty is the standard warranty you have come to expect from Asus with 3 years being the term of coverage.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
I have to say that prior to receiving the Xonar D2 I was a creative fan, after using and listening to the Asus Xonar D2 I am a convert. The sound from the Xonar was much more full bodied than the X-Fi and I was able to get surround sound in games with the Dolby Live processing. The internal Digital Decoder was astounding and even outperformed the direct digital out through SPDiF in many cases. The configuration utility was also well put together. The installer worked with Vista x86 and x64 without any hic-ups. There were also none of the performance issues from PCI polling that you sometimes see from the X-Fi. 
For a first jump into the world of discrete audio Asus has a hit. If you are looking for a discrete sound card with a ton of input/output options, great sound and ease of use the Xonar is the card you should look at.   

For its combination of quality, performance, and design we are happy to award the Asus Xonar D2 our "Best on the Planet" award and rate it a "Must Have"

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thanks Charlton Ho and Eric Chen at Asus for their help in getting this review put together.

Discuss this review here
View the rest of the images here

There was little surprise when Steel Series announced that they would
release less expensive versions of their popular SteelSound 5H gaming
headset. Two additional versions were released; a middle version
reviewed right here by Paul a few weeks ago called the SteelSound 4H and the mainstream
version that we are looking at today named the SteelSound 3H. Hopefully the 3H
won?t let us down after being impressed with both previous models.

{mospagebreak title=Package/Specs}
Package/Specs:

The SteelSound 3H came in a stiff bubble package sealed with a cardboard backing. There was no getting into this package without ripping the cardboard apart or cutting the stiff plastic. It was all set to hang on a peg rack in your local computer store. The headset was held in place in the package with twist ties and should have no problems arriving to your door safely and in one piece. The back of the package lists the specs and some of the features of the headset in several languages.

Headphones
Frequency response – 10 – 27.000 Hz
Impedance – 50 Ohm
SPL@ 1kHz, 1 Vrms – 102 dB
Cable length – 2 meters (6.5 feet)
Connectors – 3.5 mm
Microphone
Frequency response – 50 – 18.000 Hz
Pick up pattern – Non-directional
Sensitivity – -40dB
Impedance ? 2.2k Ohm

Package/Specs: 4.5/5

{mospagebreak title=Features/Construction}
Features/Construction:

- Foldable/collapsible lightweight gaming headset
- Retractable non-directional microphone system
- Comfortable to use, easy to transport
- Developed in cooperation with professional gamers
- Strong bass for optimal in-game sound projection
- 40mm SteelSound SunDancer(LCP) Units

The SteelSound 3H was very well constructed using the same plastic material as their other headsets.  The plastic used feels strong and secure yet allows the headset to remain light weight. The ear cushions were soft and felt comfortable, however they did rest on the ears rather than around like the 4H and 5H models. The retractable microphone was shorter then the microphone used on the 5H model and only came out to the side of your mouth rather then in front of it. The microphone worked very well and picked up our voice very clearly when speaking. The headband on the 3H was very comfortable and simple; it has just a soft band across the top of your head rather than a thick padded band. That allows it to fold nicely to be stored in a bag or where ever you wish to keep it. The foldable hinges felt secure and didn?t seem like they were going to break apart after being used for a while. You should have no problems tossing them in your laptop bag and not needing to worry about them breaking apart. There is no volume control on the wire for the headset so you will need to control the volume on the computer or sound card. Without a volume controller there is also no mute button or anyway to deactivate the microphone when you don’t want to use it. The cord is just a plain rubber coated cord rather than the nylon mesh that was used to cover the cord on the SteelSound 5Hv2 model.

Features/Construction: 4.25/5
{mospagebreak title=Performance}
Performance:

To test out the audio through this headset I ran them through a few different tests to see how they compared to the SteelSound 5Hv2.

iPod/PC Audio
When connected to my iPod the sound out of the 3H was great and very loud. Not having the volume controller in the wire I believe removed the volume limit that I noticed with the 5Hv2. All sounds high and low came through clearly and the bass was subtle but not adequate. Results were the same when connected to the PC.

DVD Audio
Watching a DVD and listening to it through this headset was great for those late night flicks when you don?t want to wake the family. However without 5.1 support, sound was dropped to stereo.  This I didn?t really find lowered my enjoyment when watching the film and I won?t hold it against them.

