Creative sound cards. Creative sound card driver Sound card for computer creative
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Creative Labs Sound Card Reference
Part 1. Creative Game Cards
Reference book on modern sound cards from CREATIVE LABS. Extraordinary release.
Initially, I planned to finish with this material a series of my articles about sound cards. But the constant questions about the advantages and disadvantages of certain cards, asked me in the forum of the newspaper, made me change my mind and release this material right now. Today we'll take a quick look at the main features of sound cards released by CREATIVE in recent years. We will consider only those cards that in our time are freely sold in computer companies and have an acceptable price for most ordinary people.
In passing about professional sound cards.
In my review, I deliberately did not include professional sound cards released by the CREATIVE EMU division, even though they provide a very high quality of sound signal recording and playback. These cards are not intended to be used by the average computer user. One look at the abundance of settings attached to them software, is guaranteed to cause<рак мозга>from a mere mortal unprepared for such a spectacle. Even if you manage, over time, to figure out the settings and even master the work with special software used in their work by professional sound engineers and musicians, this will not bring you much joy. The point is that everything<навороты>such cards are not needed for the daily operation of a multimedia computer. They will not help you watch a DVD movie or play a computer game in any way. In the event that you are not a musician or sound engineer, you will most likely never need the capabilities of these cards at all. You are also unlikely to be able to put these cards next to any other, purely Creative gaming card, especially for high-quality music reproduction. These cards conflict with CREATIVE game cards at the driver level and do not want to live with them in the same computer. Therefore, for the average user, these cards are completely useless. If, on the contrary, you belong to the pros in the world of sound, then my advice is completely useless to you, you yourself should know pretty well which card you need for work.
For each sound card, in addition to its brief characteristics, I will give its estimated cost in Moscow stores, the number of output sound channels and the model of the digital processor chip (DSP) used.
DSP chip.
The DSP chip is the heart of any sound card, it determines all the functionality of a particular model. When choosing a new sound card, you should pay special attention to the DSP chip on which it is assembled. The DSP chip model is usually engraved directly on the surface of the chip and is easily identified by visual inspection of the card. Like the motherboard chipset, the DSP chip is most often the largest chip on the card's circuit board. You just have to find it and read the markings on the surface.
So in the attached picture you see three different DSP chips. The first one on the left belongs to the CREATIVE SBLIVE-24 sound card. The marking CA106-DAT will tell us about this accessory. In the middle of the photo is the DSP of CREATIVE's most advanced sound card to date, the Sound Blaster X-FI Elite Pro. The chips of this sound card model are labeled CA20K1-PAG. On the right side of the photo you can see the DSP chip belonging to the CREATIVE AUDIGY-4 card. The DSP of these cards is labeled CA10300-IAT.
As you can see, different chips have different markings, it would seem that with its help you can easily determine which sound card you got into your hands, but, unfortunately, not everything is so simple here. Marketers at CREATIVE LABS<наплодили>a huge number of different models of cards built on the same DSP chip. Often, these models are very different from each other in their consumer capabilities, and when buying, I would like to know which of these varieties we are dealing with here.
Model and revision.
So that you can easily identify one or another of the cards discussed in this article, I will give for each of them its model code number. On the card itself, the model number is printed on the front side of the PCB (where the parts are located). Typically, the number is located somewhere near the top edge of the card's circuit board. It can be left, right, or centered, CREATIVE does not provide any standard for this.
Typically, the number is located somewhere near the top edge of the card's circuit board. It can be left, right or centered - CREATIVE has no standard in this regard. The number of any modern CREATIVE sound card begins with a combination of letters "SB" followed by a series of four digits that uniquely identifies the model of each of them. You can see an example of such a number in the attached photo - on it you see the model code "SB0240" belonging to the CREATIVE AUDIGY2 6.1 sound card installed in my computer. In addition to the front side of the printed circuit board, the model number is also printed on a paper sticker located on its back side. If you don't find the model number on the front, look there.
It would seem that the model number is all you need, but this time<не тут-то было>! In addition to card models, there are also various modifications of the same model. There are CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 ZS cards with metal connectors and there are CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 ZS cards with plastic connectors. There are modifications of cards with FIREWARE controllers and without this controller. There are OEM and RETAIL card options. And they all have the same DSP chip, and they all have the same model number. To understand all this diversity, the serial number of the card indicated on the discussed paper sticker will help you. First four digits serial number, after the letters SB, and are the revision code number of that particular card. So in our case, we are dealing with a modification of SB0244, which stands for model SB0240 revision 4. After you read the material in this article, you can easily determine that we are dealing with the so-called "new" modification of the CREATIVE sound card AUDIGI-2 6.1. This modification has plastic connectors, it contains a FIREWARE controller and a digital-to-analogue converter with a DSP chip, which is used in the top-end card of the AUDIGY-2 ZS family.
DRIVE block and external module.
Talking about the varieties of CREATIVE cards, one cannot fail to mention one more nuance related to their packaging. Since the days of SBLIVE! cards, the company has released each of its top cards, in three various types supplies. In the usual, cheapest delivery, only the card itself is included. In the next, more advanced delivery, a card plus an external<блок с разъемами>, installed in a free compartment 5.25 of the computer case. This block is called "CREATIVE DRIVE". The attached photo shows the "DRIVE" block that comes with the CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER XFI FATAL1TY card. The blocks supplied with other cards differ from it in the number of connectors, case color and other small details, but they all have the same general task - to bring additional inputs and outputs of the sound card to the front panel of the computer.
The kit of the third, most expensive delivery option, in addition to the card itself, includes a so-called external module. This module looks like a big box that looks like a HI-FI amplifier. The module is installed on the table, separately from the computer. The internal filling of this "amplifier" is most often completely similar to the filling of the DRIVE block, the main difference between them is that DRIVE is an embedded device, and the module is external.
By themselves, both DRIVE and the module are rather stupid things, especially if you take into account the markup in the price of the cards they bundle. However, it should be noted that those who believe that inside these "boxes" there are wires, analog amplifiers, switches and volume knobs, and CREATIVE requires a lot of money for them, are deeply mistaken. Both DRIVE and the module are legitimately quite expensive devices. Both of them are connected to the main card not with the usual analog "laces", but with the help of purely digital interfaces. External blocks contain their own digital-to-analog converters, the signal from which is subsequently output to the headphone jacks and line outputs, and also independently digitize the signal from their analog inputs and transfer it to the card already in digital form. Thus, I repeat, the entire exchange between external units and a card inserted into the computer's PCI slot is carried out exclusively via digital cables, which allows, for example, to avoid interference.
DRIVE blocks are also sold separately, without a card, since they can also be connected to a “simple” model of a sound card of its generation (such a number will not work so easily with an external module). If you decide to buy the DRIVE block separately, then it will cost you about $100, which, in my opinion, is a bit expensive for the ability to just bring the connectors to the front panel of the computer. However, as always, it's up to you, maybe these boxes will appeal to you.
Overview of maps.
The above information is more than enough for you to be able to confidently identify this or that CREATIVE sound card lying in front of you on the counter in the store. Further, as I promised, I will briefly talk about the features of certain specific card models. I thought for a long time in what order to tell you about all this diversity, and, in the end, I decided to arrange the cards in ascending order of their model code. So it will be easier for us to track the chronology of the release of these cards by the manufacturer.
I'll start my story with the CREATIVE AUDIGY-1 card. I deliberately did not include the sound cards that preceded it in my review. These once popular models, such as CREATIVE SBLIVE! cards, are now completely outdated. They do not provide acceptable performance in computer games oh, and they don't sound good enough to chase them all over the city. And if we also take into account the fact that quite decent modern sound cards cost only about $25, then I personally don't see any point in buying these outdated solutions. And I do not advise you to throw money away
CREATIVE AUDIGY 1, CREATIVE AUDIGY 5.1 (CREATIVE AUDIGY ES)
Model: SB0230 (SB0160), CT0070, CT0072, SB0090 and SB0092
. DSP chip: CA0100-IAF
. Number of channels: 5.1
. Estimated cost: $20
Cards of the now obsolete generation of AUDIGY1 cards. They are distinguished from modern models by a smaller number of channels, lower quality digital-to-analog converters and poor sound reproduction parameters.
