Ultrasound. Sound cards Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Edition and ASUS Xonar DX

We've spent quite a bit of time with Creative's latest sound card called the X-Fi. Although outwardly it looks like a regular PCI sound card, the model features a completely new and improved hardware. So there is something to pay attention to. In this article, we have collected all the experience gained during the year when we tested the pre-release versions. In addition, we recommend that you read the two previous articles on X-Fi technology.

As the Steel Was Tempered

Creative sound cards have evolved since the release of the first model, the Sound Blaster PRO in 1991, which provided 8-bit sound. It was followed by the famous AWE 32 and Live!, and then the Audigy line, which was the de facto standard for sound cards until today. X-Fi cards represent a huge leap forward in terms of power and digital audio processing capabilities. The evolution can be clearly seen in the following table.

Sound card	Pure MIPS	MIPS value for an average processor	Internal audio channels	Normalization factor in MIPS number relative to Live!	Number of simultaneous real-time effects	Number of transistors
Sound Blaster Pro	?1	3+	-	0.0001x	-	100 000
AWE 32 (EMU8000)	67	200+	-	0.2x	-	500 thousand
Live! (10k1)	335	1000+	16	1x	1	2 million
Audigy (10k2)	424	1250+	64 (as applied to the effects engine)	4x	4	4.6 million
Creative XFi	10340	30000+	4096 (to all processing elements)	67x	8	51.1 million

Notes

Net MIPS: The number of add instructions multiplied by the execution rates that can be applied to the signal data. This does not include any operations that a typical processor must additionally perform to process the signal data.
MIPS value for the average processor: an estimate of the computational requirements imposed on a typical processor in 1998, when the Live! line was launched. As expected, a typical processor from 1998 can be programmed to perform the same functions as the Live!, Audigy or X-Fi chips. In such processors, not all algorithms are executed efficiently. Therefore, to perform the same tasks as Live!, Audigy or X-Fi, they have to provide more power in MIPS. The difference can be 3x.
For more information on these measurements, please visit Creative website .

It should be emphasized that Creative, unlike most of its competitors, has always installed a real sound processor on its cards, and did not use a simplified codec that loads the CPU. This approach gives the card superiority in games, where Creative was able to free up additional CPU resources for sound, but leads to disadvantages in other areas. Processors used in Live! and Audigy operate at a native frequency of 48 kHz, which creates some problems when working at 44.1 kHz, and you can forget about processing higher sample rates. With the release of X-Fi, all these problems have disappeared: digital processing is now available for any available sampling rates.

X-Fi is not just a new chip. Unlike traditional audio processing chips, which have a fixed serial architecture, the X-Fi Audio Ring architecture provides any processing sequences needed for a given task. That is, X-Fi has a truly modular architecture, with each module connected to an Audio Ring, a kind of backbone through which up to 4096 audio channels can pass.

But the Audio Ring backbone hardly makes sense to compare with a professional mixer, since it supports a lot more features - such as communication with PC memory via a PCI interface with a fairly high bandwidth.

The following table shows the distribution of processing power of the X-Fi chip by main modules. We will look at some modules in detail, such as the Sample Rate Converter (SRC), a new technology that, as you will see, takes the lion's share of processing power.

Pure MIPS
Sample Rate Converter (SRC)	7310
Filter	200
Mixer	1210
Storage (Tank)	440
DSP (DSP)	1180
Total	10340

In practice, X-Fi card users are offered three configurations corresponding to three types of tasks: games (Gaming), entertainment (Entertainment) and music creation (Creation). The following table lists the main features of each configuration, which we will explore in more detail in the drivers and software section.

In addition, it should be noted separately that the X-Fi chip is not tied to the USB bus: it can be used with USB, FireWire or PCI Express interfaces. It is quite possible to expect the release of special versions of the chip for the field of consumer electronics.

We are waiting for the simultaneous release of four X-Fi cards that will satisfy the needs and desires of different categories of users. The X-Fi XtremeMusic card can be considered a basic model for music, entertainment (DVD and games), and other less demanding applications. You will receive a PCI card without any add-ons. Directly accessible interfaces (only 1/8" mini-jacks) are limited to the FlexiJack input (it can be used as a microphone input, line input or S/PDIF optical input) and speaker outputs. The latter, quite understandably, support 7.1 acoustics, as well as three mini-jacks of previous Creative 7.1 cards Note that the stereo output (the first mini-jack) can be used as a headphone jack The card has an interface for plugging in an external module in case you wish to upgrade The card itself contains an additional an input, as well as another expansion connector for connecting an internal module.In addition, on the card you can find an expansion interface of Creative's own format, the purpose of which we still do not know.

The next model, X-Fi Platinum, has all the features of the base card (in fact, both boards look identical), but in the package you will receive an internal module for a 5.25" bay. The module has a line / microphone input with level control (1 /4" jack), line-in, digital optical and coaxial inputs and outputs, and a headphone jack with volume control. There you will also find MIDI interfaces (mini-DIN). The package includes adapters for standard MIDI connectors. In addition, we note the presence of an IR remote control. All in all, all the above features make this card recommended for hobbyists who like a large number of interfaces and easy access to them.

The more specialized Fatal1ty FPS model is very close to Platinum, including PCI card and internal module, but it is aimed at hardcore gamers. The board has 64 MB of additional memory (X-RAM), which allows you to increase performance in games that support this technology.

Finally, let's move on to the top model X-Fi Elite Pro, which consists of a PCI card and an external module, which is quite large and supports both vertical and horizontal installation using the included stand. Of course, the user will also receive a remote control. Our testing will be built, for the most part, on this model. In addition, we will look at it in more detail because of the high-quality converters, thanks to which the card provides the best sound quality.

The remote control comes with all versions except for the base XtremeMusic. It lets you control a number of features like Crystalizer, EAX, CMSS-3D and 3DMIDI, as well as lets you play files and make important adjustments like volume. On the Elite Pro external module, you can access the same adjustments using the rotary functions - very convenient. In addition, the knob functions display illuminated indicators, so it's hard to make a mistake.

Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro
Interface	PCI
Main chip	CA20K1 (XFi)
Max. sampling frequency	192 kHz
Quantization	24 bits
ASIO	24 bit/96 kHz
Inputs
On the map	Microphone / line / digital SP / DIF with adapter, line Molex (on the board itself)
On the external module	Hi-Z line, mic/line, headphone/line, optical and coaxial S/PDIF
exits
On the map	8 for acoustics (7.1), 1 optical and coaxial S/PDIF (mini-jack)
On the external module	1 optical and coaxial S/PDIF, 1 adjustable microphone
DVD and cinema
Standards	Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, S/PDIF output
Configuration	Up to 7.1
DVD Audio	Yes
3D sound in games
Standards	DS3D, A3D, Open AL, EAX 5.0
Configuration	2 to 7.1
MIDI
Software synthesizer	Creative Sound Founts 24 bit
Enter exit	Prises standard (DIN)

The PCI card has one input (1/8", 3.5 mm mini-jack) called FlexiJack, which can be configured via the driver to work as a line input, microphone input or digital interface (input and output). On an external module The Elite Pro is loaded with interfaces.The front panel features two 1/4" (6.35mm) level-adjustable input jacks. The first, depending on the position of the control knob, can serve as both a line input and a high impedance (Hi-Z) input, the most practical use for which will be connecting musical instruments such as an electric guitar. The second input is more standard - it can be used as a line or microphone.

