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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Turn your PC or notebook into a 5.1-channel entertainment system with the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB sound card. Intended to replace your motherboard's onboard audio, this external sound card adds rich, Dolby 5.1 audio to any PC or notebook with a USB 2.0 port. The card features THX's TruStudio Pro technology, which enhances audio depth, improves bass response, and more. Gold-plated RCA stereo and optical digital outputs support high-end audio performance, while microphone and headphone jacks make Internet chat easy. DTS and Dolby Digital Recording codecs can be added with a free software download to enhance movie sound.
THX-Enhanced Surround Sound for Your PC
When you connect the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro to your PC, you'll immediately notice an improvement in audio performance. The card utilizes TruStudio Pro, an audio technology developed by THX. This technology works to expand your PC's audio channels, which allows surround sound content to be reproduced faithfully, making sound more expansive, immersive, and realistic. Even if you're listening through headphones, you'll experience the surround sound effect.
Compatibility and System Requirements
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB sound card is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP (Professional x64 Edition, Service Pack 2 or above), Windows Vista, and Windows 7. (The card is not Mac compatible.)
NOTE: this sound card is not compatible with Mac systems.
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 Features THX TruStudio Pro for expanded frequency range. View larger. |
 Ports support connectivity to a variety of devices. View larger. |
When you connect the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro to your PC, you'll immediately notice an improvement in audio performance. The card utilizes TruStudio Pro, an audio technology developed by THX. This technology works to expand your PC's audio channels, which allows surround sound content to be reproduced faithfully, making sound more expansive, immersive, and realistic. Even if you're listening through headphones, you'll experience the surround sound effect.
In addition, TruStudio Pro uses a variety of techniques to make your music sound livelier. It restores music's natural frequency range--something that is often lost when music is compressed into MP3 format. It also fills in low frequencies, which adds a little extra impact to bass. You'll experience higher quality audio, even when streaming MP3s from your music library.
Enhanced Gaming Audio and Performance
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro has been specially engineered to handle gaming applications, delivering crisp, deep audio that will fully immerse you in the game.
In addition to enriching your gaming audio, the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro will also boost your PC's gaming performance as a whole. By functioning as a dedicated sound unit, the card frees up resources that would otherwise be tied up in audio processes. This allows your PC to dedicate more of its processing power towards other tasks, like graphical and AI processing. The result is a more seamless gaming experience, free of hiccups and slowdowns.
Top Audio Decoders Deliver Cinematic Sound
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro offers full support for Dolby- and DTS-based codecs like Dolby Digital Live!, which allows you connect your PC to any Dolby Digital-enabled receiver or speaker system with a single cable. You'll be able to experience your PC audio in rich, multichannel surround sound. This allows you to get the most out of high-definition media, like HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
Broad Connectivity and Easy-to-Use Remote
Built for versatility, the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro supports connections to a variety of devices. It features ports that can accommodate microphones, headphones, 5.1-channel speaker systems, portable music players, and more. An optical out is included, so you can connect the card to an A/V receiver. It comes with a useful IR remote, giving you quick control over volume and playback.
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The X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB sound card is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP (Professional x64 Edition, Service Pack 2 or above), Windows Vista, and Windows 7. (The card is not Mac compatible.)
To install the card, you'll need an Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD equivalent processor, 2.2 GHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; at least 600 MB free hard disk space; an available USB 2.0 port; and a CD/DVD drive for software installation.
The X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty.
What's in the Box
X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB sound card, quick start leaflet, USB cable, stereo RCA to minijack adapter, and installation CD.
| Looking for internal sound cards from Creative? Click here. | Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro USB Audio System with THX SB1290 | Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Audio System with THX SB1095 | Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB Audio System with THX SB1240 |
 |  |  | |
| General Info: | |||
| Connection Type | USB 2.0 | USB 2.0 | USB 2.0 |
| Speaker/Headphone Support | Stereo | Stereo to 5.1 Surround | Stereo with dedicated headphone amplifier |
| Music and Movies: | |||
| 24-bit Sound Quality |  | | |
| THX TruStudio Pro | | | |
| Dolby Digital Live | | ||
| DTS & Dolby Digital Decoding via free PowerDVD Download | | ||
| Phono Preamp for Direct Recording from Vinyl | | ||
| Games: | |||
| EAX Support | EAX 5.0 | ||
| X-Fi CMSS-3D Headphone Surround | | ||
Product Description
Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro turns your PC or notebook into a 5.1 entertainment system featuring THX TruStudio Pro technology with remote control. Easy to install, it replaces low-quality on-board audio with high quality connectivity and remote control. A convenient volume control, headphone and microphone inputs for a headset are close at hand. THX TruStudio Pro is specially designed to bring the same great audio experience found in live performances, films, and recording studios to the PC. Dolby Digital Live! offers a single cable solution to your decoder for 5.1 audio from any content while PowerDVD (free download) with Dolby and DTS support turns your PC into a home cinema. Please note this item is not Mac compatible.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By Arande
Amazon Verified Purchase
In this quick write-up I will outline different aspects of the product.
