Hotrodding the X-Fi: A Layman's Guide (No 56k) - Page 98

Same here, but I am going to attempt this by myself. $20 goes to the guy who does this for me, I'll cover ship both ways!

1) Have not found Jamicon, G-Luxon or WinCap, installed on X-FI series, to be "technically" that bad. About 100 caps replaced on X-FI SB0460 / SB0550, found one Jamicon SS, 47uf @ 16vdc, to be out of spec. Value, ESR/ESL and DF generally measured in "very good" category.

2) Not recommending SMT parts I used, but the value, 33uf and its 6.3mm diameter size, used as an example.

3) Might be a good idea to run some RMAA tests, for an objective "baseline" to compare stock vs. mods. Would be cool if you posted "pre-mod and post-mod" RMAA tests...

RMAA v6.0.6:
Latest News. Audio Rightmark

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For the others considering Nichicon AUDIO series:

KZ Premium Grade Type, MUSE, For Audio Equipment –40 to +85
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-kz.pdf

FG High Grade Type, For Audio Equipment–40 to +85
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-fg.pdf

KW Standard, For Audio Equipment –40 to +85
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-kw.pdf

MW 5mmL, For General Audio Equipment –40 to +85
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-mw.pdf


105 SERIES:

KT 105°C Standard, For Audio Equipment –55 to +105
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-kt.pdf

UQ 105°C Chip Type, For Audio Equipment –40 to +105
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdf/e-uq.pdf

anyone encounter this error before:

after doing the whole mod, my PC won't recognize X-Fi, tried on other PC too, same problem.
tried reseating, changin PCI slots, cleaning the gold fins, searching new device at device manager, and still the same problem.

it's Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty.
the only difference in mod parts is the supply caps, i used BG STD 3300uF 16v.

Hi all, in the last few days my unmodedd X-fi extreme music began sounding a little strange, so I did some testing with RMAA.

Here is the result



I suppose it is caused by a leaking coupling cap (I also get 180mV DC on right channel and 30mV on left channel).

I can easily get Panasonic FC caps, do you think they are a good replacement?

Thanks for your help

Sorry not regarded as low quality but was prone to leak I misread the first post. I have misconceived it as low quality.

I have an Xtreme music by the way. I forgot to post it.

When I get everything I would measure my x-fi using the RMAA and will install latest drivers on fresh windows xp sp2 installs with latest hotfixes. and will try it again after the mods.

It's sad that they did the power connector only for the i/o module if it was otherwise it would have helped in the proper power supply for the opamps and may have given the users better sound.

so for the powerfilter area on the x-fi, we replace it with a 1000uf or more 16 volt blackgate. right? however, i read that the solid conductive polymer capacitors have lower esr and they are more capacitive. wouldn't having a big blackgate for filtering, the analog section, we use standard blackgates and the digital section, we use the conductive polymer ones? what are the most important specs that one needs to know when comparing capacitors for sound cards? the sanyo oscons are conductive polymer and seems interesting. Also, i read somewhere in this thread that the nonpolar version of caps perform better, but take longer to burn in. is this true?

woot, after about an hour of being frustrated because the AD8599 kept moving because it was so small and putting on way too much solder, booted up the computer for the second time and bam there's sound.

First thing I noticed was way better mids and more soundstage.


WOW, listening to No Roads Left - Linkin Park Instruments and details I seriously never heard before and the clarity.... Best $20 ever spent on materials to get that opamp in. Now I won't need to get that Zero amp anymore.

One trick is to use paper based masking tape to fix it in place. Paper is surprising resilient against heat, even blowing it with 450C + air (Eutectic 63/37 solder melts at less than 180C), it can still hold for a while without getting completely burnt into ash.

Not to mention burning paper smells about a million times better than burning plastic.

I have the Prelude. I love the way it sounds. Is there even a need for me to look for a DAC? It seems from what I've read that an XFi with the right components will even beat the likes of DAC1 and Apogee Mini-DAC (which costs quite a bit).

Parts List

Could someone do me a favor.... I am trying to buy all the parts from digikey. I know you cannot get the blackgate there. Could I get a list of all the parts (numbers would be awesome) for the power cap, the options for opamps, and the 16 coupling caps I would need for 5.1/7.1 all around mod?

Thank you!

The Prelude uses high end DAC's and can take on and beat many devices for it's DAC quality. If you want to improve th sound of the prelude more get some new opamps such as OPA627's etc.

I have finally replaced the stock coupling capacitors with 33uF Panasonic FCs and the power filter cap with a 1500uF Rubycon MBZ. The sound improvement is huge (power filter cap made only a little difference anyway)

RMAA results for the capacitors mod:



All the testings were done on lineout 2 because lineout 1 is still ko. I thought the problem was caused by a bad coupling cap, but it is not the case. I will replace the opamp as I get some 4562 to see if it fixes the problem.

Any hint about fixing my front channel will be appreciated!

RMAA results for lineout1

But what DACs can beat the Prelude, if any? Is this a question of price range or does the Prelude at the end of the day even beat out something like a DAC1 or a Apogee Mini-DAC, which all cost 4x the price of the soundcard?

I also have no technical experience with electronics, I would not be able to solder on new opamps, unfortunately.

Bichi:

I noticed you have done a lot of testing on the thread and you have replaced more than the opamps, main power cap, and coupling caps. I was wondering you could take a look at what I have and suggest any other caps I should have changed as well.

opamps (x4): LM4562MA-ND (digikey)
Power Cap: Panny CAP 2200UF 16V ELECT FC RADIAL
Coupling Caps (x16): Panny CAP 33UF 35V ELECT FC RADIAL

I have the X-Fi out using Creative's Home Theater cable (analog) going to my Onkyo SR875 outputting to my Paradigm Monitors 5.1 (very nice ) From what I have read I might be able to get better output from my PS3 hdmi for dvd-a/SACD output, but i felt like modding something. Anything else you, or anyone for that matter, would suggest differently or in addition to?

Thanks!