X-Fi Support Syndicate & Owner's Clubhouse

[grunt_408]

On both of my cards, they use Jamicons - same with an Elite Pro I've had my hands on.

I've seen Xtreme Gamer and Xtreme Music cards use Luxon or Jamicons, depending on the revision of the card.

From the pics of the Titaniums I've seen, looks like they're still using Jamis as well.





added - welcome aboard, man. Which card did you pick up?

PCI Xfi-xtreme music

I couldnt afford to lash out too much

 

[FreedomEclipse]

well - I did try it out & the good news that it worked but in light of that i have sacrificed the EQ controls to get it working so i cant tweak the sound..... oh well looks like its back to Square 1

 

[vega22]

anybody which services i need to have running on v64 for my xfi to work?

 

[imperialreign]

anybody which services i need to have running on v64 for my xfi to work?

not really sure what you mean?

have you disabled any of the Creative services?

 

[kenkickr]

I think I have a X-fi issue. Last night my girlfriend and I were watching "The Love Guru" and after about 2-3min the first two times we would watch it the system would just hard lock(screen freezes but no BSOD). I figured it had something to do with my OC so I turned it down to stock and the third try was a charm, watched movie without a problem but I'd here some crackling every now and then. This morning I was trying to listen to to the new Metallica album. Went out for a smoke, came back in; and the system was hard locked again!! I guess I'll try going back to the onboard sound. Could this be the cheap ass capicator issue I've been reading about?

 

[imperialreign]

I think I have a X-fi issue. Last night my girlfriend and I were watching "The Love Guru" and after about 2-3min the first two times we would watch it the system would just hard lock(screen freezes but no BSOD). I figured it had something to do with my OC so I turned it down to stock and the third try was a charm, watched movie without a problem but I'd here some crackling every now and then. This morning I was trying to listen to to the new Metallica album. Went out for a smoke, came back in; and the system was hard locked again!! I guess I'll try going back to the onboard sound. Could this be the cheap ass capicator issue I've been reading about?

well, possibly, but how long have you had the card? Still, if it was a capacitor failing, you could verify that by pulling the card and looking at the caps - any failed units would either be leaking, or the top of the cap will be expanded like a balloon about to burst.

what program were you using to watch the movie, and which program while listening to audio - have you ever had any issues with these programs before?


Also - how long have you had the motherboard, and what kind of an OC do you run (25%, 35%, 50%, etc)? I get the feeling it's a hardware issue right off the back - right now, I'm thinking either the X-Fi is dying, or the PCI slot is dying.

 

[kenkickr]

I did look at the card about a month ago after reading this thread and didn't notice any bulging or leaking but haven't since. The card I purchased over a year ago and the motherboard I picked up in April. The programs I use are Windows Media Player 11 on Vista Home Premium 64 and most of the time I use PowerDVD. Tonight I'll try the card on my old ECS KA3-MVP board to see what it does. With the OC, I have my Phenom 9850, which runs stock @ 2.5Ghz, up to 2.8Ghz right now.

 

[imperialreign]

I did look at the card about a month ago after reading this thread and didn't notice any bulging or leaking but haven't since. The card I purchased over a year ago and the motherboard I picked up in April. The programs I use are Windows Media Player 11 on Vista Home Premium 64 and most of the time I use PowerDVD. Tonight I'll try the card on my old ECS KA3-MVP board to see what it does. With the OC, I have my Phenom 9850, which runs stock @ 2.5Ghz, up to 2.8Ghz right now.

that doesn't sound too extreme, really, of an OC.

If you try the card on another board, try using PowerDVD as well.

There have been a lot of issues with the X-Fi drivers, in regards to Vista (especially x64) and PowerDVD. The software and drivers don't seem to cooperate well, and Cyberlink's codecs can even wreak havoc on Media Player.

If you're up for it, possibly try removing PowerDVD and it's codecs, and try installing another DVD player software if you have one; or even see if you have issues trying to watch a DVD in Media Player without PowerDVD installed.

 

[kenkickr]

I will try that and keep you updated.

 

[kenkickr]

Saturday night the GF and I watched another movie, The Shining, and not a single issue. The thing I noticed there wasn't even any garble, crackling sounds at all during the movie which I've noticed with the X-fi in. So after the movie I played some MVP08 and again not a problem. Let the system run all night and tried again to listen to the new Metallica album. Album sounded great and no issues with the sound.

Something I forgot to mention. When I had the X-fi in the sound seemed to switch channels on it's own. I know it sounds weird but even my GF noticed it, and she's not much of an audiophile.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I used to have an x-fi,i too am back on onboard sound with no problems.Its a shame as it was such a good card on xp.

 

[eidairaman1]

My Opinion, i think it is a ploy so they can sell the XFi Titanium (PCIe X1) parts, i guess because they view they have no competition, yet they do in the Form of Auzentech, HT_Omega, and Blue Gears, but this adoption of PCIe Slots lower than 16X is extremely slow, i mean PCI Express has been out for 4 years already and only thing really utilizing them are video cards.

