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Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000) | 
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| Brand: Creative Labs
Category: CE
List Price: $126.76
Buy New: $70.00
You Save: $56.76 (45%)
New (29) Used (3) Refurbished (1) from $64.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 1795
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP SP2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 10 x 4 x 7
MPN: 70SB073A00000
Model: 70SB073A00000
UPC: 054651136052
EAN: 0054651136052
ASIN: B000J1F1BI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Device Type - Sound card | | • | Interface Type - PCI | | • | Localization - English | | • | Sound Output Mode - 7.1 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
There's so much focus on video and graphics when it comes to games. But that's only part of the experience. What if you couldn't hear the blasts, bombs, explosions, tackles, and grunts? That's why your available PCI slot in your desktop needs this Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme sound card for PCI. The Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card delivers faster audio performance and intense, realistic sound in all your games. Headphone surround sound is better too?so good, you'll swear you're listening to multichannel speakers?and your games will sound richer as you hear all of the crisp, clear highs and bone-crushing lows you've been missing. Revitalize your compressed game sounds with X-Fi Crystalizer and hear crisp, sharp gunshots and deep, booming explosions for the most intense gaming experience ever X-Fi Crystalizer repairs the damage that MP3 and WMA compression causes and intelligently enhances high and low frequencies for cleaner music playback and more realistic movie sound Delivers THX certified surround sound and includes Cyberlink PowerDVD software with DTS and Dolby Digital-EX decoding via free download for an unbeatable DVD movie watching experience X-Fi CMSS-3D matches the sound to your headphones or multichannel speakers and positions specific audio elements?such as voice in the center and ambient sounds in surrounding channels, so your music and movies sound more alive A dedicated audio creation mode supports near transparent conversion between any resolutions, digital-matched recording, low-latency ASIO support and more
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 One of the best electronics purchases I've ever made--in a word, spectacular August 1, 2007
68 out of 72 found this review helpful
As an avid music fan (and Amazon reviewer), it seemed inevitable that I should at some point seek out a semi-professional quality sound card for my desktop computer. And when it comes to sound cards, Creative leads the way with its X-Fi line of dedicated consumer audio cards. So the only question, then, was "Which one?"
After some consideration, I decided upon the XtremeGamer variant of the X-Fi card. This product contains all the essential parts that comprise the X-Fi experience, yet without all the padded extras that add to the cost of the more expensive cards in the line. My original inclination was toward the now discontinued XtremeMusic card, but since it is indeed out of production it was hard to find. The entry-level XtremeAudio was never a consideration because, contrary to its inclusion in the X-Fi lineup, the XA doesn't actually utilize the X-Fi chip.
This is one powerful piece of electronics. I read somewhere (Tom's Hardware, I believe) that the X-Fi audio processor was more powerful than most desktop CPUs at the time of its release (2005), and it scores an astounding 10,000+ MIPs. Some might see this as overkill, but then, in this age of power-hungry games and high definition digital audio, the more juice the better. And this thing delivers just that. After all, how many times do you see an audio chip with its own heat sink?!
Installation was easy enough. I had to do a little fishing to find the cable that leads to my front panel audio, but the convenience of being able to keep the front jacks working was worth it. Keep in mind that only the newer Intel HD front panels will work (not the older AC '97). The box contains installation discs for both Windows XP and Vista, making ordering the Vista disc (or downloading the applications and driver manually) unnecessary. The software installation was the usual annoying affair, with a million updates and prompts about new startup programs/services. It took over half an hour for it all to complete itself, and I would have hoped that Creative would have streamlined this a bit since the Audigy series. But no matter.
Once I actually got to using the thing, I was very impressed. What follows is a breakdown of what this thing can do, along with my comments. From time to time, I will reference my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card, which is at least somewhat representative of the Audigy 2 line in general, as far as my purposes go.
-SOUND QUALITY-
This card is, without a doubt, the best-sounding audio device I have ever heard. And, when you consider that it produces a perfectly flat frequency response across the entire audio spectrum, it's not hard to see why it sounds so good. In particular, I noticed that bass has much more definition--it's not just tighter, but some of the higher overtones that define the individual notes come out much better, thereby adding some clarity to the bass lines in songs. Also, there is a certain warmth to the midtones that the somewhat brittle Realtek integrated audio lacks--Mellotrons in particular sound otherworldly. The IA I had was pretty good, but the X-Fi is so much better. Finally, both the volume and the S/N ratio blow away anything IA can offer. You can turn the volume up to the max, and you will hear ZERO noise from the circuitry.
