[delphi]

the 5.25 inch drive insert from audigy 2's work with x-fi the ribon cable for them is the same, optical out on that + external dac, plus theirs a mic jack on it. this is what i hope to be doing in the next few weeks when i get my headroom micro stack

 

[marscay]

i got the elite pro x-fi because i wanted a card with a nice DAC which i could route via analog to my yamaha amp for playing music but also be a good gaming card.

the difference in music between the elite pro and my audigy2 is quite noticeable .....i guess the cheaper x-fi's would sound pretty similar to the a2 for music purposes due to the cheaper DAC's and opamps.

expensive but not alot more than the fatality version, same DAC's as emu1212 and you get the breakout box which is very handy.

 

[Sergey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marscay i got the elite pro x-fi because i wanted a card with a nice DAC which i could route via analog to my yamaha amp for playing music but also be a good gaming card. the difference in music between the elite pro and my audigy2 is quite noticeable .....i guess the cheaper x-fi's would sound pretty similar to the a2 for music purposes due to the cheaper DAC's and opamps. expensive but not alot more than the fatality version, same DAC's as emu1212 and you get the breakout box which is very handy.

Hi,
Thanks for reply.Lat few days I just got crazy to read 5-6 hours every day this and other forums,

Some people beleive they hear a difference with external DAC,some say no DAC less than 1000$ will give you more than EMU or Juli sound cards,some don't beleive external DAC is worth to buy at all, and some don't see another way at all but external DAC.
I got soooo confused

Anyway, marscay, do you have any experience with any DAC, or other sources that you could compare Elite Pro to.
I was reading a lot of good stuff about Elite Pro,but most of the people say it's not worth the money.
By the way this card is not so often mentioned on this forum as well (???).
One more thing, 2 days ago I was reading a lot good things about DAC-1, today I found that it's not worth it.

HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP !
I HAVE TO STOP TO READ THIS FORUM !!!!

 

[AdamWill]

The DAC I just bought, Firestone Audio Spitfire, is US$250 and I'm extremely happy with it so far. http://www.firestone-audio.com/ . I'm feeding it with a $20 Chaintech AV-710, which has a mic-in. Firestone also have a cheaper USB DAC, the Fubar II, which gets good reviews at its price point. You can also look at the E-Mu 0404 or 1212M sound cards for $99 or $199 respectively. As has been discussed already, either an external DAC or an 'audiophile' sound card is a better value-for-money choice than an X-Fi if gaming is not in the equation.

 

[Sergey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill The DAC I just bought, Firestone Audio Spitfire, is US$250 and I'm extremely happy with it so far. http://www.firestone-audio.com/ . I'm feeding it with a $20 Chaintech AV-710, which has a mic-in. Firestone also have a cheaper USB DAC, the Fubar II, which gets good reviews at its price point. You can also look at the E-Mu 0404 or 1212M sound cards for $99 or $199 respectively. As has been discussed already, either an external DAC or an 'audiophile' sound card is a better value-for-money choice than an X-Fi if gaming is not in the equation.

Thanks AdamWill
I had a 1212M about 6 month ago and gave it to my son.
Was waiting for anounsment of X-FI chip and cards on this chip.
As I paid attention not many people here likes X-FI for music.
In another hand, when most of the members of this forum suggest DAC vs. Sound card, I paid attention that there are many recomendation to use Coax out instead optic.
And of coarse when I searching for decent Sound card I can go from 20$ to 200$ or 450$ Lynx cards. When I am looking at DAC's we are talking 200$ to thousands. And of coarse each of them may sound differently and it's difficult to get decission that I won't regret after for my money.
Here is the question : If I would get again 1212m, how good or bad it will sound with my PreHead amp and my HD-650 vs. your setup using Firestone Audio Spitfire ??? Most likely it will be just preferences decision,right?
Of coarse we can talk about existing ElectroMagnetis environment inside of PC,Power Supply limitations in PC and other , but bottom line is when I using my mother board sound I can hear a lot of noises, when I used 1212M I didn't have any trouble.
Still reading forums

Oftopic: When I used 1212M I couldn't figure it out how to connect Mic to the card without external box. Any ideas?

