Product Description

Technical DataAudio Output / TypeSound cardTechnical DataAudio Output / Form FactorPlug-in cardTechnical DataAudio Output / Interface TypePCITechnical DataAudio Output / Sound Output Mode7.1 channel surroundTechnical DataAudio Output / Signal ProcessorCreative X-Fi Xtreme FidelityTechnical DataAudio Output / DAC Data Width24-bitTechnical DataAudio Output / Max Sample RatekHz192Technical DataSystem Requirements / OS RequiredMicrosoft Windows XP SP2Technical DataHeader / Product LineCreative Sound Blaster X-FiTechnical DataHeader / ModelXtreme MusicTechnical DataHeader / CompatibilityPCTechnical DataHeader / ManufacturerCreative TechnologyTechnical DataHeader / Packaged Quantity1

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79357 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Creative
• Model: 30SB046000000
• Platform: Windows XP
• Dimensions: .39" h x .39" w x .39" l, .47 pounds

Features

• The world&apost;s fastest audio processor for ul
• CMSS 3D for incredible surround sound over stere
• 24-bit Crystalizer makes all audio sound better
• Active Modal Architecture with &apost;Entertainm
• SuperRip converts stereo CDs to 24-bit surround

Manufacturer's Description
Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music brings the revolutionary new Xtreme Fidelity audio standard to the PC. With 24-bit Crystalizer it restores the sparkle lost during MP3/WMA compression while CMSS 3D Surround upgrades all audio to 24-bit surround sound. Featuring the world's fastest audio processor, it accelerates gaming and also enables CMSS 3D Headphone for incredible surround sound over stereo headphones for compelling LAN gaming, late-night gaming, and movie watching. Bring movies to life with comprehensive soundtrack decoding (DTS-ES, Dolby Digital EX), CMSS up-mix for non-encoded movies plus THX certification. With three selectable, easy-to-use modes (Gaming, Entertainment, Audio Creation) it's the ultimate audio solution for the PC.

Customer Reviews

A good PCI sound card - but it may not have the Creative installation disc
This card was easy to install into a free standard PCI slot (not a PCI express one). Once the motherboard onboard sound was disabled the card worked fine. It was supplied just as the card only though (e.g. an OEM), but without the Creative installation CD (which is normally supplied even with basic OEM cards). No problem you would think as Creative have an auto-install driver software system at the website Creative.com. But unfortunately this only installs the basic drivers + audio console and not the complete software, so you can't change the volume on each speaker (essential in a 7.1 setup) or use the graphic equaliser or smart recording/wave studio software. So I had to get the Creative install CD separately (the Amazon reseller said he would send one for free when asked, but I ended up buying one and so haven't pushed for it). Under XP once all the Creative software was loaded from CD, the full X-Fi control software appeared (as shown on Creative's website). The Creative website will update all this X-Fi software once you have installed it from the CD (but won't add it otherwise). However for Vista the entire suite appears for download on Creatives website (probably as the install CD no longer works).

Note also that the card has only three output jacks for 7.1 speaker connection, not four as with most motherboards audio output, but this is no problem if you use the card with a set of Creative speakers that will include the correct non-standard audio cable. Plus getting 7.1 upmixing working was a headache until I realised I just had to activate XFi-CMSS-3D in Creative's audio console (and set `upmix' to on) - as CMSS is code for Creative Multi-Speaker Surround. I have just moved to Vista Premium and the card + latest Vista drivers now works perfectly with my Asus M2N32-SLI [AMD/NVidia] motherboard. Vista crashes on Black & White 2 also vanished, but this might be due to the updated NVidia graphics drivers. I believe that, unlike under XP, this cards hardware EAX sound effects aren't supported by Vista DirectX anymore - new games will support EAX via OpenAL instead apparently, but that won't help many old XP games which will lose their EAX effects (if you ever noticed them anyway). The latest Creative Vista drivers include an EAX utility that will help here though, and these drivers are the most stable and functional we have ever had for the card (even under XP).

So I would check that you are getting the Creative installation CD with any reseller unless you have Vista (or ask for one if you don't get sent one with the card), or perhaps go for the full retail boxed version. Otherwise the card is fine, and far better than the 7.1 SoundMax onboard audio it replaced, that was rarely recognised by games. This Creative card has Gaming and two Music (Entertainment and Audio Creation) modes, the hardware being optimised for each. It can also enhance existing compressed MP3s and other music files to DVD-Audio quality with the X-Fi Crystalizer chip (and it actually works very well). You can buy optional extras as well, like a real wireless remote (£25), in/out expansion box and home theatre connections. The driver software is the weakest part, but at least that can be easily upgraded to the latest version.

I use the X-Fi card with the Creative Inspire T7900 7.1 speaker set and they work very well together, going loud with a reasonable sound quality (limited by the speakers, the sound is rather better via quality Hi-Fi headphones - although the X-Fi Crystalizer helps both a lot for MP3/CDs). So a worthwhile upgrade for a better music and gaming experience if you have the money. Note: the card appears to be obselete now though, so I wouldn't pay more than sixty quid for it. Check-out creative.com for alternatives or try ebay for second hand as these sound cards run forever in PC terms.

Good.....when it works
Well, what can i say. I've had this card for 18 days. The day that i got it, i was extremely excited about getting it all going. I didn't have any problem first time i installed it. After a restart it worked fine. For about a week. Basically, apparently Windows couldn't detect the card. So, i reinstalled drivers. Worked fine, until the next reboot. Then the drivers disappeared again. Since then, i've had sound on and off. It seems to be that you need to modify something about your system before every reboot, such as installing a Windows patch, or similar. It also seems to work fine if the computer has been off for a few hours (e.g. overnight). My advice; spend the extra and go for a razer soundcard. I'm regretting spending this amount of money on this card. Good audio when it does work, but be prepared for all manner of issues if you do get one. More advice; simple really, don't buy any X-Fi's as this is a problem with all of them, and i blame the drivers (one file in particular; ctaud2k.sys).

X-FI OEM
The X-FI SB0460 OEM is of course the retail model shipped without its box and extras so its not an inferior version but this point should be made clearer. My card was shipped by Kikatek but with the CD installation disk - vital for the use of the soundfont manager. I installed the card having previously disabled the on board sound and had also run CTZAPXX.EXE available on the creative website to completely remove any previous drivers. You may find it better as I did to allow WinXP SPK2 to detect and load its own drivers and then install the updates downloaded from creative site if you dont have the installation CD or run the installation and then the updates with firewalls and antivirus turned off. The card itself in my opion is superior to the Audigyzs , greater clarity , more robust with lots of power and it maybe cleverly enhancing the sounds. The main X-FI update itself had my Audigyzs beat by default where I had spent sometime trying to get the best out of that other card.