The first cards in this line, called CREATIVE AUDIGY MP3+, CREATIVE AUDIGY X-Gamer, CREATIVE AUDIGY Platinum and CREATIVE AUDIGY OEM, had model numbers CT0070, CT0072, SB0090 and SB0092 respectively. Different models of this family differed from each other only in their configuration. The cards themselves were completely identical. For example, discs with computer games were additionally attached to the CREATIVE AUDIGY X-Gamer model, and the lucky owner of the CREATIVE AUDIGY Platinum received the Drive block as a load to the card.
You can argue about the advantages of 7.1 systems compared to 5.1 systems for quite a long time, just remember that the sound on the vast majority of DVD discs is encoded in 5.1 format, and the card thinks out the missing channels itself<на ходу>using their own spatial sound algorithms called CMSS. As you understand, you should not expect special quality from such an approach.
In fairness, it should be noted that in nature there are also DVD discs of the DD EX 6.1, DD EX 7.1 and DTS-ES standards with more than 5.1 channels, but in our retail such discs are extremely rare, and they cost a lot of money . Personally, I think that chasing after additional speakers of 7.1 systems is not particularly worth it, in our ordinary city apartments, and sometimes there is no way to arrange five speakers correctly. Therefore, the advantages of 7.1 systems are very illusory.
Relatively recently, CREATIVE re-released the next versions of these sound cards, called CREATIVE AUDIGY 5.1 OEM and CREATIVE AUDIGY ES. Unlike maps<первой волны>, which were initially expensive products, these cards, on the contrary, were developed as initially budget ones. As planned by CREATIVE marketers, they had to resist the expansion of built-in AC-97 codecs that were gaining momentum. In order to make these cards as cheap as possible, simplified printed circuit boards were used for them, in both cards there was no FIREWARE block (a MIDI connector was placed instead), but in terms of their functionality, both of these cards, nevertheless, are full-fledged AUDIGY-1, since they are built on the same DSP chip as the original cards.
According to their official specification, CREATIVE AUDIGY-1 sound cards can reproduce 16-bit and 24-bit audio at sampling rates up to 96kHz. But in reality, these kilohertz and bits turned out to be slightly<дутыми>! Indeed, the digital-to-analogue converter installed on this card is able to produce such a signal, but even before the signal reaches it, it will be forced<урезан>capabilities of the DSP card chip. Whatever signal you ask to play this card (for example, from a quality DVD disc 24 bit 96 kHz), the DSP will first convert it to the formula 16 bit 48 kHz, and only then output it to the line output. It is impossible to bypass forced recoding on this line of cards. The card can record sound with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sampling rate of up to 48 kHz. For our time, this is very small, therefore, for any serious musical creativity, it is also not suitable.
You will probably ask me, why then do I tell you about such a "flawed" card? The fact is that, despite all its shortcomings, CREATIVE AUDIGY-1 fully supports hardware audio acceleration in computer games up to EAX 3.0 (as well as EAX 4.0 Advanced HD software) and is today the most profitable acquisition for a poor gamer, thanks to its very democratic price. For $25 you get a full likeness of the top-end AUDIGY-2 ZS cards in games. And given that the soundtrack of games is very far in quality from HI-FI standards, then, in fact, you do not lose anything!
But if you decide to listen to music with this card, an unpleasant surprise awaits you. According to the subjective opinion of the card owners, the AUDIGY-1 plays music not much better than the old CREATIVE SBLIVE cards! 5. 1, and significantly worse than the cards of the new CREATIVE lines.
Thus, if you do not make any special demands on computer sound, watch movies in MP4 standard and like to play computer games, this card can easily take root in your computer.
CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 6.1 / CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 Platinum / CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 Platinum eX
Model: SB0240/ SB0280
. DSP chip: CA0102-ICT
. Number of channels: 6.1
. Estimated cost: $35
The next generation of CREATIVE cards is called "AUDIGY-2". The new generation differs from the cards of the previous line by supporting the 24-bit audio signal, digitized at frequencies up to 192 kHz. Thanks to such high parameters, even newfangled DVD-Audio discs can be played, not to mention ordinary DVD-Video discs.
The card was produced in several modifications. In addition to the simplest card SB0240, CREATIVE released a Platinum version with a DRIVE block, as well as a model with a remote module called CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 Platinum Ex (SB0280).
If the first two cards did not differ in any way from each other externally and internally (they have the same model number), then the top card, outwardly, looks completely different. All analog connectors were removed from the card (except for line outputs to speakers), and a single communication connector with a remote module was installed instead.
With this generation of CREATIVE cards, playback modes 24/192 in stereo mode and 24/96 in 6.1 mode are really "fair". True, with one small caveat, this time, about 24-bit. The fact is that the "correct" 24-bit specification provides a dynamic range (the difference between the quietest and loudest sound) of about 144 db. But Creative cards could not "jump" above 100db, so it would be more correct to call these cards not 24, but 18 bit.
In order to achieve correct reproduction of the indicated sound modes, CREATIVE engineers have added another functional block to the card, the task of which is to output sound with sampling frequencies that are multiples of the "native" for the products of this company 48 kHz (namely, 48 kHz, 96 kHz and 192 kHz). , codenamed "P16V", operates in parallel with the main core of the DSP chip and sends a signal of the specified format, as it were, "bypassing" it. Two conclusions follow from this "parallelism" of the block's operation, the first is pleasant, and the second is not very.
First, let's talk about the pleasant. For the first time since the SBLIVE! card, CREATIVE card users have the opportunity to get rid of the forced transcoding of the audio signal at 48 kHz. Common software music players, such as WINAMP and FOOBAR, have their own algorithms for such recoding of the audio signal. These algorithms work<на голову>better than those algorithms that are embedded in CREATIVE cards. Thanks to the existence of the "P16V" block, it became possible to programmatically process audio material in advance and feed it to the card already.<готовеньким>. The card, having seen the input signal 24/48 (24/96 or 24/192), will send it along the shortest path through the P16V block, which does not introduce any additional distortions and other "gags" into the transmitted signal. We will talk in detail about the problems of using CREATIVE cards that arise when listening to musical compositions in a separate issue.
As you know, each barrel of honey necessarily carries its own fly in the ointment in its belly. So it happened with the P16V block. Due to the fact that this block works bypassing the DSP chip, it cannot additionally process the transmitted signal in any way. EAX effects, equalizer, tone controls and other service features of the main DSP chip are not available for it. In other words, P16V is like another additional sound card in your computer. A very high-quality card, but completely primitive in its functionality. She just plays music and nothing else. On the other hand, it was precisely this opportunity that CREATIVE cards lacked. By themselves, the effects of the DSP chip have not gone away. You can, for example, turn on the equalizer. But as soon as you do this, the card will turn off the P16V block, and go to work.<по - старинке>, through the main DSP blocks. You, in addition to the equalizer, will get all the delights of forced recoding of the signal to 48 kHz. Namely, increased intermodulation and nonlinear distortion of the signal.
On the other hand, the vast majority of computer users are not avid audiophiles capable of hearing the discussed distortions from transcoding at all. A huge number of people calmly listen to different music on CREATIVE cards, and do not even suspect the existence of this problem itself. Perhaps you will be one of these users, and the sound of the card will be to your liking. In any case, using these cards, you can choose whether you like more functionality or better quality.
About setting up AUDIGY maps for<правильного>we'll talk about sound playback again in a separate issue, but now let's not get distracted and continue a quick review of the card's capabilities. We have already talked about the playback options, now let's talk about the rest of the card's features. The recording parameters were brought by CREATIVE engineers to the level of 24 bit 96 kHz. One more channel has been added to the possibility of outputting 5.1 channel sound. An additional speaker is located between the two rear speakers and is designed to reproduce sounds located directly behind you.
