The X-Fi universe
For the first time ever I heard the true 5.1 surround sound when I played games this weekend. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce to my world of X-Fi entertainment. Was that hype enough? Well then it’s only half as great as I felt when I first heard it. Let us cover the important things first. The Sound Blaster X-Fi is a sound processing chip that is said to revolutionalize the computer sound industry. I was more than happy with the fact that the X-Fi series was released at the same prize points as the older Audigy2 ZS series was retailing previously. Since I wanted a sound card for so long, I eventually just succumbed to it and got it.
Sadly enough, the X-Fi software does not install in the Windows 2003 system. I had to restart my computer in Windows XP to get the software installed. The driver however, (for those who cares) works fine in Windows 2003. You just miss the bag of goodies. One of this is called the Mode Swticher. The card remembers 3 settings in three different modes - Audio, Entertainment and Gaming. The mode does effect slightly as to what the sound coming out of the speakers sound like. I have to admit that I haven’t checked the soundcard with cheap speakers, but I have plans to. I own a pair of $10 speakers which can come in handy
To start with, the music played thru this sound card as compared to the one coming out of my onboard sound system is much clearer and crisper. Not to mention that it seems louder too, but that might be just in my head. In games, it was actually awesome (and creepy) to have the surround work, so that I can hear footsteps behind me. (Note to self: try sounds with Max Payne and Doom 3 demo). I have yet to try the speakers with some awesome DTS supported DVD, but that will happen sometime when I get over the fact that game sounds are just so cool!
Ok, now that I have oogled over this thing long enough I’ll let you get back to your tasks and pretend that I haven’t said any of this