Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000)
by Creative
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000)
Customer Review: After weeks of research and testing the final answer is:
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me say this. I brought the Xtreme Game card and the T40 speakers. Now first lets' review the speakers. Note: (this review is posted for the sound card and the speakers)
Creative T-40 speakers - without the Xtreme card -very good; with the Xtreme card - Outstanding
These speakers will not truly perform at top quality unless you have a high end sound card. My motherboard has what it calls "HD sound" and it can handle the T-40's fairly well. I played around with it and sure enough I discovered that the T-40's bass is there and just tweaking the sound card a little brings it out. So I thought if the on-board sound does this what would a real sound card do? I had an Audigy in the other computer so I went out and purchased the Xtreme card to see the difference and WHOA! What sound came out of them and that card after I installed the options package from the Creative website. Now on to the sound card. Warning (Only use the programs from the website!)
SoundBlaster Xtreme Gamers card - without T-40 - excellent ; with T-40 - Outstanding (or better)
This card is truly exceptional. It even made my cheap Altec Lansing speaks sound good! And when you add this to the T-40's?! Oh my goodness! The bass shook the walls! Here is the deal. You have to use the software that comes with the sound card to adjust the system to your liking. And the card makes the T-40's into a 2.1 all you have to do is select the option. The card is the secret here. You see the card detects the T-40's and of course is designed to play to their strengths so the sound is better with them. I tried 4 different speaker combinations: a 5.1 Altec Lansing, 2.1 Bose, 7.1 Creative Labs, and the T-40. The T-40 performed the best but only a fraction better than the Bose but at half the cost. The Mid-range on the T-40 is really good. There are 3 selections on the card and they are: Gaming, audio and entertainment. You really do need to change the options to get the best sound. I found that when playing WoW in entertainment mode or audio mode you do not get many of the sounds that you get in game mode. When in game mode you could hear the wind when you were out on the plains and you hear the wind change in the canyon area and change again when in the cold area along with the change of what type of ground you were walking or riding on. You could not hear this difference if you were in either entertainment mode or audio. And the same is true for the other modes. Music while in game mode was dull but switch to audio or entertainment mode and Phil Collins sounds like he is standing in front of you. The card also can adjust your headset for 7.1 which is really special if you have a cheap head set like I do. I used my wife Sony noise reducing head set and once again BAM! Sound all over the place.
Final answer: T-40 - buy these if you really like music and sound and are willing to make the adjustments to your sound card to make them be all they can be. If you are not willing to do this then please keep your money and spend it on the sound card.
Final answer: Xtreme Gamer - Buy this regardless of the speakers you have. The improvement is massive to say the least. I ended up having to buy another card because I used the wife as a test subject and lost my card to her. I do not recommend spending the extra $20 on the next level up because there is no difference in sound only in programs and you can get a better audio program than what comes with the card although what comes with the card is good just not the best.
Customer Review: Has "What U Hear" (Stereo Mix or Wave Out) for Vista!
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is intended to help those who, like myself, have been pulling out their hair, looking for a sound card that provides a means to record what is heard through the speakers, directly from the system, in addition to the mic and line-in jacks. Among other names, this feature is called "What U Hear," "Stereo Mix," and "Wave Out."
I love my Gateway GM5632e (with Vista-32 Home Premium) in every respect, except for the on-board Sigmatel audio. Other than sounding good, it lacks the tweaky features of a decent sound card that I not only like to play with, but NEED. The feature I missed most was the ability to record streaming audio. There is much written elsewhere online on this subject, so I'll simply sum up by saying that acquiring this ability has been no small matter for many. Everything has been tried, from installing older sound card drivers, to Virtual Audio Cable(s) (and similar), to patching together the headphone and mic jacks. Well, you folks will be happy to know that your search can end here.
Over the past three days, I tried Sound Blaster's Audigy SE, XtremeAudio, and their Live! 24-bit External. None of them provided the ability to record "What U Hear." Then, I bought the XtremeGamer. After installation, and a search for online updates, that formerly elusive wave recording feature finally appeared. I installed it, and am now a very happy camper. It now works just like it did under XP.
Hope this helps someone. (Incidentally, I love everything else about the card.)
Customer Review: Pairs nicely with Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX speakers...
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a Bestbuy gift card burning a whole in my walet, so I decided to go out and get me nice soundcard. Would've been nice to get the Fatal1ty version but funds weren't permitting. Instead I went with the next best thing, the ExtremeGamer.
I'm loving it.
Physical installation was a breeze, I actually like getting into the case and looking around. Also gives me a chance to blow some canned air in there and get all the dust bunnies out and get a good look at the other additions I've made:
4GBs RAM (4 x 1GB) Crucial DDR2 PC2-4200
Linksys WMP54G Wireless-G PCI Card/Adapter
MSI (ATI) Radeon X800 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E x16
(and now) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
All built around an Intel Pentium 4, 3.0 GHZ chip.
I know none of it is top of the line, but at one point it was a pretty decent rig.
Anyway, this audio card sounds great with the Klipsch 2.1 set up I have, and both of them being THX certified makes sure I'm getting great sound fidelity.
The DLing of the drivers was a breeze, cancel the attempt to search for drivers online and install disk (XP in my case) and a few clicks and about 15 minutes later. You're done.
This will be the last addition to my rig and I hope will last me for another 2 years or so when I'll hopefully build a new one.
(Ignore the name Lillian up top, that's the wife lol)
Customer Review: excellent soundcard
Summary: 5 Stars
There is some misinformation posted here. First, "buyers beware" is incorrect. The card he is referring to is the XtremeAudio. This card - the XtremeGamer - is the genuine article "budget" x-fi card. That means it has all the x-fi guts without additional bells & whistles found on other more expensive versions.
Second, the motherboard issues reported by many users refer to the older versions of the x-fi. This is a new revision that has corrected the static and popping. I am using this card on an nf4 motherboard (DFI Ultra-D) with no problems at all.
I'd wager that neither of those reviews were written by people who actually own the card. This is an excellent sound card that provides a noticeable upgrade over onboard sound, even with just a 2.1 speaker system. The latest XP drivers appear to be very stable. I bought this card because it is compatible with Intel HD front audio ports that come standard on many cases (so you can plug your headphones in the front of your case).
I also bought it because I'm a gamer. The improvement in sound and 3D effects is startling at times when EAX is enabled. Switching to "entertainment" mode also brings superior quality music and DVD audio. The installation CD also installs a link in the start menu for a free download of Cyberlink PowerDVD, which is a nice bonus.
Customer Review: Excellent sound card for gaming and music!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros:
This is the cheapest member of the true X-Fi family and also the best bang for the buck.
The first time I heard this card I was blown away! Compared to on-board audio, its pretty much night and day.
You will notice deep lows and rich mids, along with very clear highs. This card has everything you need and probably the best sound you can get under $100.
This thing even made bad speakers sound good. When you hook up good speakers or good earphones to this sound card, you will realize why it is important to have quality sound hardware.
This has true EAX support, not emulated as others.
The processor on the XtremeGamer actually takes the audio load from your CPU to increase performance by a few %.
Cons:
Creative software has a terrible repuation for problems and bloatware but don't let that judge the hardware! I think Creative is improving quickly.
Never use the disk which hardware comes with and always download the latest drivers from the manufacturer website.
Other Thoughts:
Great sound, great quality, and extreme potential with good speakers or good headphones.
Probably the best bang for the buck $100 or under.