The X-Fi range has now set the standard for what any sound card, outside of a professional studio, should be capable of.
For home entertainment, the latest standards of audio reproduction are supported such as THX, DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX. That translates into extremely high fidelity sound that allows you to adapt for the acoustics of any given room.
On the gaming side, 64Mb of onboard memory and a hefty processor mean that there is almost zero CPU load during games, allowing for greater overall system performance with better immersion in the games due to the latest EAX (Advanced HD 5.0) environmental audio implementation. The pack comes with a special plug in for Doom3 to demonstrate this to its fullest.
To enhance both of these modes, there is the Crystaliser. This is a set of algorithms that analyses the sound signals from CD, DVD or MP3 and decides which bits may have been damaged or experienced loss in the compression process. It then calculates how much to enhance those sections by the level at which you set the Crystaliser function. The result is that even old MP3s shine with a new clarity and the difference is noticeable.
The music creator, though, wins on features. Low latency ASIO drivers allow for multi-channel playback while recording. A full version of the indispensable studio tool Cubase LE is also provided. For review, we were able to set a drum track, three MIDI tracks for a rhythm section and then have three audio tracks layered over each other to complete what was the equivalent of a 5 piece band. This highlighted another major boon for the music creator, the electric guitar was able to plug directly to the break out box due to high-impedance on the inputs. Previously, to connect a guitar to a PC, you needed to go through an effects pedal or something with a pre-amp, but no longer.
There were one or two gripes however. This card is somewhat expensive even for the top of the games/entertainment market. The other gripe is that the control software while good, does seem a little over done stylistically. It seems that while the CPU is unloaded by the capability of the card, the video card is taxed slightly displaying all of the trick graphics in the interface.
Verdict 9/10
All in all, this is a major step forward for a home sound card and brings levels of performance that are not bordering on but easily overlapping the lower levels of professional cards.
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