X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

[ShadowFold]

Can I join? I have a Creative X-Fi Platinum.

 

[imperialreign]

Can I join? I have a Creative X-Fi Platinum.

sure thing, man!

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Hi hi - as a few of you know I recently bought a set of Logitech Z-5500 speakers. now I have managed to get SPDIF working with my onboard sound but I cant for the love of Allah get it to work on my XFi Xtreme Music.

I have read online in various forums that I can connect up through the flexijack port using the Digital I/O module - but it still doesnt work. - I tried the EXACT same thing on my laptop & it worked. I cant get a signal up

this is what the website said

Now that you know how to have a digital connection available on your sound card, you still need to buy a digital cable to connect your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers, if you don’t have one yet. Here you have two options, to buy an inexpensive coaxial SPDIF cable (a.k.a. RCA mono cable) or an optical Toslink cable (i.e. optic fiber), which is more expensive but is the best way to connect your equipment. Keep in mind that X-Fi Titanium, X-Fi Xreme Audio PCI Express and X-Fi XtremeGamer only support optical connection.

The simply connect your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers. You can learn how this is done thru our How To Connect Your PC to Your Home Stereo or Home Theater tutorial.

After connecting your sound card to your home theater receiver or digital speakers (and selecting the correct input on your home theater) you need to configure your PC to send audio thru the sound card SPDIF out connector, if you are using the FlexiJack connector (i.e. you are using the Digital I/O module or have an X-Fi XtremeGamer).

This is done thru your sound card’s control panel, depending on the mode you are currently running your sound card under:

* Entertainment Mode: Click the Digital I/O icon, then on the next screen, click “Digital I/O”.
* Audio Creation Mode: Click the Settings button, then under Digital I/O click “Digital I/O”.
* Game Mode: Click the Settings button, then under Digital I/O click “Digital I/O”.

help help

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Meh - I just had a look behind my pc & it appears that the redlight for the flexi jack has either burnt it self out or theres an issue with my drivers.

I can still use the onboard SPDIF for stuff so not much of a loss i suppose

might get myself a Xonar when i get the cash soon

 

[imperialreign]

not completely sure I followed what all you mentioned, but try this:


along with the instructions above to enable Digital I/O from within the console launcher, go to Start\Control Panel\Sound and Audio devices\

under "device volume" click the 'advanced' button, on the left side, under "Play Control Volume," hit the 'advanced' button. In the box labeled "other controls," ensure that Digital I/O is checked (again, for some reason, changes made in Creative's software doesn't carry over to WIN).

Let me know if that makes any difference or not.

 

[btarunr]

An interesting find:

Audigy used to upsample everything to 24-bit and in a way faced flack from the audiophile community, remember? With X-Fi, they said this doesn't happen. I don't think so.

You need: The latest Winamp, an .mp3 which you're damn sure was encoded for 16-bit / 44.1 kHz.

Go to Winamp preferences, set the output plugin as "Nullsoft WaveOut". (this creates a software pass between the audio and the driver, no DirectSound. Play your .mp3 file. Do you see such a screen?

^Look at the output format the sound card is receiving from the driver.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

not completely sure I followed what all you mentioned, but try this:


along with the instructions above to enable Digital I/O from within the console launcher, go to Start\Control Panel\Sound and Audio devices\

under "device volume" click the 'advanced' button, on the left side, under "Play Control Volume," hit the 'advanced' button. In the box labeled "other controls," ensure that Digital I/O is checked (again, for some reason, changes made in Creative's software doesn't carry over to WIN).

Let me know if that makes any difference or not.

yeah I tried that all ready - but if theres no red laser thing there then the signal aint being transferd.

do you guys still think its worth picking up an Xtreme Gamer???

 

[imperialreign]

yeah I tried that all ready - but if theres no red laser thing there then the signal aint being transferd.

do you guys still think its worth picking up an Xtreme Gamer???

so, are you running optical or coaxial SPDIF?

It's quite possible the I/O module is buggared as well.

If you're looking to replace the card, though, I can't really recommend any brand over another, as they all playback digital equally well - but as far as connectivity goes, the only X-Fi's with SPDIF outputs are the Titaniums, which use TOSLINK. I believe some of the Xonars have coaxial SPDIF connections, as well as some of the Auzens . . . some also use optical as well.

An interesting find:

Audigy used to upsample everything to 24-bit and in a way faced flack from the audiophile community, remember? With X-Fi, they said this doesn't happen. I don't think so.

You need: The latest Winamp, an .mp3 which you're damn sure was encoded for 16-bit / 44.1 kHz.

Go to Winamp preferences, set the output plugin as "Nullsoft WaveOut". (this creates a software pass between the audio and the driver, no DirectSound. Play your .mp3 file. Do you see such a screen?

. . . .

^Look at the output format the sound card is receiving from the driver.

that's quite interesting . . . would explain why sometimes you might hear a little bit of a snap or crackle at the beginning of playback . . .


question: does it also do that for all 3 hardware modes?