 

[imperialreign]

My Opinion, i think it is a ploy so they can sell the XFi Titanium (PCIe X1) parts, i guess because they view they have no competition, yet they do in the Form of Auzentech, HT_Omega, and Blue Gears, but this adoption of PCIe Slots lower than 16X is extremely slow, i mean PCI Express has been out for 4 years already and only thing really utilizing them are video cards.

well, aside from video cards, there isn't anything else out there that can really make use of all the bandwidth offered by even a PCIEx1 slot.

The X-Fi APU, though, is a different matter. The majority of it's early problems with PCI cards was no having enough bandwidth on the PCI BUS, and systems that would cut it's BUS access times. Only way to fix it was to send the card back to Creative for a revised model (different BIOS), or increase your PCI latency timing to give the card more access to the BUS.

The APU on the titanium, though, can make use of almost the full PCIEx1 bandwidth, in a native environment as well (no translator chip). Only audio card with that much processing power to need that kind of system communication.

Aside from that, the only reason ASUS and HT Omega jumped on the PCIEx1 idea was to offer better system build flexibility due to how few PCI slots are avaiable on modern motherboards - coupled with enthusiasts running 2 or 3 video cards, that usually eliminates all but 1 PCI slot . . . and if you have a need for a WiFi adapter, the audio card gets nixed, and the users runs with onboard . . .

Saturday night the GF and I watched another movie, The Shining, and not a single issue. The thing I noticed there wasn't even any garble, crackling sounds at all during the movie which I've noticed with the X-fi in. So after the movie I played some MVP08 and again not a problem. Let the system run all night and tried again to listen to the new Metallica album. Album sounded great and no issues with the sound.

Something I forgot to mention. When I had the X-fi in the sound seemed to switch channels on it's own. I know it sounds weird but even my GF noticed it, and she's not much of an audiophile.

Unless I misunderstood you - this was with the onboard audio, correct? On Vista as well?

Onboard audio with Vista 32b and 64b is near about flawless due to the intergration of the audio kernel at the system level. Seeing as how the BIOS itself allows direct access to the onboard chipset, Vista doesn't have to "play nice" with any drivers . . .

once you get into expansion card audio, though, it's a different ball game - now you're hoping that the drivers are solid, and that Vista is willing to be a team player. Sadly, Creative isn't the only audio manufacturer out there with Vista issues - both Auzen, ASUS, HT Omega, Diamond, Razer and others seen to share the same headaches over and over (5.1-channel reverting to 2-channel, faulty channel upmixing, random channel volume changes, etc). The only reason, IMO, Creative have taken so much flak is because of their dominance in the audio market . . . kinda like, if y'all recall, Microsoft blaming nVidia for the majority of video-related crashes with Vista. Dominant market share = dominant issues and complaints.

 

[kenkickr]

Yes, that was done with the onboard audio. I have the X-fi in my friends build I'm doing for him to try it out for a week or so. If the card's fine I guess I'll just sell it on Ebay even though I can tell a HUGE difference in game sounds, the creative rocked the onboard audio. My bass sucks with the onboard audio now. Makes my Logitech 5300's sound like crap.

 

[imperialreign]

Yes, that was done with the onboard audio. I have the X-fi in my friends build I'm doing for him to try it out for a week or so. If the card's fine I guess I'll just sell it on Ebay even though I can tell a HUGE difference in game sounds, the creative rocked the onboard audio. My bass sucks with the onboard audio now. Makes my Logitech 5300's sound like crap.

you have an nForce motherboard, correct?


If so, I would recommend moving over to a Xonar or something - but I've seen quite a few reports recently where the DX cards are starting to have issues with nForce motherboards . . .

much like Creative did a couple of years ago

 

[kenkickr]

I have a 790FX chipset motherboard. The Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe.

 

[imperialreign]

I have a 790FX chipset motherboard. The Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe.

Odd . . . never heard of any issues with AMD's chipsets . . . but it very well could be - I'm still thinking it's a hardware related conflict or something similar.

 

[ShadowFold]

Why is it asking me to login to some guru3d thing when I go to the topic page?

 

[eidairaman1]

On the first part the card i have, i dont experience any problems, but then again im running XP with last known drivers to work well with it, i think they cut driver support so they can sell the titanium.

well, aside from video cards, there isn't anything else out there that can really make use of all the bandwidth offered by even a PCIEx1 slot.

The X-Fi APU, though, is a different matter. The majority of it's early problems with PCI cards was no having enough bandwidth on the PCI BUS, and systems that would cut it's BUS access times. Only way to fix it was to send the card back to Creative for a revised model (different BIOS), or increase your PCI latency timing to give the card more access to the BUS.

The APU on the titanium, though, can make use of almost the full PCIEx1 bandwidth, in a native environment as well (no translator chip). Only audio card with that much processing power to need that kind of system communication.

Aside from that, the only reason ASUS and HT Omega jumped on the PCIEx1 idea was to offer better system build flexibility due to how few PCI slots are avaiable on modern motherboards - coupled with enthusiasts running 2 or 3 video cards, that usually eliminates all but 1 PCI slot . . . and if you have a need for a WiFi adapter, the audio card gets nixed, and the users runs with onboard . . .