Behind there is another entrance on the "tulips". With a small switch, it can be configured as a line input or turntable input (phono) with RIAA equalization. Great idea - now you can listen to your vinyl record collection and easily digitize it. Please note that the player should also be connected to the "ground" - this detail is often forgotten ...

Add to that optical and coaxial digital S/PDIF inputs, as well as a pair of "tulips" for MIDI input and output. Finally, we note a special connector for Creative speakers.

If you look at the possible connections, it becomes clear that Creative is committed to consumer-grade equipment - there is no, say, a balanced input. However, the set of ports is quite complete: microphone, line and headphones, plus the added ability to connect a musical instrument via a simple standard cable. So the design of the card will fully satisfy the needs of fans.

There is nothing particularly noteworthy on the X-Fi PCI card. In general, in appearance it is easy to confuse it with any other Creative model. It is interesting to note that the X-Fi chip (CA20K1) turned out to be much more compact than the same Audigy chip. There will be two different cards in the X-Fi lineup. The Elite Pro version uses Cirrus Logic CS4398 (192kHz, 120dB) D/A converters and an AKM AK5394 A/D converter (192kHz, 123dB). The second version of the PCI card for less expensive models is equipped with Cirrus Logic CS4382 (192 kHz, 114 dB) digital-to-analog converters and a Wolfson WM8775 chip, which contains a mixer for four analog sources and an analog-to-digital converter (96 kHz, 102 dB).

The Elite Pro external module uses TI Burr-Brown PCM1804 A/D converters (192kHz, 111dB). The headphone jack uses a Cirrus Logic CS4392 D/A converter (192 kHz, 114 dB). The result is very simple: the best line-in is provided by the Elite Pro PCI card. However, the inputs on the module are of sufficient quality for most applications.

Among the various blocks that make up the X-Fi architecture, the Sample Rate Converter (SRC) may seem the most mysterious and least interesting to most users. But pay attention to the table at the beginning of the article: it uses the largest share of computing power! To understand the importance of this block, let's dive a little deeper into the nature of digital audio.

The sampling rate corresponds to the number of times per second that the signal is read. For example, for conventional audio CDs it is 44,100 times per second (Hertz, Hz). Today, the frequency range has become wider - it all depends on the source (the same DVD or DVD-Audio). In addition, even sources with the same theoretical value can differ significantly, since in practice the frequency does not always exactly match the theory. When mixing multiple sources, this frequency spread can lead to noticeable sound defects. Professional equipment used in studios uses synchronization systems that are not available in consumer solutions. The interaction between different types of equipment is even more complex. Sample rate conversion could solve all the problems, but until today it was considered a workaround. In some cases - at least in the fundamental essence of the work - the conversion can degrade the quality of the signal, especially if not a lot of computing power is spent on it.

However, for SRC, Creative has used a new architecture that makes the audio signal completely transparent. Converting the 997-Hz test signal from 44.1 to 48 kHz resulted in -136 dB distortion and +0.00025 dB. That is, distortion and noise turned out to be less than other audio components can give, so it can be guaranteed that there are no artifacts associated with the conversion.

Digital signal processing from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz with SRC.

The level of distortion and noise (THD + N, distortion + noise) when converting from 44.1 to 48 kHz. You simply do not have a chance to notice this transition!

SRC is not only a technical achievement, but also a tool that allows the X-Fi card to deliver the promised quality in many areas. The first advantage is the synchronization of digital signals, but it can also create effects such as environments or motion with much higher fidelity than any consumer equipment that existed before the release of X-Fi.

With SRC you can easily and accurately create the Doppler effect!

The principle of operation of traditional digital synchronization.

X-Fi digital synchronization is handled entirely by the SRC unit.

Finally, SRC allows savings in areas like sound synthesis, in particular, in storing samples for playing music. The block allows you to transparently convert a small number of samples to output a wide range of notes by adjusting parameters such as pitch and vibrato.

As we noted above, X-Fi cards support three modes of operation: entertainment (Entertainment, for tasks like listening to music or watching DVDs), games (Games) and sound creation (Audio Creation, sound and music). The Mode Switcher allows you to select any of them, while the map configuration changes to give the best quality in the selected area. In addition, the set of functions and the control panel also depend on the selected mode. Below is a table showing all this.

The Mode Switcher allows you to select the level of map functionality that best suits your area of interest. It only takes a few seconds to configure an X-Fi card.

	Entertainment	Audio Creation	Games
3D MIDI playback	Yes	Yes	Yes
Working with 3DMIDI	Not	Yes	Not
EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0	Limited	Limited	Yes
EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0	Limited	Limited	Yes
EAX ADVANCED HD 3.0	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of auxiliary effects	2	4	4
Max. number of reverbs	1	2	4
Effects on input sources	Not	4	Not
ASIO Output Channels: Dry	1 pair	5 pairs	1 pair
ASIO output channels: FX	Not	4 pairs	Not
ASIO input channels: WUH	8	8	8
ASIO Input Channels: Basic	2 (1 pair)	2 (1 pair)	2 (1 pair)
ASIO 2.0 support	Limited	Yes	Limited
ASIO 2.0 direct monitoring	0	12 (6 pairs)	0
Bit-Matched Playback	Not	Yes	Not
Bit-Matched Record	Not	Yes	Not
CMSS-3DSurround	Yes	Not	Yes
CMSS-3DHeadphone (Headphones)	Yes	Not	Yes
CMSS-3DVirtual (2 columns)	Yes	Not	Yes
CMSS-3DVirtual (4 columns)	Not	Not	Yes
CMSS-3D Interactive	Yes	Yes	Yes
Crystalizer 24 bit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Graphic equalizer	10 stripes	10 stripes	10 stripes
"Smart" volume control (Smart Volume Management)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bass Management	Extended	Not	Extended

In Entertainment mode, you get a music center-like screen with multiple windows that allow you to adjust numerous functions. Among them there are both well-known windows, and those that are not very different (at least in appearance) from the old Creative cards - the same 10-band equalizer, mixer and speaker settings. Other windows are completely new - like Crystalizer, or completely redesigned old versions - like CMSS. We'll take a closer look at these features in a bit.

In Entertainment mode, the control panel resembles a music center.

The mixer can be called a classic.

Here we get the well-known equalizer from early Creative cards, whose capabilities are identical to previous versions.

There are no surprises in the choice of speaker configuration. With the help of a listening test, you can check their correct location.

In Game mode, we get a very compact screen with many of the settings mentioned above, but game-specific features also appear here. On the mixer panel, you can turn on the EAX effects, as well as adjust the ambience effects for the microphone. Plus, you'll get a more powerful version of EAX: 5.0!

For games, you can enable EAX effects and change your voice by processing the signal coming from the microphone.

The Creation mode is a completely different world. Here it is better to be familiar with professional musical equipment. On the screen, you will get a mixer with advanced features. We will not dwell on them in detail, since they are very extensive, and at the time of writing this article, we do not have detailed information. Help in the software is very scarce, however, the presence of buses and user-bound I/O provides very interesting possibilities. For example, you can link any input to any output, or assign mixed audio to one or more outputs. It seems to us that such opportunities will appeal to many, including DJs.

For musicians, in addition to a wide palette of effects, an important novelty will be the 3D MIDI function, which makes it very easy to arrange MIDI sound in space - this new feature is easily accessible even for amateurs! Of course, the sound creation mode opens the door to ASIO 2.0 support and allows you to freely select the sample rate from standard values. If you select 96kHz, the effects selection menu will not disappear, unlike previous Creative cards. For X-Fi, all effects work regardless of the selected frequency. But be careful: files can get large!

