We take a look at Creative’s X-Fi XtremeMusic. Does it live up to the hype?

Creative Labs
is the Google of sound cards, top of the game and paving the way for
the future. While other companies have their niche, no one tops
Creative when it comes to gaming sound quality. This latest offering
from Creative is no exception. Known for their Sound Blaster and Audigy
line, X-Fi is the their next evolution in sound cards. It has been 5
years since the debut of the Audigy cards. The X-Fi series consists of
4 cards, the Elite pro, the Fatal1ty FPS, the Platinum, and the
XtremeMusic. I recently got my techie hands on a Creative X-Fi
XtremeMusic, the lower of the 4 models and now the question to ask is
was it worth the wait?

The question my fellow gamers are probably asking themselves is, “Is
this card worth $100+ of my hard earned money?” By the time this review
is wrapped up we should be able to answer that question and give our
readers a recommendation.

The overall packaging is is top notch. While the box is a bit big for
such a small product, the card is secured well inside. The box contains
the card, a quick start guide, and the cd featuring the drivers,
applications and the Doom 3 EAX fix.

Here are the technical specifications provided by Creative’s website:

Technical specifications

  • 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate
  • 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
  • 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output
  • 16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
  • ASIO 2.0 support at 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44.1kHz 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring
  • Enhanced SoundFont support at up to 24-bit resolution

Audio Performance (Rated Output @ 2Vrms)

  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Weighted)
-Stereo Output: 109dB
-Front and Rear Channels: 109dB
-Center, Subwoofer and Side Channels: 109dB
  • Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (20kHz Low-pass filter) = 0.004%
  • Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ) = <10Hz to 46kHz
  • Frequency Response (-3dB, 24-bit/192kHz input) = <10Hz to 88kHz (Stereo only)

Connectivity

  • FlexiJack (Performing a 3-in-1 function, Digital I/O1 / Line In / Microphone) via 3.50mm mini jack
  • Line level out (Front / Rear / Side / Center / Subwoofer) via 3.50mm mini jacks
  • AUX_IN line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector on card
  • One AD_Link (26 pin) connector for linking to the X-FI I/O Console (upgrade option)

{mospagebreak heading=Introduction&title=First Impressions}
First Impressions

As I took a look at the card, first impression was that I was surprised
at how big it was. While not quite the size of a modern day video
cards, it is a bit bigger then my SBLive! 5.1. Also I was a bit
disappointed that Creative did away with the joystick port, and added
the 26 pin connector for the breakout box on the Elite Pro model. Maybe
there is an adapter or something which I will have to look in to,
because I used the multimedia port for my Gravis Grip Gamepad for a few
different games. Also I needed a splitter for the center output jack
for my RCA connection which runs to my stereo shelf system and my
headphones at the same time. A minor issue, as most users will be using
the pc speaker analog connections or just headphones. Another fact of
importance to note is that this card is the first and only to support
EAX 5.0.

After first install I did a few things before putting the card to use.
First off, I updated to the latest drivers from Creative’s support
section. I then set up my speaker configuration, I mainly use just my
HD485s, or my Audio 110s, so I set up the card for headphones. Then, I
proceeded on with a few tweaks on the cards software itself; enabling
the 24-bit crystalizer, turning on CMSS-3D for the headphones, making
sure I was in Entertainment mode, tweaking the equalizer, and finally I
was ready to get started. Take note, there is a wealth of options and
configuration settings for the various modes and overall for this card,
and I have not come close to touching on half of them.

The Sound

One of the new features of this series from Creative is the alternate
modes console and option. The card and software feature three modes:
Entertainment, Gaming, and Audio Creation. Each mode has its own
console  with various settings tweaks, some being unique to a specific
mode.

My first thoughts were along the lines of “this can’t really make that
much difference”. I was definitely mistaken. While I don’t create much
music, I switch a lot between Entertainment and Gaming mode. The
Entertainment mode dynamically improves the sound of mp3’s, movies, and
other media audio. The Gaming mode provides better positional audio in
comparison. How noticeable is it you might ask? Often after a movie or
an mp3 session I get the notion to play some Source or Battlefield 2.
After a few moments of playing I realize I forgot to switch modes to
Gaming mode, and quickly alt-tab out to change the settings because the
sound quality for each mode is that
different; attuned for its respective purpose. I definitely recommend
making use of these various modes; I even put the Mode Switcher
shortcut in my quicklaunch bar in Windows XP for easy use.

