Please help me :(

[dosquito]

I currently, on my fairly new desktop, have the Creative X-fi Elite Pro, but NOT the station that comes with it.

I have noticed that the sound quality on my Elite Pro is WORSE than that of my 4 year old integrated sound (95% sure it's integrated) laptop. I mean, noticeably worse.

To me, that is totally unacceptable.

I am going to get the HD595 soon, and want to have it on a system that it deserves (currently I use the HD485).

preferably I want something that will give it a decent amount of power, as it is only 50 ohms, and I probably won't get a headphone amp.

Now, I have seen these "external" dacs, but then I have also read that my sound card has four dacs, so why would I get one of those?

Sorry for my noobness...I really don't understand this stuff even though I have done a decent amount of research.

I have all my "extra" settings for the Creative sound card turned off - so that is not an issue. However, it seems pretty appalling to me that this sound card is a downgrade from my laptop, AND it sounds worse than my headphones directly plugged into my HD485.

Is there something that I can plug into the digital I/O of the Elite Pro that will bypass the crappiness of the card and perhaps have a better amp for my new headphones? What do you guys recommend?

Any other solutions are welcome. I have noticed that many suggest the 0404 USB dac...does this mean that it functions without a sound card? preferably i want something that will go into the sound card and let me keep the usefulness of the card while bypassing the poor music quality

[Brando]

I think running digital out from the card to a dac\amp does that but I'm not 100% positive. It might work with some but not others. Here's an adapter for the digital out spdif on your card
RCA-Mini Mono adaptor @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

[skeptic]

Hrm...while the X-fi is by no means amazing in stock form, it should still be far better than your laptop's old on board sound.

Have you tried downloading and reinstalling the current drivers from Creative's website? I would just want to make sure that your card is working properly before you decide whether you want to buy additional components that assume you are keeping the card in the chain. With the drivers properly installed, open your creative control panel, restore default settings if you need to, then put it on entertainment mode, and select headphone mode as your output. If the card is working, it should sound a lot better than your laptop's audio out...even though it will still be a long ways off from audiophile quality.

Regarding DAC's - yes, there is a DAC built into your card, just like there is one in every CD player and any other digital device in your house...however, a better quality stand alone DAC will give you much improved sound. [To oversimplify - this device takes the 1's and 0's off a CD or off your hard drive, converting them to analog waves that your speakers/headphones can play.]

If your card is working, you can run a ditigal line out from the X-fi to a spdif DAC (optical or digial coax), thus retaining the benefit of the X-fi for gaming purposes - as Brando suggested. If not, you can look into USB DAC's which don't require a sound card at all.

Since you don't already own an amp, you might also look into DAC/Amp combo units like the the zero (if you want to keep your X-fi in use), or usb dac/amps like the ibasso D2 boa - both of which are under $200 and are discussed at length in the headphone amp forum.

Best of luck!

[skeptic]

Originally Posted by Brando

I think running digital out from the card to a dac\amp does that but I'm not 100% positive. It might work with some but not others. Here's an adapter for the digital out spdif on your card
RCA-Mini Mono adaptor @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Brando, just fyi, since I recently looked into this issue at some length, the adapter is one valid way of going about it, but there is some benefit to be gained from using a single digital cable with impedance matched connectors (1/8 mini at one end and rca at the other). See the 1505F cable in my signature. I picked that up from BlueJeansCables for $26, and the quality is excellent.

See Blue Jeans Cable--What is Impedance, Anyway? for more info on impedance matching. And here's a thread I started where I got into a bit of an argument about the cost benefit of the BJC cable vs. the adapter route: Flexijack I/O module alternative for your X-fi

Also, just to state it here, enabling the digital output on your X-fi isn't entirely obvious. The option isn't in the Creative settings. Instead, you have to go into control panel -> sounds and audio devices -> in the volume box, click the advanced button -> click the options menu -> select advanced controls -> finally you will see a check box to enable digital I/O. I had a real problem figuring this out the first time, so maybe this will help you out if you are a Windows XP user.

[dosquito]

Can someone please provide me with a link that explains the basics of this? it's all very hard for me to comprehend. i think i am going to reinstall windows soon and do the drivers from scratch, but i have redone the drivers many times and i think something must be VERY wrong here for my x-fi elite pro sound card to sound worse than my ipod.

why can't i plug in my headphone to the digital out? it only plays in the headphone jack.

sorry it must be aggravating to be asked such simple questions

[dosquito]

I opened my case out of desperation, and discovered that this:
nV News - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro Review - Page 2 of 9

the red and yellow wire with the white cap

was not plugged into my x-fi elite pro

i couldn't figure out how to plug in the thing on top but that seems unnecessary

i will report back with results

btw: can anyone with knowledge of the elite pro chime in on how important that plug is and what its signifiicance is?

[dosquito]

aaaah jeez, just one song later it seems apparent that this was the problem.

it's always the simplest thing isn't it?

don't i feel dumb now

it would still be very helpful if someone coudl tell me what the significance of that plug is though, as it seems weird that the sound still worked without it

[skeptic]

Hey - glad to hear you got the problem solved!

The cable you just plugged in is an internal power cord. While your card does draw some power simply via being plugged into your mother board, it evidently also needs to be powered directly from your power supply.

I had a similar issue with a video card way back when. It would run without the extra power cable...but it sure didn't run well! Took me a while to figure it out, so you're in good company in overlooking the obvious solution

[skeptic]

Originally Posted by dosquito

why can't i plug in my headphone to the digital out? it only plays in the headphone jack.

Regarding the above, your headphones, speakers, etc can only play analog signals - think in terms of waves of energy that make the cone move to produce sound.

By contrast, a digital signal, like the one that comes out of your digital output is a bunch of 0's and 1's. You need a DAC (digital to analog converter) to translate digital numbers to analog waves before you can listen to the sound.

When you listen to the headphone jack on the card, you are simply using the DAC that is build into the sound card. However, you also have the option of using the digital port, which bypasses the card's DAC, allowing you to use a better quality exernal DAC to translate to analog.

Make sense? I was trying to explain the same to my fiancee last night

[dosquito]

man that's a great explanation, thanks a lot skeptic. i am so glad i got this fixed. the bass used to be unbearably harsh and muddy. MUCH better now.

[dosquito]

man i apologize for bumping this, but i am so happy i decided to post this here and then open my case to see what was up. my music used to irritate me, but now i am rockin' out to it so damn hard. everything is much more clear and balanced. thanks for your help guys, i will stick around this forum