X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

EarlZ · Feb 7, 2010

This started happening when I got my 5.1 speaker system ( Logitech Z-5500 ) sometimes I would lose all sound from the right channel ( both front and rear and sometimes including center ) and sometimes the volume is at an extremely low level even if the sound card output is at 100% now fixing this is either a reboot or a change of audio mode Game to Ent ( vice versa ) Is creative working on a permanent fix for this one ? Im using X-Fi Extreme Music and Windows 7 64bit 8GB of ram

Mussels · Feb 7, 2010

EarlZ said:
This started happening when I got my 5.1 speaker system ( Logitech Z-5500 ) sometimes I would lose all sound from the right channel ( both front and rear and sometimes including center ) and sometimes the volume is at an extremely low level even if the sound card output is at 100% now fixing this is either a reboot or a change of audio mode Game to Ent ( vice versa ) Is creative working on a permanent fix for this one ? Im using X-Fi Extreme Music and Windows 7 64bit 8GB of ram

honestly, creative would just tell you its the speakers, go f**k yourself, buy our latest card.

EarlZ · Feb 7, 2010

Well its clearly not the speakers since switching modes on the sound card fixes the issue, never had this problem when I was in 2.0 mode though.

Anyway for my previous post about the volume in gaming, is this an expected issue when your speaker setup is running in 5.1 mode , since I never had this volume problem back when I was using 2.1 I already reset all the volume levels and placed WMP/Winamp at 100% volume on their own settings, my sound card volume is at 25% while gaming i need to increase my Z-5500 volume to 75% to hear anything.. gonna try 2.0 mode later on and see if its just a 5.1 issue.

Mussels · Feb 7, 2010

to be honest, the only times when volume appears 'low' in 5.1 over 2.0, is when you've missed a channel/wired it incorrectly.

You know, missing the center channel would sound normal most of the time, except voices would be quiet (as they appear somewhat on the front channels, it'd be quiet, not silent)

Reefer86 · Feb 7, 2010

sounds like the same issues i used to have in the early drivers in vista, ive had no problems at all running under windows 7

imperialreign · Feb 8, 2010

EarlZ said:
Well its clearly not the speakers since switching modes on the sound card fixes the issue, never had this problem when I was in 2.0 mode though.

Anyway for my previous post about the volume in gaming, is this an expected issue when your speaker setup is running in 5.1 mode , since I never had this volume problem back when I was using 2.1 I already reset all the volume levels and placed WMP/Winamp at 100% volume on their own settings, my sound card volume is at 25% while gaming i need to increase my Z-5500 volume to 75% to hear anything.. gonna try 2.0 mode later on and see if its just a 5.1 issue.

Do you have the latest version of OpenAL installed? It's a semi-"critical" API for both Vista and WIN7 - most games and apps support OpenAL (to an extent), and if they don't they can still make use of it (as the audio card drivers will can and will make use of it). It allows for proper channel mixing from an application through the OS kernel . . . if the game or app is being forced to go through WIN's kernal APIs, channel downmixing will occur, and possibly even be routed to the wrong output. Usually, the downmixing will retain LF/RF, while cutting everything else. The only apps that aren't affected by this "phenomena" are those that are "imbeded" into the OS - think apps like WIN Media Player. If it's a MS app, you won't have to worry about it being a problem.

Yeah, it sucks, and has been one of my only major gripes with Vista and WIN7, but nothing we can do about it . . . XP wasn't affected by this tripe, as applications could directly access the hardware. They can't with Vista/WIN7, the audio calls must be passed through the OS kernel and "translated" by the API . . .

EarlZ · Feb 8, 2010

Yes i have OpenAL installed, its just that the volume is extremely low when gaming no sound is dropped every thing is ultra crisp i just need to boost the volume from 25% to 75%-95%

So to avoid me constantly changing volumes I lowered Winamp and WMP's own volume, Winamp is now at about 15% software volume while WMP is between 50% to 100% coz some movies really have ultra low volumes that im aware of.

imperialreign · Feb 8, 2010

Double check the individual channel settings in WIN's audio control panel. It doesn't always synch to the X-Fi control panel properly . . . which can leave some channels quieter than others when you make adjustments.

EarlZ · Feb 9, 2010

All channels are on the same sound level.. Probably Winamp just has a very loud software volume ?

imperialreign · Feb 12, 2010

EarlZ said:
All channels are on the same sound level.. Probably Winamp just has a very loud software volume ?

It's possible . . .

Vista as well is a bit louder than XP is, and I'm still not 100% sure why that is . . . it's quite annoying, as volume adjustments made in Vista are not exactly the same needed in XP.