 

[btarunr]

question: does it also do that for all 3 hardware modes?

Yes, all three modes.

@FreedomEclipse: Yes, it's absolutely worth it.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

so, are you running optical or coaxial SPDIF?

It's quite possible the I/O module is buggared as well.

TOSLINK through via flexijack - I/O Module - I use to see a little red light there on one of the audio ports but i cant see that anymore. seesssh everything in this house seems to be breaking

in these last few months alone ive had:

1 TV broke
1 Pc monitor broke
1 surround sound speaker set broke - but that was broken a long time ago but i only replaced it now
1 my practise guitar amp
1 cold cathode tube broke (inside my pc)
1 laptop broke

god must be punishing me for something.

 

[zeKxa]

:/

Hey guys!

I just bought a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It works like a charm but i got few questions/problems:

1. How can i use my desktop speakers 2.0 when im not using my headset?
2. How can i use the output optical exit of my motherboard, it doesnt work anymore...

Thanks.

 

[imperialreign]

Hey guys!

I just bought a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It works like a charm but i got few questions/problems:

1. How can i use my desktop speakers 2.0 when im not using my headset?
2. How can i use the output optical exit of my motherboard, it doesnt work anymore...

Thanks.

1. - how do you have your headset connected to the card? If it's through the PCI bracket on the back, you're not in much luck . . . unless your speakers have a headphone jack on them, in which case, plug your speakers into the card, and your headset into the speaker jack . . .

otherwise, to enable front panel support, you'll have to modifiy the front panel connector to attach to the header on the X-Fi

you'll still have to open the console launcher, though, and manually switch the speaker output configuration between headphones and 2/2.1 though


2. - not sure I understand . . . are you talking about an optical jack from your motherboard's onboard audio?

 

[zeKxa]

1. Well i would like to be able to plug my 2.0 speakers AND my headset on the card, but it seems its impossible

2. On my mobo, i got an optical out connection. I got a cable plug to it to my Home Theater receiver. But now that i got my audio crad, this connector is not working anymore, probably because the onboard audio is disabled and Creative card enabled. I would like to be able to use this optical out conection on my mobo + using my creative X-Fi for my headset and my 2.0 desktop speakers.

 

[imperialreign]

1. Well i would like to be able to plug my 2.0 speakers AND my headset on the card, but it seems its impossible

2. On my mobo, i got an optical out connection. I got a cable plug to it to my Home Theater receiver. But now that i got my audio crad, this connector is not working anymore, probably because the onboard audio is disabled and Creative card enabled. I would like to be able to use this optical out conection on my mobo + using my creative X-Fi for my headset and my 2.0 desktop speakers.

1) Well, the only option to be able to have both plugged onto the car would be to enable a front panel connection, and leave the stereo plugged into the read of the card. The headset would have to plug into the front panel.


2) If probably could be done - if you check to make sure the onboard is enabled within the system BIOS. You'll have to make sure there aren't any hardware or driver conflicts between the onboard and the X-Fi.

Then, you'll have to open what ever programs you have that you'd like to use the optical connection with, and see if there's a way to set the default device for it to use - which would be the onboard. If the software doesn't have any option to set it, you might have to manually change the hardward device in WIN control panel every time you want to go from the X-Fi to your optical connection and back.

SPDIF might be an option, but you'd still need to obtain the mini Digital I/O module for the X-Fi as the card doesn't have SPDIF outputs

 

[zeKxa]

1. If i plug my headset on front panel of my case it wont be linked to X-Fi card isnt it?

And what about this model? wich is the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion. I could plug my headset on the front, speakers 2.0 on the back of the card, and plus my home theater receiver on the optical back conector. Am i right?

Thanks for help by the way

 

[imperialreign]

1. If i plug my headset on front panel of my case it wont be linked to X-Fi card isnt it?

And what about this model? wich is the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion. I could plug my headset on the front, speakers 2.0 on the back of the card, and plus my home theater receiver on the optical back conector. Am i right?

Thanks for help by the way

no, if you plugged in the front panel connector on the motherboard, it won't use the X-Fi. If you have the card I'm thinking of, there isn't the standard 10-pin AC97 header on the card, which means you'd have to modify the connector to fit Creative's front panel style header.

but, if you exchanged the card for the Titanium Champion series (the ones that come with the front panel drive) . . . you're very much right - the card itself has a connector for the AC97 style header, meaning your front panel will plug directly to the card with no modification; the rear of the card has 5 mini-jack plugs for analouge connectors, and the read also has an optical (TOSLINK) connector as well . . . the front panel drive has headphone connectors as well, in case your PC case does not.

If you're looking for full connectivity like that, I'd recommend exchanging the card, if possible.