Unless I misunderstood you - this was with the onboard audio, correct? On Vista as well?

Onboard audio with Vista 32b and 64b is near about flawless due to the intergration of the audio kernel at the system level. Seeing as how the BIOS itself allows direct access to the onboard chipset, Vista doesn't have to "play nice" with any drivers . . .

once you get into expansion card audio, though, it's a different ball game - now you're hoping that the drivers are solid, and that Vista is willing to be a team player. Sadly, Creative isn't the only audio manufacturer out there with Vista issues - both Auzen, ASUS, HT Omega, Diamond, Razer and others seen to share the same headaches over and over (5.1-channel reverting to 2-channel, faulty channel upmixing, random channel volume changes, etc). The only reason, IMO, Creative have taken so much flak is because of their dominance in the audio market . . . kinda like, if y'all recall, Microsoft blaming nVidia for the majority of video-related crashes with Vista. Dominant market share = dominant issues and complaints.

 

[grunt_408]

I have hda no issues using my xfi with my 64-bit vista

 

[eidairaman1]

yet why does your machine say audigy 4?

 

[imperialreign]

Why is it asking me to login to some guru3d thing when I go to the topic page?

I just noticed that - thanks for pointing it out . . . I'll have to doublecheck any links or images I might have up . . .

On the first part the card i have, i dont experience any problems, but then again im running XP with last known drivers to work well with it, i think they cut driver support so they can sell the titanium.

I'm kinda fenceposted on the issue with them cutting driver support - looking back in hindsight, especially concerning the Dank drivers and all -

I think there was some issues with Vista with the X-Fi and Audigy drivers in regards to some features, and for the time being, some of those features were cut because they were just too buggy . . .

wouldn't be an issue with temporarily removing features if A) you mention it in part of the driver release notes, and B) you release official drivers more than once a year . . .

then the issue with Daniel_k drivers re-enabling these features, that's fine and good, but any issues, and people (not thinking) run back to Creative for support. That's fine though, they'll just turn them away like any other comany would for using unsupported drivers . . . but, admitting publicly to removing features, and not stating why they were removed - pissed people off. Coupled with the fact that Creative were griping over the enabled Dolby encoding X-Fi support (which broke trade agreements between Creative, Auzen and Dolby), and impaired the upcoming license agreements of the Titanium (which is Dolby encoding enabled), turned into a big hoozah of conspiracy.


I'm not sure if my take on it is right - it's been slowly pieced together from various tidbits of information from various reliable sites. no one, though, has ever officially explained what all went on and for why.


Would it surprise me if Creative (at that point in time) had removed features from the X-Fi's to help sell the Titanium's for Vista . . . not in the least.

As of right now, though, the company seems to making a complete change of direction; they're opening their doors to other companies, starting to supply us with a more constant and consistent driver and software updates, including betas . . . and they seem to be actually listening to their customers again.

Here's hoping, though, that they continue along this path back towards the Creative I remember from 15+ years ago. It's still too soon to say one way or the other.




-------------



Oh, and I agree with you as well with X-Fi drivers - although I tend to recommend updating to see if new drivers fix any issues you might run across . . . I also recommend that if everything is functioning perfectly fine - leave them alone!

Only reason I upgrade my drivers every time is to keep up with new issues - see if anything crops up, how to tackle it and so forth.

 

[kenkickr]

I tried the X-fi in my friends system(ECS KA3-MVP motherboard, Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 2Gb Crucial Balistix DDR2-800, XP MCE) and not an issue at all. I've done some reading and have seen some still experience issues with 4Gb+ of memory, which I have, and/or lack of good drivers for Vista 64-bit, which I have. I'm going to throw the card up on Ebay and get a Asus Xonar D2 since I also read quite a few people have had good luck with that card and Vista 64.

 

[imperialreign]

I tried the X-fi in my friends system(ECS KA3-MVP motherboard, Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 2Gb Crucial Balistix DDR2-800, XP MCE) and not an issue at all. I've done some reading and have seen some still experience issues with 4Gb+ of memory, which I have, and/or lack of good drivers for Vista 64-bit, which I have. I'm going to throw the card up on Ebay and get a Asus Xonar D2 since I also read quite a few people have had good luck with that card and Vista 64.

if the card is working fine on someone else's system - either bad PCI slot on the motherboard (very doubtful), or, as you just mentioned but I had completely forgotten (especially with 4GB on Vista), buggy drivers.

The way I understand it, Creative have significantly improved the 4GB/Vista issue, but some users still run into problems. I wish I knew a bit better what caused it as well, cause then I might be able to offer a workaround.


Well, good luck with the Xonar, man! They're great cards in their own right, and are on par with (and in the case of the lower end X-Fi's, better than) the X-Fi lineup.

If you happen to run into any issues with it, I'm more than willing to help there as well!

 

[kenkickr]

Thanks for the help you have provided so far, and I'll keep you up to date when I get my Xonar.