You most likely will not find the original SB0240 cards on sale in our time. On store shelves there are cards of the SB0240 revision 4. As I wrote above, these cards are built on the same element base as the cards of the next AUDIGY2 ZS line. The card has a built-in FIREWARE controller, instead of gold-plated metal output connectors, the card has ordinary colored plastic connectors. In my opinion, the AUDIGY2 6.1 card is the most profitable inexpensive sound cards at the moment. I personally bought just such a card for myself, which I advise you.
CREATIVE AUDIGY LS
Model: SB0310
. DSP chip: CA0106-DAT
. Number of channels: 5.1
Cards based on 106 DSP chips are a cheaper alternative to AUDIGY-2 cards. They match the AUDIGY-2 in almost every way except for two very important things. The card does not support 6.1, but only 5.1 channels (the chip itself is capable of working according to the 7.1 scheme) and the DSP CA0106-DAT chip does not have EAX hardware support. It doesn't have it at all, in games these cards "slow down" just like the AC-97 sound cards integrated into motherboards.
The AUDIGY LS card is the ancestor of the new CREATIVE family of budget cards. If you plan to play computer games this card is not for you. But if you are not interested in games at all, then these cards may come in handy. They bring out the music quite tolerably. Due to the absence of a hardware effects processor in the DSP, they suffer from the problem of forced transcoding to 48KHz to a much lesser extent than full-fledged AUDIGY. At least, something like a P16V block is clearly present in the internals of the chip, since the card can easily be made to work at frequencies that are multiples of 48 kHz without recoding.
Also, this card is quite suitable for listening to the soundtrack of DVD movies. The number of channels reduced to 5.1, in my opinion, is not a significant drawback, we have already talked about this with you. Therefore, for purely budget solutions, this card is quite good.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS Platinum Pro
Model: SB0360
. DSP chip: CA0102-ICT
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $200
The AUDIGY 2 ZS line is a minor modification of the previous line of AUDIGY-2 cards. One more rear channel was added to the card, thus bringing its output scheme to 7.1. the model itself has not changed) and ... that's it! All the innovations between the two lines, by and large, were limited to this.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS Platinum Pro (SB0360) is the "top", the most expensive card in the AUDIGY-2 ZS line. The card comes with an infrared remote control and an additional external module (the one that looks like a full-fledged HI-FI amplifier). The module has input-output connectors, a headphone output, etc, but these connectors are absent on the card itself, but there is a connector for connecting an external module. According to these signs, you can immediately identify the top revision if you suddenly see it on sale. Also, the lack of analog inputs on the card led to the disappearance of a lot of small "fluff" (capacitors and resistors) from it. Because of this, the sound card circuit board looks<голой>. In all other respects, this card is no better and no worse than the cards of the previous line. Due to the extremely inflated price, it is unreasonable to buy it in our time, in my opinion.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS and CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS Platinum
Model: SB0350
. DSP chip: CA0102-ICT
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: 60$/160$
The most common and popular sound cards in our time.
The AUDIGY 2 ZS is a minimally configured card, and the Platinum comes with a "Drive" box and an infrared remote control. By themselves, these two cards are no different from each other, if you buy the Drive block (sold separately), you can easily turn one model into another on your own. In terms of their characteristics and functionality, these cards are similar to their older<топовой>sister I described above.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS OEM (for HP, Compaq, Dell etc)
Model: SB035x
. DSP chip: CA0102-ICT
. Number of channels: 7.1
Recently, cheaper revisions of the AUDIGY-2 ZS have begun to appear on sale, in which the FIREWARE connector is not soldered, and ordinary multi-colored plastic ones are installed instead of gold-plated connectors. Sometimes the card also lacks connectors for communication with the DRIVE block. The main problem with these cards is that they appear to be specialized versions of the card for some of Creative's large OEM customers. In order to install native drivers from the CREATIVE website on it, you have to "smart" a little. Without this shamanism, the drivers claim that they have not heard anything about such a card and simply refuse to install.
Shamanism consists in entering the code of your card into the list of valid cards of the driver installer (he really knows nothing about these cards). After you enter your code, the installer accepts the card model data as native, and, in the future, everything is installed and works without any problems. There is a special FAQ section on AUDIGY-2 ZS cards on the WWW.OVERCLOCKERS.RU website forum. There you can download a utility that will do the job for you.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 4 Pro
Model: SB0380
. DSP chip: CA010200-ICT
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $230
The most, perhaps, interesting map in the AUDIGY-2 family (do not confuse it with a regular AUDIGY-4(SB0610) card, as they say in Odessa - these are two big differences!). In fact, AUDIGY-4 Pro is another incarnation of the "CREATIVE Pro Platinum ZS AUDIGY-2" card. Better digital-to-analogue converters have been installed, the name of the DSP chip has changed slightly. All the functionality of the progenitor card is preserved intact, no new features seem to have appeared.
Of course, the name AUDIGY4 was assigned to the card more for marketing reasons, there are no special differences from regular card She doesn't have an AUDIGY-2 ZS. If this card cost 50 dollars, it would be a hit of the season, but for this money, it's better to buy CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER XFI.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 Value
Model: SB0400
. DSP chip: CA0108-IAT
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $42
Another "cheaper" analogue of the AUDIGY2 ZS card assembled on a fundamentally different DSP chip (in jargon, the chip is abbreviated as 108). And this time, the card was deprived of the FIREWARE controller and gold-plated connectors, instead of which ordinary colored plastic ones were installed. In all other respects, this is a full-fledged hardware sound card that supports EAX 4. 0 in games. Despite the fact that the card uses a different DSP chip, it is completely similar in its capabilities to the chip used in more expensive cards ZS. It even has a similar P16V block (here it is called P17V) due to which high-quality music playback is possible on this card without forced internal conversion to 48 kHz.
Due to its low price, the card enjoys a well-deserved love among users. By their own performance characteristics and price, it is in the same consumer basket with the CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 6.1 card. In favor of A2-Value, it is worth writing down the wide availability in stores (AUDIGY-2 6.1, in our time, is no longer so easy to find) and the availability of an exit according to the 7.1 scheme. In favor of the "old" AUDIGY-2, the DSP chip, well known to the developers and long run by them, speaks. For the DSP AUDIGY-2 6.1 chip, there are alternative professional drivers "KXPROJECT". As usual, you choose. These two cards are almost equal in their capabilities.
CREATIVE SB LIVE! 24bit
Model: SB0410
. DSP chip: CA0106-DAT
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $25
The hit of the season, the "killer" of the AC97 sound and the favorite card among the people, the popularity of which was mainly created by its extremely low price. In fact, SBLIVE 24 is a rather peculiar<нишевая>map. Due to the 106 DSP chips installed on it, it is practically not suitable for computer games. Remember we already covered this chip when we talked about the AUDIGY LS? Everything I said about the LS at the time applies to this card as well.
At the same time, SBLIVE-24 is able to output sound according to the 7.1 scheme, and is equipped with high-quality digital-to-analog converters. This card uses chips that are completely similar to those installed on the AUDIGY 2 ZS series of cards (with the exception of the DSP chip itself). The analog amplifiers themselves in it, perhaps, are even better than those of the AUDIGY-2 ZS cards, since they do not have pass-through capacitors between different amplification stages. The presence of these capacitors in all other CREATIVE cards seriously spoils the quality of the reproduced sound.
All of the above, together with the low price of the card, makes it an ideal solution for watching videos and listening to music for a poor computer user. If you are not interested in PC games, but are not satisfied with the sound built into the AC97 motherboard, this card is your best choice.
