Ferrum MasterWell... douche move...

Not really.

Ferrum MasterThey decided to push another set of cards... as a carrot to make an upgrade and toss the older card... tsk tsk tsk...

Again, not really. Anyone who has an AE5 is just going to keep it. Anyone who wanted the additional features has already got an AE7/AE9. This new card is aimed at creating an additional choice for buyers shopping for a new card and I think it's a great option.

Tatty_OneI am still using my 18 year old :oops: PCI Xifi Elite Pro from waaaaaay back when

I still have an XFi Titanium in one of my T3500's. DanielK's drivers are simply perfect(Thank You DanielK)!

Tatty_Onewhich means I will pay a bit more for a new board that has Realtek ALC1220 and go on board.

Oh man, don't do that. It's ok, but it not the greatest sounding chipset. Get yourself an AE5 or SBZ, far better. You'll thank yourself later.

Dave65That customer service tho!

What do you mean? I've only ever had to RMA 2 SB cards(that I can remember) and the process was effortless and easy.

randompeepCan someone tell me if it's worth buying a dedicated sound card(even sh, but under the 50 bucks mark) if I got a Scarlett Solo MK2 as my main audio processing unit ?
BTW I bought it mainly for good DAW compatibility.
I rarely play games or watch movies and mainly listen to music. But I want the ultimate quality whenever I do one of these. To be honest, I've been using some cheap AKG studio headphones 99% of the time the past months, but I'll be back on monitors/TV soundbar soon!!

No, keep that. If anything that Solo MK2 has a superior DAC (CS4272-CZZ). Just run a USB-C cable to it from your PC and disable your on-board audio on the motherboard. I have a similar Behringer UMC202HD.

Chloe PriceI can't even remember when their drivers sucked bad since I haven't had any major problems in years.

I keep hearing about the supposed horror stories, but I've never seen it personally or professionally. I've been using SoundBlaster cards almost exclusively since the SB-Pro(ISA slot) days. I suddenly feel old..

lexluthermiesterI keep hearing about the supposed horror stories, but I've never seen it personally or professionally. I've been using SoundBlaster cards almost exclusively since the SB-Pro(ISA slot) days. I suddenly feel old..

IIRC there were problems during the Vista era, but I remember getting an used X-Fi XtremeGamer in 2011 or something, and that worked flawlessly with Win7. After that I've had a Recon3D and this Z, no problems at all. Also my old Audigy2 ZS works like a charm with older machines with PCI slots even with modern OS's :)

Chloe PriceIIRC there were problems during the Vista era, but I remember getting an used X-Fi XtremeGamer in 2011 or something, and that worked flawlessly with Win7. After that I've had a Recon3D and this Z, no problems at all. Also my old Audigy2 ZS works like a charm with older machines with PCI slots even with modern OS's :)

I do remember people having problems with the OEM versions of SB cards not working with the standard drivers from Creative, but that wasn't Creatives fault and once you downloaded the proper drivers from the OEM website(like Dell, Gateway or HP), it was solved. But that was alot of years ago...

Chloe PriceI'd use the good old Audigy2 ZS if I'd have a PCI slot in my main rig. :)

Got that exact awesome card and as you, I'd be using it in my main system.
However, I do have a system that is running Win7 that I have it in. LOL, now I just need to get my dang Z5500's set up LOL

lexluthermiesterI still have an XFi Titanium in one of my T3500's. DanielK's drivers are simply perfect(Thank You DanielK)!

Crap, tells ya how long I been out of the scene............Never even heard of DanielK's drivers until now............Thanks a ton for posting that up bro.

stinger608Crap, tells ya how long I been out of the scene............Never even heard of DanielK's drivers until now............Thanks a ton for posting that up bro.

You're welcome! Glad I could help!:toast: Which card did you need drivers for, if you don't mind me asking?

An old Audigy2 ZS if the drivers even still support that old of a PCI sound card. :laugh:

stinger608An old Audigy2 ZS if the drivers even still support that old of a PCI sound card. :laugh:

They do.
danielkawakami.blogspot.com/2017/01/sb-audigy-series-support-pack-62.html

lexluthermiesterThey do.
danielkawakami.blogspot.com/2017/01/sb-audigy-series-support-pack-62.html

You're frigging awesome man!!!!!! :respect::respect::respect::respect:

stinger608You're frigging awesome man!!!!!! :respect::respect::respect::respect:

DanielK did all the work, let us gave thanks to him indeed! :toast::respect::respect::clap:

INSTG8RSame! I still miss my X-Fi Fatality but alas the PCI slot no longer exists..

www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-e-PCI-Express-to-PCI-Adapter-Card-Riser-Extender-Converter-32bit-Asmedia1083-/272580290247

You could still do it. There's lots of PCI-E to PCI converters. It just dont make sense to use a soundcard from another era.

Chloe PriceNot 18 years yet, released in August 2005 ;)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_X-Fi#X-Fi_line-up

Ur right thank you..... I feel 3 years younger already :D :clap:

Jismwww.ebay.com/itm/PCI-e-PCI-Express-to-PCI-Adapter-Card-Riser-Extender-Converter-32bit-Asmedia1083-/272580290247

You could still do it. There's lots of PCI-E to PCI converters. It just dont make sense to use a soundcard from another era.

Well, if said card supports 7.1 and has a feature rich front panel like the Fatal1ty pro, then it could...

