[Roller]

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Well it's quite game dependant I'd say. Call of Duty games, Bioshock etc the Titanium HD would still probably win while say Fallout or Elder's Scrolls Oblivion the dolby headphone would probably help more. 

All recent Bethesda games benefit from proper DirectSound3D support. And what does Dolby Headphone has to do with EAX inside or outside OpenAL? Dolby Headphone is like CMSS3D, surround emulation, not audio renderers, which is what DirectSound and OpenAL are. You keep pairing DH with OpenAL, they are entirely different things, so if you want to compare, then compare DH with CMSS3D.
 
But yes, the difference is game dependent.
 
EDIT: Did you find any game at all to perform better on the D2 than on either the Titanium HD or the Audigy 2 ZS?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Since I haven't used Titanium HD for a couple of days now I wouldn't be able to give an accurate answer on that. Both cards are up for sale though and sitting in their box atm.

 

[NamelessPFG]

 
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I'm a noob to all of this with headphone amps and DACs and trying to figure it all out.  The Titanium has a DAC I think and the sound volume is high and it seems powerful enough and I hear no hiss or distortion at all.  I have no idea what I'm doing and do not understand the benefits of an external amp and DAC with the equipment I have.  I can understand if I were using a laptop or coming right out of an iPod but I have plenty of clear and clean power with a built in DAC on my Titanium...  Please help me understand...  If I place an amp and dac or a combo unit in line will I benefit?  What is a DSP?  Doesn't my sound card have that built in too?

Every sound output device has a DAC for the simple reason that the drivers that produce the sounds are analog and that even more importantly, our very ears are analog. Some have DACs with higher signal-to-noise ratios than others. Note that if you use S/PDIF (digital RCA coax or Toslink optical) or HDMI for audio, then you're just streaming digital audio to something else with a DAC.
 
The DSP processes the sounds as needed, adding effects and such without burdening the CPU. In the X-Fi's case, it's the EMU20K1 or EMU20K2. (If it doesn't have some deriative of either of those DSPs, it's not a true X-Fi.) While the lowered CPU overhead isn't that big of a deal these days, it still tends to ensure better quality than most of the software mixers that current games tend to use, and older games won't allow you to use their very best sound settings without a true X-Fi DSP.
 
What are DSP effects, you ask? EAX effects in games would qualify. Even more importantly, HRTF binaural surround filters like CMSS-3D Headphone and Dolby Headphone are DSP effects. (Yes, this makes a device like the Astro Mixamp both a DAC and a DSP.)
 
The basic difference is that DSPs are meant to change the sound signature, while DACs are meant to convert the digital waveform to analog with as little distortion or change in the sound as possible.
 
External amps are viable in that the one on the Titanium HD may not be sufficient for some headphones, but an external DAC that uses USB is pointless because it's just going to bypass your Titanium HD anyway. You could get one that's fed with S/PDIF from the Titanium HD, but half the reason to use the X-Fi Titanium HD in the first place is the high-quality analog output. A DAC that can do better would likely cost hundreds more.

 

[aleki]

Ah, I had no idea there was an active thread on the Titanium HD!
Does anyone else have a problem controlling the software volume? anything below 6% in windows is dead silent and 6% is already pretty dang loud; I'm paranoid it would cause gradual hearing loss when listening for prolonged periods

 

[NamelessPFG]

 
Quote:

Ah, I had no idea there was an active thread on the Titanium HD!
Does anyone else have a problem controlling the software volume? anything below 6% in windows is dead silent and 6% is already pretty dang loud; I'm paranoid it would cause gradual hearing loss when listening for prolonged periods

Funny thing is, I have almost the exact same problem here with the X-Fi Forte, and it didn't affect the X-Fi Prelude at all. (Does this have anything to do with the headphone amp implementation?)
 
The only difference is that 4% and below = mute and 5% is where the volume starts. This now makes me ask why it varies a bit and why it mutes above 0% in any of those cases.
 
My workaround was to create a custom flat EQ with the rightmost slider dragged all the way to the bottom for -24db. This allows me to have more room for adjustment, with the uncomfortable volume point now at around the 25% mark.
 
I can't use this in Audio Creation Mode while bit-matched playback is turned on, though, because that disables the EQ. Fortunately, the volume is saved between modes, and 5% or 6% in that mode isn't much of an issue in terms of overall volume.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Yea well I was also a bit scared with the volume level, it should have like the ASUS cards do separate left and right channel volume adjustment which isn't either linked to the main volume (for this card it is!). I know theoretically it should result in more clean audio with less volume bars but heh with 24 bit it's not really an audible issue. I didn't use ASIO/WASAPI though as that would result in even higher volume and I'm using ZO amp which also boosts the volume a lot and this first version of it doesn't even have any volume control. Still I had to use 9 ~ 11% volume or so but I was scared of accidentaly being exposed to high volume (some bugs or whatever). I already got suprised with 67% volume when changing speaker mode and it was just scaringly loud, it was in calm part of a song though but I had the headphones off my head in like less than 1 sec, at those volumes you'd get sufficient volume as speaker listening, now I don't wanna even think about 100%.

 

[ACDOAN]

My son bought a XFI Titanium and I know the question has asked before so please forgive for my laziness.
 
Is it possible to use the RCA out put to the M audio V40 ( for gaming) and the headphone jack  on the XFi Titanium to headphones ( audio-)  without the problem to unplug each connection for each application ?
 
Is there a switch adaptor to support what my son wants to do?
 
 
Is there more friendly user soundcard out there within the same money range?
 
 

 

[NamelessPFG]

This thread's a few months old, but now that I have a Titanium HD...I can indeed confirm that you can't switch between RCA and the headphone jack with software. You'd have to keep unplugging the headphone from the headphone jack.
 
It might help to get an extension cable, plug that into the back, and route it somewhere easily accessible. (Avoid computer case audio jacks; they add a lot of noise.)
 
If it's that big of a deal, see if you can find a revised X-Fi Forte (with the heatsink on the DSP) or a used X-Fi Prelude if there's a PCI slot free. Or, if you're willing to sacrifice a bit in raw audio performance, investigate those new Recon3D cards.

 

[aleki]

While I havent tried switching defaults through the Sound menu(not sure if it's supported), I currently use my Fiio e9 to hook up my monitors and headphones.

 

[Bill1202]

Thank you!  Man that was a great explanation.  Easy to understand.  So I think I'll just keep the sound card for now unless I end up upgrading my headphones.  I might look into a portable for my ipod when traveling.