Creative Recon3d/Xi-Fi Go Pro

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

Did you ever get to reviewing the recon3d?
 
I just got my new DT 990 32 ohm in the mail, I like them but they are a bit less than I expected (they sound a bit muddled or congested, not too much so but till not even close to how open and clear every one keeps saying they should be) I thought it might be an amp thing but how can that be since they are 32 ohms? ... gonna be burning them in and see what happens.

 
I have yet to write up a proper, formal review, but here are my quick impressions:
 
-PC gaming support leaves a lot to be desired when coming from one of the internal X-Fi sound cards. THX TruStudio Surround's positioning isn't as effective as CMSS-3D Headphone from the rear (got surprised a few times in Battlefield 2 because of this), and the software OpenAL renderer has issues with a few games (such as Thief 1/2 having silent cutscenes and BF2 having reverb applied to menu sounds) that don't happen on hardware implementations.
 
It's better than nothing, but an internal sound card is still the preferred choice.
 
-Scout Mode and THX Surround mode can't be used simultaneously. With THX Surround mode off, this means that sounds from the rear seem to be coming directly from the rear since there aren't any subtle left/right cues for the rear channels, and front left/right sounds seem like they're coming directly from the sides. Scout Mode just adds some kind of EQ to that.
 
-Console gaming fares noticeably better with THX Surround positioning, for whatever reason. Maybe it's due to the implementation of the S/PDIF interface vs. the USB interface. It does have less sense of distance to the sounds than Dolby Headphone, but the rear positioning sounds more cohesive, without a bit 6 o'clock gap, and I actually do notice some subtle rear left/right distinction (again, with THX Surround mode ON).
 
-USB supports 48 KHz sample rate ONLY. (WASAPI exclusive mode users won't like this when most music is recorded in 44.1 KHz, which will outright refuse to play.) S/PDIF accepts both 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz, but not 88.2 KHz or 96 KHz. DTS signals only result in silence.
 
-The S/PDIF input cannot be used for PC recording, only the analog aux-in or the mic jack.
 
-There's no ASIO support whatsoever.
 
-There's no SoundFont support for MIDI playback, either. Not desirable for those of us into 1990s PC games with MIDI soundtracks, although BASSMIDI might be a suitable workaround. (I say "might" because it caused the Descent DXX-Rebirth source ports to crash after a level change on a friend's system, and the MIDI synths on my X-Fi cards never do that.)
 
-When I first got it, I heard some sort of heavy rattling inside that fortunately didn't impede the unit's function. Turns out it's one of those metal weight slabs that was held in place by a plastic screw post that snapped during shipment. This isn't the first device I've encountered with that issue, and I wonder why Creative even bothered with the weight in the first place.
 
Expect more impressions on the console gaming side soon from Mad Lust Envy.

 

[ZK85]

Quote:

 
I have yet to write up a proper, formal review, but here are my quick impressions:
 
-PC gaming support leaves a lot to be desired when coming from one of the internal X-Fi sound cards. THX TruStudio Surround's positioning isn't as effective as CMSS-3D Headphone from the rear (got surprised a few times in Battlefield 2 because of this), and the software OpenAL renderer has issues with a few games (such as Thief 1/2 having silent cutscenes and BF2 having reverb applied to menu sounds) that don't happen on hardware implementations.
 
It's better than nothing, but an internal sound card is still the preferred choice.
 
-Scout Mode and THX Surround mode can't be used simultaneously. With THX Surround mode off, this means that sounds from the rear seem to be coming directly from the rear since there aren't any subtle left/right cues for the rear channels, and front left/right sounds seem like they're coming directly from the sides. Scout Mode just adds some kind of EQ to that.
 
-Console gaming fares noticeably better with THX Surround positioning, for whatever reason. Maybe it's due to the implementation of the S/PDIF interface vs. the USB interface. It does have less sense of distance to the sounds than Dolby Headphone, but the rear positioning sounds more cohesive, without a bit 6 o'clock gap, and I actually do notice some subtle rear left/right distinction (again, with THX Surround mode ON).
 
-USB supports 48 KHz sample rate ONLY. (WASAPI exclusive mode users won't like this when most music is recorded in 44.1 KHz, which will outright refuse to play.) S/PDIF accepts both 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz, but not 88.2 KHz or 96 KHz. DTS signals only result in silence.
 
