[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maarek99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif And all of those that are boasting the Preludes sound quality, what are you referencing it to?

I guess the X-Fi Elite Pro could be a contender given the OP's price range; it used to be somewhat overpriced, but now it looks to be a fair value.

***

Dr. Strangelove, I've seen other RMAA tests where the results were reversed--the Xonar tested the worst out of all cards being compared. It seems a bit strange that the Tech Report posted their own hand-made graphs instead of the RMAA text results. One look at their RMAA charts reveals that something is seriously wrong with their testing procedure:

The Tech Report RMAA Results, 16-bit/44.1 kHz, Frequency Response

VR-Zone RMAA Results, 16-bit/44.1 kHz, Frequency Response

I tend to believe VR-Zone's measurement. Cards at this quality level should measure similarly regarding frequency response. If one were to go by the Tech Report's measurements, one might believe that onboard Realtek ALC889 audio has significantly more accurate frequency response than the X-Fi cards.

The Tech Report's other graphs also reveal that they're experiencing quality problems with all of the cards (via their testing method), yet their hand-made results graphs seem to totally ignore these measurements.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hmm... that is interesting.
You happen to have links to other comparisons?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm... that is interesting. You happen to have links to other comparisons?

Here's a link to another review/measurement of the ASUS Xonar D2 from Techgage that looks accurate. It shows the Xonar to be a very good card that measures near the top of the pack, much closer to what one would expect given its DAC section.

And a link to their similar review of the AuzenTech X-Fi Prelude.

As you can see, the measurements are neck-and-neck, with a slight advantage to the Prelude. It's really up to personal preference (and needs, since the Xonar doesn't handle EAX) regarding which card would sound better. I'm pretty intrigued by the Xonar, so I'm eager to see a direct comparison done by an experienced Head-Fi listener.

 

[KarateKid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maarek99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The drivers are worse than X-fi's. I have both an x-fi elite pro and the Prelude and I'm planning to put the elite pro back in because prelude doesn't support spdif output with effects (unless with dolby live but I want pcm). And all of those that are boasting the Preludes sound quality, what are you referencing it to?

Prelude doesnt support effects with spdif? What do you mean? There's no EAX effects when you use optical or coaxial digital out to an external DAC?

 

[KarateKid]

One more thing, I've read that SPDIF from the Prelude may have "latency"? I have not experienced this when I connected to the Prelude's optical out to my microDAC, doesn't sound as good but I didn't get any lag when watching a movie or gaming. Does it happen only in some apps or is this an isolated case with some older drivers?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarateKid /img/forum/go_quote.gif One more thing, I've read that SPDIF from the Prelude may have "latency"? I have not experienced this when I connected to the Prelude's optical out to my microDAC, doesn't sound as good but I didn't get any lag when watching a movie or gaming. Does it happen only in some apps or is this an isolated case with some older drivers?

Some say it only occurs with the DDL (Dolby Digital Live) feature enabled, though it's always a good idea to check the performance of the drivers, especially for Vista users.

 

[KarateKid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some say it only occurs with the DDL (Dolby Digital Live) feature enabled, though it's always a good idea to check the performance of the drivers, especially for Vista users.

What does dolby live do? Does it even work for headphones?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarateKid /img/forum/go_quote.gif What does dolby live do? Does it even work for headphones?

Dolby Digital Live on Wikipedia. Basically, it will encode any signal on a PC into a Dolby Digital stream of up to 5.1 channels. It's not necessary or useful for headphones, and it only applies to the digital outputs.

I'm not sure if the Prelude is limited to DDL digital output or if that's just a feature.

Creative X-Fi owners... When these cards output multi-channel content, is it in lossless PCM? They don't seem to have the DDL feature...

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

2 Channel PCM over the SPDIFF. It will only output a encoded bitstream if it is already encoded.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif 2 Channel PCM over the SPDIFF. It will only output a encoded bitstream if it is already encoded.

It's been said that the Creative cards are the only ones that can digitally output EAX-affected signals; what about with games that support 5.1+ channels and EAX--is the digital output limited to 2ch PCM for those?

Do all X-Fis should support 5.1 DD/DTS/AC-3 passthrough for movies?

 

[Chronos]

Ok I completely don't know what the last 2 pages of my thread were about but thanks to everyone for the help so far.

I wanted to ask a few more questions since I"ve been reading and thinking more.

1) So the DAC on the 0404 USB and Prelude are the same so the audio quality should be pretty similar right?

2) Would I experience more of a jump in audio quality from a $200 - $250 Auzentech or a $200 - $250 amp for my Denon AH-D2000 (even with a crappy soundcard, and which amp for this price range)?

 

[Chronos]

Anyone?

 

[maarek99]

The Prelude DOES NOT support EAX effects in 2 channel pcm spdif output in Vista. Only Dolby Live supports them, but that is useless with headphones.

Regular x-fi's DO support EAX in spdif output too.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by s4nder /img/forum/go_quote.gif You do realize the Auzen Prelude is better than the X-Fi Elite Pro in almost every way at a lower price? The drivers are excellent and the electronics components all top notch. It's at the same level with X-Meridian which is an excellent card, but in addition to that it also has features that benefit gaming. Write it off? I'd write anything else off.

gonna admit i didn't follow all 2-3 pages of this thread, but did read this remark

uh, you do realize that the Elite Pro offers better drivers (because they aren't the butchered Auzen drivers), more complete software support direct from Creative, and uh, beats the prelude's quality in terms of SNR, THD, IMD, etc

and its actually cheaper (X-Fi Elite Pro is ~$170, prelude is ~$180, the elite pro bundle is $250 and includes the X-Fi I/O dock, remote, and some software (honestly not sure what all it includes beyond the I/O dock and remote, I know it includes about 6 CDs though, and only two are drivers))

sorry, the prelude *is* a good card, but the elite pro *is* better (the prelude was an amazing value when the elite was $299-$399, but that pricing simply isn't so anymore)

Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card (Black/Silver) (Eng) - Retail bundle package thing (with $70 MIR)

Newegg.com - Creative 53SB000003000 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Elite Pro Sound Card and HS-900 Headphone Bundle - Retail just the card (and a headset, which I doubt is worth a second look)

 

[snoop_005]

I think prelude performs better music wise than the xi-fi