I have been reading the forum for a while, building my knowledge at the same time as my HTPC. First time of posting. Can anyone help. I'm after a new soundcard for my HTPC (old card is not supported by Windows 7, that I have just bitten the built and upgraded to). I have run out of expansion slots so it will need to be USB, and I want it to be highest possible quality so no down sampling or unnecessary effects. I don't need the card to to anything much as I only need digital out either coax or optical. Therefore I was hoping sub £100 should suffice, but willing to go higher if needed. It will also need to support DTS passthough and work with both Windows 7 64bit and Linux (http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main). I have looked at many different cards however, either they are not supported in Linux or Windows 7 or don't support DTS passthough.
Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0019JDDC8/ref=...ASIN=B0019JDDC8 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0019JDDC8/ref=asc_df_B0019JDDC8744339?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0019JDDC8)
Seems to fit the bill, however I have seen reviews that say DTS passthough does not work. There are also reviews where people have got it working by fiddling with modified drivers, something I would rather avoid. Has anyone had any experience with the latest Creative drivers?
Or can anyone recommend another card that would do the trick?
i've had the xfi 5.1 for a couple of years. i use the analog though, so i'll keep this brief. it was a major upgrade from my laptop's sound, and i use it with win7 to listen to 24bit flac and it sounds great.
that said, the support for this was pretty bad. for example, the various programs that let you access its 'enhancements' (which i don't use) was incompatible with vista for more than a year, if i remember right. only in the last few months did they get it all working together with win7. it's all good now.
i also tried using this with ubuntu 8.04, 8.1, 9.04 and 9.1. good luck getting volume control or 24bit flac to work using any gnome or kde player. if you'll be using ubuntu, first find a card that fully supports it, because that will probably be the most limiting factor. same goes for any other hardware you plan on using with ubuntu. good luck!
Regarding the choice of soundcard, Dogbert wrote a driver that supports many budget C-Media cards with digital outputs to give bit-perfect output. The cards sell here in the UK for as little as £20, although I'm sure they'll be available almost anywhere.
There was an issue with installing the driver under Vista and Win7 due to a lack of official driver signing, but he suggests a possible workaround on THIS (http://code.google.com/p/cmediadrivers/) webpage under "installing and running the driver".
Maybe someone else could check this workaround out for the OP if they express an interest in taking this route. I would offer to test it myself but moved over to a motherboard with on-board optical digital out at the same time as migrating from XP to Vista, so no longer use the C-Media card for this purpose.
Thanks both for the good advice. The X-Fi does not seem to fit the bill. Ubuntu is quite a limiting factor, thanks for the tip of checking this first, this defiantly helped. At some point I want to change my HTPC from Windows 7 to MythTV, a project for later. Hence needing a card that supports both. Could not seem to find a C-Media card that supported Ubuntu either. Finally found a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro II card. This seems to cover everything Ubuntu, Windows 7, DTS passthough, SPDIF and cheap.
Purchased one today, only £21 from amazon, so its worth a go.
Thanks both for the good advice. The X-Fi does not seem to fit the bill. Ubuntu is quite a limiting factor, thanks for the tip of checking this first, this defiantly helped. At some point I want to change my HTPC from Windows 7 to MythTV, a project for later. Hence needing a card that supports both. Could not seem to find a C-Media card that supported Ubuntu either. Finally found a Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro II card. This seems to cover everything Ubuntu, Windows 7, DTS passthough, SPDIF and cheap.
Purchased one today, only £21 from amazon, so its worth a go.
Hi Folks,
sorry to hijack the thread.
I need info. This is my first post though!!
Wonderful information and i really appreciate all you folks!
Iam trying to get a 5.1 usb sound card and came across this. I would like to know if i can use the
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi 5.1 usb sound card for movies?
Or should i use the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro II card ( http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sound-...e-micro-ii.aspx (http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sound-cards/audio-advantage-micro-ii.aspx) which says "by installing optional driver can send 5.1 - will the driver be provided? I would need to install it?)
My setup:
OS: Windows XP
Speakers: AudioEngine A2 (powered)
Headphones: Philips SBC HL 140/ Senn CX300
Iam going to use only for movies.
Do let me know, which usb sound card (5.1) should i buy, if the above does not go with the current setup.
Thanks
I have an X-Fi XtremeMusic. They are great cards for gamers, and just about passable for audio enthusiasts thanks to the low latency ASIO (~3-5ms stable). Lots of people seem to make noise about how bad they are and how they have PCI latency problems on earlier nForce boards and so on, that is why there was a modified driver made for Vista and 7. From my experience, BOTH the modified driver and the last few Creative drivers have been excellent on Windows 7 64 and on XP. Never had these latency issues. The Crystalizer is like a very well adjusted equalizer / sound improvement DSP by hardware, improving dynamics at the loss of clarity (as it usually is). I am generally picky about altering the sound, but I haven't ever turned it off for games and music.
The Linux driver situation is abysmal. All of the good stuff about the X-Fi doesn't work, basically you can be happy if it just makes sound. If it has to work on Linux, don't get an X-Fi.
Oh and about that DTS passthrough.. I don't use it, but the modified driver has some extra stuff added to it for Dolby Digital, DTS and so forth. And again, it's a very stable driver.