CREATIVE AUDIGI SE
Model: SB0570
. DSP chip: CA0106-DAT LF
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $25
Creating a new generation of "top" SOUND BLASTER X-FI cards (we'll talk about them later), CREATIVE didn't forget about ordinary undemanding computer users. Those users for whom the sound in the computer is not the main thing. The AUDIGY SE card is designed to replace the penny AC97 sound found in most motherboards. If you look at the labeling of the DSP chip, you will easily recognize this "new - old" card. Yes! Yes! This is a new incarnation of SBLIVE-24 built on the same non-gaming 106 chip. Apparently, CREATIVE marketers decided that the name SBLIVE! already outdated, so they renamed this card, assigning it to the AUDIGY family (which itself is now rapidly sliding into the low-end).
But in fact, AUDIGY SE is not AUDIGY at all, but an ordinary SBLIVE-24 7.1. A card that does not have hardware accelerated effects in games and is only suitable for playing music and watching movies. It differs from the old SBLIVE-24 by a lower quality digital-to-analogue converter, and a slightly worse output amplifier circuitry (the notorious feed-through capacitors were added, apparently due to a different DAC). In all other respects, the cards are very similar, but if you have a choice, it is better to take the old SBLIVE-24, it will be of better quality.
CREATIVE AUDIGY 4
Model: SB0610
. DSP Chip:CA10300-IAT LF
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $50
A new card that aims to occupy the niche of sound solutions that are better than the AUDIGY SE card, but less advanced in their capabilities than the X-FI Music Extreme card. The card uses a DSP CA10300 chip similar to the DSP chip "AUDIGY ZS 2" in terms of its capabilities. As you hopefully remember, the CA102 chip was used in the AUDIGY-2 ZS. The AUDIGY-4Pro card showed us the CA10200 chip, that is, a couple of zeros were added to the ZS chip number, and the functionality remained the same as before. The AUDIGY-4 card shows us the further development of this chip, now it is called CA10300. And again, no visible innovations appeared in the chip, except that the FIREWARE controller disappeared. At the same time, the chip has a lot in common with the 108 DSP used in the AUDIGY-2 Value card. Apparently, here we are dealing with a new "budget" CREATIVE chip, which in the near future will replace the 106 chip used by AUDIGY SE cards
By the way, there is one more curious moment associated with this card, it uses a digital-to-analog converter of the same revision as installed in the junior CREATIVE XFI cards. The X-FI and AUDIGY-4 use the CS4382-KQZ converter, while all previous AUDIGY-2 models and SBLIVE-24 used the CS4382-KQ.
Thus, to summarize, CREATIVE AUDIGY 4 is a full-fledged gaming card, similar in its capabilities to the AUDIGY-2 ZS or AUDIGY-2 Value card, but built on a different element base and a different DSP chip, which, apparently, served as a development, and not<боковой ветвью>DSP chip AUDIGY-2 ZS.
On the AUDIGY-4 card, today we will finish our review of popular sound solutions from CREATIVE LABS. Overboard of this review, we have, perhaps, only the cards of the new generation CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER X-FI, we have reviewed all the rest today. We will definitely talk about CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER X-FI in one of the next issues. There are too many ambiguities and advertising hype around them, we still have to deal with them. Looking ahead, I will only note that this card is quite good, and if you plan to spend $ 120 on sound, it is quite worthy of becoming your choice. Although personally I'll wait until CREATIVE releases its OEM version with plastic connectors and costs about 50 dollars. That's when I'll think about upgrading my AUDIGY-2 6.1 card, but it's still too early.
(c) German Ivanov, March 2006
Sound cards CREATIVE X-FI. computer sound.
Introduction.
This review of mine is purely speculative, and is based on an analysis of publicly available information on the Internet and feedback from the owners of CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER X-FI, published on the pages of various forums on the network.
It's not that they asked for absolutely unbelievable money for this card, I can quite afford such money spending. It's just that, as a person without a European upbringing, I am disgusted by the thoughtless throwing away of a lot of money just for a shiny wrapper and "novelty". I would gladly pay for the good work of a competent engineer, but I do not want to pay out of my own pocket for the work of a marketing specialist who managed to sell me the same thing as before, but wrapped in new packaging.
The composition of the line
According to the published press releases, the line of new CREATIVE LABS cards at the moment is as follows:
Creative X-FI Extreme Music
Model: SB0460
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $120
CREATIVE X-FI EXTREME MUSIC is the cheapest card in the XFI line. The card contains 2 megabytes of integrated RAM. The set of the card is very simple - they will give you only the card itself and that's it. There are two types of cards on sale, with and without a heatsink glued to the DSP chip. According to unverified data, the versions "with a radiator" are slightly "overclocked" by the manufacturer. The chip was slightly raised the supply voltage in order to increase the stability of its operation.
Creative X-FI Platinum
Model: SB0460
. DSP chip: X-FI (under paper chip CA20K1-PAG)
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $180
The "PLATINUM" variant differs from the "EXTREME MUSIC" only in an additional package. In addition to the card itself, its package includes an infrared remote control and a "DRIVE" module. By themselves, both of these cards are completely identical to each other, have the same capabilities and the same model number.
Creative X-FI Fata1ity.
Model: SB0466
. DSP chip: X-FI (CA20K1-PAG))
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $210
This card differs from CREATIVE X-FI PLATINUM only by the amount of RAM installed on it, which is soldered on FATAL1TY as much as 64 megabytes. Additional marketing "cheating" of the product is provided by the nickname of some network player placed in the name of the card. According to the official version, this small addition was made at his request. What exactly was "his request" I do not know, the materials available to me are silent about this. This card does not differ from the PLATINUM version in any other way. The same card, the same remote and the same DRIVE block.
Creative X-FI Elite Pro
Model: SB0550
. DSP chip: X-FI (CA20K1-PAG)
. Number of channels: 7.1
. Estimated cost: $310
This card already significantly differs for the better from its counterparts in the X-FI series. The SB0550 has higher quality digital-to-analog converters and operational amplifiers. In addition, instead of the "DRIVE" module, the card comes with an external unit, similar in functionality to the similar unit from CREATIVE AUDIGY 2 ZS PLATINUM PRO. The block is very large in size, outwardly it looks almost like a HI-FI amplifier. At the same time, the block is almost empty inside. A small number of radio components are scattered across a huge printed circuit board.
Apparently, the huge case of the external unit should give solidity to the top card of the new line.
What's new here?
Many journalists of various electronic publications, in a hurry to release "hot" material in the light of the very first, reprint CREATIVE's advertising brochures almost word for word, thus involuntarily confirming in the eyes of the reader the correctness of the provisions expressed in them. The second group of journalists, having got their hands on "live" samples of maps, are more careful in their statements, not finding many of the miracles promised by prospectuses in these maps. The third group of journalists, having previously read the reviews of the first group, and not finding the promised "miracles", writes devastating materials, pouring out a sea of bile on the innocent piece of iron. As the hero of one famous series used to say, "the truth is somewhere nearby." Let's try to figure out whether you and I should buy this new card, or is it dear to its current owners only as a memory of the money spent on it?
The promotional materials available on the CREATIVE website are full of stories about dozens of enhancements and innovations in the XFI series cards. In their press releases, the company's marketers sometimes come up with outright curiosities, in the manner of promises to restore low-quality MP3 to the "original" quality level. Moreover, the "quality" is not only equal, but even, in some mystical way, exceeding the original quality of the CD. A person familiar with the technology of the processes that occur during the recording and compression of sound may have the opinion that inside each sound chip there is a small Chinese orchestra that independently plays the notes lost during compression.
It is very difficult to break through this triumph of PR over common sense, however, I have an opinion that CREATIVE X-FI cards have only one, but a very serious innovation compared to the cards of previous generations. The CREATIVE X-FI has a powerful DSP chip capable of performing very complex sound processing. In other words, the developers of CREATIVE again went on an extensive development path, unable to get rid of the problems inherent in their cards, they increased the “muscles” of the chip, due to which it will now be able to shove these problems “under the covers” much deeper than it has been able to do so far day.
