Difference between the X-Fi's?

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Whats the difference between the Xteme Music, Fata1ty, platinum, and the elite cards?

[jivetrky]

Xtreme music is just base card (which is just fine for most people)

Platinum is Xtreme Music card with front IO panel

Fatailty is like a platinum but it has 64MB of XRAM (which can help performance in some games if they are programmed to use it. (Like BF2 [probably BF2142 too], Quake 4, probably a few other games)

Elite has an external box with several knobbie things (IDK what each does) And the DAC is much better than the other X-fi's, and a few other things like higher SNR, etc.

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Ahhh, thanks! :)

[nd4spdbh2]

its BAD when your sound card needs a friggin heatsink lol. freakin fatality crap.

[Fronic]

Xtreme music is just base card (which is just fine for most people)

Platinum is Xtreme Music card with front IO panel

Fatailty is like a platinum but it has 64MB of XRAM (which can help performance in some games if they are programmed to use it. (Like BF2 [probably BF2142 too], Quake 4, probably a few other games)

Elite has an external box with several knobbie things (IDK what each does) And the DAC is much better than the other X-fi's, and a few other things like higher SNR, etc.

Are you sure about the platinum only having the IO panel? I've been eyeing the XFI line and settled on the platinum because of the IO panel, but I don't think it's worth 80 to 90 dollar difference between the Paltinum and Music... Is there a headphone amp inside or is it just an easier way to connect stuff?

[jivetrky]

well yeah, there might be a headphone amp built into the front IO panel. I know there is a volume control and power connector, so it's possible. But still not worth the extra money, IMO.

[harakusara]

its BAD when your sound card needs a friggin heatsink lol. freakin fatality crap.

I have the fatality in my comp right now and I'm pretty sure there's no heatsink on it.

EDIT - lol I'm such a noob it does. :bang head

[Awake77]

There's a small heatsink on my X-Fi platinum. The front panel is well built, the knobs and jacks all feel really solid. There is a headphone and mic pre built in. It also has a 1x1 MIDI interface, ADAT and SPDIF I/O as well as a 1/4" and stereo RCA line ins. It also has the IR sensor for the remote control.

I do think its a bit too pricey for a front breakout box, but if you've got the extra $$ to burn it is awfully convienient to have a 1/4 headphone jack and volume control right on the front of your PC. It looks nice too:)

I was going to go for the Fatal1ty but it doesnt look like XRam is anything special. There's no performance improvement, even in 2 or 3 games that use it and with memory technology advancing - I dont see why a game developer would put resources into caching sound data on the slow RAM on the X-Fi card. Especially with 2gb of DDR/DDR2 system RAM becoming the norm in the close future.

Either way, all the X-Fi cards sound really good. Completely blows away the onboard HD audio on my P5W-DH, and the EAX 5.0 is really quite slick, especially with headphones.

Awake77

[pak]

It looks like music it will be for me. The xram seems like a nice idea, but with only 2-3 games supporting it, doesnt seem like it worth the money.

I had a question on these x-fi cards. They are all 7.1 have a mic in and a line in, but they only have 4 of the circle connectors. To have 7.1, mic in, and line in, dont you need 7 connectors?

--pak

[jivetrky]

That 4th jack can do multiple things, depending on what's connected to it.
It does:
Mic IN
Line IN
Digital IN/OUT

[pak]

So you can't do 7.1 and have a mic? Also, is there front panel support besides the front panel they offer? Will you be able to hook the card up to your case front panel?

--pak

[Awake77]

I had a question on these x-fi cards. They are all 7.1 have a mic in and a line in, but they only have 4 of the circle connectors. To have 7.1, mic in, and line in, dont you need 7 connectors?


You need this:

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=14309


So you can't do 7.1 and have a mic? Also, is there front panel support besides the front panel they offer? Will you be able to hook the card up to your case front panel?


Ive heard there's a separate rear adapter plate for the x-fi, but I havent been able to find it! You could always DIY one...

[jivetrky]

So you can't do 7.1 and have a mic? Also, is there front panel support besides the front panel they offer? Will you be able to hook the card up to your case front panel?

--pak


To do 7.1 you have to buy a special 7.1 cable. It still only connects to the 3 normal connectors, so yes, you can use 7.1 and the MIC at the same time

And, yes you can hook the Xfi to the front panel audio. You have to make an adapter cable to do it. Here's the pin-out diagram:

Rest of Card

1 - Analog Ground
2 - Analog Headphone Out Left
3 - Audio Backpanel Mute -- short to ground to mute the backpanel (when headphones are plugged in)
4 - Analog Headphone Out Right
5 - same as #3
6 - Mic input from front panel
7 - No Connection
8 - VREF out -- voltage reference for Mic
9 - MIC IN MUTE -- ground when mic isn't plugged in, +12VDC when mic is plugged in
10 - Audio cable detect -- will be ground when headphones are plugged in (not normally used)

Slot pointing outside your PC

And a pic of that connector on the card:

54209


EDIT: Hey, look what I found:

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/3968/xfifpmodbq5.jpg
(I forgot that MaximumPC did this)

I found that pic here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107388
^^That link also shows a nice little circuit you can build for the Audigy 2 ZS that will properly mute the speakers when you plug in the headphones to the front!