 

[imperialreign]

A new X-Fi beta driver is available for non-Titanium and non-Xtreme Audio models, from Creative at: Download Center


release notes:

This download is a beta driver providing Microsoft® Windows Vista® and Windows® XP support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

Take note of the following:

THIS IS AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. There is no technical support for this driver.
We recommend that only experienced users install this driver. Do not install this driver on a system used to perform critical tasks.
Users who are looking for stable drivers should wait for the final release. When this happens, user should install the latest Sound Blaster X-Fi series driver available.


This download supports the following audio devices only:

• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty® Professional Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi

Added Features or Enhancements:

• Supports Dolby® Digital Live
• Supports DTS® Connect (For Windows Vista only)
• Requires the latest Creative Console Launcher application.

• To get the above mentioned features you will need to purchase the Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect software pack.
• For systems using Windows Vista
• To find out the Product ID of your audio device and if it supports the following features in Windows XP, click here.

• Dolby Digital and DTS decode re-established for sound cards that included decoding in their Windows XP drivers (Not applicable for products that included a 3rd party software DVD player license in the package).
• DVD-Audio playback re-established for sound cards that included the application in their Windows XP software suite (For Windows Vista 32-bit only).
• Requires the latest Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player software. Click here to download.

Fixes:

• Resolves issue of audio popping when playing AC-3 Wave files or using Dolby Digital Live via the digital output on Windows Vista.
• Resolves Audio Control Panel issue of incorrect X-Fi CMSS®-3D behavior while using Audio Creation Mode.

Requirements:

Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 or Windows XP MCE 2004
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above

 

[eidairaman1]

lmao, its been many years since they released a good Stable Driver 2006 driver is the one i use.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

over the last few days ive been considering getting a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. - my Xtreme Music seems to be the cause of sudden random BSOD's & crashes during boot up as i found out earlier.

the question is - shall i get the Titanium or just another cheapo replacement Xtreme Music OEM??

 

[imperialreign]

over the last few days ive been considering getting a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro. - my Xtreme Music seems to be the cause of sudden random BSOD's & crashes during boot up as i found out earlier.

the question is - shall i get the Titanium or just another cheapo replacement Xtreme Music OEM??

well, that all really depends on your needs -

if you intendto go vista soon, I'd recommend the Titanium; they have a lot more stable drivers in Vista than the rest of the lineup.

The Titanium is faster, overall, and using a PCIEx1 slot allows for better system configurability with multi-GPU setups; it has fewer stuttering issues due to system BUS overload, which results in less crackling, clipping, etc

But, is there an audio difference? Not much, if at all. The titanium uses the same PCB components that the other X-Fis use - DAC, ADC, OPAMPs, evn down to the capacitors . . . output quality is identicle.

But the XM might be hard to find - even if you can find one at a decent price, the titanium probably won't be much more expensive.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I can pick up an OEM X.M for roughly $31.68 (USD) - the Fata1ty Pro's cost almost double that.

with probably less consideration for vista (I will eventually but just not yet - I will wait till Dx.10 is a 'must' before jumping ship for vista)

I just want another solid soundcard to keep my Logitech 5500's kicking.

also the use of the whole optical out for DTS etc etc wouldnt go a miss since i like having less cables lying around,

 

[imperialreign]

I can pick up an OEM X.M for roughly $31.68 (USD) - the Fata1ty Pro's cost almost double that.

with probably less consideration for vista (I will eventually but just not yet - I will wait till Dx.10 is a 'must' before jumping ship for vista)

I just want another solid soundcard to keep my Logitech 5500's kicking.

also the use of the whole optical out for DTS etc etc wouldnt go a miss since i like having less cables lying around,

damn, dude - if you can get a Xm for $32, that's a deal hard to pass up.

I'll also mention, the Titanium has built in optical connection as well.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

damn, dude - if you can get a Xm for $32, that's a deal hard to pass up.

I'll also mention, the Titanium has built in optical connection as well.

Sorry my bad - I actually ment $80 not $32.

my local hardware shop has the OEMs going for $89.65 but im a little confused since there is a standard X.M then a 24bit X.M????


http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/creative-soundblaster-series-xtreme-music-sound-card-p-84111.html

 

[imperialreign]

Sorry my bad - I actually ment $80 not $32.

my local hardware shop has the OEMs going for $89.65 but im a little confused since there is a standard X.M then a 24bit X.M????


http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/creative-soundblaster-series-xtreme-music-sound-card-p-84111.html

no - all XMs are 24b capable.

The only difference is the retail to the OEM version, and the actual differences between them is so insignificant - it usually amounts to different brands of caps, sometimes vrms, nothing major. Both forms are identicle as far as capabilities are concerned.

 

[kysg]

Wow this thread is huge, whew I didn't read a whole lot of posts but I do know this, to be frank I think my xtreme gamer is overheating. No way am I replacing the card unless it dies which it hasn't sound cards are just not cheap...

but anyways um I need a good cooling solution for it, now I read that you can place a 40x40mm fan on top of the stock heatsink??? I'm also thinking of pulling mine off and just replacing not sure how to go about that though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119048 is this something I should look into????

not only that there is no mounting holes for the fan so should I just try duck taping it on there???