new generation of Xtreme Fidelity processors and sound cards
What is Xtreme Fidelity?
On August 2, 2005 the Creative company held a conference in Germany, where the new generation sound cards - SoundBlaster X-Fi were demonstrated to the European press.
Earlier, on May 13, 2005, Creative announced the Xtreme Fidelity technology, abbreviated as X-Fi, and the sound processor of the same name.
If it is more or less clear with the new processor, then what is “Xtreme Fidelity technology”? According to the manufacturer, its essence lies in providing 24-bit quality, clarity of sound with at least 110 dB signal-to-noise ratio and new technology CMSS (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) 3D sound in headphones and multichannel speakers. As stated by Sim Wong Hu, founder and CEO of Creative - "Xtreme Fidelity is the result of our vision for a new audio standard that will bring dramatic improvements to MP3 playback, PC gameplay and digital movies, thus laying the foundation for a whole new digital home entertainment platform.".
When it comes to Xtreme Fidelity, the manufacturer places particular emphasis on two new technologies: 24-bit Crystalizer and CMSS-3D. As conceived by Creative, the technologies are intended for remastering, enhancing and remixing in real time existing conventional and compressed 16-bit stereo material in 24-bit quality, with multichannel sound in speakers of any configuration, as well as in headphones.
To enable the new standard, Creative creates the X-Fi processor under the motto « Xtreme Audio Needs An Xtreme Fidelity Processor! "("Exceptional sound requires a top quality processor").
Retrospective
Previous sound cards starting with Live! sample of 1998, based on modifications of the EMU10K processor. This processor was designed primarily for use in synthesizers and modules produced by E-MU as a hardware MIDI synthesizer with an integrated effect processor. At a time when the main requirement for a sound card was hardware MIDI with the largest possible memory bank, wide capabilities and high-quality effects, the EMU10K was a progressive chip. However, at present, as everyone understands, it is morally outdated. Despite 32-bit audio processing, programmable high-quality professional effects, support for 8 digital I2S or SPDIF interfaces, the shortcomings (the main one being the rigid architecture) nullified everything.
Since the development of the EMU10K, the interests of sound card users have changed significantly. In fact, the audience was divided into three camps: 1) office and other users who are satisfied with even integrated sound; 2) gamers who are not particularly interested in quality, who do not mind good 3D sound in games, if this does not come at the expense of performance; 3) music lovers and audiophiles who use a computer for a convenient music library - they need a card exclusively for high-quality music playback.
However, lovers of high-quality sound expressed distrust of Creative's products, even despite the high-quality Cirrus Logic I2S DACs installed in the latest models. The main "horror story" destroying the image of Live / Audigy sound cards for many years was the presence non-disconnectable mediocre hardware resampling of all frequencies into a 48 kHz reference. To obtain high-quality reproduction of the 44.1 kHz format, in which most recordings exist, card users began to install in droves the DirectSound or ASIO plug-ins for software sample rate convertion (SSRC) for the popular mp3 players Winamp and Foobar.
SRC Audigy vs. SSRC Winamp
Starting with Audigy2, the developers introduced the P16V block into the chip, which allows the cards to directly play 96 and 192 kHz frequencies for DVD-Audio playback. But this mode turned out to be available only for these frequencies and only through the DirectSound interface. The effect processor operating at 48 kHz, in this case, had to be turned off. Otherwise, oversampling comes into play again.
In the low-end below, Creative begins to catastrophically lose the market for sound cards due to the expansion of AC "97 and HDA codecs, forcibly installed on motherboards. This greatly reduces the incentive for users to spend money on a separate sound card. In addition, the onset of the Internet and file-sharing networks makes the computer a tool accumulation of a collection of files in compressed formats So for high-quality listening to music, many prefer semi-professional cards on Envy24, with a minimum of hardware capabilities, but with a choice of a fixed sampling rate, honest 44.1 kHz in digital and a minimum of unnecessary bells and whistles.
Obviously, Creative wanted a new processor that was free of the shortcomings of the old one. X-Fi has been in development for the past 5 years. Since the release of the first Audigy model, work has begun on a new generation processor. Place of development - Creative Advanced Technology Center, Silicon Valley, California.
X-Fi architecture
According to the manufacturer, the new Xtreme Fidelity processor has over 51 million transistors and a performance of over 10,000 MIPS (million instructions per second). X-Fi is also 24 times more powerful than its predecessor.
The heart of the processor is the DSP "Quartet", as there are 4 subprocessors working in parallel. The architecture is called TIMD (Thread Interleaved Multiple Data). To achieve parallelism, a processor architecture with very long command words ( Very Large Instruction Word, VLIW).
In such a command, several ordinary commands are combined, which are executed simultaneously (in parallel) by different functional blocks of the processor to increase its performance. The increase in performance is achieved due to the fact that the processor does not need to spend time organizing parallelism at the instruction level. The grouping of concurrently executed operations is performed by the compiler.)
Each subprocessor has a 2xSIMD architecture. 2x comes from the fact that usually the subprocessor operates with two data streams - stereo data, complex numbers. By the way, both floating point and fixed data types are used. The set of instructions consists of 235 codes of operations, and about 60 specialized instructions, often found in algorithms of frequency processing of sound, for example, complex multiplication of data from two streams, decimal logarithm, exponent.
The internal frequency of the processor is 400 MHz. Supports external clock for S / PDIF and I2S. The value of the jitter of the PLL (PLL) of the processor is given. 
Sound processing algorithms (reverb, equalizer, 3D sound simulation effects) use 512 IIR filters ( IIR, infinite impulse response = IIR, infinite impulse response) second order. This will not surprise anyone in modern audio processing tools, but it should be noted that everything here works in real time for dozens of streams simultaneously. The number of hardware filters, including 4 and 5 band parametric equalizers, band pass, notch and other specific filters.
There are also rich mixing possibilities - up to 4096 signals with hardware volume control and combining two sources. This can be used both for building a mixer that is flexibly configurable in terms of signal routing, and also used in games, since it requires adjusting the level of each applied effect.
To connect to digital and analog interfaces, the processor has 4 I2S input / output buses, providing 8 input and 8 output channels. In addition, there is a proprietary protocol for transmitting 8 channels over one wire, thus 32 x 48 kHz, 16 x 96 kHz, 8 x 192 kHz channels are obtained. For internal needs and routing, there are 4096 audio and 4096 parametric channels.
SRC
Sample Rate Converters (SRCs) are used when the sample rate does not match the reference rate of the current mode (otherwise the sample will play at the wrong rate and change the tone). Uses 256 interpolators, with better quality than a typical 100th order polyphase FIR filter (FIR, finite impulse response)... The pitch shift range is from 0 to 8.
How SRC X-Fi works
The picture illustrates how SRC X-Fi converts 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz. First, the signal samples are doubled to 88.2 kHz. The polyphase FIR filter converts the signal up to 192 kHz with a factor equal to twice the ratio of 48 / 44.1. In the final stage, the frequency is reduced to 48 kHz. Such a scheme is more efficient in terms of computational costs and gives a better result, since at the last stage aliasing is not formed due to multiple frequencies.
When converting a standard tone of 997 Hz from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz, the standard parameter responsible for noise and distortion power, THD + N is -136 dB, frequency jitter in the passband is ± 0.00025 dB. Creative recommends checking these parameters using at least an AudioPrecision measuring station.
Taking into account the headroom of 6 dB and 32 stages of the processing cycle, THD + N can deteriorate to –124 dB, and the frequency response unevenness will increase to ± 0.01 dB. But the parameters of even the best DACs for today are inferior to such indicators in terms of noise and distortion.
SRC X-Fi quality when converting 44.1-> 48 kHz
It should only be taken into account that the quality parameters in the frequency domain do not indicate the operation of the filters in the time domain. But, given the positioning of the cards primarily for games and movies, this conversion accuracy can be considered excellent. In past products, the intermodulation distortion from SRC reached 0.1% in the high-frequency region, while only a few users complained about the drop in quality.
There is a very important point, which is not widely advertised by the manufacturer - unlike the previous generation sound processors, in X-Fi, you can turn off oversampling along with the rest of the DSP effects! This, of course, loses the unique ability to simultaneously listen to several signals of different sampling rates, with the subsequent imposition of all sorts of effects and enhancers. However, fans of the highest quality sound need this least of all.
SRC converters also operate in DMA mode, allowing conversions to be performed directly in the computer's RAM without the involvement of the CPU. To avoid collisions when the PCI bus is loaded, there is a configurable cache.
X-Fi capabilities
Data processing for human head and ear transfer functions (HRTF) and headphone sound calculation is based on several technologies. These are the developments of UCDavis, Aureal and Sensaura. Used patents for MacroFX, binaural 3D panning. The implementation uses 48-tap FIR (FIR) filters, up to 128 3D sound sources are processed.
CMSS (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) technology has been updated to CMSS-3D. The manufacturer claims that the quality of the sound field is higher than that of Dolby Prologic II / IIx, and in the headphones, the spatiality and naturalness of tones at the HF surpasses Dolby Headphone.
Unlike previous generations of processors, effects are now supported for 24/96 and 24/192 modes. For processing signals of increased resolution, for example, 192 kHz, the Quadrature Mirror Filter technology is used - splitting the signal into 4 frequency bands of 48 kHz, which are processed separately, and the results are added. Thus, with 192 kHz processing, the computation speed is increased compared to conventional methods.
