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New Titanium HD, low frequencies drown mid and high frequencies - Help please

post #1 of 10
3/16/11 at 11:28am
Thread Starter 

So I just bought a new Creative X-Fi Titanium HD. I really like it, but there's a problem though.. I listen mostly to electronic music so inevitably there will be some high bass occurring, and when this happens the mid and high tones are lowered, like if the bass drowns the mids and highs. Sometimes there's a constant switch between high bass and low bass and it then sounds like the mids and highs are getting turned up and down all the time, and this is when it annoys me the most.

 

There's another problem as well, which might be related so I mention it here, and that is when I play Rift along with running Mumble in the background. Then the voices on Mumble sound very metallic and some (not all) in game sounds sound very metallic as well. I have yet to test if it occurs when I have just one of the applications running, but I've learned already that it at least doesn't go away when I have both running and then close one of them.

 

None of these problems occurred with my old X-Fi XtremeMusic. Is this a sign of broken hardware or is it possible I set it up wrong? I have tried all kinds of settings and even with standard settings the problems still occur.

 

Any help would be very appreciated, since I hope I don't have to return the card. I really like it apart from the 2 problems.

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post #2 of 10
3/16/11 at 4:57pm

You can't exchange for another?

Did you switch all DSP effects off?

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post #3 of 10
3/16/11 at 8:14pm

Sounds like you are hitting a limiter. That is the usual  effects you get when you hit a limiter really hard. Turn down the volume. See if those distortions go away, if they do look for any effects that may boost the signal to levels that can cause clipping of the signal. You may have EQ applied with lots of boost in the low frequencies causing it to hit the limiter very hard. The limiter is there to protect your speakers from clipping which will damge tweeters in short order. Does not sound like a soundcard fault, hoever if it does this with no effects turned on there may in fact be a problem. Sometimes music programs have thier own effects engine so make sure those are turned off as well.

 

I had that problem with the Asus Essense STX & D2 when I pushed the balance sliders all the way up as that boosted the signal by 12db over what would have been clipping level & got the same type of effects your getting. When I reduced the balance sliders to 76% (default) all was well

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post #4 of 10
3/17/11 at 8:55am
Thread Starter 

I just tested it once again, setting the settings to the default value and the problem is not there. I played a bit around with the settings and it seems to me that it's the Crystalizer doing it. The higher I turn it up the more noticeable the problem becomes. This really sucks cause the audio is so muddy without Crystalizer. I don't think it should be this way, cause it definitely wasn't an issue on my X-Fi XtremeMusic, so I don't get why a higher end card would have a broken feature that its tiny little brother doesn't have.

 

I'm gonna do some more extensive testing later just to make sure...

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post #5 of 10
3/17/11 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 

After some extensive testing I can conclude that it's definitely the Crystalizer causing trouble. Regardless of other settings, when the Crystalizer is on the issue appears. Other settings might worsen it, but they don't if there's no Crystalizer on. Regardless of how high I've turned up the Crystalizer I can hear it and it gets worse the higher the Crystalizer is set.

 

This sucks. I always had the Crystalizer on 100% on my old card without any problems. As far as I know the Crystalizer is part of the X-Fi chip so it's probably supposed to be this way and not a hardware fault. I guess that's what I get for listening to unconventional music on higher end gear, cause the issue is not apparent on any other music genres than the electronic ones I listen to.

 

I'm still unsure whether to return it or not, cause the card has other qualities like better mids and highs as well as a much better sound stage than my old card. I'll give it some days without Crystalizer on in order to let my ears burn in.


Edited by JesperZ - 3/17/11 at 12:39pm
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post #6 of 10
3/18/11 at 12:10am



 

Quote:
Originally Posted by JesperZ View Post

After some extensive testing I can conclude that it's definitely the Crystalizer causing trouble. Regardless of other settings, when the Crystalizer is on the issue appears. Other settings might worsen it, but they don't if there's no Crystalizer on. Regardless of how high I've turned up the Crystalizer I can hear it and it gets worse the higher the Crystalizer is set.

 

This sucks. I always had the Crystalizer on 100% on my old card without any problems. As far as I know the Crystalizer is part of the X-Fi chip so it's probably supposed to be this way and not a hardware fault. I guess that's what I get for listening to unconventional music on higher end gear, cause the issue is not apparent on any other music genres than the electronic ones I listen to.

 

I'm still unsure whether to return it or not, cause the card has other qualities like better mids and highs as well as a much better sound stage than my old card. I'll give it some days without Crystalizer on in order to let my ears burn in.


The crystalyzer would definately hit the limiter hard if overall volume isn't reduced
 

 

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post #7 of 10
3/19/11 at 6:34am

I have the Titanium HD as well and after having played around with all the settings I get the best results for my tastes when disabling pretty much everything, the crystalizer adds what I percieve to be a slight reverb, introduces kind of an old school loud effect (bass and treble is increased) and raises the overall volume quite significantly.

 

You get kind of a "wow" effect when turning on the crystaliser because it's louder, and louder usually fools you into thinking it's better becuase you feel more involved.

 

But if I enable crystalizer and then turn down the volume to what it was before I get what I percieve to be a very artificial sound with unnaturally exposed highs and less defined bass that I wouldn't want to listen to for very long.

 

Disabling pretty much everything gives me a more natural sound that is much more pleasing to listen to for extended periods of time. My two cent


Edited by TwoEars - 3/19/11 at 6:35am
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post #8 of 10
3/19/11 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoEars View Post

I have the Titanium HD as well and after having played around with all the settings I get the best results for my tastes when disabling pretty much everything, the crystalizer adds what I percieve to be a slight reverb, introduces kind of an old school loud effect (bass and treble is increased) and raises the overall volume quite significantly.

 

You get kind of a "wow" effect when turning on the crystaliser because it's louder, and louder usually fools you into thinking it's better becuase you feel more involved.

 

But if I enable crystalizer and then turn down the volume to what it was before I get what I percieve to be a very artificial sound with unnaturally exposed highs and less defined bass that I wouldn't want to listen to for very long.

 

Disabling pretty much everything gives me a more natural sound that is much more pleasing to listen to for extended periods of time. My two cent


To some extend I agree, but most of the music I listen to benefit from it one way or another. Just not with the Titanium HD. The good thing is that I've achieved a much better sound turning the Crystalizer off and fiddling with other settings to make up for the loss of punch in the bass that Crystalizer used to bring. And after allowing my ears to burn in to the new sound I really like it. I'm quite sure I won't return the card now that I've taken my time to get used to it. I guess one perceive most new stuff as bad if it isn't exactly as expected. I didn't like my current headset either for a period of time when I first got it but then I got used to it as well.

 

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post #9 of 10
3/19/11 at 12:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JesperZ View Post
I guess one perceive most new stuff as bad if it isn't exactly as expected. I didn't like my current headset either for a period of time when I first got it but then I got used to it as well.

 



That's the head on the nail there, much better to get used to a system and enjoy the music than to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and hours and hours trying to alter it.

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post #10 of 10
3/19/11 at 12:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoEars View Post





That's the head on the nail there, much better to get used to a system and enjoy the music than to spend thousands and thousands of dollars and hours and hours trying to alter it.


Exactly. As much as it is fun to get new gear it seems my wallet never enjoys my journey through the wonderland of audio :D

 

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