T3kl0rd · Feb 12, 2010

Love my X-Fi XtremeMusic Card and the clarity it brings to my PC's sound. I can hear the difference when EAX is enabled for sure. Takes cycles off my already overloaded P4, so this is a must have for me. Creative has a monopoly with the EAX function, so you are really shoehorned into getting X-Fi if you want the best sound. :ohwell:

imperialreign · Feb 12, 2010

T3kl0rd said:
Love my X-Fi XtremeMusic Card and the clarity it brings to my PC's sound. I can hear the difference when EAX is enabled for sure. Takes cycles off my already overloaded P4, so this is a must have for me. Creative has a monopoly with the EAX function, so you are really shoehorned into getting X-Fi if you want the best sound.

Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

Mussels · Feb 13, 2010

winamp at 50% volume = unboosted.

Past that, it amplifies the sound internally.

Wile E · Feb 13, 2010

Mussels said:
winamp at 50% volume = unboosted.

Past that, it amplifies the sound internally.

Actually, the last time I used Winamp, it's volume slider did nothing but change the Windows main volume. It's part of the reason I switched to Foobar2000. Open the Windows slider and change WinAmp's volume, and see if it still does it.

Mussels · Feb 13, 2010

Wile E said:
Actually, the last time I used Winamp, it's volume slider did nothing but change the Windows main volume. It's part of the reason I switched to Foobar2000. Open the Windows slider and change WinAmp's volume, and see if it still does it.

i've seen it do both - i think its related to what output mode its using (directsound/waveout?)

ToTTenTranz · Feb 13, 2010

imperialreign said:
Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

Truth be told, game devs are too lazy with everything that's not console-related.

FreedomEclipse · Feb 13, 2010

imperialreign said:
Well - thing is with EAX . . . everyone could support it, to an extent. The OpenAL API supports the majority of EAX calls through EAX 4.0HD, and even some from EAX 5.0HD . . . thing is, game devs are just too lazy to dig into OpenAL and make use of the features (even though it's absolutely free) . . .

meh . . . I'm not going to get back on my soap box

everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

----

Ive been with Asus Xonars since November or last year & honestly i have to say that I miss my creative Fata1ty becase Asus's DS3DGX engine thats similar to creative alchemy still needs a fair bit of work & i had a fair few CTD's while gaming because of it.

creative drivers did take a lot of time to mature though but Asus's drivers are a bit of a laugh - theyve only released 2-3 drivers since windows 7 was in beta & they probably wont release another update until the end of the year.

kenkickr · Feb 13, 2010

FreedomEclipse said:
everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

----

Ive been with Asus Xonars since November or last year & honestly i have to say that I miss my creative Fata1ty becase Asus's DS3DGX engine thats similar to creative alchemy still needs a fair bit of work & i had a fair few CTD's while gaming because of it.

creative drivers did take a lot of time to mature though but Asus's drivers are a bit of a laugh - theyve only released 2-3 drivers since windows 7 was in beta & they probably wont release another update until the end of the year.

I wish I would have seen this before I purchased a Xonar D2X a couple days ago

ToTTenTranz · Feb 13, 2010

FreedomEclipse said:
everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

As imperialreign said, if you stick to OpenAL routines, no one has to pay anything to Creative.

brandonwh64 · Feb 13, 2010

does a SupremeFX X-Fi count to be in the club?

Mussels · Feb 13, 2010

brandonwh64 said:
does a SupremeFX X-Fi count to be in the club?

having a realtek X-fi lets me talk in here

brandonwh64 · Feb 13, 2010

so if its onboard then it doesnt count?

FreedomEclipse · Feb 13, 2010

kenkickr said:
I wish I would have seen this before I purchased a Xonar D2X a couple days ago

the Xonar is a great card! its just let down by driver support. games still work great on it. but a few games might have issues with the D3DGX engine - otherwise it works fine for most games

imperialreign · Feb 13, 2010

ToTTenTranz said:
Truth be told, game devs are too lazy with everything that's not console-related.

Agreed - to an extent . . . depends on the dev team. Some go to amazing lengths with their work (ID, Raven, CryTech, etc.), others just seem to get by with very little . . .

FreedomEclipse said:
everyone COULD support it - but they'd also need to play licensing fees to Creative & they probably charge depending on if they think the games going to be a winner or not.

As ToT pointed out, no one has to pay licensing fees for OpenAL. It's completely open source and freely available, and whatever features it supports are free to impliment . . . think of it like the OpenGL of the audio world.

Mussels said:
having a realtek X-fi lets me talk in here

I think the "mod" status might have something to do with it

Seriously, though, any X-Fi is welcome . . . hell, any audio discussion is welcome, no matter what hardware you're running - so long as it's not Creative bashing (there are other forums for such antics) . . . we're even open to USB device users . . .