The architecture of the chip allows switching between modes without rebooting, so that sound cards can make the most of the resources.
ASIO 2.0 with latency time is supported. For WDM and OpenAL, optimizations of drivers and hardware were carried out to obtain the lowest latency, with a higher sound quality.
Comparison
The table shows approximate performance ratios between different generations of Creative cards (according to the manufacturer's data).
| Prod. figured out MIPs | Total production MIPs | Int. channels | MIPS vs Live! | Number of effects | Number transistors |
|
| Sound Blaster Pro | ≈1 | 3+ | - | 0.0001x | - | 100K |
| AWE 32 (EMU8000) | 67 | 200+ | - | 0.2x | - | 500K |
| Live! (10k1) | 335 | 1000+ | 16 (effects) | 1x | 1 | 2M |
| Audigy (10k2) | 424 | 1250+ | 64 (effects) | 4x | 4 | 4.6M |
| X-Fi | 10340 | 30000+ | 4096 (Total) | 67x | 8 | 51.1M |
X-Fi has an architecture that is completely different from that of previous generations of Creative processors, as well as all other processors, including graphics. The concept is a programmable ring-based architecture. This gives flexibility in signal routing, allowing any of the 4096 audio channels to route the signal to any processor element - Tank, SRC, Mixer, DSP.
Thus, the new X-Fi architecture consists of the following major innovations:
- Ring architecture
- New DSP "Quartet"
- Ultra-quality SRC
- Hardware acceleration Mixer, Tank Engine (effects), Filter Engine, DMA.
- Simultaneous development and interaction of hardware and software
A huge amount of information about the X-Fi processor can be found on a dedicated website.
Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Cards
On August 8, 2005 Creative announced a new line of Sound Blaster X-Fi sound cards based on the processor of the same name. Four card models will be released: Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro, Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS, Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum, Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic.
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro features a professional-quality 116dB S / N DAC plus an external interface module with 24-bit Crystalizer, X-Fi CMSS-3D, 3DMIDI and EAX control buttons. The card is equipped with 64 MB onboard X-RAM sound memory, as well as mic and guitar preamps. Estimated cost US $ 399.99.
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS is designed to meet the demands of acclaimed gamer Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel. The card has 109 dB signal-to-noise ratio, 64 MB onboard X-RAM. Supplied with switching unit 5 "bay and IR remote control. PCI-card with lower quality DACs. Cost US $ 279.99.
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum. Same as Fatal1ty, but PCI card without onboard memory. US $ 199.99
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic. The simplest board option. Platinum without a breakout box. US $ 129.99
By the way, even for this card there is a mention of the possibility of ordering an IR receiver on the USB bus and a remote control.
In this article we will look at the most interesting model - Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro. A distinctive feature of the card is maximum quality and performance, plus a huge external switching unit with a remote control.
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
The card itself, labeled SB0550, has gold-plated connectors and a mysterious rectangular piece in the upper corner of the board. In fact, it turned out that this is an LED with the X-Fi inscription, which lights up in blue when turned on and will be clearly visible in translucent modder cases.
Sound Blaster X-Fi PCI Card (SB0550) included with Elite Pro
Indeed, the phonogram is remastered using a "well-known in narrow circles" mastering plug-in called "multiband compressor". To be 100% convinced that I was right, I compared the work of the Crystalizer with three mastering multiband compressors: Waves LinMB, iZotope Ozone, Steinberg MultiBand Compressor. When you enable these plugins, the sound character changes in the same way as when you enable Crystalizer.
To be 200% sure, I tested the Crystalizer with our RMAA program and compared it with the results. Waves LinMB Linear Phase MultiBand compressor(with standard preset Low-Level Enhancer- I inform for those who want to repeat measurements). Tests were carried out with the default Crystalizer setting, in the middle position.
Pay attention to the equalization of the frequency response and large intermodulation distortion - according to the measurements, the effect of the plug-ins is similar. However, the situation is much better by ear. This is due to the fact that the character music signal differs from the test. According to psychoacoustics, an overload of less than 6 ms is not detected by a person, and a high-quality compressor does not allow prolonged overload, quickly reducing the signal level, which is regulated by the attack time.
There is an analogy for Crystalizer technology in the world of digital photography. Suppose a plug-in appears that converts a JPEG compressed from a certain high-quality TIF into 16-bit per color, then compresses the levels (roughly speaking, increases the brightness / contrast) and sharpness by 10-20%, depending on the source. Ready! We get an ingenious new "48-bit Picturelizer" that makes JPEG better than the original TIF. Attention, the question is: in which case the quality will be better? That's right, only if the JPEG has a quality margin for such abuse, and the display device has problems with transferring the lightest and darkest halftones of the original image.
In sound, the situation with MP3 and WAV is about the same, but there is also a difference. In mastering studios, very expensive equipment is used that analyzes the source file not in real time, but with some anticipation or even not in one pass, using the calculation accuracy not 24 bits, but 64 bits with floating point. Further, mastering compression parameters must be painstakingly adjusted individually for each recording on high-quality mid- and far-field control monitors. Trusting a similar function to an automaton in real time and talking about superiority over studio results is presumptuous. In the final stage of mastering, the stage of forming a psychoacoustic distribution of dithering noise (noise shaping) takes place, which by ear turns a 16-bit recording into a 20-bit one, so that all that remains is to send the recording bit by bit to the input interface of the DACs. Any interference in this process has a detrimental effect on the quality, and the original phonogram cannot be surpassed from the MP3 recording in any way, and multiband compression can distort the tonal balance beyond recognition and lead to a redistribution of the signal energy, which will cause overload at high or low frequencies.
It's another matter if we are talking about mediocre household acoustics with a limited dynamic range and a flawed frequency response, so that even the most primitive tone control subjectively significantly increases the comfort of perception. In this case, additional band-pass compression of high and low frequencies makes it easier to perceive the soundtrack through these specific speakers, especially in combination with a moderately compressed original soundtrack, with less aggressiveness (ratio of peak power to average value). In this case, the resulting distortion from processing will not exceed the distortion of the reproducing path.
This was the case in practice. On inexpensive active stereo speakers, some recordings subjectively sounded more intelligible, albeit with more aggression. On high-quality acoustics (studio monitors and mid-range Hi-Fi speakers), I easily found several MP3s, as well as original CDs, the quality of which Crystalizer significantly degraded, so that overload was heard, or the sound became too aggressive, which led to quick fatigue from listening.
The measurements showed that in addition to multiband signal compression, the level was raised by about 3 dB. So any quiet recordings will seem subjectively better even without the compressor.
Thus, the 24-bit Crystalizer will benefit the owners of inexpensive acoustics or budget headphones, which almost automatically means a lack of bass and treble, as well as problems with the detail of the midrange. For owners of high-quality acoustics, the good news is that this technology is easily disabled.
24-bit Crystalizer technology has a right to life, but the presentation itself, with wishful thinking, is not at all happy. In reality, Crystalizer does not expand, but narrows the dynamic range, and 24 bits are really used, but only so that the rounding error does not accumulate (this is a normal practice, no modern DSP works in the same resolution as the original data).
СMSS-3D
The CMSS-3D technology is designed to solve the main problem of the young generation of users of multichannel sound cards: "I have a 5.1 set of speakers. Everything is cool in movies, but only 2 front speakers play MP3! And I want everyone !!!"
As mentioned above, CMSS (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) technology has been updated to CMSS-3D. Developments and patents used by IRCAM, UC Davis, Aureal, Sensaura and Creative's Advanced Technology Center.
CMSS-3D virtualizes a sound source of any channel to any device, thus providing:
- CMSS-3DHeadphone: surround sound in headphones;
- CMSS-3DVirtual: surround sound in stereo speakers;
- CMSS-3DSurround: converting stereo to multichannel sound;
- CMSS-3DInteractive: 3D sound from multiple sources.
Tested with Sennheiser HD600 headphones. The problem of double overlapping of virtualization effects was identified, with a deterioration of the volumetric effect. The fact is that all musical recordings of recent years already contain, to one degree or another, an expansion of the stereo panorama, so the result may be unexpected.
At the same time, the demo file "The Rising of the Sun" from the CD "Essential Anuna", containing almost raw stereo, showed good results, and even superiority over DolbyHeadphones technology.
Besides music, CMSS-3D technology can also be used in games. In this case, the game calculates 3D sound for 5.1 speakers, and CMSS-3DHeadphone converts multi-channel audio to surround sound in headphones.
X-RAM
Unlike cards of past decades, X-Fi on-board memory is not used for MIDI samples, but for storing or caching sounds while gaming applications are running. There is a shortage problem random access memory, so the developers either reduce the bit depth of the samples to 8 bits 11 kHz, which degrades the quality by an order of magnitude, or compress them into lossy formats, MP3 or OGG, which leads to a processor load when unpacking at the stage of sample playback.
Thus, the introduction of on-board memory on a sound card allows: saving main memory, speeding up memory access, eliminating the need for real-time decompression, eliminating the loss of sample quality, increasing the performance of the graphics part and the FPS value.
Today there is only one game with full X-RAM support. This is the UT2004 X-Fi Edition, which is not yet available to a wide audience. We invite you to see the results provided by Creative. As you can see, the introduction of X-RAM can increase performance by up to 20%, which is equivalent to an upgrade of a graphics accelerator, while also increasing the sound quality! An unambiguously useful innovation.