-The S/PDIF input cannot be used for PC recording, only the analog aux-in or the mic jack.
 
-There's no ASIO support whatsoever.
 
-There's no SoundFont support for MIDI playback, either. Not desirable for those of us into 1990s PC games with MIDI soundtracks, although BASSMIDI might be a suitable workaround. (I say "might" because it caused the Descent DXX-Rebirth source ports to crash after a level change on a friend's system, and the MIDI synths on my X-Fi cards never do that.)
 
-When I first got it, I heard some sort of heavy rattling inside that fortunately didn't impede the unit's function. Turns out it's one of those metal weight slabs that was held in place by a plastic screw post that snapped during shipment. This isn't the first device I've encountered with that issue, and I wonder why Creative even bothered with the weight in the first place.
 
Expect more impressions on the console gaming side soon from Mad Lust Envy.

That is weird bro, it was my understanding that the Recon 3D usb card has CMSS-3D and THX pro, but you have to turn it on via the software not the hardware, many people over look the Creative software they need to install and think you just need to click on the buttons on the device for it to work well.
 
please confirm if you checked the software or not as it is a very important feature, also how well can it drive your headphones? what headphones have you tried with it?
 
Thanks a lot again for the info 

 

[Evshrug]

That is weird bro, it was my understanding that the Recon 3D usb card has CMSS-3D and THX pro, but you have to turn it on via the software not the hardware, many people over look the Creative software they need to install and think you just need to click on the buttons on the device for it to work well.

please confirm if you checked the software or not as it is a very important feature, also how well can it drive your headphones? what headphones have you tried with it?

Thanks a lot again for the info 

I think he used it, connected to an amp, with his Stax headphones.

Nameless was talking about installing the Recon3D software, but I don't know if he ever did install the drivers because he already uses an X-Fi Titanium HD soundcard (and older but higher-end card from Creative, one of their best ever) and he didn't want to break functionality to that. I think I recall that he eventually did.

THX TruStudio Surround replaces CMSS-3D in this unit.

It's actually working pretty well for me with my Q701s, I didn't realize at first that when playing in Xbox mode (optical input mode), you can't hold down the volume button to keep it changing, you have to keep clicking the volume button to turn the sound up or down. It seems to drive my Q's to acceptable volume levels, but I haven't tested with a flat EQ and vanilla settings to see if the amp section is clearer than my rather entry-level FiiO E5 (which actually does better than an iPod's built-in amp anyway). I have been playing a lot of ES: Oblivion lately, and I don't have to double-amp with the E5, nor even have the Recon3D turned up all the way.

I haven't played with the software too much, so far I just tweaked the bass bar and I think turned up the surround feature all the way... I'll have to check later. Anything specific you'd like me to try?

Edit: also, it's worth mentioning that even though 32 Ohm headphones are pretty easy to reach acceptable volume levels (low voltage/gain requirements, I am learning), they sound best powered by an amp that can supply a lot of current. An amp has that if it has low output impedance, 1/8th the Ohm rating of your load (your headphone) seems to be the rule of thumb for max performance. Check out ClieOS' thread for a better explanation and some amp suggestions, but I still recommend trying your headphones without an extra amp first:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/596482/the-sub-100-portable-amps-shootout-8-1-amps-compared

Have you tried your DT's with your X-Fi Go! yet? What are your impressions when gaming with that?

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

That is weird bro, it was my understanding that the Recon 3D usb card has CMSS-3D and THX pro, but you have to turn it on via the software not the hardware, many people over look the Creative software they need to install and think you just need to click on the buttons on the device for it to work well.
 
please confirm if you checked the software or not as it is a very important feature, also how well can it drive your headphones? what headphones have you tried with it?
 
Thanks a lot again for the info 

 
Oh, yeah, I did forget to mention that for PC usage (and probably Mac usage too), you do need to install the drivers to get THX TruStudio support. Otherwise, it's just a stereo device.
 
The only headphone I drove directly out of it was a Panasonic HTF600, which is fairly sensitive. There was barely any audible hiss with the Recon3D out of it, thankfully, but you will notice that "silence" isn't quite silent if you listen really carefully. However, the bulk of my positional testing was done with my Stax Lambda setup, and you can't drive Stax or other electrostatics directly from most audio equipment.