The next big feature is the 24-bit Crystallizer. When reading previews
of this card, the 24-bit Crystallizer was going to change the way
MP3’s, CD/DVD and in-game audio was heard. The crystallizer, while not
revolutionary, does a solid job of enhancing audio. It’s hard to
explain, but it kind of gives more of a kick to the music. It is
similar to the DFX audio enhancer you can find for Windows Media Player
and Winamp, but on a whole, far more impressive sound than the DFX
offers. In fact I no longer use DFX with winamp, and just use the
crystalizer. The great thing about this feature is that it can even
enrich older low quality 128kbit MP3’s and the like by minimizing pops
and clicks and by enhancing various aspects of the audio to bring out
sounds lesser hardware wouldn’t let us hear. The crystalizer also
offers a resampling feature which will rebuild sections of the audio
file that fall to the wayside during compression and ripping to lossy
formats.

{mospagebreak title=Testing}
The Tests

I used RightMark3DSound v2.2 for these comparisons. First off, out of
curiosity I played around with the Positioning Accuracy Test. The level
of detail the X-Fi achieves in comparison to my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
is incredible. EAX 4.0 can really push your sound hardware when it
comes to positioning. The X-Fi was able to produce superior sound
around walls, directionally, and rotating on various axis’s.

I am going to measure my SBLive 5.1 and my onboard Realtek AC97 audio
vs. the Creative X-Fi in benchmarks that will test specific CPU usage
during audio tests. This will show just how much effort the sound cards
will put forth, and how much will be offloaded to your CPU. This is
important to find out, because better sound cards should allow our CPUs
to do less work processing audio, and more work processing various
other things in-game, like physics, etc.

Using RightMark again, we test in DirectSound and compare the two cards
and onboard. [Note for all comparisons I used EAX, as most gamers
pretty much use that as a standard.]

The X-Fi really shines; we see how the CPU performs almost half the
calculations with the X-Fi compared with the SBLive! 5.1 and almost one
third compared with the Realtek onboard chip. Such a comparison should
show us gamers that sound cards aren’t just for audio quality any more,
they really do aid in overall system performance while gaming.

Now we will test some real world comparisons. Its great seeing this
card handle the SB Live! in benchmarks and subjective sound quality, so
let’s see how it compares via in-game performance.

I achieved the following average FPS with the different audio devices using CS:Source and my computer as a testbed:
AMD Athlon64 3200+
NVIDIA GeForce7800GS
OCZ Platinum PC3200 (2×1GB)
maxed out detail levels on 1280×1024:

As you can see, there is a noticeable FPS increase just by changing the
sound cards and upgrading to the X-Fi. It clearly isn’t the difference
between, say a GeForce 6xxx series and a 7xxx series, but it is still
quite noticable and could be key to those of us trying to squeak out
those last few frames per second.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}

Conclusion

As I wrap up this review, I want to touch on the key points. At a
little over a hundred dollars, this isn’t a cheap upgrade for some.
However the numbers clearly show an improvement over the average every
day sound card that many of us still use. On a pure benchmark
standpoint the X-Fi is a worthwhile upgrade for us gamers. Besides the
overall performance increases, the audio quality itself is a must-hear.
If any of you use your PC for for music, movies, and games on a regular
basis, this would be a valuable asset for your system.

Where it really stands out however is the positional audio. I cannot
rave enough about the quality of the XtremeMusic on this front. While I
won’t ever consider myself a “pro” CS player, I spent some time in
CAL-M in 1.6, and spent numerous seasons playing at various levels in
CAL and UGS back in the day. At no point with any other hardware, from
my SBLive! and DSP 500’s to cheap headphones and onboard sound have I
had such clarity and ability to hear in-game character details from
such a great distance. Often times in scrims I find myself calling out
rushes and enemy locations well ahead of teammates whom are near me
because I pick up subtle sounds and from further ranges. This in itself
has made this a valuable purchase for me.

The positional audio and incredible fidelity with movies and music make
the Creative X-Fi one of the best pieces of hardware I have ever used.
We spend so much money on graphics, memory, and processors that we
often neglect the sound portions of our systems. The X-Fi is reason
enough to change all that give our ears a taste of greatness. If you
have been on the fence about upgrading and making the switch, it’s time
to make that jump.


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