UT2004 X-Fi Edition
RMAA 5.5 tests
We can't resist publicly quoting Creative's guide for journalists testing X-Fi.
“As mentioned, Creative designed the Sound Blaster X-Fi family primarily with sound quality in mind. To achieve this, we took our testing very seriously. However, we realize that not all journalists have access to“ Audio Precision ", the industry standard for professional audio testing. We see that many people use" RightMark Audio Analyzer "for audio quality tests because of its affordability and nice interface. However, due to the difference in methodology between the two platforms, their results will be different. We have received some questions about these differences in the past, so we want to show you the prepared results and test methods for both Audio Precision and RMAA. We hope you find something useful in them. "
Creative's instructions for installing X-Fi cards for measuring in RMAA can be downloaded from the official website.
Audio Precision Test Results
| Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic / Platinum / Fatal1ty FPS | Remark | ||
| Digital playback | Frequency Response | Lo –1dB Hi –1dB ≈ 45kHz | N.B. "Digital Playback" refers to the fact that only the quality of the line-out is tested using a digital source file. It is not a test of the digital outputs |
| Cross-talk | L-R: -105 dB R-L: -105dB |
||
| Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) | 109 dB | ||
| 0.004 % | |||
| Line-IN / Line-OUT Record & Playback | Frequency Response | Lo –1dB ≈ ~ 17 Hz Hi -1dB ≈ 42 KHz | Output: 2Vrms |
| Cross-talk | L-R: -86 dB R-L: -86 dB |
||
| Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) | 98 dB | ||
| Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD + N) | 0.004% |
| Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro | Remark | ||
| Digital playback | Frequency Response | Lo –1dB Hi –1dB ≈ 46kHz | PCM: 24-bit / 96kHz, 997Hz Output: 2Vrms N.B. "Digital Playback" refers to the fact that only the quality of the line-out is tested using a digital source file. It is not a test of the digital outputs. |
| Cross-talk | L-R: -112 dB R-L: -112dB |
||
| Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) | 116 dB | ||
| Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD + N) | 0.0008 % | ||
| Line-IN / Line-OUT Record & Playback | Frequency Response | Lo –1dB Hi –1dB ≈ 45 kHz | PCM: 24-bit / 96kHz, 997 Hz Input: 2Vrms Output: 2Vrms |
| Cross-talk | L-R: -106 dB R-L: -106 dB |
||
| Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) | 112 dB | ||
| Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD + N) | 0.001% |
RMAA 5.5 test results
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
| SB0550 | SB0550 | SB0550 | SB0550 | |
| +0.01, -0.07 | +0.01, -0.07 | +0.01, -0.07 | +0.01, -0.07 | |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -94.8 | -95.1 | -113.0 | -113.3 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 94.7 | 95.1 | 112.8 | 112.5 |
| THD,%: | 0.0009 | 0.0009 | 0.0007 | 0.0007 |
| IMD + Noise,%: | 0.0051 | 0.0049 | 0.0010 | 0.0010 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -95.1 | -95.5 | -102.7 | -102.8 |
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
| Test | SB0460 | SB0460 | SB0460 | SB0460 |
| Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: | +0.02, -0.08 | +0.01, -0.09 | +0.01, -0.09 | +0.02, -0.17 |
| Noise level, dB (A): | -94.1 | -94.5 | -102.1 | -102.2 |
| Dynamic range, dB (A): | 94.0 | 94.3 | 101.6 | 102.0 |
| THD,%: | 0.0009 | 0.0009 | 0.0008 | 0.0008 |
| IMD + Noise,%: | 0.0057 | 0.0054 | 0.0026 | 0.0025 |
| Stereo crosstalk, dB: | -97.0 | -94.5 | -101.5 | -98.6 |
Comparing RMAA loopback vs. AP loopback, I would like to note that the discrepancy is a few percent, which is due to the difference in the calculation algorithms. In the latest version 5.5, the maximum compliance with existing international standards was observed (while the RMAA uses more accurate calculations than is required by the standard). Considering the kilo-dollar cost of Audio Precision and the free RMAA, we can fully recommend the program to check the manufacturer's declared passport data. The THD + N value should be taken from the RMAA detailed report.
Of the tests, only distortion graphs are of interest.
THD card SB0550
IMD (DIN) cards SB0550
IMD (CCIF) from SB0550 frequency
IMD (CCIF) from SB0460 frequency
From the measurements, the problem with a lot of distortion is a thing of the past. The 44.1 kHz mode in X-Fi cards is no different from 48 kHz.
Hardware SRC Quality Test
It is interesting to compare the quality of the new hardware SRC X-Fi versus the popular real-time SSRC plug-in for the WinAmp MP3 player, which is of a fairly high quality and decently loads the CPU.
IMD (CCIF) vs. frequency
IMD (DIN)
Reference 16/44 - analysis of the source data file generated by the test; shows the maximum achievable quality for 16-bit format.
X-Fi HW SRC OFF - Disabling the hardware SRC of X-Fi is achieved by setting the 44.1 kHz reference mode and the Enable Bit-Matched Playback option.
X-Fi HW SRC ON - enabling hardware SRC for X-Fi is obtained by playing a 44.1 kHz file with the 48 kHz reference mode set and disabling Enable Bit-Matched Playback.
WinAmp SSRC plug-in - playing a 44.1 kHz file in WinAmp with the SSRC plug-in installed, configured to recalculate at 48 kHz, while the card has a 48 kHz reference mode and the Enable Bit-Matched Playback option.
As we can see, the SRC of the card is superior to the SSRC of the plugin, and there are no distortions visible from the diagram from its inclusion.
RightMark 3DSound
The diagram is deliberately built at a scale of 100% to show that the difference, even several times, with a small number of buffers is insignificant, and enabling EAX in 3D mode is practically free.
OpenAL API is ahead of DirectSound due to more direct access to hardware and optimization of the complete CT_OAL.DLL library (Creative OpenAL Driver, 5.12.1.1141) exclusively for X-Fi. The exception is 2D mode. But, in this mode, OpenAL will most likely not be used, and the speed is not fundamental there. Most likely for OpenAL 2D is 3D with fixed coordinates. The download is the same:
Games
As mentioned, Creative had the opportunity to test X-Fi on a special version of UT2004 with 128 voices. I can't help but give the results:
- Realtek HD Audio: 7.1 Audio, EAX 2.0, 32 Voices
- Sound Blaster Live !: 5.1 Audio, EAX 2.0, 32 Voices
- Sound Blaster Audigy: 7.1 Audio. EAX 3.0, 32 & 64 Voices, CMSS-3D
- Sound Blaster X-Fi: 7.1 Audio, EAX 3.0, 32, 64 & 128 Voices, X-Fi CMSS-3D, X-Fi 24-bit Crystalizer
So, in UT2004, the difference between HDAudio and X-Fi at 32 voices reaches 17%, with better sound quality and CMSS-3D and 24-bit Crystalizer enabled. The configuration of the computer is quite average: P4-3.4, 1 GB, GeForce 6600.
From real games, direct support for X-Fi is so far only in Battlefield2 (even in the demo version!), Implemented through OpenAL. If you have a card, in the sound options you can select a separate item Creative X-Fi, EAX and Ultra High sound settings. In this case, the on-board memory is used to cache samples and speed up sound processing. I must say that the samples in this game are mostly of average quality, many are 22 kHz, plus they are compressed in OGG with a variable bit rate of 100 kbps. So with the X-Fi option selected and EAX enabled, the sound deserves a "Very Good" rating, but not "Excellent" due to the disgusting quality of the samples. The sound is much more interesting in Doom3 with patch 1.3, which includes EAX4.
We took our measurements in Battlefield2 using a hacker mod. The system used was P4 3.4 GHz, 1 GB DDR400, ATI X800, graphics settings 800 × 600, Medium. Creative X-Fi + EAX ON + Ultra High mode gave 52 FPS, compared to Hardware + EAX OFF + Medium mode, which shows 55 FPS. Thus, the difference in performance between modes with maximum and medium settings does not exceed 5%, for which I must say thanks to the fast and powerful processor of the card. And this is with such video settings, when the performance is not yet limited by the video card. In game resolutions, you can safely set the sound to maximum.
Based on the results of testing a real product for a new processor
Creative X-Fi the award is given site Original Design
To be continued…
24.09.2014 17:05
The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is no longer a new product on the market, however, it is one of the bright attempts of this company to please the already completely inexperienced audiophile audience.
An external sound card is definitely a specific product. Which means it is automatically audiophile. Because an ordinary user is unlikely to bother with the search for the necessary device for playing any kind of music, and even more so for sounding acoustic scenes, for example, in computer games.
The buyer, who decides to organize a mini-studio at his workplace, approaches the choice of the device for reproducing the incoming and outgoing signal purely from subjective preferences. The technical characteristics of sound recording / playback, external ports for connecting acoustics and auxiliary devices, for example, musical instruments or a microphone, are also important here. Thus, there are a lot of subtleties in the device called an external sound card.
With factory drivers and without the use of bundled and third-party software to improve and modify sound, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD sounds really good.
The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is no longer a new product on the market, however, it is one of the bright attempts of this company to please the already completely inexperienced audiophile audience. By and large, this device is able to implement two main functions - to reproduce a very high-quality sound, as well as to record it using one input connector jack format ¼ located on the front panel black box.
