Hardware Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Tianium HD Review

A new X-Fi sound card aimed at audiophiles and music enthusiasts.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/soundcards/2011/01/14/creative-x-fi-tianium-hd-review/1

 

Humm will it crackle like most of the other xfi cards do. I had a xfi once, it started cracking after awhile. Bought a d2x and i will never go back.

 

How long do Creative intend to keep using x-fi? Its old and out if date.

 

You could also consider the dacmagic for a bit more .
I have an m audio currently which is lovely through cans.
My xfi on laptop OS also a big step up from say the xbox
This product fails as to expensive for games and not goodenough for audio

 

It's taken Creative this long to stick phono connections on the back of their soundcards?

 

Tianium?

 

Dammit, how did I miss that? I thought I was the unofficial proof reader!

 

How long where you using it before it started to crackle? had mine nearly 2 years now and it's still crystal clear.

Compared to what? there's nothing out there at the moment afaik that has better 3D audio processing and effects for games. The Xonar range may have better quality outputs than most X-FI's but this card is Creative's attempt to give the best of both worlds.

 

Well done, your training as proof readers continues (fixed)

 

The card looks nice though .

 

How is this a review? One & 3/4 of the article just expands on what the specifications are, then it's just a paragraph tacked on at the end to represent personal opinion.

 

+1

 

Seems to be the opposite conclusion to alot of other reviews I've read.

Bought one of these just after x-mas, but to be fair it was spare xmas money.
No faults with it so far.

 

I have an Auzentech X-Fi prelude in my system and it does almost everything anyone could ever want from a pc soundcard. I got it over three years ago. My point is that this x-fi line is getting long in the tooth. The gaming surround has been terrible since windows 7 came out chainging how sound in Windows work.

Its time for a revamp and something new brought to the table. At the minute my next card will be from Asus.

 

The initial changeover from EAX to OpenAL was initially annoying when Vista arrived but now most games support OpenAL, sound in games is once again excellent with little or no cpu overhead.

 

Having had an Asus Essence STX, I would think anything would struggle to keep up with it in sheer terms of audio quality.

Still, it's taken Creative long enough to catch up with Asus and Auzentech!

 

"Having had an Asus Essence STX, I would think anything would struggle to keep up with "
there are lots that blow it away - but they do cost more - some mentioned in article.

it really depends what you use your computer for to be honest.

 

i always find it hard to judge the quality on a soundcard....i started with a terrtec card because it was recommended to me for its quality, then i became a gamer so bought the creative x-fi fatal1ty card and have had it in the machine for years and years....now bit tech recommends the asus sonar x... for gaming...my question is, would the asus be any better, or do i stay where i am?

on a side note, with some cards being for gaming, and others for 'audio fidelity' can we have 2 seperate card conclusions?

peace

f.

 

...it's worth noting that sound quality is largely subjective matter,...

No, it isn't. The more precisely an audio product performs the better the sound will be. Simply put, any audio product will lose or corrupt the musical signal. Those that lose or corrupt the least will sound better than those that corrupt or lose more.

Simple.

 

Well yes I should have put a caveat in regarding price etc, my bad. I meant in the desktop enthusiast space.

Well yes and no really. I've sat in a room listening to over £10k's worth of audio at a time, with other people, and it's hugely personal. My mate has a lot of cash and always demo's new kit and we often have different experiences as we listen.

Also, kit that is precise and accurate can sound cold and too precise. Whilst I welcome not losing detail of course, you are always re-creating a sound and not experiencing it first hand. That means reviewing audio kit is always subjective.