[Mezevenf]

Hey,

I am looking to upgrade my sound card, and have been mulling over the options.

The thing is, I play a lot of games and use things like EAX and such, so I figure an X-Fi would appropriately suit my needs (feel free to tell me otherwise).

My question is, I am looking at the X-Fi range, and the Elite Pro they say is the better option, but the Platinum looks just as good, and to be honest I dont like the look of that volume control on the Elite Pro.

I will be recording vinyl's onto my computer with whatever card it may be...

Opinions/comments/abuse welcome

 

[lini]

Well, the Elite Pro should be better for your usage, nevertheless - mainly due to its nicer ADCs. However, it might also make sense to consider a two card combo with an X-Fi ExtremeMusic for gaming and some good Envy24-based card like the ESI Juli@ for recording and music listening.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mezevenf Hey, I will be recording vinyl's onto my computer with whatever card it may be... Opinions/comments/abuse welcome

I've used the X-Fi EP to record from vinyls and casettes to my computer. The recording function is excellent and easy to use. There're RCA line-ins in the back of the console for this purpose, but I've never been able to use them. For some reason, I can't hear the audio coming in but the meters on the recording status window are moving and sound is being recorded. Monitoring is clsoe to impossible without sound. However, the line-in on the audio card works and this is where I connect the turntable or deck.

This is besides the point, but one benefit of the console is the quick access to the crystalizer, 3D, and EAX. A single click switches these features on & off, and the knobs can be manually turned to adjust the levels. The volume knob, too, comes in handy. These are nice manual options to the software switches. Also, the console can be stood on end with the included stand, keeping the footprint narrow and small. For head-fiers, the headphone jack on the front is convenient.

 

[Sycraft]

The difference you might care about is the electronics. The Extreme Music, Platinum and Fatal1ty all have the same electronics on board. The Elite Pro has better quality. They went for 4 higher quality stereo DACs instead of 1 8-channel (the 8-channel one they use is still very good) the ADC makes a major step up. On the normal X-Fis it's just a part of one of the other chips on there, on the Elite Pro it's one of AKM's highest end chips (and is huge). Also there are other electronic upgrades to various things (it's quick visibly different).

Does it matter? For playback I'm not sure how much. I had an Extreme Music and decided to replace it with an Elite Pro, but not because I felt it was lacking sound wise. There might be a difference but it's not major enough that I could tell you (there was no A/B comparison, since it took 20 minutes to swap cards). For recording you might care more about the Elite Pro given it's higher quality input.

Also is does have an actual phono input on the breakout box. Now that may not matter, as you might have your own phono preamp, and of course being that it's noting but an equaliser you could always do it digitally once it's on your computer, and phase correct at that. However if you lack a dedicated phono pre and if you don't want to screw with post processing then maybe that input is what you want.

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sycraft The difference you might care about is the electronics. The Extreme Music, Platinum and Fatal1ty all have the same electronics on board. The Elite Pro has better quality. They went for 4 higher quality stereo DACs instead of 1 8-channel (the 8-channel one they use is still very good) the ADC makes a major step up. On the normal X-Fis it's just a part of one of the other chips on there, on the Elite Pro it's one of AKM's highest end chips (and is huge). Also there are other electronic upgrades to various things (it's quick visibly different).

Sycraft, I'd read about the better DACs in the EP, but it's good to get confirmation. In your opinion, is it adequate or would you suggest a better external DAC? If yes, then can you suggest one or two?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sycraft Also is does have an actual phono input on the breakout box. Now that may not matter, as you might have your own phono preamp, and of course being that it's noting but an equaliser you could always do it digitally once it's on your computer, and phase correct at that. However if you lack a dedicated phono pre and if you don't want to screw with post processing then maybe that input is what you want.

I've tried connecting a turntable and a cassette deck to the RCA line-ins in the back of the breakout box (console). However, I'm not getting any playback sound via headphones or speakers. I've been using the line-in on the audio card instead, but that means getting under the desk and unplugging the CD plug and inserting the phono or deck plug. A pain.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sycraft (...) the ADC makes a major step up. On the normal X-Fis it's just a part of one of the other chips on there, on the Elite Pro it's one of AKM's highest end chips (and is huge).(...)

That's not entirely correct - well, ok, actually it's rather wrong: You'll find a dedicated adc chip on the other X-fi cards, too - a Wolfson, which is spec-wise a tad less good than the AKM, but about the same size. And if you're recording over the external module, you'll actually be using the nice BB/TI adcs in there and not the AKM on the board, anyway...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[Azultra]

Well disregarding EAX X-Fi wouldn't even be an option. The Creative hoax : if you fund the price difference between a X-Fi model and an equivalent without fatty DSP in your CPU, the (generic!) power benefit will be beyond any comparison !