In Creation mode, you can send stereo sound to eight 7.1 channels. This interesting feature will appeal to some users.

You can add parametric equalization to the input to correct a bad sound source or apply some kind of effect.

The reverb tab is pleasing to the eye. However, some users may be put off by it.

Thanks to the support of 3D MIDI technology, the MIDI source can be freely positioned in space. We think this feature allows musicians to create some very interesting effects.

You can freely choose any standard sample rate!

The diagram allows you to understand the principle of mixing the card. It, unfortunately, is only partial, but gives an idea of control and adding effects.

There are so many options available in the Creation mode that it is hardly possible to go into detail about each of them. For example, there is 24-bit SoundFonts, as well as the ability to work with ASIO 2.0 drivers with very low latency (2 ms). Although X-Fi is not specifically aimed at musicians, they will find some very interesting possibilities.

Among the X-Fi modules, Crystalizer can be noted, which operates in three modes. We have already described it in detail in previous article about X-Fi so we won't repeat ourselves.

The Crystalizer has only one adjustment, graduated as a percentage. With the Elite Pro card, you can change the effect level using the remote control or directly on the external module. In general, we were hoping to get more complete adjustment features, but Creative's main goal is ease of use.

While listening, the Crystalizer processing really gives a more realistic sound that is close to what you get at a real concert. The sound has significantly improved dynamics, and it gives the impression of an expansion of the frequency response - of course, it is not there, but the impression arises from the increased clarity of low frequencies and additional processing of the upper part of the sound spectrum. Of course, the Crystalizer effect is highly dependent on the type of sound being processed. It will be almost imperceptible to the sound, whose level changes slightly. But records with lots of percussive sounds and transitions will sound better. We took different types of music, and after Crystalizer it was very difficult for us to go back to the usual level of playback. It seemed to us that the sound of an ordinary card can be compared with a concert venue covered with a thick curtain.

It is quite clear that in order to obtain the quality of the Crystalizer, the playback system (amplifier and speakers) must be appropriate. Speakers are required to reproduce an increased dynamic range without the appearance of distortion. In addition, you should adjust the level of the Crystalizer for the type of music. It is hardly reasonable to set one level for techno and opera! Yes, and the level of operation of Crystalizer should be set depending on the characteristics of the original recording.

Today, as more and more consumers are becoming familiar with surround sound, pure stereo, while still the most common format, seems outdated. If you're used to listening to 5.1 surround sound (or better), then stereo will seem a little "thin". In addition, it is hardly reasonable to use only two channels if your acoustics are multi-channel.

The CMSS technology that Creative has been promoting for some time now was designed (like many other similar solutions) to solve the problem of splitting two channels into 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. Until now, the result could not be called very successful. But thanks to the high power of X-Fi, this technology, which is called CMSS 3D, now gives a much better result. We described the principle of operation of the technology in previous material .

In practice, the X-Fi version of CMSS 3D has received several modes, depending on the type of your equipment and the sound being processed. The first mode decomposes stereo into 5.1 or 7.1, but the technology can also create virtual surround sound if you only have two speakers. Finally, the third mode significantly improves the quality of listening on headphones, as we will see below.

CMSS 3D technology is very efficient at outputting stereo sound to multiple channels, adding both surround sound and preserving the center channel of the virtual stage. In a normal recording, the singer will be exactly in the center of the sound space and will not "travel" around the stage due to inaccurate recording or playback. On the other hand, as you might expect, decomposing stereo into multiple channels of CMSS 3D does not provide the quality that a full-fledged multi-channel source can provide. The card creates an effect, but does not create magic. This will become apparent if you listen to records that exist in two versions: like the Jean-Michel Jarre album (Jean-Michel Jarre) Aero or Feels Like Home by Norah Jones. Of course, reproduction of a surround environment can impress the listener - it all depends on the original recording. At the same time, old albums can sound completely new. Since they were not made in today's "sterile" studios, they contain environmental information that is very interesting to perceive when reproduced realistically. This is especially true for all recordings "live", for example, opera.

Decomposition of stereo sound into several channels works great in movies. Watch a DivX movie with stereo sound that you've watched before in Dolby Digital and you'll be blown away. Of course, CMSS 3D can't produce original spatial sound, but it comes very close!

For our testing, we have converted a DVD movie to DivX "Toy Story 2". The introductory video for this film is a good example of spatial sound. CMSS 3D technology has coped with the placement of most rear sound sources on the right and left. The move to Dolby Digital has improved the sound positioning accuracy. In particular, if the action starts from behind, say - moving from the rear right corner to the front left. But Creative's decomposition is still very good - much better than Dolby Pro Logic II, which often makes the sound unnatural and never does a good job of outputting sound to the rear speakers. If you often watch DivX movies and also use your PC as a living room video player, you won't forget the X-Fi surround sound.

Quite logically, the package includes Creative MediaSource software. We used it to enjoy recording opera with CMSS 3D processing.

Of course, there is no problem with playing an originally multi-channel track - be it a Dolby Digital or DTS movie. CMSS 3D promises "surround" sound on just two speakers, but here the result was not so convincing. Of course, the sound picture is much superior to stereo, but it does not reach the level of 5.1 or 7.1 acoustics. This processing will be fine if you have only two speakers at your disposal, but we strongly recommend moving to a multi-channel system for watching movies.

The third CMSS 3D mode is specially designed for listening with headphones. Traditional headphones are indispensable, but they have a number of disadvantages. In particular, they cannot create a realistic sound stage. In headphones, the sound seems to come from the center of the head or sometimes from above. But sound is limited to the outside of the skull. With the CMSS 3D Headphone mode, you can also enjoy 3D sound with headphones. The difference will not only be in the placement of the various sound sources, but also in what Creative calls "externalization" - creating a believable soundstage.

Let me explain the principles behind the positioning of sound sources in headphones. There are three factors at work here: ITD (Acoustic Time Difference, Interaural Time Difference), ILD (Acoustic Level Difference, Interaural Level Difference) and HRTF filters, which reshape the sound by adding reflections and refractions caused by your body, head and ear.

For stereo sound, CMSS 3D continues to extract environmental information from the recording to give the listener the feeling of being at the center of the action. But, of course, this effect is more impressive with a multi-channel source (movies in Dolby Digital or DTS), as well as in games. Headphones are no longer a punishment as they used to be, and provide their own listening pleasure. But, as it seemed to us, there is still room for improvement in the arrangement of the front and rear sources. However, let's not be categorical - everything depends very much on individual perception. Also, we personally felt that the sound sources were placed too high, so it would be nice to add an adjustment for this "height".

Test system and sound measurements

Our test system hasn't changed, and it delivers enough power for an X-Fi card. Please note that in order to install new cards, your PC must provide a certain level of power. If it is weak or of poor quality, then problems may arise, especially when working with additional modules. We encountered such problems on an ordinary consumer-level machine, where a lot of different hardware was already installed: it simply stopped loading due to a weak power supply.

