[sofakng]

I've just purchased some BT770 Pro/80s and my onboard audio doesn't sound very good with them.

I can't afford $100 or even $75 for a new soundcard, but I heard really good things about the X-Fi series and found the X-Fi ExtremeAudio on sale for only $39.95 so I jumped on it.

Now, after reading the forums a little more, it says to "AVOID AVOID AVOID" the ExtremeAudio edition due to it's lower-quality parts.

Is the card really THAT bad? It's half the price of the other cards (or MORE than half) and still has the X-Fi chip, CMSS-3D, etc, etc...

 

[spacemanspliff]

Beats onboard sound at least. Worth $40? Probably. If it was just for music I would have got a Chaintech though.

 

[Zorander]

You could have waited longer and saved for a real substantial upgrade down the path. Not that I have heard any X-Fi cards (nor cared about the SB line anyway) but that is how I would personally have done it. The AudioTrak Prodigy and M-Audio Revolution 5.1 are great-sounding cards that have their own built-in headamp and cost about $100 (or less if you can find used cards).

Regards.

 

[sofakng]

Actually, after doing some really quick searching I found a brand-new X-Fi XtremeMusic for $47 shipped. (that's $1 more than the XtremeAudio I found)

So, I've canceled my previous order and purchased the XtremeMusic.

Hopefully the vendor is reliable... (ResellerRatings seems to say they are decent)

 

[Joeywhat]

Whatever you do don't buy an Extreme Audio card...they are just rebadged audigy cards. I don't think the Xtreme Music is the same (i.e. it actually uses an X-Fi chip).

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

IMO you are better off getting a Chaintech like someone else mentioned already

 

[sofakng]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO you are better off getting a Chaintech like someone else mentioned already

Well, I'm mostly using my computer for gaming. (I'd say 90% gaming and 10% music)

Supposedly the X-Fi cards are the BEST cards for gaming and I've heard that CMSS-3D really improves the 3D positioning of games, etc.

There also seems to be a lot of threads on here saying that there is a HUGE different between onboard and the X-Fi cards so I'm hoping they aren't wrong.

Maybe the Chaintech would have been similar but I didn't think it had all the gaming features (or the quality) of the X-Fi cards...

 

[Culverin]

actually i went from an xfi extreme music to the aformentioned chaintech av-710.

good bit of savings there.
you do lose some of the quality of 3d positioning for games, but i think you gain back quite a bit on the music side.

 

[Redo]

AV-710 would have been the superior choice.


The XtremeAudio is a rebadged Audigy that uses your CPU to do all the processing. If I remember correctly, the XtremeAudio doesn't have nearly as many features as the XtremeGamer and above.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Yeah. You want a Fatality really. The Extemegamer is a crappy non-digital dead end really. If you get a Fatality down the road you can add an external dac so that you have good fps for gaming AND good sound overall. I am selling my old PS Audio dac which I used just for that with great success. Now I am going up the ladder to an Oritek Zhalou.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacemanspliff /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah. You want a Fatality really. The Extemegamer is a crappy non-digital dead end really. If you get a Fatality down the road you can add an external dac so that you have good fps for gaming AND good sound overall. I am selling my old PS Audio dac which I used just for that with great success. Now I am going up the ladder to an Oritek Zhalou.

The XtremeGamer can still hook up to the front panel. It can't hook up to the breakout box though.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif The XtremeGamer can still hook up to the front panel. It can't hook up to the breakout box though.

True. It is still a little pos imo. great for anyone that doesn't ever what to go up the chain so to speak but the Fatality is really the entry level gaming transport of choice for me. I used to have the highest end X-FI but when you have an external dac better than the elite pros dacs it becomes a moot point.

Gaming can be Hi-Fi friends.

 

[lhsonic]

The Chaintech would have been your best choice for a music card. All the ExtremeAudio is, is a rebadged Audigy SE (can't say just "Audigy" because most have hardware acceleration) that does not have an onboard processor to decode EAX and stuff like that, which, with the exception of > EAX 2.0 support, is practically identical to an AV-710 which can be flashed to support the latest drivers AND EAX (previously, only worked up to the v2 drivers). If you game with this card with EAX enabled, you WILL see fps drops as sound decoding, believe it or not does put a load on your CPU.

 

[LawnGnome]

Despite what other people are saying, the xtrememusic is a VERY capable card.

It is the cheapest way to get into the X-fi series. It has ALL the features of the others, except for the x-ram(which as like 3 games supported and completely useless if you have vista) and the breakout box.

It doesn't have the DACs of the super high end x-fis. But the price of those, your better off getting a cheaper x-fi and buying a SPDIF DAC.

If you get get an xtrememusic for 50$ go for it, they are a great bargain.

the xtrememusic is the only cheap one to consider though, the xtremegamer is poor, and the xtremeaudio is a just a audigy.

The xtrememusic won't disappoint. Especially if you mod the opamps.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LawnGnome /img/forum/go_quote.gif Despite what other people are saying, the xtrememusic is a VERY capable card. It is the cheapest way to get into the X-fi series. It has ALL the features of the others, except for the x-ram(which as like 3 games supported and completely useless if you have vista) and the breakout box. It doesn't have the DACs of the super high end x-fis. But the price of those, your better off getting a cheaper x-fi and buying a SPDIF DAC. If you get get an xtrememusic for 50$ go for it, they are a great bargain. the xtrememusic is the only cheap one to consider though, the xtremegamer is poor, and the xtremeaudio is a just a audigy. The xtrememusic won't disappoint. Especially if you mod the opamps.

XtremeMusic is great, the XtremeAudio is garbage