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Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro
by williams91
So today I was given a new item to test out for the big people that I work for, this item was not only a new item but it was unique in that I had never used one of these types of devices before. I am talking of course about the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi GO PRO external sound card.
In case you are wondering why you would ... need an external sound card let me take a minute to explain. If you're on board sound isn't great or it breaks then you need not worry there are alternatives to getting it fixed at the manufacturer which can be costly. The sound blaster for instance is quite cheap at only £29.99 on the creative site and I'm sure you may find it cheaper elsewhere.
--Unboxing--
This came in a small box with a USB extender, the software, and the manuals and of course the sound card itself. The packaging was nice the box wasn't too crammed with much information and overall it did the job in keeping everything inside the box secure.
--The Looks--
This little stick looks like a wireless adapter but it is of course in disguise as it's an external sound card. This is a nice looking device all black with a black cap, it's got a glossy look to it and on the cap is a place to slot in on your keying. This gives this device great portability overall and I would feel comfortable carrying this around with me. The size of the sound card is surprisingly small but it is quite wide and it blocked up a second USB on the back of my computer, this is where the USB extender that is provided comes in handy though.
--Installation--
Installing this should seem simple, however you have to install the software that is provided with the box or you can download the latest software from the creative website which is just what I did. Downloading the software was quick it was easy to find on the website, but installing the actual software seemed to be a bit of a hassle. It took quite a while for it to actually go onto the computer and it didn't seem to take up too much space so I couldn't quite understand why this was the case. When the software was eventually installed though all I had to do was plug the device into an available USB slot and the little on light lit up blue which is always a good sign.
--The Test--
I was sceptical about an external sound card at first I really didn't think that they could provide the sound quality that we as people deem acceptable. I couldn't have been any more wrong if I had tried, the sound quality of this device was great. It was far from perfect and it did seem to distort when turned up quite high though which let this device down.
The microphone port performed well with my friends that I spoke to online not being able to notice any difference between the sound card and my on board 7.1 audio. So if you do happen to break your microphone slot this is a great replacement.
Overall this was a handy little device, I could only see the need in purchasing one if your on board is broke or isn't very good. It does work especially well with microphones and does ok with sound. Recommended if you need a cheap replacement.
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Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
by businesselite
The Xi-Fi ExtremeGamer soundcard is a great all around sound card that excels in gameplay and movie audio for your PC. I bought this device as a replacement for my onboard sound card that recently failed. I was really excited to hear the incredible clear sound that it produced while playing my games and I was also impressed by the ... quality it produced during playback of my dvd movies.
INSTALLATION & SETUP
To install the sound card just firmly push the card into an available PCI slot on your motherboard. The back of the card has 1 mic port, 3 output ports, and one AD link port. This card unfortunately doesn't have an optical out, so if you want to transfer the sound to a reciever you will have to purchase a "Toslink to 3.5mm adapter". During software installation, Creative includes useful pictures and diagrams to make sure you dont get confused and have everything hooked up right. There are 3 modes you get to choose from Entertainment, Game, and Audio creation mode. The Game mode is for the 'tech' savy and includes lots of configuration modes such as speaker location setup, loudness setup etc. The Entertainment mode is basically the same thing except that it features a very friendly visual platform so users without much experience can navigate without getting confused. And the last mode "Audio Creation" is for the music junkies and audiophiles who want the most configuration options available.
I personally just use the Entertainment mode because it is very user friendly and straight forward compared to the other 2. Some of the cool features within the software are Xi-fi CMSS-3d and the Xi-fi Crystallizer. The CMSS-3d feature allows you to listen to 9 virtual speakers over your normal stereo headphones. And it does a pretty good job as I felt like sound was coming from all different angles while I was watching my movies. But the best feature is the Crystallizer. The Crystallizer is used to repair damaged MP3's to make the sound clarity better. It's kind of like the 'loud' setting on your reciever except that this time it doesnt just make the audio louder it also makes it sound 'crisper' and more 'detailed'. This is great while listening to your mp3 archive because it makes the vocals and music seem more 'enhanced'. This is definitely a product I would recommend if your in the market for a new sound card.
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Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
by mikecrabb
This was one of the first sound cards that I bought and amazingly, it is still used in my most recent setup today. I got this card back in 2005 when it was still priced around the £100+ mark and was a bit sceptical about spending that much on one piece of equipment, but it has defiantly proven to be worthwhile. I'll go through some ... aspects of the hardware and then give you an overall summary of the product.
--Hardware--
So this card comes with 5 different audio jacks, all of these accepting TRS input. I think the best way to describe these jacks is that although they are all designed for a specific use...
-Orange (Surround Center + Sub)
-Light Blue (Line In)
-Red (Microphone In)
-Green (Normal Stereo Speakers)
-Black (Surround Rear)
The most recent firmware for these allow you to plug into any port and then select what you have connected onscreen, which is a really nice feature.
The card also comes with a firewire 400 port (the original speed one) and a MIDI/Game Port, although the MIDI port comes on a separate 'card' meaning that you will have to have another bay for it to connect to.
Installation of the card is very easy, same as most PCI cards, and just involves opening up your box (make sure that all the power is off etc.), shoving it in and then powering back up. Chances are that Windows will just install a generic driver for this, but recent drivers are still readily available on Creatives website that enable all of the extra features of the card.
--Summary--
The main reason that I got this card was two fold - firstly I wanted a good soundcard that could handle a 5.1 system, and at the time this was one of the best about and I wasn't disappointed. Secondly, I had started recording music through midi interface into programs such as 'Sibelius' and wanted to continue this at home, this amazed me even more with the card as the improvement over inbuilt sound card midi banks is amazing - the difference in sound quality is more than could ever be expected.
Shifting back to today and away from fond memories of playing with this card when I first got it, looking about - you can now get this same card for less than £50 which is an absolute steal! Yes, it may not be the top of the line card any more, and yes some motherboards do come with 5.1 support built in - but trust me, if you have a free PCI port then this is defiantly worth a shot - you wont be dissapointed.
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