The main characteristics of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD stereo card are as follows: signal-to-noise ratio - 114 dBA, the X-Fi processor already known to many (from the gaming series) is installed inside, the quality of playback and recording is 24 bit / 96 kHz, which is quite good for household needs. Headphone Amplification - 330 Ohm.
In addition to the voiced instrument jack located on the front panel of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD, there is another headphone output with exactly the same form factor. On the reverse side of the device, analog tulips(two pairs) and optical TOSLINK input and output. The sound card is connected via the connector USB 2.0... Creative has not forgotten about grounding the device, which is very nice.
True Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD Capabilities hidden in the control panel, which is installed from the disc or the manufacturer's website.
During operation, the blue diode notifies the user about the device's health. The front panel of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD also has a volume control in the style of classic receivers. Many users criticize such, but in vain. Perhaps it is too miniature, but the device itself is quite modest in size. In any case, it is convenient to control the volume, smooth and moderately tight movement of the plastic knob was created for just this.
With factory drivers and without the use of bundled and third-party software to improve and modify sound, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD sounds really good. To be honest, after using an external Behringer U-Phoria UM2 card, no difference was noticed (as an acoustic pair, we used Dual passive speakers from Germany, connected to a Telefunken RA200 amplifier). The volume reserve is more than enough, the frequencies of all ranges are excellent.
But the true capabilities of Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD hidden in the control panel, which is installed from the disc or the manufacturer's website. It contains various EAX effects, equalizer, THX TruStudio Pro functions. The panel is not overloaded with options, which means that any user can customize the sound at his own discretion. It's really worth it. The familiar sound of your favorite songs is literally updated with each turn of the slider of a parameter.
The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD does not support ASIO, which means that recording, as well as the subsequent playback of the track, occurs with a significant delay.
Another weighty a plus The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD consists of a wired instrument input that lets you record sound from musical instruments such as a guitar, as well as a full microphone. The sound card copes with this task very well and at the output you get audible the quality of the track, not studio quality, of course, but sufficient for personal experiments. But there is one drawback - the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD does not support ASIO, which means that the recording, like the subsequent playback of the track, occurs with a significant delay. Thus, when overlaying one track on top of another, especially when playing the first in parallel, difficulties in the workflow can arise. This is the minus of any non-professional solution, after all, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is an amateur device.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD can be purchased for 3700 rubles and higher. By and large, this is a worthy offer for the possibilities that the monitored device offers to the user, if we are talking about non-professional external cards for the home.
Beginning musicians who want to constantly evaluate the quality of their work, as they say on tape, this unit will also work, but with the caveats described above, which are associated with a large recording delay. In any case, when recording only one track in mono or stereo mode, there are essentially no problems.
And the sound quality reproduced through the analog inputs is really great, without any exaggeration. You just need to get the appropriate speakers, preferably more powerful.
Any more or less large-budget game imposes certain requirements on the player's technique - so that the processor is more powerful, the monitor is bigger, and the acoustics are of better quality. A decent sound card is also vital. The sound codecs built into motherboards, of course, do their job, but you shouldn't expect much from them.
With sound cards in the form of separate cards, everything is dull. WITH EAX 5.0 only series cards work X-Fi from Creative, the rest can only access the outdated specification EAX 2.0... As you can see, there are no or almost no alternatives to Creative products.
For some time now, the sound card market has entered ASUS... Not so long ago, she introduced a sound card Xonar DX- with a new PCIe x1 interface, better components and support for all EAX effects. With all this, the novelty is not more expensive X-Fi Xtreme Gamer.
We have thoroughly tested the Xonar DX and compared it to. It costs significantly more than the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, but only due to the presence of an external unit with connectors and a remote control in the delivery set, so everything is fair.
| Vocabulary |
Frequency range- the frequency band that the source can reproduce. A person hears sounds with a frequency of 20 to 22,000 Hz. Sampling- transformation process analog signal in digital. Sampling frequency- a parameter showing how many times a second a sound wave is read. The higher the sampling rate, the wider the range of frequencies that can be recorded. For accurate sound recording up to 22 kHz, the sampling rate must be 44.1 kHz. DAC- digital-to-analog converter, required for sound output to speakers. ADC- analog-to-digital converter , required for recording. Signal to noise ratio- the ratio of the power of the useful signal to the noise level. The higher this figure, the less noise at the output will be. Beat in sound- the step with which you can take the values of the sound wave. With a 16-bit processor, the wave can be split into 65536 segments, with 24 bits - into 16,777,216. |
Round 1: an inside look
By 2005, Creative lost the budget sound card market to built-in codecs. We had to come to terms with this, and as a result, the company switched to more expensive solutions. As a result of such a change of course, the X-Fi (Xtreme Fidelity) chip saw the light, in terms of power it surpassed Audigy 24 times.
X-Fi has enormous capabilities: four cores work with sound at once, they calculate streams in parallel; the number of effects and methods of processing the audio stream is more than enough; at the same time, the power of the processor allows you to do all this in real time. Especially in Creative, they are proud of the X-Fi architecture - earlier the sound was passed through a rigidly defined chain of effects, with the advent of technology Audio Ring it is sent to the bus to which only the necessary modules are connected. This approach not only relieves the processor, but also allows you to get rid of unnecessary effects.
Alas, it was not without a fly in the ointment: the sound cards of the X-Fi series use outdated chips for audio output and capture, nothing has changed since the days of the Audigy. A DAC (digital-to-analog converter) is responsible for sound output Cirrus Logic CS4382, which knows how to work with acoustics of class 5.1, but is limited to a low sampling rate (96 kHz) when using multichannel audio, and the signal-to-noise ratio is too low. The same goes for the ADC (analog to digital converter). To ensure high-quality recording, Wolfson WM8775SEDS too low indicators. Whatever one may say, but today the X-Fi line does not look so attractive.
ASUS Xonar DX is another matter. This board does not have a revolutionary processor, a solid chip from C-Media and the chip Oxygen HD CMI8788 It cannot boast of anything special - its sound passes through the classic rigid chain of effects, the delays during processing in real time are relatively high. But high-quality ADC and DAC are attached to all this. Two chips are responsible for sound output at once: two-channel Cirrus Logic CS4398 and six-channel Cirrus Logic CS4362A... Together they can work with eight-channel acoustics and in terms of quality they turn out to be a cut above the solutions from Creative. It is worth recording Cirrus Logic CS5361, which has a much wider range and significantly less noise compared to Wolfson.
The X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition board looks solid: black textolite and a glowing red logo will look good in a transparent case. The card has been assembled conscientiously, the main processor is covered with a radiator. There are enough connectors on the card: there is an AUX In input for a TV tuner and an additional 4-pin power supply (the card works without it), in the center there is a connector for computer power management, for turning on from the remote control, in addition, there are two outputs for connecting external panels from X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition and Elite Pro, but there are no standard audio connectors on the case. The I / O panel includes a game port, three speaker outputs and one Flexi Jack combining digital output and microphone input. The card is connected via a PCI interface.
The Xonar DX is very different from the X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition. The board is half the size of the competitor, it is connected via the PCIe x1 interface and is compatible with low-profile cases (a special bracket is included in the package). The downside is that the chips are located on both sides of the board, which is quite expected given the limited space. The Xonar DX has slightly more connectors: there is AUX In, S / PDIF In and an output to the front panel, on the input-output panel there are four outputs for acoustics and Flexi Jack.
The minus of both cards is that the connectors for the cables are too close, it will be difficult to connect expensive wires with thick insulation. In addition, the X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition and Xonar DX are equally poor: only CDs with drivers and instructions. ASUS has only added a low-profile bracket, which we mentioned, and an S / PDIF adapter.
| Table 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Round 2: endless possibilities
Connecting X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition begins with installing drivers and an impressive set of software. It is nowhere easier to make settings, the programs are all understandable and reasonably convenient. It is enough to select the mode of operation of the card (games, recording, entertainment), after which the necessary functional modules are connected.
During the installation process, so many different programs that a separate article could be devoted to them. Let's talk about the most important ones. You will have to manage the map through Creative Console... The usual mixer and equalizer are available, but there are also much more interesting tabs - for example, 24-bit Crystallizer and CMSS-3D.
Let's start with the first one. The X-Fi processor is designed to work with 24-bit audio. This is all good, but in practice no one needs it, because music is written using a 16-bit stream. To justify itself, Creative just came up with the 24-bit Crystallizer technology, which artificially expands and amplifies the frequency range, the level is set as a percentage. The idea is not new, many sound editors are able to do this. One way or another, after such processing, the bass is amplified, the highs become sharper, and the mids are denser. When listening to music, at first it seems that the sound really improves and becomes more assertive, but a little later you notice that the sound is blurred. The basses turn into a puffing mess, only the loudest tones stand out from the top, the voice fades into the background against the background of the music.
The second technology turned out to be more viable. CMSS-3D is an algorithm that produces surround sound from a conventional stereo track. When you turn it on, familiar songs are transformed, there is a complete feeling that you are in the very center of what is happening: either a guitar will sound somewhere behind, or a drummer will play from the side. Another plus of CMSS-3D is the ability to turn headphones into 7.1 acoustics.
ASUS Xonar DX software pleases with its simplicity. |
A few words about cinema: technology Dolby and DTS are fully supported under Windows XP only. Everything there works at the hardware level and does not load the processor. But drivers for Windows Vista will appear only at the end of the summer (the developers are somehow in no hurry). Creative also offers its own music player, a media cataloger and even a karaoke function.