Skype
Talking to friends on Skype is a great way to keep in touch with others around the world. However that is not very enjoyable when you cannot make out what the other person is saying because of a cheap microphone being used on the other end.  These may not help you hear the person at the other end if they have a cheapo mic but they will have no problems hearing you. The mic picked up voices very clearly and the person on the other end mentioned it sounded clearer then their telephone.

Gaming
Once again, gaming is where Steel Series has excelled, the SteelSound 3H was crystal clear and had very nice positional audio cues when playing FPS games like Counter-Strike Source. Foot steps and gun shots where noticeable even at a distance and gave you a pretty good idea where they were coming from. The mic also worked well in game and was just as clear as it was when using Skype.

Performance: 4.25/5
{mospagebreak title=Price/Warranty/Conclusion}
Price/Warranty:

The SteelSound 3H is available directly from Steel Series for $49.95 US plus shipping.. That is half the price of their SteelSound 5H v2 with a lot of the same features.  This would be a great less expensive alternative for those not willing to part with $100.

Steel Series offers a 2 year warranty on the SteelSound 3H

Price:4.75/5

Conclusion:

After wearing and listening to the SteelSound 3H for a few weeks I can easily recommend it to anyone looking for a great headset. It lacks some of the features and a little bit of the comfort that the 5Hv2 offers but at half the price it is very worth while. A volume control would be nice so that you can mute the mic or volume but it is not a major issue.  The ear cups are comfortable even though they sit on your ears rather than around.  The fact that they fold up nice and compact is great and will allow you to toss them safely into a bag to bring them along to your next LAN party. So if anyone is looking for a great mainstream headset priced competitively then go and grab the 3H and hear the foot steps yourself next time instead of getting fragged.

Pros:
 - Great sound
- Light weight
- Foldable
 - Retractable microphone

Cons:
 - No in-line volume controller

Package/Specs: 4.5/5
Features/Construction: 4.25/5
Performance: 4.25/5
Price: 4.75/5
Overall: 17.75/20

The Steel Series SteelSound 3H receives our Best on the Planet Award.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank Jacob Christiansen at Steel Series for providing the SteelSound 3H for this review. 

Product: SteelSeries SteelSound 4H Headset
Author: Paul Mercer
Category: Gaming/Audio
Date: December 2006
Product cost: MSRP EUR: 49.95 USD: 69.95
Manufacturer: Steel Series
Spelling and Grammatical Editors: Jon Aubrey & Jason Hambley

Introduction

The SteelSeries name has become synonymous with gaming and gaming accessories, such as their SteelPad line of mouse pads. A frequent flyer on PlanetX64.com, this time they?ve sent us a SteelSound 4H Gaming Headset for evaluation.

SteelSeries believe that there should be a headset for every budget, so if the SteelSound 5H seemed a little too pricey for your pocket, you may be interested in a couple of new arrivals to the SteelSound product line, the 3H and 4H. As you can probably guess these are essentially cut down, cheaper versions of their SteelSound 5H.

Let?s take a look at the specs…

{mospagebreak title=Specifications and Overview}

Specifications and Overview

SteelSound 4H at a glance;

* Lightweight gaming headset with XL-sized
earcushions
* Developed in cooperation with professional gamers
* Retractable uni-directional microphone system
* Volume control, featuring 3 microphone settings
* Full-size earcups for maximum individual comfort
* Strong and deep resonating in-game sound
projection
* 40mm SteelSound SunDancer(Sd) Units

 

Technical
specifications;

Headphones

Microphone

The SteelSeries SteelSound 4H arrived in full retail packaging and as usual, on the back the features are listed in different languages.

While the plastic packaging isn?t the strongest stuff, it should have no problems protecting the headset during shipment. Inside, the headset is secured in place using wire ties to prevent it from rattling around.
 

The headset
is nice and sturdy and although it is only plastic, it feels well made and
capable of taking some rough treatment.

The headband
and earpads are both cushioned and make the SteelSound 4H very comfortable to
wear for long periods (perfect for those all night gaming sessions or that long
conversation with your Nan). The ear pieces completely cover your ears when
worn and eliminate the aching ear problem when wearing a headset with pads that
press on your ears.

The microphone is very flexible and will have no problems at all
finding the perfect talking position. It can also be retracted into the left earpiece when not in use.