After unpacking, this worked immediately upon connecting to my laptop (Windows 7 x64) - no compatibility issues. After loading up the software (took a couple of minutes), the volume control becomes operational, the blue LED on the unit will flash when you have muted the volume, the remote will work (line-of-sight to the sensor), and all software control can be accessed through the control panel or entertainment console.
From the entertainment console you can:
- Control the levels of the 5.1 analog outputs (although I don't use these in practice) to setup your speaker balance, and also set subwoofer crossover to any frequency from 10hz to 1000hz in the TruStudio menu
- Set options between 2 channels or 5 channels of audio (plus sub) and test that they are operational
- Control EAX effects, which are basically reverb patterns, nothing I plan to use
- Control TruStudio Pro, which can be useful in some situations (I turn the surround option on very subtly when using headphones on a multi-channel source), including noisy environments (smart volume, dialog plus)
- Use the graphic equalizer to obtain an accurate response through the passband of your speakers/headphones; I personally use this to compensate for slight roll-off of my headphones in the bass, and their resonance at 1khz and 8khz
- Control the mixer, including microphone/line-in, "What U Hear," and pass-through of the line/mic inputs to your speakers for input monitoring
- Activate Dolby Digital Live, which will mix all audio into a 5.1 stream for playback over the optical output; note that if you have a source using Dolby Digital or DTS, you will want to set the sound option in your software to bitstream, meaning this is bypassed to avoid additional processing by the sound card. Dolby Digital Live is intended for everyday sound and use, rather than actual Dolby or DTS sources
What U Hear allows you to record whatever you're playing without actually patching the output to the input with a cable. I find this useful if I think I hear clipping - simply record the sound and verify that it's clipping. There is a myriad of other uses for this, as well.
For DTS-HD or Dolby-HD sources, you will need HDMI, which this sound card will not allow due to bandwidth limits. My laptop has an HDMI output which I use when I want to bitstream these codecs for movies.
Pros: This card is much quieter than the internal Realtek solution used on my laptop, one reason I bought it. The noise floor on this card is at least 50dB lower.
The output gain on this card is higher than the internal, meaning I don't have to have at 100% for DVD and Blu-ray and STILL not be loud enough. Instead, I can run it around 45% volume and any louder would be uncomfortable with DVD and Blu-Ray.
Accurate soundfield placement in headphones - I tested a 5.1 source with discrete channels and can confirm that this card's processing will do a good job with this if you have it turned on (you can deactivate all processing if you wish).
The output uses a limiter so that you won't experience clipping, meaning much less distortion if you push things too hard on the EQ.
Other: This card claims 24/96 capability. I did tests and found that for both playback/recording, the card rolls off to -3dB at 48khz, on-par with specs. It is a similar case, rolling off slightly in the infrasonics, -3dB at 3hz. As for the 24-bit claim, the resolution is 24-bit, BUT signal/noise ratio is slightly over 100dB, effectively limiting the dynamic range to the equivalent of 17-bit. Due to dither, the psychoacoustic dynamic range will approach 19 bits. This is NOT an issue for most people. You still obtain the benefits of 24-bit, including a reduction in quantization noise, just not through the full dynamic range. In other words, the card will not be the limiting factor in most systems.
I intend to use this card to record. I was a bit wary of buying a card directed towards normal consumers, but after testing it looks like it will be a non-issue. I'll have to do further testing to confirm this.
Cons: At the price, nothing more can really be expected of this card. It would be great if this functionality were paired with HDMI, though. There might be video cards out with such a connection. My laptop has HDMI, but it is noisy when using it for internally mixed PCM audio. There is one issue that I've had with it, and that is an odd polary distortion when using DirectSound to record. It also has no balanced connections, which I would not expect for the price, anyway...
I would recommend this to any consumer that wants an upgrade in functionality and less noise than integrated sound. Programs are available for sound processing, but you will still be limited by the hardware.
After unpacking, this worked immediately upon connecting to my laptop (Windows 7 x64) - no compatibility issues. After loading up the software (took a couple of minutes), the volume control becomes operational, the blue LED on the unit will flash when you have muted the volume, the remote will work (line-of-sight to the sensor), and all software control can be accessed through the control panel or entertainment console.