ASUS doesn't have such a variety of technologies and software, but maybe it's for the better. All settings are collected in one window, in the same place you have to choose the mode of operation of the card - music, films, games. ASUS did not reinvent the wheel and took advantage of the developments Dolby Laboratories, a recognized leader in the field of sound. I would like to highlight the algorithm for obtaining surround sound: if Creative's CMSS-3D is impressive, then the work of Xonar DX, coupled with Dolby ProLogic literally blows the tower down. At the first acquaintance with this technology, there is a strong desire to listen to the entire music collection. Technology has performed just as well Dolby Headphone, she easily tucked in the Creative X-Fi belt. And here's why: if the CMSS-3D overloads the headphones with low frequencies, then the ASUS sound is light, airy.
Another trump card of Xonar DX - the board is excellent at positioning the sound and masterfully moving it away. In terms of sound quality, the ASUS card turned out to be cleaner than the X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition, this is especially noticeable when connecting multichannel speakers - honest 192 kHz make itself felt, and much less noise. The beginner is inferior only in terms of the output signal power, headphones with an impedance of 64 ohms can be swung with difficulty, an amplifier is needed.
Round 3: how does it work?
When you put both cards into game mode, EAX settings appear, voice control, Creative disables 24-bit Crystallizer and equalizer, and Xonar DX activates the DirectSound 3d GX 2.0(more on her later).
Before the tests, let's explain why Creative has long been considered the only manufacturer of sound cards aimed at gamers. The sound in games remained in the background for a long time: the steps of the characters sounded the same both on the grass and on the asphalt, changes were not felt when moving from one room to another, the distance to the character could only be judged by the picture on the monitor. Technologies like Microsoft DirectSound and Aureal 3d only supported the reverb effect and a very small number of sound sources.
To spur interest in their cards, Creative has developed EAX technology. It allowed not only to change the sound depending on the conditions in the game, but also to calculate the distance to the sources. For the first time EAX support appeared in 1999 in the cards of the series Sound Blaster Live!- then the technology allowed processing up to 32 sources, was able to independently process the effects, thereby significantly relieving the CPU. By the time X-Fi was released, the technology had grown to version 5.0. A powerful processor was taught to work with 128 sound sources, take into account the surface of the floor, walls, ceiling, smoothly change the sound when moving from one location to another, handle the obstacles encountered, and for complete happiness added an impressive number of new effects.
On the way to popularizing EAX, one problem arose - to support the technology, one card is not enough, games need to be sharpened using EAX, and this is an additional cost. Over the past three years, a little over twenty games have appeared that are compatible with EAX 5.0 - not at all. But Creative was not upset, they are still convinced that it is impossible to play without EAX. There is some truth in this, but EAX is not a panacea, in the same Call of duty 4 dispensed with this technology, and the sound is still great. And then Windows Vista came out, in which they got rid of support for hardware sound completely, it can be implemented only through the software interface OpenAL... This move by Microsoft has significantly shaken Creative's position in the market.
In general, Creative's policy in relation to EAX is quite strict, the company, in principle, does not license older versions of the standard to third-party hardware developers. There is no trial either, and ASUS chose a different path: it is clear that the processor from C-Media is not powerful enough to process EAX 5.0 instructions, but the computer's central processor copes with this task perfectly. And here they are absolutely right - modern CPUs are powerful enough, have two, three or even four cores, which are just waiting to be loaded with something. The EAX support scheme is as follows: as soon as we launch the game, DirectSound 3D GX2.0 intercepts EAX commands, sending them for processing to the CPU, after which the calculated sound goes to the card and acoustics. Nobody talks about full support for EAX 5.0, but work with 128 sound sources and basic effects are guaranteed. The solution is not the most transparent, but it works.
Round 4: final battle
To test the sound in games, we assembled a computer based on Core 2 Duo E6300 with a frequency of 1.8 GHz, installed two 512 MB memory sticks and limited to a video card GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB. The shock line of games was Unreal Tournament 3, Call of duty 4 and BioShock... The main thing we were interested in is how well the Xonar DX will work with EAX and whether there will be a noticeable difference compared to X-Fi. In order not to miss anything important, the sound of each pass of the level was recorded and compared.
First in line was BioShock. The game supports EAX 5.0 and features a variety of environments with challenging environments. The first launch took place on the X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition card. To heighten the effect, we first passed the level without EAX support, after which we turned it on. The difference amazed us. The sound changes radically. If without EAX everything goes in a common flow, then when processing is turned on, transitions from one surface to another are perfectly traced, the volume of rooms is felt - for example, in large rooms, steps sound more resonant than in small ones. In rooms with carpets, sounds seem to drown, while in empty rooms, on the contrary, they are amplified. It is clearly audible whether the enemy is in the same room with you or not, the distance to the sound source is easily determined. But the CMSS-3D technology clearly fails - it is impossible to understand where the source is in the headphones.
Moving on to the Xonar DX. First of all, we checked the settings, EAX was still available. The sound from the ASUS card turned out to be completely different. While a competitor from the Creative camp crushes with bass, the Xonar DX clearly distinguishes every echo. I was especially pleased with the Dolby Headphone technology - it is clearly superior to CMSS-3D. Now about the EAX effects: there is a difference by ear. Xonar DX works with some lag, the sound passing through the wall is not audible so clearly, the transitions from one room to another are sharper, the water splash calculation is slightly different. Overall impression: we cannot say that the sound of the Xonar DX is worse, it is just different.
Unreal Tournament 3 interacts with EAX much more intensely than BioShock. The results of both cards in it turned out to be approximately the same. In large spaces, when playing with headphones, the Xonar DX took the lead - thanks to more competent positioning.
We left Call of Duty 4 for dessert: there is no support for EAX, so both opponents fought on equal terms. The sound in the game often loses its dynamics and is replete with high frequencies. Thanks to the bass boost and 24-bit Crystallizer, the X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition delivers a dense, live sound that is much more like what you can hear in a movie theater. Xonar DX simply did not have the necessary filters to tighten up the sound, besides, Dolby Headphone, the main trump card of this card, refused to work in the game.
Let's draw the line
ASUS has got an excellent card, it not only does not yield to Creative products in sound, but often surpasses it. When working with music or films, high-quality technologies from Dolby are used, which easily plug all Creative developments into the belt. Most importantly, the Xonar DX really does work with EAX 5.0. Not as flawless as Creative's own cards, but in the heat of battle, you can hardly tell the difference.
The Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty has a processor that the Xonar DX has yet to grow and grow. But everything else is hopelessly outdated in three years. What looked impressive recently is now becoming history. Older ADCs / DACs are inferior to the Xonar DX in all respects.
Creative has a lot of software, but it's often useless and unstable. Over the course of our tests, we got one full Windows crash and several blue screens. In addition, X-Fi cards do not have an output to a standard soundbar on the case, there is only support for expensive proprietary expansion panels.
The situation with the recording is much more complicated. Creative has advanced software and full ASIO support. The X-Fi processor ensures low latency in real-time audio processing, and external panels with a large number of connectors make it easy to connect microphones and musical instruments. You can work with several channels at once - record a voice and an instrument at the same time. But the limitation in the form of 96 kHz interferes. Xonar DX allows you to make better recordings, but you can forget about working with sound in real time.
Each sound card has its own pros and cons. If you already have an X-Fi series card installed, then you should only change it to Xonar DX if you decide to buy high-quality acoustics. But if until now you have gotten by with the built-in sound and you do not need to record music, then the Xonar DX will be an excellent choice.
| Two in one | |
After installing a separate sound card, the built-in codec on the motherboard will not go anywhere. It can be turned off, but is it worth the hurry? There are several ways to use two cards at the same time. You can output different audio streams to different cards. For example, if you are watching a movie, the sound goes through a discrete card. At the same time, someone wants to listen to music with headphones, then in Winamp the audio output is set to the built-in codec, and everyone is happy. Another option is to use the main card to output sound from the game, and the second to communicate via TeamSpeak through a headset. Convenient and practical. |
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Introduction
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 sound card is dressed in a nice black compact case with a large rotary handle, and a lot of interesting things are hidden inside. You should not be intimidated by the lack of control keys, since the delivery set includes a very functional remote control, which we will talk about later. Connection to a PC is carried out through the classic USB interface 2.0, so compatibility with all modern computers can be guaranteed. Of course, taking into account the rather high requirements for the computer, especially for Vista.
| Manufacturer | Creative |
| Interface | USB 2.0 |
| Sampling frequency | 96 kHz |
| Bit depth | 24 bit |
| Inputs | |
| On the map | Linear, microphone |
| Outputs | |
| On the map | 2 "tulips" + 2 mini-jacks (5.1), 1 S / PDIF optical, 1 headphones |
| DVD and cinema | |
| Standards | S / PDIF out, Power DVD support |
| Configuration | Up to 5.1 |
| 3D sound in games | |
| Standards | EAX 4.0, OpenAL, Creative Alchemy |
| Configuration | 2 and 5.1 |
| MIDI | |
| Synthesizer | No |
| Minimum configuration | |
| Windows XP SP2 | Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+, 512 MB memory |
| Windows Vista | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core or equivalent, 1 GB memory |
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Inputs and outputs
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 sound card is clearly aimed at digital entertainment, such as listening to music and watching movies, so you have to be content with the necessary inputs and outputs for these areas. The weak point is that the inputs are limited to the usual 3.5mm mini jacks for microphone and line-in. There is no digital input. The outputs are richer, there is a 5.1 output where the left and right front speakers are connected via tulips, which will delight hi-fi lovers. There is also a 3.5mm mini-jack adapter that should suit everyone. And the rear speakers and center / subwoofer are connected via regular 3.5 mm mini-jacks. There is also a digital optical S / P DIF output that allows you to connect a receiver or home theater.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Drivers and software
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 comes with software that is well known to owners of X-Fi cards and other Creative products. Nothing new in this respect, except that some of the features of the high-end X-Fi sound cards are not available. For example, Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 works only in "Entertainment / Entertainment" mode, game and music creation modes are not available. However, audio processing functions such as X-Fi Crystalizer or CMSS3D surround sound are available that can be operated with the remote control.
