Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music Sound Card

Features of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card introduces a new audio standard called Xtreme Fidelity. With the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card not only can you listen to audio in the new standard, but you can rip your existing music to the Xtreme Fidelity standard as well. SuperRip is part of the MediaSource 3 application includes with the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card that allows you to take your existing CD quality tracks and make them Xtreme Fidelity.

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card has three different listing modes that optimizes your experience depending on if you are gaming, watching movies (entertainment mode) or creating audio. The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card includes a 24-bit Xtreme Fidelity crystalizer that improves the quality of CD and DVD audio as you listen to the tracks or watch your movies.

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card also uses CMSS-3D. CMSS-3D allows you to enjoy stereo music and movies not coded for surround sound in surround. The X-fi processor remixes the music or movie into surround sound and optimizes it for your speaker system, or even head phones. For movie watching the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card also features dts sound and Dolby Digital EX that is THX certified.

Audio creation mode of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card give you lots of recording features. The X-Fi processor's engine has a SRC engine that converts to and from any resolution at 136dB THD+N and provides digital-matched recording from 44.1kHZ to 96kHz. Gaming mode supports EAX Advanced HD 5.0 for super realistic sound effects in game. The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card's X-Fi 24-bit crystalizer automatically upgrades existing games into Xtreme Fidelity.

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card in Use

I have never really been one to purchase add on sound cards and typically suffice with my systems on board sound. I never thought I was missing anything, surround sound is surround sound, right? After using the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card the answer to that is a resounding NO! The change in surround sound quality while playing games was shocking. Surround sound in game using the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card is awesome.

The highs, lows and mid range sounds are crystal clear and the audio quality is so much better that I was able to run my speakers at half the previous volume and get the same sound quality. I also found while gaming that the surround sound is vastly faster responding to fast movements. I noticed absolutely no lag in the sound in fast moving games. No matter how fast you turn the sound is always in the correct position.

I also found that not only could I tell an enemy was behind me when using the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card by simply hearing them, but I could tell there were multiple enemies, which side they were on and if the left or right enemy was closer. I have never listened to surround sound audio with the clarity and power you get with the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card.

The improvements that the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card brings to gaming spill over into movie watching as well. With the THX certified sound output, movies are taken to a new level. I am not into audio creation, but there are so many options built into the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card that you should be able to get very creative.

I have never heard a better sounding audio system for gaming and movie watching. The sound quality is stunning and this is a very highly recommend product, 3 out of 3 stars and I wish I had more stars to give it!

X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card System Requirements

The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card has specific system requirements your computer must meet, most notably it only works with Windows XP with SP2. Other requirements are:

Basic Requirements

• Genuine Intel® Pentium® III 1 GHz, AMD® 1 GHz processor or faster
• Intel, AMD or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
• Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• 256MB RAM
• 600MB of free hard disk space
• Available PCI 2.1 slot for the audio card
• CD-ROM/CD-RW or CD/DVD-ROM required for software installation
• Graphics card with DirectX® 9 and OpenGL® compliant 3D graphics accelerator

Additional Requirements (where applicable)

Gaming

• DirectX® 9 and OpenGL® compliant 3D graphics accelerator with at least 32 MB of texture RAM

DVD-Video and DVD-Audio Playback

• 6x or faster DVD-ROM drive with one of the following recommended software DVD players: InterVideo WinDVD or CyberLink PowerDVD (latest version recommended)
• 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 speakers for optimal listening experience

Entertainment Center and Remote Control Usage

• Graphics card with DirectX 9 compatible video drivers to ensure proper interaction between Entertainment Center and software DVD players
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 97 or later to control PowerPoint presentations wirelessly using the remote control

Audio Creation

• 256 MB RAM and above is required for loading 24-bit SoundFont banks