[ADHDadditiv]

So I have an opportunity to buy a Creative x-fi Platinum, but its quite a few years old, just wondering if its worth the $100? And if it is, how to I connect the front plate to my computer if its using a ribbon?

 

[TwoCables]

It connects to the sound card. It connects to that large array of pins on it.

I don't know how good or bad the Platinum is today.

 

[jsc1973]

Sure, it's still a good card, but IMO it was never worth the money they wanted for it new. Plus, you're not only dealing with Creative driver "support," you're dealing with it on an older product. They have trouble writing decent drivers for their newest products, let alone an older one. If you need a 7.1 sound card, pick up one of the ASUS Xonar cards with the features you're looking for and call it a day.

 

[TwoCables]

Or, get the Titanium HD if you're going to spend more than $150.

$154.92 before shipping: http://ctl.net/sound-blaster-x-fi-titanium-hd (I can vouch for this being a good store)

Everyone else wants to charge at least $180 for it. Newegg wants about $250 for it!

 

[ADHDadditiv]

So, in other words, dont bother?

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

So, in other words, dont bother?

No. Check this out:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1014902/ocns-most-recommended-audio-products

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simca

Entry Level Audio Interfaces

If your goal is to get an internal soundcard for your PC then there are basically 3 recommendations for you. While there are many other good soundcards, I no longer recommend them because at those price points you'd be better off moving to an external DAC and dedicated headphone amplifier. The headphone amplifier on almost all sound cards are trash and are not meant to amp expensive headphones. They're honestly meant to do not much more than make the volume louder, and louder =/= sufficiently amplified.

The following that 3 soundcards I recommend based on price to performance ratio:

1. Asus Xonar DG - This is less than $30 soundcard and will drastically improve performance over your on board sound. Don't let the price tag fool you, this is a legitimate upgrade over onboard sound, that's how bad your onboard sound is! The sound card has a ~150 ohm amplifier on it that's only sufficient for amping low ohm headphones like Audio Technica M50s. This headphone amplifier is not meant to be paired with a pair of Senneiser HD600s and up. The Xonar DG is the PCI version. There's also a PCI-E version called the Xonar DGX and they both perform exactly the same.
2. Creative Titanium HD - This is now an aged card. It's no longer for sale, but if you can get your hands on it, it's an excellent sound card at ~$80. This will provide you with just about the best sound you can get via a sound card. As far as price/performance concerned, easily one of the best sound cards on the market. Many gamers are also very happy with the performance this card gave in many games at the time. The only downside to the Creative Titanium HD for some users is that it is only capable of driving ~330 ohm headphones. This honestly shouldn't be an issue, but if it is, then see the 3rd recommendation. An alternative to this would be the Asus Essence ST/X, which is also capable of "powering" 600 ohm headphones, but priced at double this amount, it's unfortunately NOT WORTH BUYING in most instances. Maybe if you can get the card for under say ~130 it would be worth the purchase. Otherwise, do not bother with this sound card.
3. Creative Soundblaster Z - This is one of the more recently releases Creative cards. After the Titanium phase they released a set of dreadful cards called "recon 3D". It was all a gimmick and performed horribly. Do not EVER buy those cards. The Z series however, is a good soundcard. While I don't personally feel the Zx and ZxR are worth the price you're paying for it, you can choose to upgrade to those higher versions if you see fit. Specs will tell you they're better than the Z, but real world performance may not give you that impression. Ultimately, on many accounts, the ZxR faired WORSE than the 2 generation old Titanium HD. While I would rather have the Titanium HD over the Z, this is a viable option at this price, especially if you're on a very strict budget and need a sound card that will run 600 ohm headphones. The amplifier on this card will do the trick, but it's not recommended you run 600 ohm headphones off this unless you know you'll be upgrading in the near future and are getting a great price on the headphones now.

 

[JAM3S121]

Why is the titanium hd suddenly so expensive? I got mine on amazon.com september 2012 for like $95 and it was direct from amazon warehouses.

 

[ADHDadditiv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

No. Check this out:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1014902/ocns-most-recommended-audio-products

Well ok, thanks!

 

[brucethemoose]

Would you use it with those Klipsh 2.1 speakers? Not worth $100 IMHO, that's asking WAY too much when a $40 Xonar is roughly equivalent, and you probably wouldn't notice a difference.