The sound card's mixer is quite stripped down, only the level can be adjusted during recording.
We found a common X-Fi card panel with access to a variety of audio processing systems.
Several options are also available for the remote control.
For configuration, you can use the Audio Console in the Windows "Control Panel".
Many features of Creative software are accessed through the volume icon in the tray.
A Media Center-style interface is available, but we weren't interested in it.
Following the tradition of the latest Creative products, you can download a PowerDVD player for free, which will decode Dolby Digital and DTS. For Vista gamers, Creative has included Alchemy, a software program that will allow you to enjoy sound effects despite the change in Windows audio processing. However, X-Fi 5.1 Surround, like all USB cards, is not aimed at gamers.
It should be noted that the sound card, like many new models, is capable of working under Windows XP or Vista without installing drivers. If you can be content with the simplest functions, you can plug in a sound card without changing anything in the system. Of course, if you want to get the most out of Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1, you'll have to install drivers and software.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Test configuration
Test configuration.
- Processor: Pentium 4 2.4 GHz;
- memory: 1 GB DDR;
- video card: nVidia GeForce Ti 4200;
- hard drive: 80 GB 7,200 rpm;
- optical drive DVD LG 16 / 48x;
- OS: XP SP3;
- DirectX version: 9.0c.
Loudspeakers.
- Creative Gigaworks S750, Logitech Z2200.
Video playback.
- Power DVD.
Measurements.
- Right Mark Audio Analyzer 6.0.6;
- sound measurement system DAAS.
The tests were conducted through record / playback (input and output were connected), and it is quite possible to expect that the recording system is of lower quality than the playback system. Therefore, we conducted separate playback tests, where a professional sound card E-MU 1616m was used for recording.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Test results: 16 bits, 44.1 kHz
Uneven frequency response: Nearly ideal performance for these parameters.
Noise level: very low, close to the theoretical maximum you would expect at this setting.
Nonlinear distortion: very low, so no problem.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Test results: 24 bit, 48 kHz
Uneven frequency response: The frequency response goes up to 24 kHz without much attenuation. You can hardly ask for more.
Noise level: The frequency bandwidth is wider, the noise is felt more, but remains at a very low level.
Nonlinear distortion: Distortion is still very low.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Test results: 24 bit, 96 kHz
Uneven frequency response: we get 30 kHz at -0.5 dB and 40 kHz at -2 dB! You can hardly ask for more ...
Noise level: The noise level is still very low.
Nonlinear distortion: distortion is very low in practice.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Test results: 24 bit, 96 kHz (playback)
Uneven frequency response: The frequency response reaches 20 kHz with very little attenuation.
Noise level: the noise level does not exceed 100 dB, which is just great for a sound card at this price.
Nonlinear distortion: Distortion is very low.
As tests have shown, the quality of the sound card is very good, without weak points. This is not to say that it cannot be better, but X-Fi Surround 5.1 gives quite sufficient quality for all target use cases: if the quality is unsatisfactory, then other elements in the playback chain will be to blame. In practice, we were quite satisfied with our listening test equipment. The quality was not satisfactory, and X-Fi processing improved the sound from most sources.
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 | Conclusion
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 sound card is sold at a very affordable price of 70 euros (at the time of publication in Russia it has not yet arrived). At the same time, it provides unassuming, but high-quality surround sound, both on a laptop and on a desktop PC. Taking into account the fact that laptops are often equipped with not the highest quality integrated sound, this is a very interesting option. However, the main obstacle will be high system requirements especially under Vista.
Advantages.
- Very good sound quality;
- works in basic mode without installing drivers;
- PowerDVD player included.
disadvantages.
- High system requirements.
Auzentech, Inc. Is a very young company specializing in sound cards. The company is not yet two years old - the first press release is dated February 2006 - however, it managed to announce its fifth product of its own design, as well as to start selling several interesting devices third party developers. The rookie's vigorous activity is respectable, especially when you consider that Auzentech pays special attention to the sound quality of its latest products. They use some of the best converters manufactured by Asahi Kasei, replaceable operational amplifiers, solid dielectric capacitors, and original board layout.
Auzentech's first three products were based on C-Media controllers, and the company without undue modesty calls itself the world's first manufacturer of sound cards with support for Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect technologies. I admit that Auzen was indeed the first, but such opportunities appeared thanks to the work of C-Media engineers and programmers, and therefore are implemented on all cards with a corresponding chip. But in April of this year, the whole Internet was excited by another news: Auzen is preparing a new product on the Creative X-Fi audio processor! Until now, Creative Labs has not shipped its technology third party manufacturers, so this fact itself was already akin to a revolution, but the president of Auzentech thought it was not enough and he set before the engineers (as stated on the site - leaders in the field of analog and digital sound) the task of creating an audiophile quality product so that the happy owner of the card could not only taste the fruits of the latest Creative gaming technologies, but also enjoy high-quality music and even create your own, no less high-quality works.
Design
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1
The Auzentech X-Meridian tested digital-to-analog converters AK4396, solid-state electrolytic capacitors, combined digital inputs-outputs, allowing the connection of both coaxial (SPDIF) and optical (TOSLINK) cables using the adapters included in the kit, were thrown into battle. In addition, the card uses the best models of two-channel operational amplifiers and the highest quality digital-to-analog converter from Asahi Kasei - AK5394A, providing a dynamic range of 123 dB and distortion at the level of -110 dB. The DAC parameters are also excellent (120 dB and -100 dB, respectively), but it is worth noting that the AKM has an even better AK4397, as well as a pin-compatible AK4395 with an improved digital filter, so the reasons for choosing AK4396 for all four stereo outputs personally are not entirely clear to me. Moreover, the front output is different from the other three.
Firstly, it provides for the possibility of replacing the operational amplifier with a slight movement of the hand (which we did not hesitate to use during the testing process) - the microcircuit is not soldered onto the board, but installed in the "crib". Secondly, the LM4562 operational amplifier, which was instantly famous for its excellent sound characteristics, is used in the output low-pass filter, while the equally famous OPA2134 is used for the rest of the channels. In addition, for an equivalent layout of all four channels, the board height was not enough, so the DAC and the front output filter were shifted a little further from the connector. Such a solution can increase the noise and interpenetration of the channels.
The power supply of the operational amplifiers is provided by two stabilizers for 8 V, the power supply of the digital-to-analog converters, apparently, is not stabilized.
From the table below of the main parameters of the operational amplifiers used in the Auzen Prelude, it follows that the National Semiconductor product outperforms the Burr Brown product in all respects, except for the Settling Time (time for stabilizing the output voltage level after changing the input voltage). However, this parameter is more important for the ADC input filter, where the OPA2134 is used.
Returning to the question of the strange layout of the board: the digital-to-analog converter is located very far from the input connectors, practically on the opposite edge of the board.
The capacitance of the capacitors that smooth out the ripple of the reference voltage of the converter is chosen equal to 470 μF, therefore, the distortion at frequencies below 80 Hz will exceed the declared threshold of -110 dB.
It remains to be hoped that the op-amps of the filter are used in the inverting connection, otherwise the distortion will be greater at high frequencies.
If we compare Auzentech X-Fi Prelude with the top product of Creative Technology itself, then they have a lot in common: exactly the same ADC, four stereo DACs and the same number of operational amplifiers, as well as two memory chips for X-RAM (Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro one of them is on the back of the board).
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
Apart from the more logical layout of the X-Fi Elite Pro board and a different number of connectors, the Creative card differs from the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 only in the element base: digital-to-analog converters CS4398 (dynamic range 120 dB and distortion at -107 dB) , operational amplifiers NJM2114 from New Japan Radio Corporation for the front output filter, NJM2068 for the remaining outputs, and some kind of unknown manufacturer's NE5532 for the ADC filter.
As you can see from the table, the distortions of these operational amplifiers are slightly higher than those used on the Auzen X-Fi Prelude, however, they were measured at a tenfold gain, so a direct comparison with National Semiconductor and Burr Brown products cannot be made. For a reference point, the OPA2134's passport distortion at this gain also increases by a factor of 10. The line outputs of both cards do not have additional buffers, which may result in the dependence of the system sound on the quality of the interconnect cables used, and also limits the ability to connect headphones directly to the line-out of the cards. The last remark applies to the Creative product to a much lesser extent, since the NJM2114 is capable of delivering several times more current to the load than the LM4562 or OPA2134.
