X-Fi and the Elite Pro: SoundBlaster's Return to Greatness
by Derek Wilson on August 30, 2005 11:59 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro
The major aspect of the SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro that separates it in price from the cheaper cards in the X-Fi series is sound quality. The utmost care was taken in selecting components and building a very clean and clear sounding product. To that end, 4 Cirrus Logic CS4398 stereo 24bit / 192kHz DACs are used on the board.The CS4398 DAC is capable of 120dB dynamic range, -107dB THD+N, and even direct decode of SACD data. An NJM2114 and 3 NJM2068 dual LNAs provide good gain characteristics with very little distortion and noise. High quality components are also used in the breakout box with more Cirrus Logic components and a few Burr Brown parts. It all comes together to bring excellent sound to the listener. When we get our hands on one of the more mainstream SoundBlaster X-Fi parts, we will be able to talk better about the differences in components used and what we can expect on the quality front.
Supporting 127 hardware accelerated voices and the latest in Creative's EAX Advanced HD spec, all the features mentioned that are part of X-Fi, including one heck of a hefty price tag, make the SoundBlaster X- Fi Elite Pro. But is the latest (and greatest) from Creative worth the $400 premium? The best way to find out is to listen. And listen, we did.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
110 Comments
View All Comments
NovaPolice - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
Yeah, I'm somewhat curious as to how the crystalizer does in comparison to Qsound's methods, Qsizzle, Qrumble, and Qexpander, which I have enjoyed for a while. Probably the best candidate for comparison would be the envy24(with-some-tricks)-based PSC724 Ultimate Edge. Of course.... that thing only costs 30 bucks at outpost, and philips is kinda bad at releasing drivers.I wish Qsound Labs would create some kind of hardware chip. Some kind of alternative to the various successions to EAX. Their expander kicks ass.
Or it would be nice to see something with Creative's hardware power combined with Qsound's algorithms.
flexy - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
>>>i highly doubt it. Better save your money and invest in better speakers [if not already]..this is really all bunk. ALL they can sell is features and irrelevant addons/gadgets/specs...specs which are only relevant MAYBE for hardcore pro-musicians. But then i dont know any pro-musician who does his recordings on a creative card :)
>>>
Btw, i also highly, highly doubt that for listeining to music/mp3s etc. people will notice a difference (towards the better) with a VERY old AWE32/64 card compared to any of the newest cards out right now. I remember actually that years agomy AWE64 had this certain "punch" to her which i liked...and i cant even necessarely say that for listening to music my current Audigy2 is noticeable "better"...but then this is a long time ago :)
Anyway...leave 'em the fun to sell their products with dumb marketing terms....and as stated elsewhere...hope that the OEM/lower end cards will be much cheaper. (For what it's worth)
Calin - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
I found also that my Creative Sound Blaster 16 (ISA card, with 2x4W amplifier on card) sounded more "musical" (let's say I consider it better sounding) than the newer Audigy 2 gamerCalin
Wellsoul2 - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
I went from SBLIVE to Chaintech VIAEnvy to Audigy 2 ZS.It would be nice to have a card good in games and music.
Subjectively I think the Audigy 2 ZS better with MP3's and games than
the Envy Card.
Also I've found that the software makes a big difference.
Anyone notice that Itunes free player sounds much better than Windows Media Player or
Creative Player? (With any audio Card)
I really liked the ViaEnvy sound but it really won't do games well.
flexy - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
i never use the creative software, neither do i use itunes.If i want to have highest quality sound then i use foobar2000 with kernel streaming or foobar/winamp with direct asio (plugin) output. I dont think there's anything better right now (in terms of player/output/quality)
Parak - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
Seconded, would love to see a matchup of this card versus Envy24 solutions.imaheadcase - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
"Creative informed us that cards should be shipping as of last week, but we still can't find them online or in stores. Even Creative's own site lists the X-Fi line up as pre-order. We will have to check into the availability of these parts as we certainly don't want the recently ATI disease (“paperlaunchitis”) to spread to the rest of the computer industry. "Actully you can order it on creative site, I see you can do it as i type this. Also can purchase it at Best Buy, they have dozens of them on display. There are 3 online retailors that have it listed. Was this artical typed out a week ago or something? lol
I will sum of this card for everyone: Wait a few months, and you can get it for a little over $50 for cheaper one. The high end card are pretty much same as cheaper one, you just get some extra CRAP with it. Pretty much %90 of the stuff on card is useless to the average user. This is essentially a Audigy 5 card...go go marketing from creative :P
HardwareD00d - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
I saw an X-Fi card in Best Buy last week (Phoenix AZ, US) Looked pretty neat and I had just heard of them, so I was surprised to see it on the shelf so soon.missleman - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - link
All that mumbo jumbo doesn't look like it will have any real use for me.HardwareD00d - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
Tom's Hardware seemed to really like this card. They were much more impressed by the sound than Anand was.http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20050818/inde...">http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20050818/inde...