Hardware
CPU	Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Memory	1 GB DDR
Graphic card	nVidia GeForce Ti4200
HDD	80 GB, 7200 rpm
optical drive	DVD LG16/48X
OS	Windows XP Pro SP2
Direct X Version	9.0c
speakers	Creative Gigaworks S750, Logitech Z2200
Video playback	Power DVD, Win DVD
measurements	Right Mark Audio Analyzer 5.4, Right Mark 3DSound 1.24, DAAS audio measurement system, Neutrik 3337 audio measurement system

All tests were carried out on the X-Fi Elite Pro card. As we mentioned above, the differences between this card and the other three models lie in the quality of the DAC and ADC. The table below shows the quality levels offered by different cards in the X-Fi line. As you'll see, the main difference is in the recording/playback tests where we went from 112dB S/N for the Elite Pro to 98dB for the other cards. As for playback, the difference is less noticeable, since only one converter (DAC) is used. As we pointed out above, the line input located directly on the PCI card has the best quality.

Model		X-Fi Elite Pro	Other
Digital Audio Playback	Frequency response unevenness	Lo -1dB Hi -1dB 46kHz	Lo -1dB Hi -1dB 45kHz
	Channel Interpenetration	L-R: -112 dB R-L: -112dB	L-R: -105 dB R-L: -105dB
	Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)	116 dB	109 dB
		0,00%	0,00%
Line in / line out Recording and playback	Frequency response unevenness	Lo -1dB Hi -1dB 45kHz	Lo -1dB ~17Hz Hi -1dB 42kHz
	Channel Interpenetration	L-R: -106 dB R-L: -106 dB	L-R: -86 dB R-L: -86 dB
	Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)	112 dB	98 dB
	Total harmonic distortion + noise (THD+N)	0,00%	0,00%

Frequency response unevenness: the characteristic turned out to be perfectly linear throughout the entire spectrum!

Noise level: The noise level is very low and even.

Dynamic Range: an excellent result, if quantization is taken into account!

Nonlinear distortion: very low (H3 around -110 dB!); could hardly be better...

Intermodulation distortion: no problem here.

Channel Interpenetration: rises a little in the upper part of the spectrum, but the interpenetration is still very low to somehow affect the sound quality.

With 24-bit quantization and a 48 kHz sample rate, the card begins to show its true potential. This mode is a good compromise between quality and file size. Actually, that is why it is often used in professional applications. Here we observe the best dynamics and signal-to-noise ratio.

: +0.01, -0.19 dB
: 112.6 dB(A).
distortion: 0,0005%.
Channel Interpenetration: 101.2 dB.

Frequency response unevenness: The frequency response is widened in the upper range, but remains perfectly linear.

Noise level A: 24-bit quantization shows the card's capabilities - and very low noise.

Dynamic Range: The dynamic range has reached its possible limit considering other parameters!

Nonlinear distortion: Same level as 44 kHz mode. The lower noise level explains the difference in the graphs (THD+N).

Intermodulation distortion: very small, so you are unlikely to feel them.

Channel Interpenetration: in the upper part of the spectrum we see a relative increase in channel interference, but in the lower part, below 1 kHz, it has gone off the chart altogether.

This mode corresponds to the highest possible quality, but in reality it gives spectrum extension up to 40 kHz with negligible attenuation (0.13 dB!). The rest of the specification is identical.

Frequency response (20Hz - 20kHz): +0.01, -0.13 dB
Weighted signal-to-noise ratio: 112.4 dB(A).
distortion: 0,0005%.
Channel Interpenetration: 100.3 dB.

Frequency response unevenness: almost linear response up to 40 Hz with no perceptible attenuation!

Dynamic Range: the result is still great!

Nonlinear distortion: absolutely identical to the picture at 48 kHz - very low.

Intermodulation distortion: negligible...

Channel Interpenetration: here the interference is slightly higher than at 48 kHz, due to the extension of the frequency response.

In principle, the graphics speak for themselves: with X-Fi you don't even have to think about quality, because the card is capable of delivering better quality than any available sound source. Our tests confirmed the results published by Creative, with several differences that can be attributed to the usual variation in the parameters of the individual tested models. As we noted above, the sound quality depends on many parameters. So they may give slightly different results.

Games are Creative's forte - the company's cards have always been leaders in this area. It hardly needs to be mentioned that only Creative cards support the latest versions of EAX, and sound processors allow you to remove most of the sound processing load from the CPU, leaving maximum resources for the game. X-Fi marks a new era in gaming audio with processing power and advanced "virtual reality" features. Creative has enlisted the help of cyber-athlete Jonathan Wendel, aka "Fatal1ty" in the gaming world, to promote the new features. One of the new Creative cards, aimed at hardcore gamers, received just such an addition to the name.

Fatal1ty and Franco of Creative at the X-Fi event.

At the arranged LAN-party it was possible to compete with Fatal1ty.

Fatal1ty is the cyber gaming champion.

With the release of the X-Fi line, Creative introduces the new EAX 5.0 standard, which is capable of outputting 128 sources in 3D space with multi-channel transition. In addition, MacroFX technology allows you to control the proximity and blocking effects. In principle, the standard is still at an early stage of development, as it does not yet fully utilize X-Fi's audio processing features. But in the future we expect significant improvements. EAX Voice technology allows you to process the voices of players using a microphone in real time and output them to others, taking into account the location in the virtual gaming space. It provides an even deeper immersion in the virtual world, which will also prove itself in a multi-user environment.

Games and 3D, continued

For cards that hardcore gamers might be interested in (Fatal1ty FPS and Elite Pro models), Creative opted to add memory called X-RAM. This dedicated memory allows you not to waste the main memory of the PC on sound. The technology is able to add effects to the game without any impact on performance. Or improve performance when using compressed audio - it will not be decompressed during the game. Creative ran tests on a modified version Unreal Tournament 2004. The chart below (

24.09.2014 17:05

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is no longer a new product on the market, but it is one of the brightest attempts by the said company to please an already completely inexperienced audiophile audience.

An external sound card is definitely a specific product. So automatically audiophile. Because the average user is unlikely to bother with the search for the right device to play any kind of music, and even more so for scoring acoustic scenes, for example, in computer games.

The buyer, who decides to organize a mini-studio at his workplace, approaches the choice of an apparatus for reproducing the incoming and outgoing signal purely from subjective preferences. The technical characteristics of sound recording / playback, external ports for connecting acoustics and auxiliary devices, such as musical instruments or a microphone, are also important here. Thus, there are quite a lot of subtleties in a device called an external sound card.

With factory drivers and without the use of bundled and third-party programs to improve and change the sound, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD sounds really good.

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is no longer a new product on the market, but it is one of the brightest attempts by the said company to please an already completely inexperienced audiophile audience. By and large, this device is able to implement two main functions - to reproduce very high-quality sound, and also to record it using one input connector. ¼ format jack located on the front panel black box.

The main characteristics of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD stereo card are as follows: signal-to-noise ratio - 114 dB, the X-Fi processor already known to many (from the gaming series) is installed inside, the quality of playback and recording is 24bit/96kHz which is quite good for home use. Headphone amplification - 330 ohm.

In addition to the voiced instrument jack located on the front panel of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD, there is another headphone output with exactly the same form factor. On the reverse side of the device soldered analog tulips(two pairs), as well as optical input and output TOSLINK. The sound card is connected via a connector USB 2.0. Creative also did not forget about grounding the device, which is very nice.

The true potential of Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD hidden in the control panel, which is installed from the disk or the manufacturer's website.

During operation, a blue diode notifies the user of the device's performance. The front panel of Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD also has a volume control in the style of classic receivers. Many users scold such, but in vain. Perhaps it is too miniature, but the device itself is quite modest in size. In any case, it is convenient to control the volume, the smooth and moderately tight movement of the plastic handle is designed just for this.