The main difference between X-Fi Prelude 7.1 and X-Fi Elite Pro is the switching of inputs and outputs. Creative offers one port for digital, line and microphone inputs, which are switched using four electromagnetic relays, as well as three line outputs, two of which use Creative's custom 4-pin 7.1 speaker jack. The board has an AUX input, to which you can connect a TV tuner or other similar device. The rest of the input and output is concentrated in an external block, connected via a 25-pin one-meter cord.
The external module, which allows both horizontal and vertical installation, has a pair of digital inputs and outputs for coaxial and optical cables, MIDI input and output, analog input with RCA connectors, two 6.35 mm jacks for a microphone, electric guitar and other music devices, a digital output for connecting Creative acoustics and a headphone output with a 6.35 mm jack and a 3.5 mm adapter. The block also contains some controls for the card: a knob for adjusting the volume of analog outputs, buttons for selecting inputs, enabling EAX, CMSS 3D and Crystalizer.
Auzentech has a completely different philosophy. Directly on the card, the customer gets a full set of standard connectors: four line outputs, line, microphone and AUX inputs, digital input and output, as well as a very useful port that adds a second microphone input and allowing to connect audio connectors of the computer case.
Unlike the Auzen X-Meridian 7.1, where the headphone output is served by a TPA6111A2 two-channel inverting amplifier, in the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 it is connected directly to the front output filter op amp through 47uF capacitors. Input switching appears to be done using an ADG412 solid-state relay. The card was supposed to get more functionality using the X-Tension DIN module, originally developed for the Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 and providing an additional input for a dynamic or electret microphone (the type is selected by a jumper), SPDIF and MIDI I / O, plus the connection of Creative multichannel digital acoustics , however, in practice, only the MIDI interface and SPDIF output turned out to be compatible with it.
Installation
There is a lot of empty space in a large and beautifully designed box, first of all because, frankly, the package bundle of the card is scarce. The box contains a good optical cable three meters long, a pair of transparent adapters for it, instructions in many languages and a CD. No additional software is supplied with the card, the disk contains only the driver for all operating systems of the Windows family.
Generally speaking, Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 differs from Creative X-Fi Elite Pro only in digital-to-analog converters and input switching, so minimally modified Creative drivers are used for it. The installer has been greatly simplified: Flash animations have been removed, there are no optional programs, no unnecessary questions are asked, so the process goes pretty quickly and smoothly. In addition to demonstrating the license agreement, it is proposed to select only the initial operating mode of the card and the number of connected speakers.
Already at the installation stage, a difference in product positioning is visible. Creative's development installer suggested a different order of card modes: Game, Entertainment, Audio Creation.
For the review of the card, Auzentech provided a beta driver from November 11, which at the time of testing was not yet available on the official website. The driver is not digitally signed, but did not cause serious complaints either in Windows XP or in Windows Vista 64-bit.
At the end of the installer's work, no reboot is required and no annoying suggestions to register are issued, the Auzentech Audio Console icon appears in the control panel, and a shortcut to the Volume Panel application appears in the "Start" menu, which is automatically added to the "Startup".
Unfortunately, there is no additional software included, including such useful products as the THX Setup Console and Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player... The latter, being installed from the Creative disc, works with Auzen X-Fi Prelude, but the THX console does not see this sound card at all.
The Volume Panel call icon that appears in the system tray is very convenient: left-clicking the volume control window itself, which also allows you to launch any of the installed Creative applications, and by clicking the right button, you can quickly change some basic settings. The application takes up no more than 9 MB of RAM.
The rest of the settings are concentrated in the Audio Console, which has long been familiar from SoundBlaster Live !, Audigy and X-Fi sound cards. The only noticeable difference is related to Dolby processing: instead of the Decoder tab, where the built-in decoder of the Dolby Digital and DTS multichannel stream was configured, a section with completely opposite content appeared.
Auzen X-Fi Prelude can encode all output audio (for example, multichannel audio in games) to Dolby Digital on the fly, eliminating the need to lay bundles of interconnect cables around the apartment. What will happen with a signal already encoded in this format (for example, with an audio track of a DVD disc), we can only guess - there are no more decoder settings. The card will not support effects such as Dolby Pro Logic IIX, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Headphone, because CMSS-3D technology replaces them, and DTS CONNECT is promised to be implemented in early 2008. However, I have no doubt that all these technologies will simultaneously appear on Creative Technology cards.
Double-clicking on the Volume Panel icon launches the so-called console, an application that provides convenient control over the volume and other map functions. For each of the three modes of operation, it is seriously different.
In entertainment mode, the console is stylized as a household system, with a volume control for a good half of the application window and inconvenient tone controls. The second half is occupied by an imitation of a multifunctional display with indication of current parameters and buttons for calling the following settings: acoustics configuration, reverberation effects, CMSS-3D, 24-bit Crystalizer, automatic volume control, graphic equalizer, mixer, Dolby encoder, digital output frequency. Clicking on any of them removes a row of buttons from the screen, which is why to go to any other section of the settings you have to press the "Main display" button that appears below each time.
Considering the slowness of the display metamorphosis, it is not very convenient to use such a program, but the biggest drawback lies elsewhere. For Creative X-Fi cards, bass redirection and cutoff frequency settings are controlled both in the speaker configuration section and via the THX settings panel. The latter is not licensed by Auzentech, and for some reason there is no corresponding button in the console under Windows XP, while in Windows Vista the Bass Boost button is in its rightful place.
In game mode, the Bass Boost function in the console was preserved under Windows XP, otherwise the set of functions is almost the same as in the Entertainment mode.
The drivers have implemented saving the acoustics configuration for each of the three possible modes of the card. For three speaker configurations, the CMSS-3D state is remembered, and the set volume level is memorized separately for speakers and headphones and does not change when switching card modes. Unfortunately, this driver feature was not taken into account in the music creation mode console.
The volume control on the monstrous panel, which fully fits on the screen only at its resolution of at least 1024x768, remains indifferent to the volume change caused by the transition from headphones to speakers or vice versa. In addition, the console does not respond to changes in the reference clock frequency made by the Settings button in its lower left corner. The actually set frequency will be displayed only after closing and reopening the application.
All sounds reproduced through Windows will be converted to the base sampling frequency set in the Settings window, and automatic frequency switching is implemented for ASIO. When Dolby Digital Live is turned on, the clock generator is set to 48 kHz, and any attempts to change it lead to blue screens of death, so be careful. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the sampling rate of 192 kHz is not supported by the card at all, even in Entertainment mode with stereo speakers, the sound is output at 96 kHz.
The list of recording sources is shown in the snapshot below. For digital sources, it is possible to turn on the bit-to-bit precision of the recording, after which the item for selecting the format of the saved file disappears. If you then switch to any other signal source, then this item remains invisible. For some reason, the signal level for all inputs is set to zero by default, and its addition does not always work correctly. If you find that one of the channels is recording silence, simply slide the knob to zero, and then adjust the level again.
Unlike the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, which has several additional line inputs through an external module, on the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 all analog inputs are united by the Analog mix item, in the additional settings of which you can turn off the signal from the Aux and Mic inputs. In Entertainment and Game modes, this is done from the console itself, while in Audio Creation you have to use the Windows mixer tools. It also allows you to adjust the volume for each of the eight available playback channels.
The set difference in volume between channels will be respected when changing the Master Volume. By the way, the maximum volume of the line outputs of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 is more than twice the generally accepted level of 2 V RMS and, according to the manufacturer, is 5 V. The standard volume is achieved when the Master Volume control is set to 85%.
I can't help but mention a small incident. At one fine moment, after removing the card from the system unit for photographing, the console suddenly changed: separate Line-In, Mic, AUX "inputs" appeared, and the Bit-Matched checkbox was displayed for all recording sources, but the card did not function due to this. broken.
Audio Creation mode allows you to completely disable the processing of sound output by applications. To do this, activate the Enable Bit-Matched Playback option in the window that appears after clicking the Settings button, or on the corresponding tab of the audio console.
In my opinion, the disappearance of the equalizer, "crystalizer" and SVM is more than compensated for by an increase in the quality of music reproduction.
Measurements
Objective testing of the card before listening allows not only to check the compliance of the card with the declared technical characteristics, but also to reveal possible pitfalls, such as additional signal processing in the driver or various problems in the analog path. For these purposes, we used the software package RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.0.6 Pro, which outputs a set of test signals to a given audio device, and then analyzes the recorded result. The basic principles of working with the program are set out in the official manual.Measurements were carried out on maximum frequency sampling while recording to observe the widest possible spectrum. For tests of the analog part of sound cards, one of the line outputs was connected to the line input of the same or another (during the tests, we tried both versions) of the card with an extremely short cable with mini-jack connectors. Full test reports can be obtained by clicking on the summary tables of results. The measurements were carried out on a stand with the following configuration:
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939
AMD Opteron 165 processor
RAM Corsair XMS-3200XL
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro graphics card
Hard disk Hitachi T7K250
Power Supply Rosewill Turbo Series RT550-135-BK (550W)
Since sound cards are powered by motherboard, the test results of their analog path depend on the quality of other components in the system unit. For example, the lack of power stabilizers for operational amplifiers on the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro led to the fact that the measured signal-to-noise ratio depends even on which PCI slot the card is installed in, and even the connection of the power connector of the external unit to the cable from which it is powered also the hard disk, causes an even more significant deterioration in this parameter. In this regard, the final measurements, the results of which are given below, were carried out with the external unit turned off.