 

[TwoCables]

I added that Titanium HD to my cart on CTL.com, and the price began $178.89 before shipped. So, I went and found this for $155.03 shipped:

http://topbrandcomputers.com/Creative-Labs-70SB127000002-review-B0041OUA38-3

 

[ADHDadditiv]

Im not overly looking to get a stellar sound card ATM. I just found it local and went, hey this might be good. I mean all I have ATM for audio is a USB Logitech G35 headset and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

Im not overly looking to get a stellar sound card ATM. I just found it local and went, hey this might be good. I mean all I have ATM for audio is a USB Logitech G35 headset and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's.

But if you were willing to spend that much on a sound card, then spend it on something like the Titanium HD instead which is a thousand times better.

 

[brucethemoose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

Im not overly looking to get a stellar sound card ATM. I just found it local and went, hey this might be good. I mean all I have ATM for audio is a USB Logitech G35 headset and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's.

Why do you have cheap-ish sound with such an expensive rig

Try wiggling it down to $20, don't take it for over $25 if you want it. I got my used Xonar STX for ~$100 off Amazon, which is a superior, newer, and better supported soundcard.
Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

Im not overly looking to get a stellar sound card ATM. I just found it local and went, hey this might be good. I mean all I have ATM for audio is a USB Logitech G35 headset and Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's.

But if you were willing to spend that much on a sound card, then spend it on something like the Titanium HD instead which is a thousand times better.

If he had some analog headphones a TiHD would be nice, but the G35 is USB, and it won't help speakers that much.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

Why do you have cheap-ish sound with such an expensive rig

Try wiggling it down to $20, don't take it for over $25 if you want it. I got my used Xonar STX for ~$100 off Amazon, which is a far superior, newer, and better supported soundcard
If he had some analog speakers a TiHD would be nice, but it won't help speakers much.

He doesn't have a sound card. He's using onboard audio right now.

He has the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system. So, I'd say that he would definitely appreciate the Titanium HD. I have Altec Lansing's VS4121s which Altec Lansing considers to be "Value Computer Speakers", and yet I'm appreciating this card quite a bit. My previous card is the XtremeGamer. So, if I can appreciate the upgrade with a "crappy" speaker system like what I have, then certainly he would appreciate it with a much better system like the ProMedia 2.1. I heard this system in person at a friend's house; he had onboard audio in a cheap pre-built and I still wish my system sounded that good. I got a hell of a lot closer to it though with the Titanium HD.

 

[brucethemoose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

Why do you have cheap-ish sound with such an expensive rig

Try wiggling it down to $20, don't take it for over $25 if you want it. I got my used Xonar STX for ~$100 off Amazon, which is a far superior, newer, and better supported soundcard

If he had some analog speakers a TiHD would be nice, but it won't help speakers much.

He doesn't have a sound card. He's using onboard audio right now.

He has the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system. So, I'd say that he would definitely appreciate the Titanium HD. I have Altec Lansing's VS4121s which Altec Lansing considers to be "Value Computer Speakers", and yet I'm appreciating this card quite a bit. My previous card is the XtremeGamer. So, if I can appreciate the upgrade with a "crappy" speaker system like what I have, then certainly he would appreciate it with a much better system like the ProMedia 2.1.

There's nothing wrong with either speakers or a TiHD, but good soundcards are essentially a multi-channel DAC + headphone amp with some DSPs rolled into a high-value package. (EDIT: Old EAX games aside), the DAC is the only part that benefits the speakers, so you mind as well save money and buy a dedicated external DAC like a Schiit Modi.

http://schiit.com/products/modi

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

There's nothing wrong with either speakers or a TiHD, but good soundcards are essentially a multi-channel DAC + headphone amp with some DSPs rolled into a high-value package. (EDIT: Old EAX games aside), the DAC is the only part that benefits the speakers, so you mind as well save money and buy a dedicated external DAC like a Schiit Modi.

http://schiit.com/products/modi

Don't you mean that you might as well?

Anyway, again, I was providing the most simplistic solution - at least physically speaking. Plus, the Creative Console Launcher has a Graphic EQ and lots of other audio enhancements (not to mention the 3 different operating modes: Entertainment, Audio Creation, and Game). What do you get with the Modi? I mean, you're going to need all of that if you're going to be plugging computer speakers directly into it.

