[forciano]

Quote:

forciano
can you guide me please where you to put the omp's and were to get them?(same as yours)
and which omp's are best suited for rock\metal music?
i think that the 2114d pretty much sucks in bass.

For the opamps talk to Robscix he soldered them for me. And for the combination I am using, I think anything that used guitars sounded awesome with my current setup. I had my brother who is a metal\rock junkie listen to them for a while and he didnt want to give me my computer back lol.
 
So far I find them to have more bass than any combination I tried in the Essence ST. Of course this is limited to my setup (we need more input from everybody who owns one) but lets see what other users have to say about it.

 

[raymond555]

thanks!btw...who is robscix?

 

[MadCow]

Looks like the USB device has been rebranded to Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD:
http://asia.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&product=19829&listby=
 

 

[Aynjell]

I almost want this device to replace my DAC. I'm really curious how it works as an outboard dac and what kind of usb charging system one could use as a PSU.

 

[Rhymenoceros]

Quote:

Looks like the USB device has been rebranded to Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD:
http://asia.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&product=19829&listby=
 

 
thanks for that link.  i'm glad there's at least official information on the product of some sort.  i'm really enjoying this device but am still curious how it would stack up to something like a udac or the E7.  if people think it's worth it to go for either i'll probably decide to get rid of the Creative in favor.  also have a SRH440 in my meager stable now so would like a decent DAC/AMP to pair with it.

 

[forciano]

Member of these forums, he responded on this same thread. Just send him a PM.

 

[Alexander01]

  Quote:

I had the STX for a short time and ended up returning it, it had little bass and I thought had a harsh sound in general.  It was useless for gaming compared to Xfi as well. 
 
I just plugged in the Titanium HD, going to Schiit Asgard > HD650. Compared to the Xfi Titanium it's very similar, the HD seems to have slightly better mids but lacks deep bass, and isnt quite as clear in general as the original.  But I havent had it in long, and they are very close sounding so I'll have to take some more time with it.
 
Does anyone have op amp alternatives for it? 

'and isnt quite as clear in general as the original'
 
Interesting. What do you mean with this? Do you mean the sound is more 'muffled/muddy' with the Titanium HD then with the orginal Titanium?
 
Also, which one does have a smoother sound? Many people call the mids on the normal X-Fi 'recessed'. To me this means a smoother sound (which I highly prefer). Does the Titanium HD has more pronounced mids that makes overall sound signature louder and more agressive?
 

 

[darkswordsman17]

Anyone notice the phono input? Curious as to how good the quality of it is. Could be a great way for people to get into vinyl for cheap (by that I mean if they already were buying it for the computer audio aspect).
 
Creative definitely seems to have taken a more audiophile-centric approach with these two.
 
Seems like the USB version is missing the socketed opamps and a lot of the Creative software (no mention any of the usual Creative stuff, instead THX TruStudio, which uses some of Creative's tech it seems), so to the person that asked earlier it looks like you won't be getting the same as you would with the internal card. I'd like to see what components its using. It does have the phono input, and does support 24/96 over USB though, which if it does those two well could make it a very interesting product.

 

[raymond555]

forciano-thanks again!
alexander01-yes,the titanium hd has very pronounced mids and i do like my card alot,altough the high's are bit harsh to my taste,but overall the sound quality is great,and by replacing the generic omp's it comes with,it can be even better!
the sound is very clean,first time i connected the card to my computer,after using my onboard realtek for a few months(not that bad as i may mention,alc889)the sounds it the creative is more wide,more in your face,the bass is great but i still think it could use more punch to it.
mids are great,high a bit harsh sometimes(depends on the song quality).

 

[Peterk]

While the Titanium HD was decent, it isnt quite as good as the Auzen Forte, which isnt quite as good as a Titanium > Schiit Asgard.  That combo is the best sound I have been able to get out of a computer.

 

[Aynjell]

Quote:

While the Titanium HD was decent, it isnt quite as good as the Auzen Forte, which isnt quite as good as a Titanium > Schiit Asgard.  That combo is the best sound I have been able to get out of a computer.

It's interesting that you rate a titanium over the forte. Personally I prefer the titanium for it's standardized optical outs. It makes using an external dac that much easier, and given the x-fi's nasty habit of generation ground loops, best case scenario is optical output.

 

[Weaves]

So If my current set-up is this:
 
Realtek 889->spdif out-> Muse amp/dac->Sennheiser hd595
 
and I wanted to upgrade to better phones.
 
would I benefit with the HD sound card? 
 
I see that it's headphone amp would only go up to 300 ohms output.  However, it looks to have a toslink out.  so would i get the benefits of the sound card using the digital out into the Muse, instead of the headphone amp?  or should i just get 600 ohm headphones next?
 
Thanks

 

[rio197]

Quote:

Looks like the USB device has been rebranded to Sound Blaster Digital Music Premium HD:
http://asia.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=875&product=19829&listby=
 

Thanks for the link. Wouldn't mind hearing people's experiences with this USB device, I'm an optical user myself.
 

 

[rio197]

Quote:

the price.  again pretty noobish with these things right now but wondering if 1. someone can give their opinions/impressions on the thing especially compared to the udac if they've had experience with both and 2. verify if the device has a headphone amp or not (i'm assuming it has some sort of amp as the volume can go much higher than with my internal card, though it may mean something that the OS software volume slider goes up at the same time as i turn the knob).  thanks!
 
edit: also i'm using a humble JVC HA-RX700 with it. 

Hi, just noticed your post here. I haven't got an X-Fi HD USB but I've had an interesting experience with uDAC 2. I couldn't get the optical output working. I put it down to Win7 64-bit that I'm using. Hope that helps, especially if you're using the same OS.

 

[Alexander01]

Quote:

It's interesting that you rate a titanium over the forte. Personally I prefer the titanium for it's standardized optical outs. It makes using an external dac that much easier, and given the x-fi's nasty habit of generation ground loops, best case scenario is optical output.

I can say the same about the PCI Creative Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer and the PCI Auzentech X-Fi Prelude. I had them both and to me the X-Fi XtremeGamer has fuller sound with better bass over the Prelude. I also prefer the X-Fi Titanium over the Xonar ST/STX. Fuller, richer and crisper sound with better bass, smoother mids and high's and deeper soundstage.