To obtain the most objective results, it is necessary to turn off any possible signal processing in the driver, such as tone settings and software volume controls, imposition of special effects and format conversion. For cards on the X-Fi audio processor, this is possible only in the Audio Creation mode, provided that the "Bit-matched playback" option is enabled and the reference frequency of the card matches the sampling frequency of the reproduced signal. Choosing "Wave" as the recording source, you can make sure that the original (Reference) and signals transmitted via DirectSound are completely identical. The MME interface (in the terminology of most programs it is "Wave output") does a little processing, most likely adding uncorrelated noise (dithering).
Checking for no signal processing by the driver
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Auzen X-Fi Prelude
The measured level of distortion is also alarming. Compare with Creative X-Fi Elite Pro results.
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Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
More than 10 dB benefits across all parameters are suggestive. These measurements were carried out on their own line inputs of the cards, and their quality has not yet been confirmed by anything. In addition, RightMark Audio Analyzer displays the average result for both channels of the card in the summary, while in Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 they, as can be seen from the nonlinear distortion spectrogram, are very different:
Auzen X-Fi Prelude
The left channel is clearly not all right, the level of the second, third and fourth harmonics is 10 dB higher than in the right. To identify the source of the problem, the signal from the Auzen X-Fi Prelude was recorded to the line input of the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, which got along in the same system with the Auzen product only after prolonged shamanic dances.
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For some reason, possibly due to the formation of "ground loops", in such measurements, the signal-to-noise ratio often deteriorates, however, the situation with nonlinear distortions of Auzen X-Fi has normalized - which means that the increased level of distortion was obtained due to the line input of Auzen X- Fi Prelude. Unfortunately, the true nature of the distortion of its output now has to be examined through the picket fence of noise.
Auzen X-Fi Prelude (write to Creative card)
One can state a very low level of the third harmonic and a complete absence of higher-order harmonics. The Creative X-Fi Elite Pro formally still surpasses the Auzen X-Fi Prelude in terms of the amount of nonlinear distortion, but the fifth and seventh harmonics are clearly visible in the spectrum, which, according to some studies, have an extremely negative effect on the sound:
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
It makes no sense to compare the amount of intermodulation distortion due to the too large difference in the noise level, it remains only to note that the fears about a large interpenetration of channels came true - at frequencies above 1 kHz, Creative X-Fi Elite Pro is better by 15 dB in this indicator.
Using the ASIO interface or channel duplicators in the Audio Creation console, we can route audio to any of the card's four analog outputs. By the way, when working with ASIO, a strange tone at 12 kHz is visible in all dimensions, the origin of which is a mystery to me.
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Auzen X-Fi Prelude
The Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 card showed no significant difference between outputs, but the front output is still slightly better in all respects, except for channel interpenetration. These are the results that could be expected based on the topology and the element base of the map. On the contrary, the rear outputs of the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro are significantly worse than the front ones in terms of distortion.
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Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
In conclusion, I cannot fail to mention a strange fact. Some time later, perhaps after listening to the card with headphones without an external amplifier, the level of low-frequency noise increased in the right channel of the front output of Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1:
Auzen X-Fi Prelude
It turned out that the LM4562 operational amplifier behaved this way, replacing it with any other will normalize the situation. True, I didn't manage to notice this noise by ear; subjectively, the sound of the card did not change.
Listening
To compare the sound of sound cards of such a high level on acoustic systems, a very high-quality sound path and an acoustically prepared room are required, which we did not have, so we used high-quality Grado SR325i and Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro headphones, as well as a C.E.C. HD53R-80 and Monster Standard Interlink 200.
The amplifier operates in class A, has a low coefficient of nonlinear distortion (according to the manufacturer's statements, it is 0.009%, our measurements at a level of 2 V at the output showed a value of 0.019%) and easily copes with both low-impedance Grado (32 Ohm) and high-impedance Beyerdynamic (250 Ohm). But the linear outputs of sound cards with headphones work worse: the interpenetration of channels significantly increases, the frequency response changes at low and high frequencies, and intermodulation distortions noticeably increase. Thus, comparing sound cards when connecting headphones directly to the line-out is completely wrong - each of them will react differently to such a load.
Comparing the sound of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude to a C.E.C. and without, we can note the deterioration of the dynamics, as well as the clarity and size of the scene. The lower the load resistance, the more obvious the amplifier's advantage became, including in terms of volume - the signal level at the card's output drops significantly when a low-impedance load is connected and "walks" because of the frequency impedance unevenness. It seems that some of the electrolytic capacitors near the output filters are installed in the signal circuit, because the same headphones connected to the FP_Audio output (which, as mentioned at the beginning of the review, is connected to the operational amplifier through a 47 uF capacitor) sound noticeably louder. Subjectively, the OPA2134 loses a little less detail, so if you still have to use headphones without an amplifier, try connecting them not to the front output and output sound to the desired channels using ASIO.
With amplifier C.E.C. the card showed just fantastic sound! When I heard this for the first time, I could not believe my ears - familiar things sounded so unusual. Scorpions - Holiday, Gary Moore - Always There For You, Too Much Rope by Roger Waters (I have been using these compositions for a long time to quickly assess the sound quality) suddenly blossomed, sparkled with new details, struck with naturalness. I listened to my entire collection of test recordings, and in each I found nuances that were previously either not noticed at all, or perceived differently. Interestingly, every nuance sounded differently left not the slightest doubt - this is the correct sound, and none of the "home-game" level sound cards I have heard before has been able to reproduce it with such naturalness and softness.
Auzen X-Fi Prelude creates an incredibly believable scene, filling it with deepest bass and natural reverberations, with extremely precise positioning of instruments. In the sound of each of them, the smallest details are reproduced, which, together with a delightfully clear transfer of volume and distance, gives an unforgettable effect of presence. In reviews about the sound qualities of the LM4562 operational amplifier, it was said more than once about the complete absence of sound coloration, but I still did not expect such cosmic transparency. There are no barriers between the listener and the music, on high-quality live recordings it seems that you actually looked into the room where the concert is taking place.
The sound from the other line outputs served by the OPA2134 is very good too. The scene and detail in the middle frequencies is close to the LM4562, but there is no such amazing volumetric bass, the high frequencies sound a little differently. And yet, even this sound seems to me preferable to the sound of the Creative X-Fi Elite Pro. The latter, in no way inferior in detail, has a bright, but somehow lifeless sound. On the other hand, the Creative card copes much better with headphones connected directly to the line-out.
Taking the opportunity to change the operational amplifier without soldering, I decided to find out what is the reason for such an interesting sound of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude, for which I listened to it with two Texas Instruments operational amplifiers that I had in stock. OPA2132P sounded similar to those installed on the rear channel OPA2134, although it seemed to me that it is slightly worse at high frequencies, but closer to LM4562 in bass depth. But with the NE5532 the card sounded no better than many others - flat, bright, less detailed.
Without activating the Bit-Matched Playback option or switching to Entertainment mode, the sound remains clear, but loses in clarity and volume. Activating the Crystalizer effect gives a small change in frequencies, but almost completely kills the scene, in my opinion, this advertised technology is relevant only in game mode, where the sound of the music spoils very much. Even with the EAX, CMSS-3D, SVM and Crystalizer effects disabled, listening to music is unpleasant, it is static and dull, and when CMSS-3D Headphones is activated, it is completely unbearable.
The gaming capabilities of Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1, as expected, do not differ from Creative cards with an X-Fi audio processor, so I see no reason to talk about them in detail. I will only note that for HRTF processing it is necessary to use CMSS-3D, but, in my ear, the quality of Creative's three-dimensional sound is greatly exaggerated. In the "2 / 2.1 Speakers" mode, the sound when the protagonist turns is ragged, with abrupt volume transitions from channel to channel (interruptions can also be heard in the speaker test, where a helicopter flies around the player), and in the headphones mode, sounds are unnaturally muffled, incorrectly transmitted distance, the timbre is strongly distorted. The helicopter demonstration sounds great, but I couldn't hear the same positioning in games. Moreover, playing the new blockbuster Crysis with the "2 / 2.1" setting is much better than with the "Headphones".
Summary
Auzentech has released a very interesting product that combines wide gaming possibilities with great sounding music. Probably, today it is the most "musical" sound source for a computer, but a number of shortcomings significantly limit its use. For example, the lack of speaker placement forces you to use similar receiver functions, making the quality of the analog outputs meaningless. The meaning of having a headphone output without a built-in amplifier is also incomprehensible to me. Finally, the card is not suitable for recording music due to the small number of inputs, the lack of a standard MIDI interface, and problems with the quality of digitization. So the circle of buyers who will be delighted with the purchase narrows down to music lovers who prefer to listen to music from a computer.Summing up the pros and cons of Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1
Advantages:
excellent sound on all analog outputs;
the ability to output multichannel audio to a digital output;
the ability to connect both coaxial and optical digital cables;
the ability to connect audio connectors of the case;
hardware support for EAX 5, DirectSound 3D and OpenAL;
excellent optical cable included.
Disadvantages:
lack of sound adjustment in accordance with the placement of the speakers;
lack of bass management functions in Entertainment mode under Windows XP;
inability to play 192 kHz DVD-Audio;
many flaws in the console of the Audio Creation mode;
no buffer for headphone output;
sloppy implementation of an analog-to-digital converter.
P.S. On October 15, 2007, the second revision of the card went into mass production, perhaps some corrections have already been made to it.