I'm upgrading soon, so goodbye my precious, hardly any soundcard these days supports 7.1 analog out, I will see how well that onboard audio works though, but a pcie XFi Titanium could be interesting, anything that will allow me to plug my headphones will be good...

I can't reiterate how dumb sound cards are without an HDMI output for Dolby TrueHD/DTS MA bitstreaming or PCM 7.1 uncompressed output. When your entire graphics card is outdone by Intel's HDMI sound features, you know your product sucks. I know, some people have really expensive headphones that they need to drive (and justify their purchase of), but USB DACs appear to do that in a smaller, cheaper package. If you output sound from this card to a receiver, then you have already gone analog in the transmission of the sound, and missed out on Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, any receiver processing of bitstreamed formats. Essentially, you ruined it.

Sound cards are dead. The only thing Creative still has over the gaming community is EAX support for older games, which prevents a lot of classics from outputting surround sound, or the games are missing audio features. Any new game will work fine with any GPU audio out, as long as you send it directly to a receiver or soundbar or HTIB without going through the TV. If you MUST go through the TV, then you can probably use your motherboard's SPDIF (optical out, TOSlink, etc) and if your board is halfway decent, then it probably supports Dolby Digital Live or DTS Interactive in order to crunch 5.1 surround sound into a bitstreamable format.

Honestly, sound on PC is a mess. And that's why sound cards could actually have some utility! But they routinely leave out the one feature that would make it worthwhile: HDMI output. Without that, might as well stick with the other options.

lexluthermiesterNot really.

Again, not really. Anyone who has an AE5 is just going to keep it. Anyone who wanted the additional features has already got an AE7/AE9. This new card is aimed at creating an additional choice for buyers shopping for a new card and I think it's a great option.

I still have an XFi Titanium in one of my T3500's. DanielK's drivers are simply perfect(Thank You DanielK)!

Oh man, don't do that. It's ok, but it not the greatest sounding chipset. Get yourself an AE5 or SBZ, far better. You'll thank yourself later.


What do you mean? I've only ever had to RMA 2 SB cards(that I can remember) and the process was effortless and easy.

Nothing but trouble with them. But it was years ago and I swore Id never use their products again.. Same with ASUS!

ApocalypseeI'm still using X-Fi Titanium HD, because of superior hardware DSP (yeah EAX is dead but I still play EAX games) and like INSTG8R I never use onboard sound, they only good 'on paper' spec but sound wise nope, not even close.

Back to topic, Creative really being an ass by charging for Dolby Digital Live and DTS encoding which they can include them in base model.

I use a PCIe version of the same card and it still runs great.

MakaveliI use a PCIe version of the same card and it still runs great.

Titanium HD is a PCIe only card :)

x-fi titanium with fp jack noise headphone here... :/
change mobo with same sound card same noise.....
change fp panel with same noise.....
use built in sound ... no noise....
conclusion... bad bad sound card fp panel slot....
i just wonder if ae-5 fp panel have any noise... :P

I can't even remember when I used the front jack last time, been years since I've even plugged the cable in a soundcard/motherboard.

My NZXT case front panel audio works well. Since its a bother to connect headphone and microphone at the back, I use my front connector. I don't hear any noise or interference.

Dave65Nothing but trouble with them. But it was years ago and I swore Id never use their products again..

I would have wanted to see that. Not to make fun but just to see it and understand it better.

I have the"original" AE5 and I'm quite happy with it even though I'm not sure I can tell the difference between that and the on board solution with my cloud alpha. The drivers used to be a pain a long time ago, win xp and Vista and sometimes win 7 with cards made before 2000 but they haven't been an issue for years now. TBH if you don't want to invest in a complete audio solution, on board is fine for the vast majority of people.

Chloe PriceTitanium HD is a PCIe only card :)

Correct sorry there are so many versions of this card.

I have the PCI Express X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro

Here already is so much wrong posted again... as I said... seldom who understand how to compare two audio products, and has nothing to with listening tests. Is a pure torture test, like Cmaris does with his PSU's. No feelings, huge amount of data and possible faults. Even the news post stating that this thing does not have a rollable OPAMPS is a blessing, not a con. Most people don't understand the physics and parameters, that influence noise and distortion plot from variable device characteristics. It is not a child play... go roll some parts in your power supply too, afraid? I wonder why, they don't differ that much actually, especially the AXI DSP based series...

People living in the past, complaining with drivers, should understand, that on most parts it was not Creative fault, but Microsoft. Most of complainers haven't had a card at all, others most probably had a broken product, that needed RMA. Second hype wagon with USB's DAC's do not understand that they are fed on marketing, that is based bashing older solutions in order to SELL, they are the same and suffer from same issues. Including rail noise, jitter, distortion, heavy latency and most importantly - poor design!!! Poor sheep.

So why one earth this PLUS is needed remains strange. This cards selling point is his discrete headphone amplifier section, nothing complicated, but so robust and properly set it excels and leaves into dust many solutions, especially with problematic headphones that are not easy to drive.

They are screwing again with Microsoft software stack, as such features like DTS and DDL are now intended to be in the market and as separate audio stack feature. I am afraid they are risking with the fact, Microsoft will get annoyed again. I am also sure the latency will be horrid again with those things. It not meant for gaming, so basically it is marketed a gamer card, yet these things do not fit there really. You will get shot before you heard the footsteps.