Thanks again
Sergey

 

[marscay]

sergey i don't have any experience with external DAC's but like i said there's a massive improvment over the audigy2 with my elite pro through analog into my yahamha amp.

adamwill is overlooking the fact that the elite pro uses the same DAC as the emu1212 and also superior opamps than the other x-fi models which i think use the same DAC as previous audigy cards.

i doubt any external DAC costing less than $500-1000 will sound any better than an elite pro however ...but that's just my opinion.

elite pro is an expensive proposition but you get the best of both worlds ...a good performing card musically (should be on par with the emu1212) as well as the best gaming card on the market.....and that sexy breakout box

 

[TooNice]

The Elite Pro can be had for about $375 in the UK. Are there any external DAC under $300 that provides better sound (I will still need to get a cheaper X-Fi card since I want good gaming support).

 

[humanflyz]

@TooNice:

Actually pretty much any decent external DAC will sound better than the X-Fi because Creative's target consumer group is not audiophiles but gamers, so the X-Fi is more geared toward gaming, not music listening.

 

[TooNice]

Are you sure about that?
From what I've gathered, the Elite Pro has the same DAC chip as the Headroom MicroDAC.

Now I understand that is not the only thing that affect SQ, but I would expect the Elite Pro to perform maybe around 90% of the MicroDAC? Or am I way off?

If that is the case, then I am wondering if sub $250 DACs can compete with the Elite Pro.

 

[Sergey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by humanflyz @TooNice: Actually pretty much any decent external DAC will sound better than the X-Fi because Creative's target consumer group is not audiophiles but gamers, so the X-Fi is more geared toward gaming, not music listening.

Hi humanflyz
Do you have any statistical data or any prove for your statement?
I have just some impression that a lot of people have been spoiled by this forum and buying expensive amp's (including myself) and DAC's without analyze the SPEC's or doing direct comparison.
Do you have anything to say that Elite Pro will sound worse that DAC for 250?

Thank you
Sergey

 

[maarek99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marscay i doubt any external DAC costing less than $500-1000 will sound any better than an elite pro however ...but that's just my opinion.

Yeah, well...I happen to prefer my old model receiver

http://www.kenwood.co.jp/i/products/...krfv6030d.html

to the elite pro. I also prefer it to my 0404 and to my philips cd-player. Although it gets worse rmaa-results than either of those soundcards the sound is imho better in all areas. Ridiculous. Maybe it's just engineered to be euphonic or something, I don't know.

 

[humanflyz]

Well, I certainly never intended to put down the X-Fi, but maybe my earlier post came across wrong. What I was trying to get at is that in my personal experience, I've always found that Creative, as a company, is much more focused on providing the best specs than anything else. I do not dispute that the X-Fi has some very impressive RMAA results, but to my ears, the X-Fi just doesn't sound as good as some other DACs which have lower specs on paper than the X-Fi. So the only reason that I've been sticking with Creative soundcards is that I really like what they do best, which is gaming. Hands down, there is nothing that can touch the X-Fi when it comes to games.

But again, this is my own, subjective experiences; yours may vary, and the only way to know is to listen and compare between products.

 

[Sergey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by humanflyz Well, I certainly never intended to put down the X-Fi, but maybe my earlier post came across wrong. What I was trying to get at is that in my personal experience, I've always found that Creative, as a company, is much more focused on providing the best specs than anything else. I do not dispute that the X-Fi has some very impressive RMAA results, but to my ears, the X-Fi just doesn't sound as good as some other DACs which have lower specs on paper than the X-Fi. So the only reason that I've been sticking with Creative soundcards is that I really like what they do best, which is gaming. Hands down, there is nothing that can touch the X-Fi when it comes to games. But again, this is my own, subjective experiences; yours may vary, and the only way to know is to listen and compare between products.

Thanks humanflyz for reply. I just found X-FI Elite Pro for 325$ new that's very tempting

, but still reading this forum.
Elite Pro has a pretty nice spec's and nice DAC's , besides it has other nice features. Just trying to convince myself...

that for the Music it's not bad.

Sergey

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sergey Oftopic: When I used 1212M I couldn't figure it out how to connect Mic to the card without external box. Any ideas? Thanks again Sergey

You can not connect your standard PC mic to the 1212m or 0404, there is no amplified mic input. You have to either use a mic preamp, or I would suggest, just buying a USB microphone, which you can use regardless of whatever soundcard you decide to use.

 

[Sergey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmo You can not connect your standard PC mic to the 1212m or 0404, there is no amplified mic input. You have to either use a mic preamp, or I would suggest, just buying a USB microphone, which you can use regardless of whatever soundcard you decide to use.

Thanks Asmo.I remember I tried a Mic on 1212m and it didn't work. So,probably a USB Mic will be the better solution (in the case I will go with this card again).
Sergey