With factory drivers and without the use of bundled and third-party programs to improve and change the sound, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD sounds really good. To be honest, after using the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 external card, there was no difference (passive Dual speakers from Germany connected to the Telefunken RA200 amplifier were used as an acoustic pair). The volume reserve is more than enough, the frequencies of all ranges are excellent.

But the true possibilities of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD hidden in the control panel, which is installed from the disk or the manufacturer's website. It contains various EAX effects, an equalizer, THX TruStudio Pro functions. The panel is not overloaded with options, which means that any user will be able to rebuild the sound at their discretion. It really is worth it. The familiar sound of your favorite songs is literally updated with each turn of the slider of one or another parameter.

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD does not have ASIO support, which means that recording, as well as subsequent playback of the track, occurs with a significant delay.

Another significant plus Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is a soldered instrument input, which can be used to record sound from musical instruments, such as guitars, as well as from a full-fledged microphone. The sound card copes with this task very well and at the end you get audible the quality of the track, not studio quality, of course, but sufficient for personal experiments. But there is one flaw - there is no ASIO support in Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD, which means that recording, as well as subsequent playback of the track, occurs with a significant delay. Thus, when overlaying one track on another, especially when playing the first one in parallel, difficulties in the workflow can arise. This is the minus of any non-professional solution, after all, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is an amateur device.

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD can be purchased for 3700 rubles and higher. By and large, this is a worthy offer for the opportunities that the device under review offers the user, if we are talking about non-professional external cards for the home.

Beginning musicians who want to constantly evaluate the quality of their work, which is called on film, this device is also suitable, but with the reservations described above, which are associated with a large recording delay. In any case, when recording only one track in mono or stereo mode, there will be no problems in fact.

And the quality of the sound played through the analog inputs is really great, without any exaggeration. It is only necessary to acquire the appropriate speakers, preferably more powerful.

Instructions for setting the maximum sound quality on a Creative X-Fi sound card.

2015-08-18T08:43

2015-0408-18T08:43

Audiophile's Software

Note: The information in this article is relevant for the Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer sound card with PCI interface (as well as similar XtremeMusic, Fatality, etc.) and Windows operating systems from Vista to 10. The settings are focused on sound playback using a sound card connected to the output. cards. When using interfaces/devices/drivers/programs other than those specified in this article, the setup may not lead to the desired result.

Full or partial copying of the text is allowed.

1. Introduction

Note: since I would not like to repeat myself, and also so that you do not miss something important, I strongly advise you to read this article from beginning to end.

The first thing I want to say is that the sound card is worth the money. Given its capabilities (which many probably don't know about), $100 is a very reasonable price. Besides, other manufacturers simply don't have analogues of this card (in terms of multimedia capabilities).

2. Preparing for installation

It means that we have, as they say, "out of the box". This is actually the sound card itself, a pack of manuals and other waste paper, and two disks: one for Windows XP, the second - for Windows Vista. "And what about Windows 7 and 8 users?" - you ask. "Take these two discs and carefully put them in the trash can" - I will answer. Well, at least put the waste paper back into the box and throw it away in the closet. Simply because he won't need anything from that disk. Of course, you can install software from these disks, but the fact is that, for example, drivers will have to be installed for XP, and software for Windows Vista. In this case, you will have to go for a number of tricks (like compatibility modes, etc.). And it's not a fact that in the end it will all work properly. Well, in addition, a lot of unnecessary garbage is installed from the disk.

Therefore, we will go the other way, downloading the latest versions of software, already sharpened for new operating systems, in one package - say thanks to Daniel Kawakami.

3. Installing drivers and utilities

So, how everything should look initially:

Moreover, in the Start->Programs folder (and in Add/Remove Programs) there should not be anything related to Creative. If this is not the case for you, run Add / Remove Programs and clean it. After removing all the software from Creative, unpack the Support Pack, go to the \Audio\Drivers\SBXF subfolder and run the Setup.exe file. After selecting everything, as in the screenshot, click ok:

Having got rid of the Creative software and received a device without drivers in the manager, we reboot again (just in case).

And now we proceed directly to the installation. It is advisable to install the following components from the X-Fi Support Pack:

Audio Drivers - latest sound card drivers;
Audio Control Panel - provides basic sound card settings;
Console Launcher - control center for sound card capabilities;
Speaker Setup Console (THX) - a utility for calibrating 3D effects according to the position of the listener relative to sound sources;
Volume Panel - a handy utility that starts automatically and allows you to adjust the volume directly in the tray and run other utilities from there;
ALchemy is a utility that restores hardware environment effects in Windows Vista+.

We respond positively to the proposal to restart.

If everything went well, after starting the OS, a silver icon with a volume knob will appear in the tray, and in the start you will see a group of Creative programs:

And, of course, the system should already make some sounds at startup (if they are enabled).

4. Windows Mixer Setup

As I said, Microsoft, starting with Windows Vista, has greatly complicated the sound subsystem. At the same time, not only the functionality expanded, but also some “pitfalls” appeared.

Well, let's try to get around these stones.

Go to Windows Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Sound. This window will appear:

Disable SPDIF via the context menu (because in some cases this device can cause the sound card reference frequency to switch, which is undesirable), in the same way make our device (Creative SB X-Fi Speakers) the default device (if it is not is an). Then double click on the device. Now check that the settings on the tabs match the screenshots:

5. Sound card modes

In order to maximize the use of X-Fi DSP resources for a wide variety of tasks, there are three modes:

Audio Creation Mode - audio creation, and in our case - playback. Since only in this mode is available an accurate sound output without unnecessary conversions.

Entertainment Mode - the mode is mainly designed for playback of multi-channel audio (including tracks for video films) with the imposition of various effects, channel conversion, etc.

Game Mode - the name of the mode speaks for itself. Only here you get access to the latest developments in Creative 3D sound for an unsurpassed presence in today's games.

It is convenient to switch modes through the context menu of the Volume Panel:

The settings window (Console Launcher) appears when you double-click on the Volume Panel icon in the tray.

5.1 Audio Creation Mode and Music Playback

So, let's turn off everything superfluous:

Now a few words about setting up the foobar2000 player. Due to the unreliability of other interfaces (they really sometimes turn out to be not quite adequate), it is recommended to output sound through ASIO. Fortunately, this card has a fully functional ASIO 2.0 driver. All you need to do is install the foo_out_asio plugin (you can download it from the foobar2000 + plugins page), add an ASIO device in the plugin settings, and select it in the output settings. Pay attention to channel markings (useful for multi-channel systems).

Now you can enjoy pure sound, not spoiled by any "improvers" and other nonsense.

Another nice little thing is that the ASIO driver automatically switches the reference frequency of the sound card in accordance with the sample rate of the audio being played. For example, if you first played a track with a frequency of 44.1 kHz, and then you start a track with a frequency of 96 kHz, the reference frequency will switch, accompanied by a characteristic sound. Some people don't like it, however, this feature is a significant advantage, because only if the frequency of the material and the reference frequency of the card match, bit-by-bit playback is possible. In addition, now you most likely will not need a resampler.

But here it is necessary to make a remark - sometimes there are tracks with a sampling frequency different from those supported by the ASIO driver (I remind you: these are 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz). For such cases, you can add a DSP SoX Resampler mod to the chain (which can be downloaded on the same foobar2000 + plugins page). It will resample all frequencies that are not included in the list of supported ones (we specify them in the resampler settings) up to the specified frequency - in order to minimize quality losses, we will specify 96 kHz just in case:

5.2 Entertainment mode - watching movies

In this mode, some interesting features of the X-Fi signal processor open up to us.