The inline
control supplied with the SteelSound 4H headset has a volume wheel for the
headphones and a three step volume control for the microphone too (high, low
and off).

{mospagebreak title=Performance} 

Performance

Test system:
Intel
Core2Duo E6700
Intel
D975XBX BadAxe
2GB (2x1GB)
TeamGroup PC5300 running at DDR800 4-4-4-8
Foxconn
7950GT 512MB
Creative Soundblaster
X-Fi XtremeMusic
2x 80GB
Hitachi Deskstar 7200RPM SATA2 in RAID0
 

Testing of headsets is always a subjective task, it sort of goes with the saying "you can please some of the people some of the time…". Everybody’s hearing is different, just because one person likes the way a set of headphones or speakers sound, doesn’t mean everybody will feel the same way. For this reason I decided to keep it simple and just give my personal opinion comparing the SteelSound
4H with a headset that cost nearly twice the price, the Sennheiser PC155. When
comparing the pair, I listened to the Sennheisers without the USB soundcard
attachment, essentially downgrading them to the PC150 set.

Movies

I watched the Lord of the Rings with both headsets and could
immediately tell the difference. While the Sennheisers did have a lot of bass
and made battle scenes come to life with the explosions and battle roars,
dialogue was a little muffled and quiet at times.  As a complete contrast, the 4H had a much
?crisper? sound throughout. Occasionally at times the treble was a little too
much for me, but this was easily be remedied in the sound card control panel.

 *Warning* 
At one point while watching a movie I completely forgot that I was wearing the
SteelSound 4H headset and tried to get up, only to be dragged back down by the
cable…

The Sennheiser
set, with its smaller earcushions, exert pressure onto my ears. After a
little over 30 minutes of wearing the Sennheiser PC155?s my ears were aching.

I also
noticed that the SteelSeries 4H were a more snug and secure fit, although the
Sennheisers seemed to be putting more pressure on my head, they were incredibly
easy to make fall off simply by tilting my head slightly forward or back. With
the SteelSeries headset in place I had a much larger range of movement.

Music

I listened to a small selection of music from Lemon Jelly,
Cypress Hill, The Stone Roses and various tracks from a Clubland album. Again,
the SteelSeries SteelSound 4H gave a much clearer sound and were my preferred
listening device, allowing me to hear the subtle tones of Lemon Jelly and still
appreciate the basslines of Cypress Hill and dance music. While these certainly
aren?t your audiophile quality headphones, I still enjoyed using them to listen
to music.

VOIP (Skype)

Testing both headsets on Skype, The SteelSeries 4H were the
definite winner for me. Dialogue was easily understandable on the SteelSeries 4H
and the people on the other end told me they could understand and hear my voice
a lot better when I had them connected, while the microphone on the Sennheiser set apparently sounded "quieter".

Gameplay

Now gaming (along with VOIP) is what the people at
SteelSeries had in mind when they designed this headset. This becomes quickly
apparent as soon as you load up and start playing your favourite FPS (first
person shooter). I?m not saying they won?t show benefits in other types of games,
but the FPS is where they shine. Each footstep, rustle of clothing, gunshot and
ricochet can be heard clearly because of the emphasis on the mid to high range
of frequencies. It makes searching and finding (and shooting – obviously) your
friends when playing online all that much easier when you can hear footsteps
around the next corner or in the next room. Although they are only Stereo headphones, I did find the positional sound field quite good.

{mospagebreak title=Price and Warranty} 

Price/Warranty

The
SteelSeries SteelSound 4H headset is available directly from the SteelSeries
online store for EUR: 49.95 ? USD: 69.95 + shipping.
Searching
the web I found them slightly cheaper in the UK for ?27.95 (Inc VAT).

The
SteelSeries warranty covers factory defectives for 2 years from the purchase
date. It does not cover everyday wear and tear or accidents.

Should you need to use the RMA service,
the FAQ can be found here:

http://www.steelseries.com/about/rma-faq

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion} 

Conclusion

With the
increase in popularity of online gaming and VOIP, it?s good that SteelSeries
are thinking about people of all budgets. The 4H model was designed with
communication in mind and this showed during testing. As I mentioned earlier,
headset testing is rather subjective, the type of sound quality that I prefer
may not be ideal in another person?s eyes (or rather ears). To me, in terms of
audio quality, the SteelSeries 4H sound great, but depend on the application
and audio source. Movies and music sound good, with a full range of sound
available. The SteelSeries 4H seem to emphasise the mid to high frequency range
for clarity and the bass is nice and deep without being too overpowering.