FreedomEclipse said:
the Xonar is a great card! its just let down by driver support. games still work great on it. but a few games might have issues with the D3DGX engine - otherwise it works fine for most games

Agreed - I've only heard increasing complaints from ASUS' drivers, and it seems complaints about Creative's are dwindling. The Xonar series are great cards, just hampered by poor support . . .

Especially regarding ASUS' driver issues, I refer back to an earlier statement of mine where I had said that the larger their customer base gets, the more issues we'll see come out of the wood-work. Audio hardware is some of the pickiest and sensitive hardware in a PC, that fact hasn't changed at all over the last 20 years . . . instead, we've seen even more issues arise as other hardware has become faster and more powerful . . .

Same goes for Auzentech and their non-XFi cards - if their customer base continues to grow, we'll see more issues crop up with their drivers as well. Their X-Fi supported cards tend to follow the same route that Creative's go . . .

FreedomEclipse · Feb 13, 2010

Im tempted to pick up another creative card in the future - just because it has less issues since the drivers have matured

Processor	Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 Rev1.1
Cooling	Noctua D14
Memory	4GB G.Skill 9-10-9-27-1T 2133Mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX580 1.5Gb
Storage	2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	Samsung T220
Case	Lian Li PC-P80
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Extreme Music
Power Supply	Silverstone Strider Gold 850
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 Rev1.1
Cooling	Noctua D14
Memory	4GB G.Skill 9-10-9-27-1T 2133Mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX580 1.5Gb
Storage	2x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	Samsung T220
Case	Lian Li PC-P80
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Extreme Music
Power Supply	Silverstone Strider Gold 850
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Betty The Dirty Dragon
Processor	AMD 8350 @4.8
Motherboard	ASUS sabertooth rev 2
Cooling	Watercooling - Swiftech GTZ - XSPC RS360 - XSPC RX120
Memory	8GB corsair vengeance cas 9
Video Card(s)	280x 1100core 1600 mem
Storage	240 gb ssd- 2 tb Storage
Display(s)	Samsung 24" 2433BW
Case	Corsair 650d
Audio Device(s)	Xfi Fatality Titanium Pro
Power Supply	XFX 850 fully modular
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	УльтраФиолет
Processor	Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard	ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling	Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory	Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s)	Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage	(2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s)	Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case	Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply	Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software	Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores	3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313

System Name	The Venerable One
Processor	Intel Core i7 980x 3.33GHz
Motherboard	EVGA X58 FTW3
Cooling	Big Ass fan pointed at the motherboard with the side panel off FTW
Memory	12GB DDR3 1333
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Superclocked X2 in SLI
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256MB SSD/1.5TB HDD internal
Display(s)	Samsung SyncMaster 2443BWX 24" 1920X1200
Case	SK-503 Super Case
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Xtreme Music
Power Supply	SeaSonic 1000W Platinum Rated
Software	Windows 7 Home SP1 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	epic

System Name	The ClusterF**k
Processor	980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling	MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory	3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s)	Evga GTX 580
Storage	Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s)	HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply	ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software	Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4

Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro
Cooling	AiO 240mm
Memory	2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast 3600MHz CL18
Video Card(s)	Radeon RX 6900XT Reference (amd.com)
Storage	O.S.: 256GB SATA \| 2x 1TB SanDisk SSD SATA Data \| Games: 1TB Samsung 970 Evo
Display(s)	LG 34" UWQHD
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi XtremeMusic + Gigaworks SB750 7.1 THX
Power Supply	XFX 850W
Mouse	Logitech G502 Wireless
VR HMD	Lenovo Explorer
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	WorkInProgress
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory	2x32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32
Video Card(s)	Gainward RTX 4070Ti Phantom Reunion (The54thvoid Edition)
Storage	WD SN770 1TB (Boot)\|1x WD SN850X 8TB (Gaming)\| 2x2TB WD SN770\| 2x2TB+2x4TB Crucial BX500
Display(s)	LG GP850-B
Case	Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro\|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V573\|Speakers: JBL Control One\|Auna 300-CN\|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse	Logitech G502 X
Keyboard	Cherry G80-3000N (TKL)
Software	Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores	ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

System Name	Addison Clark
Processor	Ryzen 9 7950x3D delid
Motherboard	Asus X670E Hero
Cooling	Custom Bykski loop CPU, GPU, 2x 360 rads, and 1x 280 rad with Arctic P12 and P14 ARGB fans
Memory	G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage	Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s)	Samsung 57"
Case	Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platnium
Software	Win 11 Pro

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