From the entertainment console you can:
- Control the levels of the 5.1 analog outputs (although I don't use these in practice) to setup your speaker balance, and also set subwoofer crossover to any frequency from 10hz to 1000hz in the TruStudio menu
- Set options between 2 channels or 5 channels of audio (plus sub) and test that they are operational
- Control EAX effects, which are basically reverb patterns, nothing I plan to use
- Control TruStudio Pro, which can be useful in some situations (I turn the surround option on very subtly when using headphones on a multi-channel source), including noisy environments (smart volume, dialog plus)
- Use the graphic equalizer to obtain an accurate response through the passband of your speakers/headphones; I personally use this to compensate for slight roll-off of my headphones in the bass, and their resonance at 1khz and 8khz
- Control the mixer, including microphone/line-in, "What U Hear," and pass-through of the line/mic inputs to your speakers for input monitoring
- Activate Dolby Digital Live, which will mix all audio into a 5.1 stream for playback over the optical output; note that if you have a source using Dolby Digital or DTS, you will want to set the sound option in your software to bitstream, meaning this is bypassed to avoid additional processing by the sound card. Dolby Digital Live is intended for everyday sound and use, rather than actual Dolby or DTS sources
What U Hear allows you to record whatever you're playing without actually patching the output to the input with a cable. I find this useful if I think I hear clipping - simply record the sound and verify that it's clipping. There is a myriad of other uses for this, as well.
For DTS-HD or Dolby-HD sources, you will need HDMI, which this sound card will not allow due to bandwidth limits. My laptop has an HDMI output which I use when I want to bitstream these codecs for movies.
Pros: This card is much quieter than the internal Realtek solution used on my laptop, one reason I bought it. The noise floor on this card is at least 50dB lower.
The output gain on this card is higher than the internal, meaning I don't have to have at 100% for DVD and Blu-ray and STILL not be loud enough. Instead, I can run it around 45% volume and any louder would be uncomfortable with DVD and Blu-Ray.
Accurate soundfield placement in headphones - I tested a 5.1 source with discrete channels and can confirm that this card's processing will do a good job with this if you have it turned on (you can deactivate all processing if you wish).
The output uses a limiter so that you won't experience clipping, meaning much less distortion if you push things too hard on the EQ.
Other: This card claims 24/96 capability. I did tests and found that for both playback/recording, the card rolls off to -3dB at 48khz, on-par with specs. It is a similar case, rolling off slightly in the infrasonics, -3dB at 3hz. As for the 24-bit claim, the resolution is 24-bit, BUT signal/noise ratio is slightly over 100dB, effectively limiting the dynamic range to the equivalent of 17-bit. Due to dither, the psychoacoustic dynamic range will approach 19 bits. This is NOT an issue for most people. You still obtain the benefits of 24-bit, including a reduction in quantization noise, just not through the full dynamic range. In other words, the card will not be the limiting factor in most systems.
I intend to use this card to record. I was a bit wary of buying a card directed towards normal consumers, but after testing it looks like it will be a non-issue. I'll have to do further testing to confirm this.
Cons: At the price, nothing more can really be expected of this card. It would be great if this functionality were paired with HDMI, though. There might be video cards out with such a connection. My laptop has HDMI, but it is noisy when using it for internally mixed PCM audio. There is one issue that I've had with it, and that is an odd polary distortion when using DirectSound to record. It also has no balanced connections, which I would not expect for the price, anyway...
I would recommend this to any consumer that wants an upgrade in functionality and less noise than integrated sound. Programs are available for sound processing, but you will still be limited by the hardware.
34 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased the Soundblaster X-Fi to replace the soundcard on my laptop which had recently begun to degrade. My laptop is connected to my stereo system and I have very high standards for sound quality.
The initial setup was easy on Windows 7 - 64bit(simply plug-in via USB). The included installation CD installed all the drivers and applications (it took about 45 minutes including updates).
Once installed the sound card exceeded my expectations. The sound is pristine. My music files have never sounded so good. The included equalizer works perfectly and works for all types of applications, e.g., itunes, steaming music, etc. There's all kinds of additional software for adjusting video sound, e.g., dolby, THX which I haven't experimented with yet.
I highly recommend this product - simple to install, reasonably priced, and produces beautiful sound.
The initial setup was easy on Windows 7 - 64bit(simply plug-in via USB). The included installation CD installed all the drivers and applications (it took about 45 minutes including updates).