The
SteelSeries 4H were incredibly comfortable while in use and I could wear them
for hours without complaint. The headband sits nicely and the ear cushions
completely covered my ears. Add to all of this, the low price point and they are
a good accessory to have for those all night gaming sessions or long VOIP
conversations. The SteelSeries 4H will definitely be replacing my Sennheiser
set ? thumbs up from me.

Pros:
Very Clear
Speech
Good
Microphone
Low Price
Comfortable

Cons:
Would have
liked a slightly longer Cable
Treble can occasionally
be a little too harsh

Package/Specs:
4.5/5
Features/Construction: 4.
5/5
Performance: 4.75/5
Price: 4.75/5
Overall: 18.5/20

We are proud to award the
SteelSeries SteelSound 4H headset the Best on the Planet award for their
excellent price and performance.

We would like to thank the folks at SteelSeries for providing the 4H headset for this evaluation.

SteelSeries has graced us with
another of their fine products.  We have
always been happy to receive their items because they tend to be very well made
and high performing. A year has passed since we reviewed the original
SteelSound 5H USB headset and today we have the new SteelSound 5H v2.  Hopefully its performance will be what we
have come to expect from SteelSeries.

{mospagebreak title=Package/Specs}

Package/Specs:

The SteelSound 5H v2 headset shipped in a
very similar package to the original 5H that we reviewed a year ago. The
headset itself can be viewed very easily and the item would certainly catch
your eye while you were walking by it on a shelf. The plastic box is strong
enough to protect the headset from minor bumps and should easily get it to your
door without problems. The back side of the box lists some specs and features
of the headset. Inside the headset is securely fastened to the shell with wire
ties to prevent it from moving anywhere inside the packaging.

Headphones

Frequency response – 16 – 28.000 Hz

Impedance – 40 Ohm

SPL@ 1kHz, 1 Vrms – 110 dB

Cable length – 1 + 2 =
3 meters (
10 feet)

Connectors -
3.5 mm

Microphone

Frequency response – 75 – 16.000 Hz

Pick up pattern – Uni-directional

Sensitivity – -38dB

Impedance – 2k Ohm

Package/Specs: 4.5/5

{mospagebreak title=Features/Construction}
Features/Construction:

-         Custom-engineered soundscape designed specifically to
enhance performance and immersion in gaming. This headset was developed and
optimized for in-game sound frequencies, which makes in-game sounds like
footsteps, alerts and gunfire especially clear. You will be able to hear and
pinpoint the location of your opponents, often before they hear you.

-         Full-size headphones gently fit around the ears and
reduce background noise, while providing maximum wearing comfort.

-         Bringing the headset with you has never been easier or
safer. The SteelSound 5H v2 can be easily dismantled into 3 separate parts,
which makes transportation a breeze. The pieces will easily fit into a bag or a
carrying case.

-         SteelSound 5H v2 also features a pull-out microphone
system. The retractable microphone is practically invisible when not in use.
The microphone cord is covered in high quality transparent plastic to ensure
long-lasting durability.

The construction of the v2 is very solid, over the
last month that I have been using the product there have not been any times
that I was worried about its strength.  It has been through periods of heavy and low
use and has shown no signs of wear.  The
microphone has been pulled in and out many times and it still feels like it did
the first time, snug and secure.

Being able to take the headset apart for
transportation is a great feature and with the solid construction you don?t
need to fear dismantling and reassembly affecting the performance or
integrity. The gold connectors ensure a solid and reliable signal. 

Like the previous version there is a volume
control part of the way down the cord. On this control there is also a switch for the microphone allowing you
to adjust from off/low/hi signal from the mic. The off setting also shuts off the headphones. On the back side of the volume control is a clip that will allow you to attach the control to your clothing.

The cord attached to the headset is only
1 meter long.  This is very short by any standards but there
is an additional
2 meters
of extension cord included.  Having the
shorter cord enabled me to connect the headset to my iPod and not have to worry
about a huge cord hanging around. The cord itself is covered in a braided
material that makes the cord strong and more attractive than a standard plastic
coated cord.