"Curse of the Baskervilles" - forced recoding in 48 kHz.
I can only guess for what reasons CREATIVE let the music playback mode with the help of its cards take its course until recently. Most likely, their engineers were simply overzealous in creating sound cards that are optimally suited for watching DVD movies and creating effects in computer games. There is no other way I can explain the fact that in their consumer cards they strictly set the frequency of 48 kHz, adopted in DVD films, as the working frequency for DSP digitizing. All other audio streams coming to the card were forcibly re-encoded by the card's internal processor to the specified format before being sent for further processing. And everything would be fine, but the digitization frequency standard, both for ordinary music CDs and for MP3 files copied from them by pirates, is not 48 kHz at all, but 44.1 kHz. But CREATIVE gaming cards can’t play this frequency honestly! In their professional cards of the EMU series, CREATIVE engineers get around this problem by installing oscillators with two switching quartz crystals on the cards, or using oscillators that can change their frequency. on game cards, the frequency of 48 kHz is set rigidly and cannot be changed.
In principle, it is quite possible, even with almost no distortion of the original signal, to recode one type of signal into the second, but for the old processors of CREATIVE sound cards, this turned out to be an impossible task. Their performance was simply not enough to manage to do this operation in real time. The obvious decision to install a more powerful processor on the card was rejected by CREATIVE engineers and instead they took and simplified the conversion algorithm itself so that the card processor could still cope with it. Such a bold "knight's move" led to the fact that all sound cards manufactured by CREATIVE, starting with the "SB LIVE!" and ending with the "AUDIGY4-PRO" model, reproduce music with a high level of intermodulation and harmonic distortion at high frequencies. Consumers of their products got their hands on very good cards for outputting sound effects in games, watching DVD movies, but, alas, you can’t listen to high-quality music on them.
This alignment soon led to the appearance on the market of sound cards from alternative developers. Cards capable of faithfully reproducing music from CDs without introducing additional distortion into it. We, as consumers, could only welcome such an initiative, if not for a couple of unpleasant moments. Firstly, alternative developer cards are quite expensive compared to CREATIVE game cards. Secondly, they are practically unsuitable for reproducing 3D sound effects in computer games and DVD movies. Real audiophiles, who value high fidelity in music, and at the same time do not play computer games at all, will be completely satisfied with such cards. It remains unclear, but what should we do with you, ordinary users who listen to music, play games and watch movies? This question remained open until the launch of a new line of sound cards from CREATIVE, which is the subject of this article.
Let's play music
The audio path of any modern sound card consists of three functional blocks.
1) Sound processor - DSP, whose tasks include transcoding sound from one format to another, applying effects, mixing different sources with each other.
2) A digital-to-analog converter (DAC), whose task is to convert a signal from a digital sequence of bytes into a regular analog audio signal similar to that produced by, say, a household tape recorder.
3) Filtering buffer amplification stage. The task of this block is to match the DAC output with your headphones or speakers, as well as to remove high-frequency noise components from the audio signal spectrum that the DAC introduces there due to its design features. In modern sound cards, ordinary inexpensive amplifier microcircuits act as this block.
All three of these blocks, each in their own way, introduce distortion into the reproduced sound and have a direct impact on the quality of the music that you hear from your acoustics. Let's look at exactly how these functional blocks are built in CREATIVE XFI, and what capabilities they have.
Card Processor (DSP)
As I wrote above, the cards of the X-FI line use a new high-speed sound processor chip. In terms of architecture, this processor is fundamentally different from the DSP chips used in SB LIVE! and AUDIGI. That is, this is no longer "development", and not "work on bugs", but a fundamentally different chip. For an audiophile, the "novelty" of the DSP chip was expressed, first of all, in a very competent implementation of the conversion of digital streams other than 48 kHz. As a matter of fact, his main power was thrown at this, and the result was, nevertheless, achieved. X-FI is the first CREATIVE card capable of reproducing not only effects in games, but also music from regular CDs. Problems with the 44.1 kHz sample rate, which for many years were the bane of CREATIVE cards, are a thing of the past. With the advent of XFI, users seemed to have the opportunity to purchase a universal sound card, equally suitable for both playing music and creating effects in modern games. Whether this is actually the case time will tell. As I wrote above, the DSP is not the only unit in the card that can kill the quality of its sound in the bud.
Another pleasant surprise in the family of new cards is the ability to turn off recoding altogether, though at the cost of losing the ability to apply effects to the sound. Many owners of AUDIGY2 ZS sound cards have already used this mode. By installing alternative drivers KXPROJECT (WWW.KXPROJECT.ORG) it was possible to "hook" on a kind of "back door" in the EMU2K chip, outputting sound directly bypassing the effect of the DSP processor. The limitation of this "move" is to output only a stream of 24 bits with a sampling rate of 96 kHz. The card user could apply to the input of this block a signal already recoded by some external high-quality encoder. The card, having received this signal, did not try to recode it back to 48KHz.
In XFI cards, this feature is available quite legally and for all supported sample rates. The DSP of the card is simply turned off, and the sound is output as it is, the card no longer introduces additional distortion into it. In this operating mode, XFI correctly reproduces music in formats that are "inconvenient" for it, without introducing distortions into it that are noticeable to ears and measuring instruments. The graphs obtained using the RMMA test program demonstrate the absence of characteristic signal distortions, which are typical for all cards of the previous CREATIVE lines.
At the same time, when carefully examining the printed circuit board of the new card, we will not find on it a quartz resonator that sets a frequency that is a multiple of the notorious 44.1 kHz. Apparently, the DSP receives the desired frequency from 96 kHz, carrying out the arithmetic operations of multiplication and division inside itself. We can verify its very fundamental ability to generate 44.1 kHz by finding the indicated frequency at the digital output of the SPDIF card. Thus, the card seems to have "honest" work in this mode. Thanks to this innovation, CREATIVE regained the palm, previously taken from it by the manufacturers of "second-tier" cards. Their new cards not only reproduce music with relatively high quality, but also support 3D effects in games, which, unfortunately, the cards from competitors cannot boast of.
In addition to getting rid of forced recoding, the new DSP chip has pleased buyers with some purely software know-how, which I would like to draw your attention to.
Different operating modes
The first thing that strikes the owners of the CREATIVE XFI card is the changed principle of working with the card. An innovation is such a concept as "map operating modes". With the drivers, you can switch the card to either "Entertainment Mode" or " Game Mode" or to "Music Creation Mode". Stop at detailed description I won't go into each mode, they are described in detail in the user's manual and in many articles about XFI in various computer publications. I will only note that purely hardware, the chip in different modes is reoriented to different tasks and thus all the resources of the chip are optimally distributed depending on what you are currently doing. At the same time, many XFI users are already rather tired of switching the card from mode to mode manually, but there are no means of automating this process in XFI drivers.
24 bit Crystallizer - "Upgrade MP3 to DVD-Audio level"
Translated from the language of CREATIVE marketers into a universal technical one, this means raising the "tops" and "bottoms" by the equalizer, plus the so-called "compression" of the signal simultaneously turning on. Forced 24-bit map is needed in order to be able to disperse the amplitude of the audio signal without overload (wheezing). Of course, there is no real 24-bit sound signal here. The essence of the operation comes down to some kind of sound adaptation to low-quality acoustics and, in addition, the forced addition of an effect called "sausage" by modern youth. Both quiet and loud sounds seem to be "pulled up" to some average high enough level.
Any music, after such an operation, "thumps" and "clicks" and at the same time with a uniform constant volume. Of course, there can be no question of any "improvement", and this effect itself is available as a plug-in for common music players. If you use the CYBERLINK POWERDVD software player to watch DVD movies, then you are probably familiar with it. In the advanced AUDIO settings, you can specify the conditions under which you watch the movie, if you turn on the "night" mode, then you will get the "improver" under discussion. He helps to watch some films, the same "Day Watch" without him either "yells" or "is silent". You turn on the "night" mode, and you can watch a movie without fear for the integrity of your eardrum and, at the same time, you can hear all the quiet sounds well.