[pak]

WOW! I'm loving my X-fi more and more and I don't even have one yet. That front panel mod should work perfectly.

And as far as the cable for x-fi --> Home Theater receiver, will that be 100% compatible with all PC applications? I know there was a thread in here earlier about hooking up your home theater to your PC, but I know there was some issues also mentioned about how you will sacrifice some features under certain conditions. If this allows me to hook my PC up and not loose a single sound, this is absolutely perfect for me.

THX!

--pak

[Sir Barton]

If youre hooking your X-Fi to a home theater receiver youre better off using the analog connections instead of the digital. If youre using digital, you will only get stereo sound unless youre listening to something already encoded in Dolby.

[pak]

If youre hooking your X-Fi to a home theater receiver youre better off using the analog connections instead of the digital. If youre using digital, you will only get stereo sound unless youre listening to something already encoded in Dolby.


That is where I got lost in the other thread. I have no idea what you are talking about.

--pak

[jivetrky]

If you use either digital connector (optical or the single digital RCA connector) you will only get stereo sound to your receiver (Not surround sound; only 2 channels)

If you want the surround sound to work, going through your server, you will have to use the normal analog connectors (The three connectors that look like headphone jacks) Then you'll have to get adapters to go from that type of connector to the red and white RCA connectors, like this:


http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/3396/8515ro1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[pak]

Aren't those these? http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=14309 That were mentioned before?

--pak

[jivetrky]

Aren't those these? http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=14309 That were mentioned before?

--pak


Ahhh sweet, didn't know creative had cables like that.
Yes, those are what you'd want (And they aren't terribly expensive either!)


But before, the cable I was talking about was to enable the use of 7.1 sound. Which is just a cable that splits the rear channels into rear and side (or however exactly it does that)

But it is just a cable that goes from 3x 3.5mm jacks to 4x 3.5mm jacks. Not the same as the Home Theater cable.

[Sir Barton]

The line-in on the X-Fi is the flexi-jack. If you select digital I/O you can pass the signal through to a receiver. The X-Fi doesnt encode a Dolby signal, it only passes it through. DVDs are pre-encoded for Dolby 5.1, and will play in 5.1 if passed to the receiver through the ditial I/O. Everything else, on the other hand, will be played in stereo only. Because of this, if you want full 5.1 from your X-Fi and plan on hooking it to a receiver, you will need to use the 3 analog outputs to pass the signal to the receiver.

EDIT: Crap, got beat to the punch lol.

[pak]

The line-in on the X-Fi is the flexi-jack. If you select digital I/O you can pass the signal through to a receiver. The X-Fi doesnt encode a Dolby signal, it only passes it through. DVDs are pre-encoded for Dolby 5.1, and will play in 5.1 if passed to the receiver through the ditial I/O. Everything else, on the other hand, will be played in stereo only. Because of this, if you want full 5.1 from your X-Fi and plan on hooking it to a receiver, you will need to use the 3 analog outputs to pass the signal to the receiver.

EDIT: Crap, got beat to the punch lol.


God damn! quit confusing me. Those are the cables previously mentioned from creative right?

If I am not mistaken, using those cables only use the home receiver as an amp. Meaning your PC will do all the work on deciding where the sounds goes.....right?

So those cables should do what I want. Enable all the good stuff while gaming and using my home theatre set up.

--pak

[jivetrky]

Aren't those these? http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=14309 That were mentioned before?

--pak


TO OUTPUT YOUR SOUND FROM YOUR X-FI TO YOUR HOME SURROUND SOUND RECIEVER, YOU WILL USE THE CABLES THAT YOU HAVE LINKED ABOVE IN THE QUOTE.

THE OTHER CABLES THAT WERE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER WOULD BE USED IF YOU HAD 7.1 CHANNEL COMPUTER SPEAKERS AND WANTED TO HOOK THEM TO YOUR X-FI.

[Awake77]

Nice find on the cable diagram jivetrky!! Almost makes me wish I didnt spend extra for the platinum:)

[otogrim]

you could also just get this (http://www.frontx.com/cpx517.html)

[jivetrky]

you could also just get this (http://www.frontx.com/cpx517.html)


Cool as an alternative for someone that doesn't have the knack for making custom cables. I wouldn't like the extra clutter of stuff hanging through the back, but that might be great for some people.....great find! :)