[rene62]

I owned this X-FI USB HD product for about a year, i couldn't test the signal line-out with a good amplifier, but i had a chance to listen with ATH-AD900 40R headphones. I still haven't heard anything better then X-FI HD with these headphones.. they were like 100% compatible with each other. No harshness, no clicks or cracks. I could turn volume from 0 - 100% without any headache's.
 
Most important, it a had a very good slam(drums, pendulum like).

 

[WarCable]

This Creative X-Fi HD USB gotten my interest.
 
I am a gamer and have been looking into several options. With the help of some people here http://www.head-fi.org/t/780003/gaming-and-surrou-errrr-positional-sou-errrr-spatialization-oh-crap I narrowed it down to a setup which involves SB Studio Pro and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 ohm headphones because I will use it to virtualize 7.1 surround through the stereo headphone
 
I was looking into both the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB and the X-Fi Surround 5.1 pro though I think the latter is only usefull for an external setup with speakers and it would not add anything if being used just with headphones and virtual surround.
 
I did read somewhere that there is no way to equalize the X-Fi HD USB so that might be a bit of a bummer because I fear that it combined with the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohms might sound a bit on the thin side.
 
So anyone has any idea? Should I get it this USB sound card with its own amp?
 
As a sidenote, I know there are other options but that requires me to go to Asus and their Dolby Headphones technology which I consider inferior to both CMSS-3D and SBX Studio Pro. I listened to encoded samples on youtube and though it can really draw you into the action, it lacks accuracy so I hope I can tweak SBX Studio pro a bit through equalizing to get a bit more immersion while keeping its crisp clear accuracy

 

[TJ Max]

  This Creative X-Fi HD USB gotten my interest.
 
I did read somewhere that there is no way to equalize the X-Fi HD USB so that might be a bit of a bummer because I fear that it combined with the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohms might sound a bit on the thin side.
 

 
I've owned the x-fi hd for almost 5 years now. It's actually pretty old. Initially there was no EQ. but since then there has been software update ad firmware updates All the reviews are based on the original software. And now there is a 10 band EQ. So if you buy one and install the software from the installation CD -and find no EQ then you need to upgrade the software from the website.
Also I think Creative advertises the Amp for headphones up to 300 ohms. However you'll get better performance with headphones 150 ohms and below.

 

[WarCable]

I've owned the x-fi hd for almost 5 years now. It's actually pretty old. Initially there was no EQ. but since then there has been software update ad firmware updates All the reviews are based on the original software. And now there is a 10 band EQ. So if you buy one and install the software from the installation CD -and find no EQ then you need to upgrade the software from the website.
Also I think Creative advertises the Amp for headphones up to 300 ohms. However you'll get better performance with headphones 150 ohms and below.

I noticed how old it is )
There isn't much out there as alternative since I heard the X-Fi chip matters. Ideally the X7 would of course be a better choice but seeing its price tag I am pretty much stuck with a limited choice of external sound cards to choose from.
No matter what choice or interest one develops, there always seem to be a drawback. Your input is useful and again makes me doubt. Using an amp is no option as I have read here that it is counterproductive to use an amp with amped sound cards.
I read fantastic things about the DT 990 pro regarding virtual surround gaming and really got my eyes on that one... sigh

 

[TJ Max]

Here is the most recent and most insightful review of the X-Fi HD that I know of.
http://marlene-d.blogspot.com/2012/01/creative-labs-soundblaster-x-fi-hd-usb.html
 
There also the Sound Blaster X5 to consider.

 

[WarCable]

Here is the most recent and most insightful review of the X-Fi HD that I know of.
http://marlene-d.blogspot.com/2012/01/creative-labs-soundblaster-x-fi-hd-usb.html

There also the Sound Blaster X5 to consider.

Could you be meaning the e5? Can't find anything with X5. In that regard I found the Sound Blaster E1 headphone amp. Maybe I can use it with the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. That should offer the DT 990 Pro enough juice

 

[TJ Max]

Oh yes the E5, sorry. I owned it briefly. Even though its portable I think its better suited for desktop use. It does come with a stand.
Binding an amp to an amp doesn't sound like a good idea. Because theres too many technical specs and sound signatures overlapping each other. You might as well wait two or three months and save up for a X7.

 

[WarCable]

   You might as well wait two or three months and save up for a X7.
 
 
 
 
Or buy the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro and combine it with a decent headphone amp

 

[greenflash]

I am considering buying either this device or the SB1090 (much cheaper down here) to hook it up to my Thinkpad e420. I don't care about 5.1 in this case, I would hook it up to a vintage stereo Akai amp.. Is that possible with the HD version? Also hoping it is Windows 10 compatible..

 

[TJ Max]

After not having used my X-Fi HD for a couple of years, I finally started using it again as temporary solution to use with a second headphone amp.  I'm using only the Line Out this time, connected to a Teac HA-501 with a pair of Beyerdynamic T5p headphones. And I have to admit that despite it's limitations being only 48/96khz 24bit this DAC still sounds great. Great detail and resolution, big sound stage, and almost a perfect bottom end. An overall engaging listening experience. And this thing cost about 9x less than the rest of the gear connected to it!

 

[SpecChum]

Just got one of these cheap on amazon warehouse deals as my xonar dx creates emi when used with my little dot.

Just needed a cheapish dac and the specs on this seemed pretty good for the price.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[laughingman2]

I have just recently returned to pc gaming after a 10 years long console period.
I want to use headphone, but also want to enjoy positional audio, so I bought an X-FI HD to utilize it's SBX surround feature.
I have checked some youtube videos and found the SBX superior to Dolby Headphone (which sounded rather lackluster compared to my previous experiences with CMSS3D, SBX was closer to that).
 
After I tried several games, I realized that in recent games you can't just change the number of channels in the game's audio menu (unlike back in the days), but it automatically recognizes the speaker settings from Windows and sends the same sound layout.
 
In my case I set my soundcard to headphone and enabled SBX sorround. Games are recognizing this setting and sending stereo signal to the DSP which than creates a sorround sound based on this stereo signal. What I would like is, if this is even possible , to set the source to 5.1 or 7.1, than the game would send multichannel signal to the DSP which would create stereo signal to the headphone using SBX.
 
As far as I know it is achievable with other manufacturer's devices, what about Creative?
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[WarrenR]

Does anyone know if the Creative x-fi hd can do 44khz over optical out?

 

[Sterling2]

Does anyone know if the Creative x-fi hd can do 44khz over optical out?

If you set it's driver for that output it will deliver it. I keep mine set at 24/96 and it will up sample lower resolution files. I use the X-FI HD mostly to play iTunes to my Pre-Pro. I have iTunes files from 256k/44.1 to 24/192 and the X-FI HD will up or down sample to what ever its driver has been set to from 16/44 to 24/96. For example 24/192 will be down sampled to 24/96. Interestingly enough, my Pre-Pro will only receive up to 24/96 from optical S/PDIF so sometimes I send iTunes on PC to OPPO 205 which can decode 24/192 which is then sent to Pre-Pro via RCA connection. The OPPO is set to up sample all input to 24/96 but it can be set to send at native rate too. The X-FI HD can not be set to deliver digital at native rate, it will either up sample or down sample to the rate you set it to in its driver.