Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Change USB Speed Option to Solve Lags!, May 3, 2009
Under 'Creative audio control panel,' be certain that 'high speed' (2.0) is checked, and not 'full speed' (1.1). This may or may not solve lag and other commonly cited audio issues. That said,
I do not like this sound card. In fact, it's not really a sound card at all. More truthfully, it is a (large) software suite connected to a big volume knob. As far as I can tell, and from what I have read and seen in task manager), all of the real work is done with your computer. Well, this shouldn't be too much of a problem on modern machines, right? I mean, aren't the days of needing external chips to alleviate workload on the CPU long gone and irrelevant?
Maybe. But the fact is that I feel that I could have attained the same, cheap audio tricks via any number of winamp plug-ins, equalizers, et al. What I wanted was a superior external DAC than the noise coming from my onboard RealTek 'high definition' audio. The truth is that I can tell no difference between the two outputs until I turn on the effects of the x-fi, which are really annoying to a music purist. They produce listener fatigue and unwelcome distortion (music was not meant to be heard in simulated surround, and 'crystalizer' can get downright 'screechy').
The simulated surround or EAX is fine for watching movies and playing games, though. But if you are primarily a music buff and have decent speakers, I advise looking elsewhere.
There is good news, though. While Creative has a history of not supporting older cards on a newer OS, there is a functioning beta driver for Windows 7 already at their site. You won't be experiencing what thousands of people did when trying to use their XP cards on Vista, etc. However, the overall performance of the card is sluggish both on my XP install and my Win 7 beta. Adjustments are cumbersome and opening the severe bloatware of sound options is unacceptably slow even on fairly well-equipped hardware. I'd consider this a fluke of my install, but on two separate disks, and with two different OSes (XP and 7)? No. It's just bloated.
I got this new for virtually nothing, but I'd still not buy it again because I can honestly achieve the same effects by using the EQ of the iTunes, Mediamonkey, etc. Again, this is nothing but a ton of sound software that happens to have a physical body. You can do better for not much more money. However, as a solution for a broken onboard chip / output jack, this is an economical solution. But even then I'd almost recommend one of those USB thumb drive-type cards as they won't take up unnecessary desktop space or clutter your install with a ton of software that, btw, takes 20 minutes to install).
If the x-fi surround were anything but a fancy software suite, I'd rate it higher. Sorry. Just trying to save someone the grief if they are looking for a music solution. That's what these reviews are for.
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40 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Waste of money if youre running Vista 32 or 64 bit!!, September 17, 2008
I purchased this Creative Labs X-Fi 5.1 external sound card to watch movies on my new laptop based on Creatives reputation, past creative products and the reviews that I read here.
The good:
Playing music is awesome. Mp3 files trully do sound great.
The bad:
The previous reviewers must not have been running Windows Vista. (I'm running the 64 bit version). After plugging the card into my USB port, installing the the software, and plugging in my Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker system, I sat down to watch a movie. There is a terrible sound lag that makes watching a movie seem like you're watching a baddly dubbed foriegn film. The actors speak and the action happens before you hear the sound. I have tried to reinstall the software and drivers numerous times and the only way to correct the sound lag is uninstall the Creative software and drivers and go back to the Vista drivers. Unfortunately without Creatives drivers you loose the mp3 fuctions that make the music sound so good. Also, when using creatives software / sound card my cpu is really being worked hard sometimes up to 100% cpu usage when watching a dvd (it averages about 30 - 40% with music and nothing else running). I'm running a 2.0 ghz dual core processor with 4 gigs of ram???
I contacted Creative support over a week ago and have yet to get a reply. I am very unhappy with this sound card and with Creatives customer service. If you want to read more about the sound lag just check out creatives public forum, theres over 9 pages about this issue.
I've heard that if youre running Windows XP there is no lag. So if you are running XP or just want to listen to music this might be right for you. If your running Vista don't waste your money. Creative should not advertise that this is Vista compatable until they figure out this lag issue!!!
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Decent -- but slows your PC down, September 8, 2008
I purchased this creative x-fi more than a month back. The installations went smooth and it started working well on my Laptop, which is nearly 4 years old. My laptop runs on Windows XP and has 1 GB ram on it.
First, the pros. The sound is much better than the in built sound card. The x-fi now drives my 5.1 speakers, and the effects are amazing. Even for mp3 songs, the sound quality has a marked improvement. The sound feels much more rich and full. The volume dial and quick mute are quite handy as well.
The main problem that I am facing with this is that whenever I am seeing a DVD, or streaming from a website which has high quality sound, my PC gives up after around an hour. The whole PC goes unbelievably slow, and I have to stop watching the DVD. I cannot understand why a separate sound processor should slow my PC sound. Isn't the whole point to take the sound processing load away from my PC? The PC needs a restart, preferably after unhooking the x-fi from the USB port.
This might also be because my laptop is kind of old, so people with old machines -- think twice before purchasing the x-fi. Basically, when the sound is too rich, especially from a DVD, there is too much load on the PC and it goes slow. The sound is awesome while it lasts. So people, weigh your priorities and make your choice.
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