-FUNCTIONALITY: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL-
This card comes with a host of software, which differs to varying degrees from that offered with the Audigy cards. The Creative MediaSource media player (now in version five) is the same, as are the SoundFont Bank Manager and the Creative MediaSource Go! applications. However, the similarities end there. Missing (very unfortunately) are Creative Wave Studio and Vienna SoundFont Studio (or equivalents); these tools, while I didn't use them particularly often (see below), were nonetheless very important as part of the package. Not everybody has Sonic Foundry (now Sony) ACID Pro or Pro Tools, for example, and a basic audio editing program should be par for the course with the X-Fi lineup; in addition, without Vienna Studio, the ability to precisely edit soundfonts is missing. Both these applications are available for download from Creative's website, but they really should have been included with the installation discs in the first place. As it is, some of the functionality of a multi-channel mixer has been absorbed in the Audio Console, which now sports three different modes of operation: Entertainment, Audio Creation, and Gaming. A link to a download of CyberLink PowerDVD completes the software package.
In practice, the software is fairly useful. I suppose Creative was trying to make things easier for beginning users, while allowing for advanced users to seek out the more vital functions. Everything seems to center around the Audio Console, and in each mode, different options become available. I usually stick with Audio Creation because it offers everything I require from the other two modes, plus it allows me to hook up my musical keyboard in a pinch. Which brings me to my next point: Some (probably older) keyboards don't work with the USB MIDI driver in Vista, which necessitates the presence of a working copy of XP. There might be a fix for this (barring visiting the keyboard manufacturer's website, which did not help for me), but I didn't have time to be bothered with it. I just booted into my XP partition and got on with it.
-MUSIC CREATION IMPLICATIONS-
This is where things really got interesting. The ability to load and play back soundfonts--not particularly touted in the XtremeGamer due to its intended market--is a powerful feature that all X-Fi cards carry. And this is where my trusty Audigy 2 ZS Notebook has utterly failed me--though it indeed has soundfont support, I was never able to get it to recognize my keyboard. I was stuck, then, with the lame ability to play a little over an octave of (single velocity) notes using my laptop's keys. Even so, I collected a bunch of soundfonts from all over the Internet, and when I fired up the SoundFont Bank Manager, it all payed off. The creative possibilities are virtually endless, even with the somewhat cheesy stock General MIDI sample set included with the card by default. Add a few foraged sounds (Mellotron samples, guitar samples, ...), and it's like a whole new world just opened up. You can even buy collections of soundfonts from Creative, or else sample your own. This card (or another X-Fi) is a must for amateur musicians just for this reason alone. Not only is direct-line recording (once you realize you have to use the Digital Out jack for Line-in--weird, right?) easy, it sounds very clean. Plus, you can lay down a basic mix just from a keyboard using a combination of internal sounds and soundfont files. Hook up a microphone and overdub some vocals, get out the guitar and strum a few chords, and you've got a reasonably high quality demo recording. Of course you need to supply your own connection cables, but all in all it sure beats using the old tape recorder.
-GAMING-
This will be a pretty short paragraph, mainly because--you guessed it--I don't actually game much. However, the main reason any hardcore gamer would want dedicated audio is because it frees up processor overhead usually devoted to the audio portion of games. As mentioned earlier, gaming sound is becoming more and more immersing, and as such it can be very demanding on the CPU. Offloading this on a dedicated component has been reported (by Creative, of course) to result in up to a 15% increase in frame rates as compared to motherboard audio. Also, dedicated components almost always perform better overall than their integrated counterparts, so it's worth it just to get the whole experience. Plus, some games don't even offer the highest audio settings unless they detect an X-Fi audio card in the system, so it pays to get one.
-CONSIDERATIONS-
Generally, there are a few things to consider when making this purchase. One of those is if your power supply can handle it. This is an extremely powerful piece of hardware, and as such it draws a considerable amount of wattage. Make sure you have wiggle room with your PSU. Also, you might want to make sure your motherboard has an open PCI 2.1 slot before you purchase--it saves on the hell and frustration should you discover otherwise. Also, though it's shorter than most of the X-Fi boards, you might still have a little trouble fitting this card in some smaller, more cramped cases. You might have to rearrange some power connectors and other cables in order to fit the card in its place. Finally, if you're a really serious gamer with a limitless budget, remember that there are even better cards than the XtremeGamer. The Fatal1ty line is a special subset of the X-Fi family, and is designed for the hardcore gamer who wants the absolute best gaming performance along with the best audio performance. These cards have additional enhancements as per the standard X-Fi line, and you might be more interested in these if you fit into the above category.
-COMPARISON TO AUDIGY-
One of the main gripes with the Audigy line was that it was hardware-coded to 48,000 Hz/16-bit resolution, and thus any other resolution source needed to be internally resampled before it could be digitally processed. This wasn't handled very well by the hardware, and artifacts could be heard in the sound. I observed this in real time when I played my keyboard through my A2 ZS Notebook: A persistent hissing would start up whenever a note was sounded, yet it would disappear when the note ceased. This only happened when I was using effects processing; when the patch was played dry, there was no noise. This annoying effect (which led many to use software rendering to manually resample before processing through the card) was finally eliminated with the X-Fi, which uses an entirely new architecture which allows near transparent resampling to and from all resolutions.
