rspassey
02-10-2006, 08:52 PM
About a month ago I was back in the US and picked up the SoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme Music Sound Card at BestBuy for 99$. I was slightly disapointed because I had wanted the version one step up, but it was a whole 100$ more expensive, which I didn't have at the time. Deciding it better to get the Xtreme Music rather than not get a sound card at all, I also picked up Logitech x-530 speakers. Now, I have been wanting to a review on this magnificent product for a while, but haven gotten around to. So here it goes:
The Product
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Installation instructions
Software / Driver CDs
- Creative Media Player / Organizer
- Creative Media Toolbar
- Creative Volume Panel
I) First Impressions Before Installing
Decent price for new / high end product
Okay packaging which kept the card safe on multiple flights from Maine to Buenos Aires
Easy to understand installation instructions
Installation
Installation when extremely easy. The card fit nicely into an open PCI slot on my motherboard and my brand new speakers attached smoothly. For more information on the actual process of installing the X-Fi, please conslut the instructions which come in the box.
Booting up, Windows XP Pro SP2 automatically took note of the new hardware. I was asked to search for drivers, where you are instructed (by Creative) to click Cancel. I then popped in the CD which came with the X-Fi. Taking a few seconds, it automatically started up (if you have autorun enabled) and asked me which software packages I would like to install. This is all personal preference, so I won't go into details.
Moments later, the driver installation was initiated. It took a few minutes to complete. At the end, I rebooted.
Configuration
*Now, this is where the steps get a little fuzzy, as I don't quite remember the order in which I did things, so I will try to make a list.
Configuring Speakers for your set up...In my case it was 5.1
Select which mode to start with
- Entertainment for watching movies and listening to music
- Gaming for playing games
- Audio Creation for recording
Tweak the settings of the Card
- Enabling 24 Bit Crystalizer for 'punchier' sounds
- Enabling CMSS-3D
- Tuning frequencies with the Equalizer
- Selecting EAX Effects
- Additionally cool features
Importing Tracks and First Time Playing a Song
Within the Creative Media Organizer, I easily imported the music tracks which I wanted and they were automatically sorted by both album and artist.
The first time I played a song, I was blown away by the clarity of the sound. There was absolutely zero static and no traces of pops or cracks which are both common to onboard sound. Immediately impressed, I cranked up the volume and the same clarity and precision was maintained - I now could also hear sounds which I had never heard before. In misbelief at what I was hearing, I decided to change modes and load up FarCry.
Again, in Gaming Mode, I was hearing things which I had never heard before. Not only does this make the gaming experience more enjoyable, but it also gives the hardcore gamer the additionaly edge he/she was looking for with being able (provided the game has high quality audio abilites) hear what is going on all around the player.
I have yet to try out the Audio Creation Mode, but I would expect highly impressive results also.
PROS
Much, Much (did I say 'much'? better sound quality over onboard sound
Great price for the performance gains
Increased Frames / Second in Gaming by removing the need of the CPU to process sounds
Incredibly good sound quality
Nice included software collection
CONS
There is only really one Con which I can think of, and that is that a multitude of applications are automatically configured to load on start up. This is kind of annoying considering the fact that most of those applications are not essential for using the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi.
Other Recommendations
If I could make one recommendation, it would be to visit Creatives site often for driver updates. I did my first update shortly after installing the X-Fi and I could notice an improvement in sound quality - especially while gaming.
I would also recommend that purchasers of the X-Fi also have a nice set of speakers. This card is incredible, but if you have poor quality speakers, there is a chance that you would be wasting your money buying the X-Fi. My Logitech X-530s do a decent job, but now, I wish I had purchased 5300e Speakers (as they are higher quality).
Conclusion
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music is most definately an awesome Sound Card. Not only did it up the bar for PC audio quality in Gaming and Entertainment, it also is relatively inexpensive when compared to the major increase in quality over onboard sound. I recommend this or any of the other X-Fi flavours to Gamers and Audio enthusiasts as it knocked my socks. The X-Fi experience is by-far unforgetable.
~~~~Ryan124712
The Product
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Installation instructions
Software / Driver CDs
- Creative Media Player / Organizer
- Creative Media Toolbar
- Creative Volume Panel
I) First Impressions Before Installing
Decent price for new / high end product
Okay packaging which kept the card safe on multiple flights from Maine to Buenos Aires
Easy to understand installation instructions
Installation
Installation when extremely easy. The card fit nicely into an open PCI slot on my motherboard and my brand new speakers attached smoothly. For more information on the actual process of installing the X-Fi, please conslut the instructions which come in the box.
Booting up, Windows XP Pro SP2 automatically took note of the new hardware. I was asked to search for drivers, where you are instructed (by Creative) to click Cancel. I then popped in the CD which came with the X-Fi. Taking a few seconds, it automatically started up (if you have autorun enabled) and asked me which software packages I would like to install. This is all personal preference, so I won't go into details.
Moments later, the driver installation was initiated. It took a few minutes to complete. At the end, I rebooted.
Configuration
*Now, this is where the steps get a little fuzzy, as I don't quite remember the order in which I did things, so I will try to make a list.
Configuring Speakers for your set up...In my case it was 5.1
Select which mode to start with
- Entertainment for watching movies and listening to music
- Gaming for playing games
- Audio Creation for recording
Tweak the settings of the Card
- Enabling 24 Bit Crystalizer for 'punchier' sounds
- Enabling CMSS-3D
- Tuning frequencies with the Equalizer
- Selecting EAX Effects
- Additionally cool features
Importing Tracks and First Time Playing a Song
Within the Creative Media Organizer, I easily imported the music tracks which I wanted and they were automatically sorted by both album and artist.
The first time I played a song, I was blown away by the clarity of the sound. There was absolutely zero static and no traces of pops or cracks which are both common to onboard sound. Immediately impressed, I cranked up the volume and the same clarity and precision was maintained - I now could also hear sounds which I had never heard before. In misbelief at what I was hearing, I decided to change modes and load up FarCry.
Again, in Gaming Mode, I was hearing things which I had never heard before. Not only does this make the gaming experience more enjoyable, but it also gives the hardcore gamer the additionaly edge he/she was looking for with being able (provided the game has high quality audio abilites) hear what is going on all around the player.
I have yet to try out the Audio Creation Mode, but I would expect highly impressive results also.
PROS
Much, Much (did I say 'much'? better sound quality over onboard sound
Great price for the performance gains
Increased Frames / Second in Gaming by removing the need of the CPU to process sounds
Incredibly good sound quality
Nice included software collection
CONS
There is only really one Con which I can think of, and that is that a multitude of applications are automatically configured to load on start up. This is kind of annoying considering the fact that most of those applications are not essential for using the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi.
Other Recommendations
If I could make one recommendation, it would be to visit Creatives site often for driver updates. I did my first update shortly after installing the X-Fi and I could notice an improvement in sound quality - especially while gaming.
I would also recommend that purchasers of the X-Fi also have a nice set of speakers. This card is incredible, but if you have poor quality speakers, there is a chance that you would be wasting your money buying the X-Fi. My Logitech X-530s do a decent job, but now, I wish I had purchased 5300e Speakers (as they are higher quality).
Conclusion
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music is most definately an awesome Sound Card. Not only did it up the bar for PC audio quality in Gaming and Entertainment, it also is relatively inexpensive when compared to the major increase in quality over onboard sound. I recommend this or any of the other X-Fi flavours to Gamers and Audio enthusiasts as it knocked my socks. The X-Fi experience is by-far unforgetable.
~~~~Ryan124712