CMSS-3D - "Stunning realism when working on headphones."
As far as I understand, this refers to the improved CMSS (CREATIVE MULTI SPEAKER SETUP) mode, which has been present in AUDIGY-1(CMSS) and AUDIGY-2(CMSS-2) cards for a long time. CMSS technology is designed to generate multi-channel 5.1 sound from stereo sources and, on the contrary, convert multi-channel sound into two channels if you use headphones. Thus, in CREATIVE XFI we have not something "revolutionary new", but something that has reached version 3.0 in an evolutionary way. CMSS-2 differs from CMSS-1 by the imposition of EAX effects. To be honest, I did not understand what new CMSS brought with it to CREATIVE XFI. Everything that is mentioned in the press releases is also on my AUDIGY-2 card.
The CMSS mode is a rather curious, sometimes useful, albeit very controversial thing. If you are the owner of 5.1 acoustics, then you have probably met with the fact that when a stereo signal is fed into your system, the rear and center speakers are simply silent. This silence is quite logical, because the stereo signal does not contain information about the rear and central sound signal, operating only with the concepts of "left" and "right". The discussed technology is designed to correct this shortcoming. With the help of certain proprietary algorithms, CMSS "bites out" certain frequency components from the signal, as well as signals of a certain volume, redirecting them to the rear ("surround") and center ("voice") speakers. In this case, a pseudo quadraphonic effect is created in all 5 speakers. We must pay tribute, this is not an extension of the stereo base and not a quadro, with their panning in the same plane. This technology works quite interestingly, be sure to play around with it on your sound card. I myself used it for quite a long time when listening to the radio and watching TV from my TV tuner.
As an episode to help you better understand the essence of technology, I will tell you a funny story. Once I was listening to an FM tuner in stereo headphones while doing something on the computer along the way. After a while, I noticed that the station had been transmitting neither news nor advertising for about two hours, but was broadcasting only music. I was interested in this phenomenon, usually there were quite a lot of advertisements on it, and I climbed to understand. It turns out that I had the 5.1 speaker mode and CMSS turned on, but at the same time I was wearing regular stereo headphones on my head! The CMSS mechanism cut out the announcer's voice in news and commercials from the station's signal, and redirected it to the central channel. And the headphones were included in the front channels, so I didn’t hear ads with the news at all. But to cut out the soloist's voice from musical works, the CMSS intelligence was no longer enough, so the music was transmitted almost without "cuts".
In my experience, CMSS is best suited for use when watching videos, enlivening their sound with unexpected spatial effects. In music, CMSS greatly spoils the spatial arrangement of instruments laid down when creating a musical composition, so it is better to turn it off immediately. In games, this technology is even less useful, since most modern games do an excellent job of outputting sound to 7.1 systems without outside help, CMSS will only interfere with them.
True, if you play with headphones, the new CMSS-HEADPHONE version announced in XFI cards may come in handy. CREATIVE marketers, as usual, talk about the "amazing sound of games in headphones" and it's almost impossible to understand what they mean specifically. As far as I understand, here we are talking only about slightly improved capabilities of the AUDIGY2 card, and not about something particularly revolutionary. This mode of operation is also present in AUDIGY2, it is enough to set it as speaker system headphones, turn on CMSS, and then run the game in 5.1 mode. For example, DOOM3 with this configuration offers the player to choose either the usual "stereo" or "surround" sound. This mode of operation of the AUDIGY-2 card is an analogue of the "new" XFI CMSS-HEADPHONE technology, so the "revolution" at CREATIVE again failed.
Digital to Analog Converter (DAC)
Having dealt with the capabilities and innovations of the DSP chip, let's look at the rest of the sound path of the card. As a digital-to-analog converter, the lower three CREATIVE X-FI cards use the CS4382-KQZ chip, which is also used in CREATIVE AUDIGY 4 sound cards.
The cards of the previous CREATIVE AUDIGY-2 line used the CS4382-KQ chip for this purpose. As you can see, the difference in marking is only in the last letter. Rummaging through the documentation, I couldn’t find how one microcircuit differs from the second. Most likely, from the user's point of view, absolutely nothing. So, for example, the CS4382-KQ chip differs from the CS4382-BQ chip only in the operating temperature range. Most likely, the last letter is responsible for the type of case, or, even more likely, for the newfangled absence of harmful substances in Europe today, such as lead.
The senior card of the CREATIVE X-FI ELITE PRO family compares favorably with its younger sisters by completely different digital-to-analog converters. Instead of one eight-channel CS4382, four CS4398-CZ stereo converters are installed on the card.
Exactly the same converters are installed by CREATIVE on their EMU 1820M, E-MU1616M and EMU 1212M professional cards, as well as on game card AUDIGI 4 PRO. At this point in time, these are the most "fancy" of the converters manufactured by CIRRUS LOGIC. You are probably interested in how exactly these microcircuits differ from microcircuits in junior models? Let's take a look at their specification.
As you can see from the accompanying table, a happy ELITE PRO card owner is paying around $150 for just a slight improvement in dynamic range, and an equally minor improvement in THD-N. By the way, both of these parameters directly depend on the third parameter, which has recently been considered obsolete - the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Apparently, it is he who has been improved in CS4398.
On the other hand, any audiophile knows that the technical parameters are by no means the ultimate truth. Often a chip with worse parameters "plays" music better than a model that is more advanced in terms of technical parameters. There is only one criterion, the perception of a particular listener. Unfortunately, the card's high price prevents its wide distribution, so we can only guess about the sound quality of this card.
Analog filters and amplifiers.
The low-end cards of the X-FI line have everything really bad here. All the same penny operational amplifiers that are used in the AUDIGY-2 and AUDIGY-4 cards are used. A JRC 4556A operational amplifier is installed on the front channel, and a JRC4558 chip is used on all other channels. The use of the JRC4556A chip on the front channel is determined by the fact that this chip has an increased load capacity. In the documentation for the JRC4556A, we can read that this chip is capable of working with headphones with a resistance of 150 ohms, and the JRC4558 is designed for a higher resistance load (line output). The sound of both microcircuits is more than mediocre, although the JRC4556 is somewhat better than the 4558 in its parameters. Both of these operational amplifiers are practically unsuitable for audiophile purposes, although they will do quite well for a consumer multimedia card.
The senior card of the CREATIVE X-FI ELITE PRO family differs from its "comrades" for the better. Instead of the JRC4556, the JRC2114 operational amplifier is installed, and instead of the JRC4558 operational amplifiers, the JRC2068 microcircuits are soldered on the board. Both these microcircuits are much better in terms of their characteristics than the microcircuits installed on other cards of the family, however, with one very significant exception. The output of the JRC2114 op-amp is less powerful than that of the JRC455A, so the headphone output of the X-FI ELITE PRO should sound quieter, and "overdrive" (wheeze) at a much lower volume than the analogous output of the cards of the previous line.
Thus, summing up the story about the "musical" capabilities of CREATIVE XFI cards, we have to admit that the younger three models of the card are not of particular interest to audiophiles. By the nature of their sound, they should not differ much from a $ 50 CREATIVE AUDIGY-4 card. The only advantage of the new cards is the absence of low-quality conversion (48->44.1kHz).
The older card of the family is more interesting in this regard than its "commodities", but at such a price that they ask for it, you can buy a much better card for music and ... an AUDIGY-4 card for games.
What about games?
Everything seems to be fine with games, the sharply increased performance of the new chip will come in handy in them. Due to it, in the future, it is theoretically possible to implement much more complex effects than now. I knowingly made a reservation "about the future". Modern games, are focused more on the sound cards of the previous generation, and in my opinion, we should expect any noticeable differences in sound between the old and new cards not earlier than in another year. Of course, if the CREATIVE engineers themselves do not have a hand in one or another game in order to show us the great advantages of their new cards. Something similar has already happened with Unreal Tournament and Quake-4.