Do you want to enjoy 5.1 sound of your favorite movie, but don't have multi-channel acoustics? Not a problem! After all, a person has only two ears, which means that with the help of two sound emitters it is possible to recreate absolutely any virtual source at any point around the listener, so much so that it will be indistinguishable from the real one!

Using special processing algorithms, the X-Fi chip converts multi-channel audio to 2.0 for acoustics or headphones (note that the algorithms for creating the surround effect in headphones and speakers are very different).

And now - about how we take advantage of these opportunities. First of all, let's start the Console Launcher:

Let's take a look at the main sections one by one.

In this section, you need to select the configuration of your speaker system, or headphones. Pressing the THX button opens the speaker calibration window. We are interested in the Speaker Position tab. The fact is that when using a two-channel speaker system (which most users have), the position of the listener relative to the sound emitters is far from always the same (worse, sometimes it is unstable, but nothing can be done about it). In order for the ambience algorithms to work, they need correct data about the position of the listener. In this case, you must specify the distance to each sound emitter and the angle of rotation relative to the central axis. If it is not clear, I will explain: I mean the angle between the two lines:

a line connecting the listener's head to a point directly in front of his face.
line between his head and sound emitter

The angle is counted clockwise (when viewed from above), the parameter value can take negative values.

So, if you want a 3D effect - take a ruler in your hands and go ahead - measure;)

On this tab, you can enable the effect of the environment - an amphitheater, a concert hall, etc. In case it is selected None, the Enable EAX Effects checkbox does not affect anything, but just in case, leave this option enabled.

This option is responsible for enabling X-Fi CMSS 3D - an algorithm designed to improve the effect of the environment and the positioning accuracy of virtual sources. This function will be useful when playing multi-channel audio on 2.0 acoustics or headphones, or vice versa - for the so-called apmix - splitting the sound into several channels (for example, playing stereo recordings on a 5.1 system). If you turn it on when playing, say, stereo material through headphones, it will be of little use - except that some effect of virtual sound sources will be created directly in front of the listener, which, for example, does not sound very pleasant to my ears. But in any case, the choice is yours.

The famous (thanks to the eloquent marketers from Creative) X-Fi Crystalizer - sometimes it can give expressiveness to the sound, but at the same time it inevitably introduces a significant portion of distortion. Fans of "honest sound" of course not recommended. Although, by ear, it sounds very interesting when the slider is moved to the minimum - distortion in this case is almost imperceptible, but the effect is quite good.

Smart Volume Management - to some extent - the same Advanced Limiter in foobar2000, but with a larger pre-buffer. Since the DSP output is inevitably converted to a fixed-point format, care must be taken to prevent clipping, which is what the Creative programmers did. Seeing the excess of the permissible volume in a fragment of the audio stream, SVM underestimates its volume. The main drawback is compression (the volume balance between audio fragments changes significantly). Although, dynamic range compression is the second purpose of SVM. If, for example, you want to watch a movie at low volume at night (so as not to disturb anyone), but when the volume is lowered, quiet sounds cease to be heard - this is where the compressor will help. It will boost the volume of the quiet parts, bringing them to about the same level as the rest - and you can adjust the overall volume to the level you need.

But if there is no need for the above, I would advise you to turn on the effects (and play multi-channel sound incl.) - set the volume (Master Volume) not to the maximum, but to about 50% - usually this is enough to avoid distortion.

Here we see a conventional 10-band equalizer with an additional level control. If not needed, turn it off.

And this is the sound card mixer. Here you can enable playback from the line input, microphone, etc. Unnecessary sources are turned off (because the line input and microphone, for example, can make noise).

With a sound card - everything. As for the player, there are also some nuances here. First - the player should output the sound "AS IS". That is, all soft mixers must be disabled so that in the case of 5.1 tracks, for example, all 6 channels are directly transmitted to the sound card. For watching movies, I can recommend the MPC HomeCinema player and the ffdshow audio/video filters (included in the Sam CoDec Pack) . I would also like to write about their configuration in detail, but this will be later in another article. Below I will give the main points of setting up the sound output (the player and the ffdshow filter), and there - I hope you will understand:

5.3 Game mode - surround sound in games.

Without a doubt, Creative is the leader in 3D audio for gaming. It was Creative programmers who created a set of extensions for DirectSound3D, the so-called. EAX. You can read about this technology in the EAX FAQ article and Wikipedia.

The latest version of EAX at the moment is 5.0, but our card supports all versions up to and including the fifth one.

So let's get started with the setup. Some settings sections are the same as the Entertainment mode settings, so we won't go over them again.

This tab contains the main settings - speaker configuration (which must be set in accordance with the actual configuration of your speaker), SVM, EAX enable / control (meaning only environmental effects - reverbs, etc.). Mic Environment FX is a new feature that allows you to apply effects to the microphone sound according to the environment in a 3D game.

Also, speaker placement calibration (THX) is extremely important in this mode. And I also advise you to pay attention to the Master Volume - in order to avoid distortion, it is advisable to keep this control in a position somewhere around 35-40%.

Of particular interest in this mode are the X-Fi CMSS-3D settings. When this feature is enabled (which is highly recommended for greatly improving the 3D effect in games), two new extensions introduced in EAX 5.0 become available:

MacroFX- the effect significantly increases the realism of sound sources located in the immediate vicinity of the ear.

Elevation Filter- the effect significantly improves the positioning of sources along the vertical axis (above/below the listener).

Parameter value On means to force the effect on for all sound sources (for which the effect is intended). By clicking on the Test button, you can run a small test of the effects of the environment.

Well, we are done with setting up the sound card. All that's left is the software setup. As I already wrote, unfortunately in Windows 7 programs do not have direct access to the hardware resources of the sound card through the DirectSound3D API. The only API that has access to hardware 3D sound is OpenAL. So, without hesitation, Creative set about developing the Alchemy utility that converts DirectSound/EAX calls to OpenAL. I will now tell you about its setup.

So, if you followed exactly all the instructions from the beginning of the article, you should already have Creative ALchemy 1.43.06 beta installed. No wonder I chose this particular version, because in some incomprehensible way the latest release version does not quite honestly perform its functions - it is obvious that EAX with its use is software, plus the MacroFX and Elevation Filter effects do not work.

So, on the left we see a list of installed games that were detected automatically. By moving the game to the right list, we automatically enable Alchemy functionality for it.

You can also add games manually. Let's take advantage of this opportunity. Install the RightMark 3DSound program and add the address of the folder with the executable file of the RightMark 3DSound Positioning Accuracy test utility (RightMark3DSound.exe) to the Creative Alchemy list:

Move the added program to the right list. Now the program can be launched.

The screenshot shows how you can recreate the sound source located behind the barrier, behind, to the right of the listener.

This program is a great opportunity to try out MacroFX and Elevation filter technologies. Turning these effects on and off, first try to bring the sound source in the program closer to the listener's ear, and then move it up and down along the vertical axis - you will feel the difference!

And don't be confused by the fact that the program does not include EAX 5.0 - most of the effects of this version are automatically applied to all sound sources, regardless of the version of EAX supported by the program / game.

Games are configured according to the same principle - the main thing is to add the address of the folder with the game executable file to Alchemy. If the game has the appropriate settings, they must enable EAX support. If there is no such option, there is an alternative: enable multichannel sound in the game. In this case, it will be converted to stereo by the sound card and you will get excellent sound positioning.

