[fomoz]

hello,

i was just wondering what settings you guys use with the X-Fi Titanium HD for playing music or watching movies. do you use ASIO or Kernel Streaming? Entertainment Mode or Audio Creation Mode? ASIO4ALL or built-in ASIO driver?

i've searched around head-fi and i couldn't find any definitive answers for this particular card.

on my work computer i have an onboard Realtek HD chip and using ASIO4ALL + otachan ASIO plugin in Winamp makes a huge difference. it actually sounds ok.

imo the X-Fi Titanium HD sounds really, really good in Entertainment Mode so i haven't been pressed to try the other options. does using ASIO or KS make a big difference? i'm using Windows 7 btw.

thanks!

 

[JesperZ]

I've set the speaker options for the analog out on the HD to 5.1 channel in windows settings. I feel it makes a difference with THX surround on when watching movies, and it definitely makes a difference when gaming for those games where you can't choose the amount of channels yourself.
 
When I'm just surfing the interwebz or listening to music the HD is in entertainment mode. The EQ is always on, and I've set the bass to 69% (I would like bass to just be the standard 50% and then make up for it with EQ, but I can't seem to find the right EQ settings), but other than that all settings are standard. I find that the THX settings for crystalizer and speaker size kills the midrange so I never touch them. I generally don't use any THX features unless I'm watching movies (then I put surround to 50%).
 
When gaming I use game mode with.CMSS-3D on (MacroFX and ElevationFilter on), EQ, EAX (2.4 dB), Bass boost (6 dB, cutoff 60 Hz).

 

[flyingbangus]

Entertainment mode, all effects OFF for me.

 

[Roller]

Given that you're using Windows 7, there is no reason to use Kernel Streaming since it's a deprecated output method, more unstable than all other alternatives. WASAPI has proven to be a very high quality method, delivering bitmatched playback.
 
About Titanium HD configurations for music, it really depends on what sounds best for you. Some recommend Audio Creation above all else, but that rules out any processing you might want to do to the sound, like EQing for instance. I personally prefer Entertainment mode with no additional features turned on (CMSS3D, EAX, SVM, Crystalizer, EQ). Do note that I prefer to disable the card's onboard EQ and use an external EQ, as it's of higher quality.
For movies I do like to enable EAX with quite low strength, only to increase the sense of space, which makes movies sound more immersive. You could also play with bass settings to enrichen the sound.
 
Overall, what matters most is what sounds best to you, most tweaking should be done to fit your needs and tastes. Just don't use KS if you're on Windows 7

 

[fomoz]

Given that you're using Windows 7, there is no reason to use Kernel Streaming since it's a deprecated output method, more unstable than all other alternatives. WASAPI has proven to be a very high quality method, delivering bitmatched playback.
 
About Titanium HD configurations for music, it really depends on what sounds best for you. Some recommend Audio Creation above all else, but that rules out any processing you might want to do to the sound, like EQing for instance. I personally prefer Entertainment mode with no additional features turned on (CMSS3D, EAX, SVM, Crystalizer, EQ). Do note that I prefer to disable the card's onboard EQ and use an external EQ, as it's of higher quality.
For movies I do like to enable EAX with quite low strength, only to increase the sense of space, which makes movies sound more immersive. You could also play with bass settings to enrichen the sound.
 
Overall, what matters most is what sounds best to you, most tweaking should be done to fit your needs and tastes. Just don't use KS if you're on Windows 7

so are you saying that it doesn't suffer from the same KMixer problems as other versions of Windows?

btw, i forgot to mention that i have all additional processing off while in Entertainment Mode and i don't feel like i need EQ since i find that the X-Fi Titanium HD provides a rich and powerful sound. with my Ed. 8, movies sound like i'm in a movie theater, except that my seat doesn't shake.

also, i have windows 7 on my office computer and as i said with the Realtek onboard card, ASIO4ALL makes a huge difference in sound. maybe this is driver dependent?

 

[Roller]

Quote:

so are you saying that it doesn't suffer from the same KMixer problems as other versions of Windows?

btw, i forgot to mention that i have all additional processing off while in Entertainment Mode and i don't feel like i need EQ since i find that the X-Fi Titanium HD provides a rich and powerful sound. with my Ed. 8, movies sound like i'm in a movie theater, except that my seat doesn't shake.

also, i have windows 7 on my office computer and as i said with the Realtek onboard card, ASIO4ALL makes a huge difference in sound. maybe this is driver dependent?

Yes, it doesn't have KMixer to bypass. Overall, the Titanium HD does have a rather full bodied sound, but some like to further fiddle with it.
 
The only glimpse of hope for onboard audio chips, like Realtek, is ASIO4ALL. The Titanium HD doesn't require a third party ASIO driver given that it has his own driver, and its quite solid. But honestly, WASAPI is a much more handy solution, requires less user interaction and provides as good SQ as ASIO. Currently, ASIO is really better used for recording, rather than playback.