By and large, in games, XFI brought us only two significant innovations. EAX technology advanced from version 4.0 to version 5.0, and sound cards got their own RAM.
New in EAX 5
1) Increased the number of hardware voices to 128. AUDIGY-2 series cards support 64 voices, so the number of voices in XFI cards has been doubled. Now you can enjoy in the game the simultaneous sound of 128 shots or the roar of 128 simultaneously falling barrels. I'm kidding of course. The scope of additional sound voices is very extensive. For example, I am writing these lines in the silence of the night sitting in the kitchen with a laptop. In one corner, a gas column hisses, coffee boils on the stove, the keyboard cheerfully taps under my fingers, hot ash falls from a cigarette into a wet ashtray, the background noise of a city that never sleeps comes from an open window. See how many sounds surround me? In order to program each of them in the game, it would be necessary to allocate a separate channel. In a typical musical composition, this job is taken over by the sound engineer when the album is mastered. With games it is more difficult, because the player, say, could open a door or not open it. He could put the kettle on the fire, but he might not. The interactive world of the game lives according to its own laws and its sound image cannot be programmed in advance. Therefore, in theory, the more hardware voices in a sound card, the more natural the sound background of the game "Matrix" surrounding you.
2) The next innovation is EAX VOICE technology. The essence of technology, as far as I understand, is as follows. In the event that you play a game over a network with live opponents, and at the same time talk with them through a microphone, then their voices will now sound against the background of the sound environment in which they themselves are located. So if your interlocutor is standing near a waterfall, you will hear his voice against the background of a waterfall, if he crawls along a pipe, then you will hear an echo characteristic of the pipe. In the previous version of EAX, the voice sounded with voice acting environment where you listen to it. In my opinion, the technology is certainly fun, but very far from the needs of our mass gamer.
At this point in time, in order for it to start at all, three conditions must be met.
a) All players must have CREATIVE X-FI cards installed
b) The game must support 3D audio over IP and EAX-4 HD.
c) You must play local network and not over the Internet.
3) EAX PURE PATH. Everything is simple here. The developer got the opportunity to specify from which particular speaker he wants to hear this or that sound. This mode is needed mainly for the subwoofer. Thanks to him, we will hear much more low-frequency sounds than before. At least I hope so.
4) ENVIRONMENT FLEXI-FX. Here the essence lies in the possibility of outputting additional complex built-in effects like reverb. Previously, there seemed to be only 4 possible "slots" for effects, of which two were already forcibly occupied by reverbs and Chorus, now all four slots have become free. For games, this technology is not very useful, but for creating music, it may well come in handy.
5) EAX MACRO-FX. But this technology is already something interesting. It came to EAX from the SENSAURA API. We are promised a very painstaking and accurate reproduction of sound sources located at a short distance from our head. Now the bullets will whistle very excitingly exactly past our ears. It turns out that previous versions of EAX localized sounds well only at medium and long distances, but they were "free" near. Isn't it surprising that this circumstance was silent in press releases talking about the merits of the previous version of EAX 4.0? One way or another, but in version EAX 5. 0, CREATIVE corrected this annoying oversight.
6) ENVIRONMENTAL OCCLUSION. In the previous version of EAX, as it turned out, only the sound itself was processed through the obstacle. Now the passage through this obstacle of the "echo" of the environment in which this sound arose is also being worked out. In simple words, if a tap is dripping in your bathroom, then, having closed the door to the bath, you continued to hear the drops falling, but you no longer heard the characteristic echo of the "bathroom" from their falling. You open the door, the echo appears, like a jack-in-the-box. Yes, whatever you say today is just a day of discoveries! To be honest, I am amazed at the ability of the CREATIVE marketing department to pass off work on the bugs of the previous version of their chips as their know-how!
This is where all the innovations in the gaming capabilities of XFI end. Of course, the card also supports all 3D sound technologies available in previous versions EAX.
RAM on the card.
Another curious nuance of CREATIVE XFI cards is the additional RAM soldered on the card (the amount of memory varies on different XFI models). As far as I understand, it is used as a DSP's own buffer, designed for faster output of sound samples, pre-decompression of MP3 sounds in the game and the imposition of complex multi-pass environmental effects.
To say anything about the benefits of such a solution, in my opinion, is still premature, in theory, of course, this is a useful thing, let's see if game developers manage to use it properly in any way. Now, according to the authors of the IXBT website, the benefits of increased on-board memory, there is only for games created with the help of the CREATIVE developers themselves, and even then, not so much because of the presence of memory as such, but because of the preliminary unpacking of all the sounds in the game, that is, the guys frankly cheated with a demonstration of its merits. Let's leave these statements to the conscience of CREATIVE engineers and IXBT reviewers. And also on the conscience of the same network player who "asked to add memory" to the card, which later received his name. I can't resist and I'm laughing. It is interesting, in which games exactly did he lack this most notorious RAM on a sound card when the XFI cards themselves did not yet exist in nature? After all, even now, games with this on-board memory can be counted on the fingers of one hand, at the time the card was designed, they did not exist at all in nature.
Conclusion.
In general, CREATIVE turned out to be a pretty decent universal card. The card is equally suitable for listening to music (at the level of AUDIGY-4 cards, but without forced recoding), as well as for watching movies and computer games. Despite the fact that it is still not a "revolution in the world of sound", nevertheless, it is quite possible to recommend it for purchase to a wide range of computer users who are thinking about buying their first full-fledged sound card. In the same case, if you already own an AUDIGY-2 level card, you should not rush to buy it, as XFI does not differ much from it in terms of its capabilities.
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Creative is a recognized leader in digital entertainment products. It was founded in Asia, in Singapore, in the early 80s of the last century, when in our country, the former USSR, there were no thoughts about modern multimedia devices. The manufacturer became famous all over the world for its Sound Blaster sound cards, they made a real revolution in the world of sound and even served as a standard for some time. Today, the device developer has laboratories in Asia, America, and Europe, and is not limited solely to the production of boards - on the contrary, it is actively expanding its product line in accordance with consumer requests.
Modern Creative - the guarantor of perfect sound
The company today is the development of advanced audio solutions, wireless amplifiers, high-performance solutions for improving the sound of headphones and speakers, working with computers, laptops, portable devices. Innovative Creative hardware, unique patented technologies, state-of-the-art applications allow consumers around the world to experience the joy of High Quality sound reproduction, and at any time, in any place: at home, on a walk, visiting friends, at gaming competitions.
Sound Blaster sound cards developed by Creative have become the standard for PCs, before the ubiquity of Windows OS, many manufacturers of personal computers focused their products on compatibility with such sound cards. Back in 1989, thanks to this line of products, the company managed to attract more than 400 million fans. Today, this army is only getting bigger. It is almost impossible to meet a person with at least some connection with computer technology or music who would not admit that the best solution for him is the Sound Blaster from Creative.
Currently, the company's product range includes products for optimizing sound from smartphones and tablets, sound cards for laptops and computers, sound enhancement solutions for Xbox and PlayStation.
Advantages of sound cards from Creative
The company is customer oriented. Modern Creative products are not only a joy for the ears, but also for the eyes. If necessary, touch control is provided on the devices, the size is made optimal - moderately compact, but without sacrificing functionality.
Strengths of Creative sound cards:
- unsurpassed sound;
- continuous improvement of technologies;
- customer orientation;
- always clear interface;
- multifunctionality;
- support for users around the world.
While playing or watching a video, you will hear everything from the quietest breath of the wind, the rustle of leaves under your feet, the quiet creak of snow to the roar of explosions, incredible thunder, the roar of a jet plane. Creative sound cards will allow you to feel a previously unknown volume of sound, to experience the shock of musical works.