The microphone is attached to the left
earpiece.  It retracts almost completely
into the earpiece so that it is out of your way when not in use.  It easily pulls out yet has enough friction
to keep it from falling out when not wanted. The mic is flexible and can be
adjusted in any way that you feel most comfortable.

The ear cups are large enough so that they fit
completely around your ear and rest on your head rather than pushing on your
ears.  That combined with a padded head band make the 5H v2 a very comfortable headset to wear for an extended session of gaming.

Features/Construction: 4.75/5
{mospagebreak title=Performance}
Performance:

Testing the performance of the 5H v2 headset included; listening to audio files on an iPod and PC, listening to the audio from a DVD movie., Skype, and
finally the all important gaming audio. For each of the tests the 5H v2 was compared to the stock iPod ear buds,
Sony headphones (MDR-CD380), or Plantronics headset depending on the test.
These tests are subjective and are by no means scientific.

iPod/PC Audio

Chances are most people won?t be
using these with an iPod but knowing the quality of audio that comes out of
that little white mp3 player I figured it would be a good way to try out the
SteelSound 5H v2 while I get some yard work done. The sound was just as good as
the iPod ear buds but the volume controller on the cord needed to be turned up
pretty much all the way to keep the volume where I wanted it. That comes into
play anytime you have two volume controls running in series.

On the PC the volume difference is
more noticeable between the 5H v2 and the Sony stereo headphones. I have to
assume that this is again because of the inline volume controller.  Even with the volume on the controller up all
the way, the volume is still significantly lower than the headphones. The audio
wasn?t as full as the headphones but was still crisp and clear.

DVD Audio

The results from the PC audio test
carried over for the DVD audio test.  The
headphones were noticeably louder and fuller but the 5H v2 was no slouch and
still allowed you to hear everything that was going on.

Skype

While chatting in a voice call on
Skype the 5H v2 was very clear. I switched back and forth between the
Plantronics headset and the 5H v2 and the user on the other end was unable to
hear the difference.  The lower volume
once again was noticeable with the 5H v2.

Gaming

In gaming is where the 5H v2
shines.  The volume was noticeably lower
again but the sound was very sharp and crisp. Playing Counter-Strike: Source
with both the Sony headphones and the 5H v2 were very enjoyable. However having
a microphone on the 5H v2 is what this headset is all about.

Performance: 4.25/5
{mospagebreak title=Price/Waranty}
Price/Warranty:

The SteelSound 5H v2 is available directly from SteelSeries for $99.00 US plus
shipping. That is a little more expensive than many would be willing to spend
but you do get what you pay for. You get good quality, comfortable
headphones with a built in high quality microphone.  If you were to buy the two separately you
would pay at least that amount if not more. That makes this headset worth the
money spent.

SteelSeries offers a 2 year
warranty on the SteelSound 5H v2 for any defects from manufacturing.

Price:4.5/5
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
The SteelSound 5H v2 is a great headset for the gamer that wants to be able to
wear the headset for many hours on end and chat with teammates throughout
his/her games.  This is now the only set
of headphones/headset around my PC. I used to keep headphones for listening and
the headset for gaming and voice chat but now that has changed.  The old ones are going into a box and the 5H
v2 will remain as my sole listening device when I need to keep the volume down
at night time. I would like to see the volume a bit louder but honestly I will
probably be happier that it wasn?t any louder in another 10-20 years. The
retractable microphone basically turns this headset into a pair of headphones
when the mic is not needed. It is so nice to not just have the mic flipped up
beside your head. Since the headset is not cheap and only a few features have changed since the original, anyone that already owned the original 5H may not find it necessary to upgrade unless their headset is damaged. However the increased comfort, microphone quality, and longer microphone cord with the 5H v2 make this the better choice over the original if you are making a purchase.  I recommend the SteelSound 5H v2 to any gamer out there as
well as anyone else that wants a headset that they can use any time for
comfortably listening to music or a movie. 

Pros:
- Retractable microphone

- Comfortable ear pieces

- Can be taken apart for mobility

- In line volume adjustment

- Two piece cord

- Well built

Cons:
- Low volume

Package/Specs: 4.5/5
Features/Construction: 4.75/5
Performance: 4.25/5
Price: 4.5/5
Overall: 18/20

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank Thomas Nielson at SteelSeries for providing the SteelSound
5H v2 for this review.

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.  

{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.