All in all, though there are certainly a few things that could have been improved, this is a wonderful sound card. It sounds great, it's powerful, and the creative potential it facilitates--something not as widely advertised as its gaming and entertainment merits--all combine to make the XtremeGamer card a must have in the arsenal of any serious audio enthusiast, amateur musician, or (yes) gamer. I can wholeheartedly recommend this card to anybody who fits the above list; it really is everything you've heard and more.
excellent soundcard March 9, 2007
32 out of 33 found this review helpful
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.
Great Hardware - Just use the online drivers to avoid junk September 11, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
After reading the other reviews, I was nervous about installation / driver issues. After I installed my card, however, I went to Creative's website and chose to download only the driver (and not any of the applications). The install went smoothly, and it didn't install any junk programs on my computer.
But as for the sound card itself, the improvement in sound quality was well worth the money. The x-fi processor does really seem to make a difference. I use only a 2.0 speaker system (two JBL bookshelf speakers with a Sony receiver), and the new sound quality is about as good as you can get without getting extra speakers or a subwoofer. Music now sounds "clearer." It also includes an optical output (you need a TOSLINK cable or adapter--it is not the "square-looking" optical connection, it is a narrow plug that looks like a headphone jack).
Has "What U Hear" (Stereo Mix or Wave Out) for Vista! April 21, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.)
Well...it worked with my motherboard. January 23, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
FANTASTIC sound for the money! (seems to work well with Asus P5W DH, anyway) Nice crisp highs, decent mid-range and unmuddied lows make this an excellent pick, IMO. The only down-side I could find is some of the nonsense-software included is, well, nonsense.
Creative scores, again.
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The Nintendo Wii goes on sale on Sunday, November 19. Thanks to the inclusion of the simple--but infectiously fun--Wii Sports game, the Wii is the first console in recent memory that lets you have fun straight out of the box. Still, there are a few key Wii accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize your Wii experience--especially if you're buying it as a gift.
Extra controllers: Like all recent consoles, the Wii ships with just a single controller (well, one two-part controller: one Wiimote, plus one nunchuk). But the real fun of the system is playing the head-to-head Wii Sports games such as tennis and boxing. To do so, you'll need at least one extra set of controllers--and again, that's one Wiimote ($28.99) plus one nunchuk ($12.99). The Wii supports as many as four, but just the one extra controller set should suffice--at least for Christmas morning.
Rechargeable batteries: The Wiimote takes two standard AA batteries. They're included--with the Wii, and with the sold-separately version of the controller mentioned above--but avid players may find the juice draining pretty quickly, especially if they keep the nunchuk attached (it draws its power from the Wiimote). Instead of buying an endless stream of costly AAs, consider investing in a set of rechargeables. You can score a charger and four rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries for less than $25.
GameCube controllers: The Wii is fully backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube, but there's a catch: to play the GameCube games, you'll need a GameCube controller ($15.99). You can even go wireless with the Nintendo WaveBird ($59.99). If you already have a GameCube, your existing controllers will work just fine--just plug them in to one of the four ports underneath the flip-up panel on the Wii's topside. GameCube controllers should also work with the Wii's "Virtual Console" games--which saves you the trouble of having to buy a Classic Controller.
GameCube memory cards: One other annoyance when playing GameCube games: your progress can only be saved to GameCube memory cards, not to the Wii's internal memory or to an SD card (we're hoping Nintendo fixes this with a future firmware update). Like the controllers, your old GC cards will work just fine--there are two slots right next to the GameCube controller ports. If you don't have any onhand (and you want to save your games on GC titles), you'll need to spring for a $26.90 (2GB) memory card.
Wii Points: One of the big attactions of the Wii is its Virtual Console, which lets you purchase classic games that originally came from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx16. By the end of 2006, at least 30 titles should be available, including Donkey Kong (NES), Super Mario 64 (N64), and Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis). To purchase the downloadable titles, you'll need to use a Nintendo currency known as Wii Points (similar to the Microsoft Points on Xbox Live), which currently have an exchange rate of 100 points per U.S. dollar. You can buy Wii Points directly through the console's online store, or use prepaid cards (2000 Wii Points) available in various denominations.
SD card: If you're close to filling the Wii's built-in 512MB of storage with your Virtual Console games, you can always expand your available space with an SD card. Nintendo sells its own, but any run-of-the-mill card will do. Fairly spacious 1GB cards are available for less than $20--even less with mail-in rebates--and they'll work in plenty of other gadgets as well.
Wireless access point: In addition to the downloadable Virtual Console games, the Wii offers online "channels," including news, weather, and even an Opera Web browser (head-to-head online gaming is said to be coming sometime in 2007). You can get online for free via the Wii's built-in Wi-Fi. To do so, of course, you'll need a nearby wireless access point or router. Alternately, you can plug the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector into any nearby PC on a wired network, and the Wii--plus your Nintendo DS--will be able to use it to get online instead.
Component video adapter: The Wii doesn't have the graphical horsepower to handle high-def graphics, but it can do DVD-level 480p video, which will look considerably better on large HDTVs. To see the Wii's games in 480p, you'll need Nintendo's proprietary component video adapter, which should run about $20. |
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www.seeker-wii.com | |