If you want to fully experience all the effects of EAX 5.0, I can recommend the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat. This game uses the OpenAL audio engine, which gives it direct access to all EAX effects (no need to use Alchemy) - You just need to enable EAX support in the game settings and select the SB X-Fi Audio device.

6. Epilogue

That's all I wanted to say about setting up the X-Fi XtremeGamer. I hope the information in this article was useful for you and now you can unlock the full potential of your sound card. Happy listening!

Shvetsov Igor

Feedback from Yandex.Market

Advantages

Finally, the Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones, which had been lying for 5 years, rejected for poor sound (I thought I bought a fake), sounded, and even? Conclusion, for high-impedance headphones you need an amplifier, this device has it)))disadvantages

The price, but I found it on Avito for 3 thousand, so I don’t care)))A comment

For those who are not subject to audiophile excesses, but appreciate a decent sound

16 5

disadvantages

A comment

I have a device release that has the THX logo, not SBX, but this is pure marketing and drivers (the hardware is absolutely the same, apparently some kind of licensing problem).
I selected a high-quality external solution for a netbook in order to use it as a universal player (FLAC and APE) for a good hi-fi amplifier.
The quality of the RIAA corrector suits, it sounds absolutely no worse than the one built into the integrated amplifier - it will go for digitizing "vinyl" from my collection 30 years ago :-)
I am satisfied with the purchase, there are no problems with operation (on the Internet they often scare with the buggy of Creative USB devices).

Complain Did the review help? 34 9

Simple. Only 2 modes in which you can listen (24/48, 24/96). There is a line input SNR 100db (you can use the card for various measurements). Works on drivers from the site normally both in 10-ke and under 2012 R2. Works 24/96 via "HIFIMEDIY USB ISOLATOR". With him, the complete absence of any noise / interference. Input and output on RCA connectors. Everything is simple and clear. The sound with the right “cooking” (high-quality resampling at 96 kHz) is better than most built-in solutions. In general, if you don't get hung up on comparison with more expensive solutions, you can listen to the card and even really enjoy it.disadvantages

In terms of sound quality under the same conditions, ASUS Xonar Essence STX loses, which seems to be unsurprising given the 3 times difference in price. I hoped I would not hear a difference, but no, miracles do not happen. ASUS has better detail, while Creative has too accentuated high frequencies, and in general the sound is perceived as a little “blurry”, I didn’t feel a lack of lows (at all). Very strange is the lack of support for frequencies multiple of 44100 Hz. But I listen to foobar2000, the resampler there is very good (dBpoweramp), so I don't consider it critical for me. I also think the blue light bulb is stupid. And the volume control nafig not needed and inconvenient.A comment

A card is like a card, how much it costs and plays. The frequency of 44100, I think, was specially slaughtered by marketers for some reason (God forbid they will use it instead of E-MU), the sound does not differ in anything outstanding, it does not cause the “WOW” effect. I don’t write anything about headphones - I only listen to speakers. In the reviews they write well pulls any "EARS". Given the price, it would probably be possible to put the card 5-, if not for the lack of support for 44 kHz.

Complain Did the review help? 10 9

Better than stock HD Audio. You can hear the improvement in quality on normal acoustics or headphones, I tried it.disadvantages

A comment

Perhaps if I had bought the card earlier than January 02, 2020, my review would have been better.
For some time I suffered and suffered with static periodic clicks in the headphones, read the forums, and, according to the advice, twitched the USB cords and climbed uselessly to adjust something in the BIOS. I changed the XUHD driver ... 0025 “Release date: Jan 2, 20” to the older XUHD ... 0024 “Release date: Aug 26, 16”, the clicks disappeared, I hope forever, the jamb will appear again, I will hand it back to the store, I will add a review , unsubscribe.

Complain Did the review help? 2 0

disadvantages

Minus, as noted earlier: "support for a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz" is not for all outputs.

I will note one more inconvenient moment, which manifested itself in 1 day of use. After waking up the computer from "sleep", not all applications had sound. Only those where you can explicitly specify the source worked correctly (Creative ASIO, for example). But browsers and many other programs take the sound from the device by default - there was no actual sound, even a reboot did not help, only disconnecting the USB and reconnecting it. Not very convenient, I constantly send the computer to sleep.

Two USB sound cards with high-quality DACs

In today's material, we compare two most interesting sound cards: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD vs. Asus Xonar U7. These are two products close in price and capabilities, in which the emphasis was placed on high-quality converters. At the same time, both cards at the time of this writing were on sale at a very low price, a little over 3 thousand rubles.

The forum called the Asus Xonar U7 "the best choice" in absentia, based on looking at photos and specifications. Many completely in vain forget about the need for a direct comparison of devices in terms of sound. Most are also unable to correctly interpret the measurement results.

Name

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD
Asus Xonar U7

The Creative card has a confusing name as it is not related to the X-Fi cards and is not related to the Titanium HD card. As a result, the release of the card went unnoticed. This product is not known to anyone at all, except for some enthusiasts of sound on the computer.

The Asus Xonar U7 also has an obscure name. The rather old U1 and U3 cards are budget products with integrated audio quality. U7 has nothing to do with past products in this series.

Price

creative: 3700 rub.
Asus: 3100 rub.

The cards cost almost the same, the difference in absolute values in price is not serious. More importantly, such an affordable price makes them interesting to a large circle of buyers. They have practically no competitors among USB-cards!

At the same time, the Asus card appeared quite recently. The manufacturer also reports that the Asus Xonar U7 Echelon Edition model will soon appear with an army camouflage body color and more functional drivers.

The target audience

creative: mass, audiophiles
Asus: mass, home theater

The Creative model is a card with full-size TRS headphone and microphone jacks. Interestingly, there is a Phono input for digitizing vinyl, with ground. It also works in the normal line input mode. THX and other proprietary processing is software only. For movies, there is an optical digital output for connecting a 5.1 receiver with a decoder.

You can connect 7.1 speakers to the Asus card by analogy, minijack connectors. The emphasis is on Dolby software included. Digital output - combined, optical / coaxial. Both cards have a line input, but in the case of Asus, the line input is combined with the microphone one, which is quite difficult to guess.

It remains a mystery why, in addition to the high-quality output, they loaded both cards with so many functions and software. This inevitably blurs the audience and distracts from the main advantage of the cards, namely quality DAC. The rest of the dregs are available in abundance in almost any sound card. In the description of sound cards and in the design of the boxes, as they say, "you can't see the forest for the trees." It is not clear who will organize a 7.1 cinema around a computer or laptop - this is inconvenient and unclaimed in practice. Fortunately, the user does not overpay much for all these additional features, since the price of the cards is very low.

Volume knob

creative: Miniature metal volume knob with original location. There is a mute function when you press the knob. It is not very convenient to use the pen, as it is located very close to the table surface: the fingers are in a very unusual position and slip on the surface.
Asus: The smooth handle is recessed into the body. Pressing the knob turns off the speakers in favor of the headphones and vice versa. It is inconvenient to use: considerable effort is required, otherwise the finger slips. The notch for the finger is made for beauty - it is much easier to adjust by pressing your finger where there is no notch.

In both cases, a non-stop digital controller is used. The ergonomics of the regulators is very conditional. Due to the combination of the functions of the regulator and the button, the Asus regulator has quite a noticeable backlash. Many users would prefer to remove the button, but that there is no play. Also, the recessed Asus knob is handy when carrying the audio interface. In all other cases, this decision looks controversial.

