Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card

Other products by Creative Labs

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 2.4 x 7.9 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0018EFGTM
• Item model number: SB0886
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 26, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Chosen by professional gamers, the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card delivers the ultimate PC gaming audio experience. You'll hear realistic EAX® 5 sound effects and 3D positional audio that's so accurate you can locate opponents by sound - even over headphones. Plus, get unbeatable performance in your games with hardware accelerated audio and X-RAM.

Realistic EAX® 5.0 sound effects in games Hear crackling gunfire and earth-shattering explosions, EAX® 5.0 delivers sound effects that pull you into the game.

Accurate 3D positional audio with X-Fi CMSS®-3D Locate enemies by sound alone - you’ll get amazing surround sound, even with normal stereo headphones.

Sound Blaster X-Fi is Fatal1ty's Choice for Audio! "When I'm competing I need top-notch performance and the most realistic sound to help me know where my opponents are and Sound Blaster X-Fi really delivers for me...there is nothing faster or better." Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is the best-known professional gamer in the world with 38 1st place wins in nine years of tournament play.

Hardware accelerated performance
Get unbeatable performance in your favorite games with hardware accelerated audio that blows integrated motherboard audio away.

Clearer voice chat
Plug in your headset or microphone and hear the difference. With high quality inputs and hardware audio processing, your teammates will hear you loud and clear.

X-RAM
Boost performance even further in games like Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Prey, Unreal Tournament 3 and other popular titles that take advantage of X-Ram technology.

Dolby Digital Live encoding
Connects directly to your home theater system through a single digital cable for crisp 5.1 surround sound.

Record your own music
PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium has fantastic inputs and low-latency ASIO drivers for great music recording.

Championship Gaming Series™ (CGS) is the only worldwide professional video gaming league. Only the best gear is rigorously tested and approved by CGS for the highest level of professional gaming competition.

Cinematic surround sound from DVD movies

Watch your DVDs in cinematic surround sound with PowerDVD software featuring DTS™ and Dolby Digital®-EX decoding.

 

 

 

 

System Requirements

• Microsoft® Windows Vista® (Service Pack 1)
  or Windows® XP (x64, Service Pack 2 or Media Center Edition)
• Intel® Pentium® 4, AMD® Athlon™ or equivalent 1.6 GHz processor
• 256MB RAM (512MB for Windows Vista)
• 600MB of free hard disk space
• Available PCI Express® slot (x1, x4 or x16)
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
• Internet connection to download PowerDVD software

 

What's in the Box
PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound Card, Quick Start leaflet, Installation CD.

 

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Connectivity Chart

Product Description

Few recognize that, with the PC's improved graphics performance, sound cards only barely matched audio performance demands. Here's a sound upgrade card that greatly improves your sonic experience. Chosen by professional gamers, the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatality Professional Series sound card delivers the ultimate PC gaming audio experience. You'll hear realistic EAX 5 sound effects and 3D positional audio that's so accurate you can locate opponents by sound - even over headphones. Plus, get unbeatable performance in your games with hardware accelerated audio and X-RAM. Cinematic surround sound from DVD movies - Watch your DVDs in cinematic surround sound with PowerDVD software featuring DTS and Dolby Digital-EX decoding 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 16bit/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 64MB of X-RAM Analog output Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-weighted) - 109dB Connectivity - Line in / Microphone in (shared 1/8 mini jack); Speaker out (4x 1/8 mini jacks); Optical out (TOSLINK); Optical in (TOSLINK); Intel HD Audio Compatible Front Panel Header (2x5pin) Requires available PCI-Express slot in desktop PC Speaker Support up to 7.1 speakers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sound Card!!!, September 28, 2008

By	G. Loera (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an awesome product. Simple to install. Lots of features. Nice looking. Amazing sound (specially the surround sound created for headphones). Runs all my games with crystal-clear clarity, excellent effects and positional audio without a glitch.

This is not my first Sound Blaster, so I already know that the included drivers CD is outdated and loaded with bloatware. So, for those having problems with the card I suggest that you leave the included CD unopened and instead head to Creative's web site to grab the latest x-fi driver for your card, the latest control panel and the latest alchemy version. Install them in the following order:

1. Driver.
2. Control Panel.
3. ALchemy (Vista only).

Forget anything else included in the CD unless you really need it or want to try it.

I did that and I didn't have to activate anything. The activation is only needed if you plan to use the included software and I think it is because of some Dolby and DTS codecs but I'm not sure. With just those 3 things right now my X-Fi is running perfectly fine under Windows Vista 64-bit edition. I haven't found any incompatibility yet.

***UPDATE***

So far so good. I just wanted to include a few extra tips for those having problems.

I have a motherboard with Intel chipset (MSI X48 Platinum) and I haven't had any problem, but I've heard that people with nForce motherboards are having sound problems so I would like to suggest the following actions:

1. Download the latest BIOS file for your motherboard (if available) and update it. (See your manufacturer's web site for more information on this and be careful. You could brick your motherboard if it's not done properly.)

2. Download the latest chipset driver for your motherboard. It's gonna be either from Intel, from nVidia, from AMD or from VIA. Check their websites for instructions.

3. Download the latest Windows updates.

After you have done that then you can head to Creative's web site and grab the needed files. Finally install them in the mentioned order:

1. Driver.
2. Control Panel.
3. ALchemy.

The previous recommendations can also work for people having problems with this card, but who don't own a nForce motherboard.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional sound quality, and finally! A use for my PCI-E x1 Slot!, July 10, 2008

By	K. Hsu - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Fatal1ty Titanium PCI-E sound blaster addresses a lot of issues that customers have been clamoring for for a long time. It finally migrates the X-Fi Sound Blaster to a PCI-E interface, gives users the option to plug their case's front panel connectors to the card, and color coded ports on the rear panel ( at least for their high end cards ).
The card itself looks great with a nice EMI shield on it, and though it is black colored, it really stands out from most of the others in the sound blaster line. The X-Fi logo lights up on the card too so you can see it if your side panel has a window.
The sound quality is extremely good although I am no audiophile, I am a gamer and channel separation is handled very well. Driver installation is a little wonky but its mainly because of the lisenced dolby digital encoding software (oh btw it does dobly digital encoding now!) and the usual Vista weirdness. Overall though, it works and once its up and running, the results are great. Results with headphones is very good and games seem more pronounced with their positional audio effects.
You may have to adjust the settings in the creative control panel to make the rear port act as a mic if you prefer to plug directly into the card though. Default puts the mic input in the front panel connector.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars finally took the plunge, July 20, 2008

By	H. Hahn - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

after many years of holding on to my dear old audigy 2, i've finally taken the plunge and bought a "modern" sound card. its nice to have something that takes advantage of the pcie 1x slot.

installation of the card and drivers was a breeze. so far i have no issues with the drivers on xp. as snazzy looking as the card is the real selling point to me is the crystallizer and the eax software. by no means do i have golden ears but the crystallizer does have a noticeable effect on the sound quality of my mp3 library. the music sounds richer and fuller. the 3d virtual audio works great on my grado sr80's or on my 2.1 speakers. i can clearly tell which way enemies or gunfire is coming from. check out the test in the creative labs audio console, the virtual positioning of the sound effects is pretty impressive. the creative labs audio console has a ton of options to tweak your sound settings. from setting up your eq to crystallizer settings, it's all at your fingertips.

i have to be honest, when i was shopping for a new sound card, i wanted to stay away from creative labs because of all the complaints associated with their drivers. at the end of the day though creative labs still is the only game in town for the pc gamer. and to be honest i was pleasantly surprised by the ease of installation of both hardware and software of the card and couldn't be happier with this card.