 

[ADHDadditiv]

Woah, calm down everyone. Like I said, I was only willing to spend the money because its local. If anything, I will get an amp and proper headset before I get a sound card due to that making more sense.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

Woah, calm down everyone. Like I said, I was only willing to spend the money because its local. If anything, I will get an amp and proper headset before I get a sound card due to that making more sense.

I'm just curious, I'm not trying to make a point here: would you like to have features in Windows like a Graphic EQ and other nice audio enhancements? Would you also like for different operating modes, like how Creative has Entertainment Mode, Audio Creation Mode, or Game Mode? Or, would something like the Modi be more than enough? I mean, if you connect the ProMedia 2.1s directly to something like the Modi, then you'll have one problem: all general audio outside of any media players that you use (like Winamp or something) will be flat. You will have no control over the the Graphic EQ. You might have control over treble and bass, but you won't be able to adjust 2k, 4k, and 8k - the most important ones. 16k is really only useful for younger people like teenagers because they can still hear that frequency. lol

Sure, maybe turning the treble up in the Windows audio control panel might help, but I don't know by how much.

I'm just asking because even though you might get superior audio quality in media players, general audio (including YouTube) will be flat and may end up sounding somewhat muffled. This is why I like good sound cards like the Sound Blaster cards: the Creative Console Launcher has everything that I could ever want for audio enhancements, including that all-important (at least to me) Graphic Equalizer. The only hardware I need is the sound card. With something like the Modi, I bet that I would also end up wanting to buy an external Graphic Equalizer.

 

[ADHDadditiv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables

I'm just curious, I'm not trying to make a point here: would you like to have features in Windows like a Graphic EQ and other nice audio enhancements? Would you also like for different operating modes, like how Creative has Entertainment Mode, Audio Creation Mode, or Game Mode? Or, would something like the Modi be more than enough? I mean, if you connect the ProMedia 2.1s directly to something like the Modi, then you'll have one problem: all general audio outside of any media players that you use (like Winamp or something) will be flat. You will have no control over the the Graphic EQ. You might have control over treble and bass, but you won't be able to adjust 2k, 4k, and 8k - the most important ones. 16k is really only useful for younger people like teenagers because they can still hear that frequency. lol

Sure, maybe turning the treble up in the Windows audio control panel might help, but I don't know by how much.

I'm just asking because even though you might get superior audio quality in media players, general audio (including YouTube) will be flat and may end up sounding somewhat muffled. This is why I like good sound cards like the Sound Blaster cards: the Creative Console Launcher has everything that I could ever want for audio enhancements, including that all-important (at least to me) Graphic Equalizer. The only hardware I need is the sound card. With something like the Modi, I bet that I would also end up wanting to buy an external Graphic Equalizer.

Oh I wouldn't be getting Modi. Doesn't interest me in the slightest. I mostly play games and such, though I do listen to music alot, having flat audio would be bad. Plus, if I'm going to get a higher end sound solution, I'm getting a sound card, amp and higher end headphones. Then eventually, separates and a nice big subwoofer. Maybe like a 300RMS one meant for car audio just for BASS! lol.
ATM though, I can't really afford to get all that, so I'm not gunna worry about it. Thanks for the suggestions though!

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADHDadditiv

Oh I wouldn't be getting Modi. Doesn't interest me in the slightest. I mostly play games and such, though I do listen to music alot, having flat audio would be bad. Plus, if I'm going to get a higher end sound solution, I'm getting a sound card, amp and higher end headphones. Then eventually, separates and a nice big subwoofer. Maybe like a 300RMS one meant for car audio just for BASS! lol.
ATM though, I can't really afford to get all that, so I'm not gunna worry about it. Thanks for the suggestions though!

Oh, I forgot about gaming. Yeah, the gaming audio would be flat too (outside of adjusting the treble in Windows). Without an external Graphic EQ, everything except for music and movies would be flat because most media players have their own built-in Graphic Equalizer that you can use and customize.

With your ProMedia 2.1s, a good sound card would improve the quality of your low end by a good amount. Even my lowly and "low-quality" XtremeGamer would. It most certainly did for me, and I upgraded to it from the Audigy 2 ZS. So, consider that for a moment.

The Titanium HD is a good all-around audiophile-grade sound card for speakers and headphones, for gaming, music and movies (not in that order; but in any order that's important to you).