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The support of all SoundBlaster cards is only 5.1 against 7.1 for ASUS models. But on the other hand, the elemental base of Creative products (especially ZxR) is generally better, and the only passport parameter - the signal-to-noise ratio looks extremely impressive.
All cards are claimed to have the widest frequency range and, of course, each supports 192kHz/24bit mode.
Test Methodology
The stereo signal was output in 16-bit 44 kHz, 24-bit 48 kHz, and 24-bit 192 kHz. The professional audio interface E-MU 0404 USB was used as a recording device.
Subjective Listening
During listening to the sound cards we connected professional active monitors Dynaudio BM15A, as well as headphones Sennheiser HD650 and Denon D2000. The latter, if the card is equipped with a specialized headphone output (for example, amplified), were connected to it.
In addition to direct rivals, during subjective listening, I compared all the boards with the semi-professional external card E-MU 0404 USB. Like all new SoundBlaster, it is equipped with headphone amplifiers. So, a full comparison is possible here. Your humble servant does not consider himself a great connoisseur or an inveterate audiophile, but he tried to formulate some impressions. Of course, only in addition to the results of objective measurements.
Sound Blaster Z
We will consider the cards in order - from the youngest to the oldest.
The SoundBlaster Z comes in a medium sized cardboard box. The latter is spectacularly designed: gold inserts on a black and red background. On the front side, through a transparent window, you can see the board itself.
The rest of the box is littered with all sorts of product information, with most of the information in multiple languages. There is also Russian among them.
But the manufacturer indicates a little real technical characteristics. Yes, and the handle for carrying here is definitely not enough.
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Inside, the board is fixed in a soft plastic stamping.
In the kit, in addition to the expected documentation and a software CD, there is only a Creative Crystal Voice microphone.
It's well-designed, it's nice to see such an accessory in a sound card. If only its price did not increase too noticeably.
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The audio card itself, which bears the SB1500 index, although it is made in a standard rather than a low-profile form factor, is quite compact - less than 13 cm in length.
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But on it it was possible to implement a complete set of necessary connectors:- Two separate 3.5 mm mini jacks for microphone and headphones;
- Three more - for 5.1 format acoustics;
- As well as two digital ports.
Most of the board is covered with a metal casing painted bright red. Alas, it is highly doubtful that it will somehow protect sensitive components from interference - with such a healthy round hole in the center. And the casing does not directly contact any components to remove heat (however, the latter is not needed here - the board does not require external power and heats up extremely moderately during operation).
Apparently, the casing here is more "for beauty". For the same - and a transparent window through which you can see part of the electronic components and the main microcircuit, covered with a decorative overlay.
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Hidden underneath is a Creative Sound Core3D (CA0132) sound processor. We will see him again and again in the future. Here he is not only responsible for all calculations, but also performs the functions of ADC and DAC for all channels except the front ones.
The board is not too oversaturated with elements: the installation is not as dense as in top solutions. But still by latest fashion among sound cards for the front channels, a separate digital-to-analog converter is used. In this case, this is the older Cirrus Logic model - CS4398. The same DAC is equipped, for example, ASUS Xonar D1 and many E-MU products are very worthy. The binding uses operational amplifiers NJM2114 and 4556A. Their replacement is not provided: if you want to do this, the OS will have to be soldered.
However, for this class of device, their capabilities are more than enough.
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Another Creative chip - CA0113 - is responsible for working with the PCI-Express controller.
The manufacturer installed LEDs on top and bottom opposite the processor.
During operation, they provide red illumination of the board, and at the same time all the insides of the system unit.
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Disabling them without voiding the warranty will not work.
That, in fact, is all that can be said about the board. It's time to move on to testing. The first step is the measurement results.
We will compare with the main competitor of Creative SoundBlaster Z on the market - ASUS Xonar DX:
16 bit, 44 kHz:
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| Parameter | Creative Sound Blaster Z | ASUS Xonar DX | ||
| +0.09, –0.09 | +0.01, –0.03 | |||
| Noise level, dB (A) | –94.1 | –96.3 | ||
| 94.0 | 96.2 | |||
| Harmonic distortion, % | 0.0026 | 0.0009 | ||
| –87.1 | –89.7 | |||
| 0.0049 | 0.0043 | |||
| –93.9 | –95.1 | |||
| Intermodulation at 10 kHz, % | 0.0041 | 0.0046 | ||
24 bits, 48 kHz:
| Parameter | Creative Sound Blaster Z | ASUS Xonar DX | ||
| Frequency response unevenness (in the range of 40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB | +0.06, –0.10 | |||
| Noise level, dB (A) | –103.5 | –113.4 | ||
| Dynamic range, dB (A) | 103.7 | |||
| Harmonic distortion, % | 0.0028 | 0.0007 | ||
| Harmonic distortion + noise, dB(A) | –88.2 | –100.1 | ||
| Intermodulation distortion + noise, % | 0.0039 | 0.0010 | ||
| Interpenetration of channels, dB | –96.6 | –97.6 | ||
| Intermodulation at 10 kHz, % | 0.010 | 0.0009 | ||
24 bits, 192 kHz:
| Parameter | Creative Sound Blaster Z | ASUS Xonar DX | ||
| Frequency response unevenness (in the range of 40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB | +0.01, –0.09 | +0.00, –0.04 | ||
| Noise level, dB (A) | –104.4 | –113.2 | ||
| Dynamic range, dB (A) | 104.5 | 113.0 | ||
| Harmonic distortion, % | 0.0028 | 0.0007 | ||
| Harmonic distortion + noise, dB(A) | –88.0 | –99.6 | ||
| Intermodulation distortion + noise, % | 0.0048 | 0.0010 | ||
| Interpenetration of channels, dB | –99.3 | –96.8 | ||
| Intermodulation at 10 kHz, % | 0.010 | 0.0010 | ||
Considering the declared characteristics, one could expect better results.
If, when measuring the ASUS Xonar D1, I simply “rested” on the recording path of my already elderly E-MU 0404 USB, then I couldn’t reach even close to the signal-to-noise ratio of 113 dB. However, the overall RMAA rating of "excellent" in 24-bit 48 and 192 kHz modes speaks for itself. Creative SoundBlaster Z provides excellent sound quality, which will be enough for the vast majority of even very demanding users.
This is confirmed by subjective listening. On studio monitors costing several thousand dollars and in a room with initial audio training, “hear” the difference between the Creative SoundBlaster Z and the best representatives of the tribe of sound cards like the E-MU 0404 USB, ASUS Xonar DX or the top “entertainment” board of the same line (ROG Phoebus ) is very difficult. On the most complex and rich compositions, there is a feeling that the Creative SoundBlaster Z plays a little dirty, and the sound lacks detail. But there is not the slightest desire to compare it with the same M-Audio Revolution 5.1 - and it is clear that the new product plays better.
The headphone output is not so simple. Apparently, the use of the same DAC, albeit through a different harness, had an effect. The playback quality in headphones is inferior to the front output. Of course, when used with budget and mid-range models, the difference will not be so noticeable, but many owners of expensive high-quality headphones are also probably looking at sound cards for $100. And they may be disappointed by the deterioration in detail and the increased level of distortion of the local specialized output. But there could be an obvious advantage over the ASUS Xonar DX, which, in principle, cannot boast of having a headphone amplifier.
Now, alas, we have to state, albeit small, but the loss of SoundBlaster Z to its main competitor in terms of the main parameter - sound quality. And that's at a slightly higher cost. At the time of writing this review, you could buy ASUS Xonar DX in Moscow retail for less than 2,500 rubles, while prices for a new Creative product were just starting at 3,000 rubles. In addition to this, the ASUS card is a low-profile one, and it comes not only with a PCI-Express slot, but also with an old PCI one. And the big question is how many people in such a situation will be tempted by more functionality, a long list of supported technologies, bright design, microphone included and a more convenient driver?
As for the software, we will talk about it in the corresponding section. And for those who care about the package, you should definitely look at the next model - SoundBlaster Zx.