Illuminations

creative: blue LED on the top panel
Asus: 3 signal LEDs on the top panel

The activity indicator on the Creative card is brighter. In principle, for most this will not be a problem. But we had a keen desire to seal it with electrical tape so that it would not be an eyesore and would not be constantly visible with peripheral vision.

Headphone out location

creative: front
Asus: front

Both cards have connectors conveniently located.

Filling

creative: DSP Creative CA0189-2AG, AKM AK4396 2ch DAC (123dB), CS5361 2ch ADC (114dB).
Asus: DSP CM6632A, 2-channel Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC (120 dB), 6-channel Cirrus Logic CS4362A DAC (114 dB), 2-channel CS5361 ADC (114 dB).

The filling of both cards is very interesting. And this is the main feature of the cards, against the background of which everything else no longer interests anyone. The Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC is considered a class higher than the AKM AK4396.

All Creative USB sound cards have their own CA0189-2AG RISC processor running at 100 MHz. Unlike the usual DSP Creative, this chip does not have hardware sound processing. Its purpose is a fast USB 2.0 controller and a multi-channel interface to full-fledged I²S / I²C converter chips, such as those used by Cirrus Logic and AKM. There are two crystal oscillators soldered on the board.

Asus uses an interesting CM6632A chip that supports both HDA codecs and I²S/I²C converters. Number of channels - 8+2 (analogue + digital) output and 2+2 input. There is support for a frequency of 192 kHz. The chip can be clocked immediately from three generators, 12, 24.5 and 22.5 MHz, which was used by the creators of the card. It remains not very clear the decision to throw pasta from one edge of the board with the DAC to the other with connectors.

All processing in both cards is done exclusively at the software level. The maximum data rate of 96 kHz is not a big problem, since 192 kHz content is almost non-existent. Hi-Res did not give ordinary users anything and did not go to the masses, and aesthetes and Hi-End lovers are unlikely to be interested in $100 sound cards.

Auto switch to headphones

creative: eat
Asus: eat

When plugged into the headphone jack, the speakers are turned off. This feature was first implemented in integrated audio as part of the AC'97 and HDA standard. First, the detection of connected headphones was carried out by impedance, and then by a mechanical sensor. External cards with good converters are not inferior to the integrated sound in this matter. However, in practice this can cause problems.

Complete software

creative: a set of software on the disk, driver update on the manufacturer's website
Asus: the same installation kit on the CD and on the manufacturer's website

The software disc is similar to all other Creative products.

The appearance and contents of the Entertainment Console of the X-Fi card have already been described more than once in our materials. The Audio Control Panel is included right away and allows you to control absolutely all the settings without the nooks and crannies of the graphical menu, with the exception of the equalizer. Creative Volume Panel - it is not clear why the necessary program is supplied for the assortment. An important difference between drivers for XP: they provide a choice of frequency and bit depth directly from the Entertainment Console. The frequency is limited to choose from: 48 or 96 kHz, regardless of the OS. This choice is typical for all Creative USB sticks.

The Asus map panel is very strange. Parameters can only be selected through the context menu with the right mouse button!

There is an interesting parameter for setting the headphone output volume limit.

In the wilds of settings, Asus has a separate option - Dolby Home Theater v4, which seems to have surpassed Creative cards in terms of the number of "enhancers".

Support 44 kHz

creative: No
Asus: eat

The Creative card contains two crystal oscillators and also has support for 44 kHz at the DSP level. However, drivers for neither Windows XP nor Windows 7/8 support operation in 44 kHz mode: in the device settings, you can only set 48 kHz or 96 kHz. In a map for audiophiles, this indicates either inadequacy or complete incompetence of the developers. To listen to music in 99.9% of cases, a frequency of 44 kHz is used. We are looking forward to the comments of the map developers themselves.

The Asus card has support for all frequencies: 44, 48, 88, 96, 192 kHz.

Availability of an ASIO driver

creative: No
Asus: eat

The lack of an ASIO driver for Creative cards is beyond our understanding. The best listening option for a Creative card is the WASAPI interface and software resampling in the player. Converting from 44 kHz to 48 or 96 will always be forced by the Windows sound engine, or it is necessary to select the conversion on the fly in the media player. For example, in the player foobar 2000:

Sound in speakers

Listening was carried out on active monitors Adam S2.5A and Adam ARTist 5. For comparison, very well-known sound cards E-MU 1616M (CS4398) and E-MU 0204 USB (AK4396) were involved.

First surprise: all cards play completely differently! In terms of sound quality, the E-MU 1616M is in first place, E-MU 0204 USB is in second, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is in third, and Asus Xonar U7 is in fourth.

The sound of the Asus card is the least like the E-MU 1616M (despite the same DAC installed). Asus' distortion problems are to blame, since we know for sure about the unsurpassed implementation of the analog output on the 1616M card. This is a measurable 120 dB signal / noise, and a measurable 0.0003% distortion, and a wonderful clean sound to the touch. The 1616M is not much inferior in sound to the best implementations of rack studio devices, comparable to Pro Tools HD and Lynx Aurora, so we boldly choose the 1616M sound as a reference for devices in the sub-$150 category. E-MU 0204 USB concedes quite a bit. X-Fi HD sounds brighter and more accentuated on the highs, so with all the showiness it is a little further away from the original sound. Xonar U7 disappointed us with meager highs and a rather sluggish sound. Perhaps this problem is solved by flashing or drivers; We will certainly clarify this issue with the manufacturer. In any case, there should be no distortion of 0.01%. Both the digital and analog parts of the card are capable of more.

Let's scold Creative for the lack of a 44 kHz mode. This is simply inexplicable, nonsense! How can you make an audiophile card, put two crystal oscillators and forbid it to work at 44 kHz? Do not provide the user with an ASIO driver that bypasses Windows? This is just the wildest incompetence of developers. In the E-MU 0204 USB - a device for the same money - there are no such problems! It feels like one division of Creative is mercilessly competing with another: stubbornly developing a bicycle with square wheels when a racing sports car has long been developed and tested in the next room.

Headphone sound

We used Sennheiser HD600 (300 ohm) and Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250 ohm) high-impedance headphones.

The volume is enough in both cases, but the Asus card has almost no headroom. Creative was able to surprise us once again. In terms of sound quality, the places were distributed as follows: E-MU 1616M is in first place, Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is in second, E-MU 0204 USB is in third, and Asus Xonar U7 is in fourth. The professional interface E-MU 0204 USB, in principle, performed well, but X-Fi HD looked like a clear favorite against its background and had a significantly larger volume margin. The Asus Xonar U7 is the quietest card, but its volume rises sharply when processing is turned on. Perhaps this was done intentionally so that there was a so-called headroom for Dolby technologies and other auto-equalizers. Thus, the Asus card is the least suitable for simple listening to music; the emphasis is placed on the effectiveness of processing. The squeals and hoots of the card fans remain completely incomprehensible to us.

Measurements in RMAA

Tests at the RMAA gave an "Excellent" rating. This means that there are no frank jambs in the devices. It doesn't mean anything anymore. (But as soon as artificial intelligence makes it unnecessary to analyze human measurements, we will be the first to tell you about it!)

Both cards were tested through their own path as they have the same high quality CS5361 ADC.

Noise is slightly better than Asus, distortion - Creative. We were concerned about how the Asus graph looked in the floating tone IM test: usually anomalies in this test indicate frequency conversion or some other digital processing. We double-checked all the settings several times. The results don't change. We ran additional tests on clean installed Windows XP and Windows 7. We used the latest drivers and latest firmware. There is only one result: the Asus card has about 10 times more distortion at high frequencies.