Once installed the sound card exceeded my expectations. The sound is pristine. My music files have never sounded so good. The included equalizer works perfectly and works for all types of applications, e.g., itunes, steaming music, etc. There's all kinds of additional software for adjusting video sound, e.g., dolby, THX which I haven't experimented with yet.
I highly recommend this product - simple to install, reasonably priced, and produces beautiful sound.
35 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought the Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Pro, because I love and still use my six year old Creative X-fi Usb card with great results, as both a sound card and digitizer, but it is only 16 bit 44k. The fact that it is THX certified (I have always have very impressive results with their certification) was another factor. What I wanted was a 24bit, 96k card, to use as a USB digitizer, at the higher rate. As a digitizer, it does a superb job at the 24 bit rate, clean, very quiet, much better than my on board sound card, a VIA, which is also 24 bit, 96k, but the recording quality and playback is pure crap, noisy, distorted, colored and so on. The Sounblaster Pro was an easy set up, simply plug and play, the software which came with the card is also abundant, and updated right after installation. There are several things however that bother me about the card. First, when playing the card for the first time, the bass was tubby, and I had to play with the Creative software for a couple of hours to get what I would consider clean sound, through my M-Audio BX5a 5-inch BiAmplified Studio Monitor Speakers. Once tweaked, the sound was good, but less than I expected, in comparison to my old Creative unit, which has cleaner, tighter bass and mid bass and overall flatter response when monitored with an SPL meter . The old unit has an on board X-Fi Crystalizer, and X-Fi CMSS-3D sound, with switches on the side to turn the effects on and off, and select "button" for adjusting the amounts of processing with the volume knob. The new Soundblaster, has none of this and utilizes, what I believe to be software emulated effects for a couple of reasons. When monitoring the processor usage, it goes way up, where the old X-fi barely used any resources. Also adjustments can only be made with the new Creative software. I could only monitor 24 bit recordings on the new Sounblaster, in true 24 bit, with what I consider "true quality", after a lot of A-B comparison with several 24 bit, 96 k recordings on regular amps, one a Sony, the other an Onkyo TX-NR708 7.2-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (Black), and the OLD Creative X-Fi, which actually emulates 24 bit, 96k with the Crystalizer. When all was tweaked, I was happy, but boy, it was more work than I expected. For ease of use, and honestly sound quality, I'm sticking with my OLD Creative X-Fi for day to day use. The NEW Soundblaster, is going to be used as a high bit rate digitizer, which is why I bought it any way, and any high rate playback is going to go from the optical output, through my Sony amp and Aux studio monitors. I believe this new Creative card is good for gamers, maybe less sensitive speakers and those who need an inexpensive 5.1 unit for movies, not for recording monitoring.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
practical and inexpensive, excellent 6.1 solution
Fits all needs for PC streaming in 5.1, easy to set up. excellent 5.1 control app for the PC - recommended.
Published 1 day ago by DMV Canada
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome Product!
I'm using it with Win7 and prior to this, I've been looking for a simple equalizer that I could use with my laptop and had no luck.
... Read more
... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Homar Robledo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Product
The product works better than I had that it would. I'm hearing things in my music I wasn't able to hear before on my 5.1 home theater system. All in all great product. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Nick
2.0 out of 5 stars
headphone jack died
i bought this because my laptop audio was crapy, after about 4 months the jack had a false contact so wont work. now i cant return it. Read more
Published 25 days ago by john
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good product
It's a good upgrade over laptop's sound,but still in search of quality small speaker system.Blah blah blah blah blah etc
Published 1 month ago by James lucas
5.0 out of 5 stars
It just worked
My Windows 8 machine was rejecting the internal sound card after my upgrade. All sound was mono.
I plugged this in and boom. I had 5.1 again. Also, I had 5. Read more
I plugged this in and boom. I had 5.1 again. Also, I had 5. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Eric
1.0 out of 5 stars
Was not cooperating with Dolby Digital Live in Windows 8
I bought this sound card to try and use the 5.1 surround sound with my Astro Gaming A50 wireless headset. In order to do that though, the receiver requires Dolby Digital Live. Read more
Published 1 month ago by LD
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great value for laptop av system
I just finished my laptop based av system.
This is the best budget system for me.
Laptop, projetor, 5.1Ch speaker system, and this one. Read more
This is the best budget system for me.
Laptop, projetor, 5.1Ch speaker system, and this one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Unsang Baik
5.0 out of 5 stars
very good,I love it
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
... Read more
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
very good,I love it.
... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dongchang Liu
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent external soundcard
I love all the different settings it has and how easy it is to use.i love the 5.1 surround sound and how I can adjust each speaker I have connected to it. not at all disappointed. Read more
Published 1 month ago by arnold
