Creative announces X-Fi audio processor

**MIG-31** · May 12, 2005, 10:04 PM

Creative has announced a new X-FI "Xtreme Fidelity" audio processor that it claims is 24 times more powerful than its predecessor.

Xtreme Fidelity sets a new standard for audio by supporting a combination of 24-bit quality, stunning audio clarity with a minimum of 110db SNR and the new CMSS® (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) 3D headphone and surround speaker technology. Consumers will be able to upgrade their existing CD and MP3 music to the Xtreme Fidelity standard, using applications that can run on the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio processor. Being able to upgrade an existing library of music to Xtreme Fidelity differentiates it from other high-end music standards such as DVD-A and SACD, which offer limited selection and require consumers to repurchase their music in that specific format. When consumers upgrade their CD or MP3 music to the new Xtreme Fidelity standard, they will be able to experience playback that sounds better than its original CD recording.

The ability to make CD or MP3 music sound better than the original recording is certainly a bold claim, but better is relative. Creative touts the X-FI's ability to spread music over multiple output channels, which could easily be construed as superior to two-channel stereo audio.
With 51 million transistors and a claimed capability of over 10,000 MIPS, the X-FI has plenty of horsepower under the hood. The chip has multiple engines and a flexible architecture that can redirect computational resources on an application-by-application basis. X-FI will also come with a new version of EAX. Creative will be previewing the X-Fi at E3 next week.
_______________
Source: Tech Report

Thanks to daRk_heLmet for the submit.

pr0digal jenius · May 12, 2005, 11:07 PM

so this will require a new sound card then? lovely.

No_Style · May 12, 2005, 11:52 PM

I look forward to this uberness.

germanjulian · May 13, 2005, 12:21 AM

hahahahaahahahahhahhahaaha.... (so much bull/hype it isnt even funny)

how can you make a CD sound better by applying some effect to it?

anyway a PREVIEW:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...13719%2C00.asp

Quote:

"The X-Fi's core can run at two internal sampling rates, 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz, although it will only run at 44.1KHz in Creation mode, and if you specifically tell it to do so."

So it seems no native 96KHz (useless anyway) and it still resamples CD's and mp3 etc except when you use Creation mode!?!? god knows what creation mode is but it doesnt sound like 'normal' use to me.

Oh god so many transistors and still no bit accurate playback of cd's or mp3 (etc). why?!?
sounds like it could be a good sound chip, but still the hype mentioned above just puts me off and I want to tell everyone not to buy a creative sound card.

HunterZ · May 13, 2005, 06:35 AM

*yawn* Just more proof that Creative makes money through marketing and other sleazy corporate business tactics instead of by making innovative products. Ironic that a company whose name is "Creative" doesn't actually create anything new on their own.

crapman777 · May 13, 2005, 10:18 AM

$$$ that's all it is. Honestly how much more clarity can people notice in their sound cards? Anyone notice the Audigy4...well its out there, and not any better than my audigy2 zs... so why bother, i think its getting to a point where Creative are starting to sound like ati and nvidia with their products, HD this and Extreme pipline that. Now its Xi FI, whatever. Buy some decent speakers and save yourself the trouble of handing more profit to a company that isnt really trying...

BWX · May 13, 2005, 10:30 AM

My Fortissimo III 7.1 sounds better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by germanjulian

hahahahaahahahahhahhahaaha....

anyway a PREVIEW:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...13719%2C00.asp

Active Server Pages error 'ASP 0126'

Include file not found

/article2/0,1558,1813719,00.asp, line 548

The include file '/component/util_generate_article_discussion_info/0,1346,d=31716,00.asp' was not found.

hmmmmmmmmmm.........

germanjulian · May 13, 2005, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWX

My Fortissimo III 7.1 sounds better.

Active Server Pages error 'ASP 0126'

Include file not found

/article2/0,1558,1813719,00.asp, line 548

The include file '/component/util_generate_article_discussion_info/0,1346,d=31716,00.asp' was not found.

hmmmmmmmmmm.........

works for me

basically blah blah way more powerful blah blah not really useful whatsoever and still no native 44.1KHz playback.

**dj_stick** · May 13, 2005, 11:12 AM

according to that report the SRC artifacts are almost inaudible - similiar to the SSRC plugin for winamp/foobar

would be interesting to see if this chip is just another based on the 10kX architecture, internally it's still 48khz for effects, 96khz is processed via double streams, exactly how it's done on the E-MU 0404 (10k2 based) card…

BWX · May 13, 2005, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by germanjulian

works for me

Now it does for me too- but then if I click it again it doesn't- then it does, etc.. strange.

May 12, 2005, 10:04 PM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 55,779 Rep Power: 444 System Specs	Creative announces X-Fi audio processor Creative has announced a new X-FI "Xtreme Fidelity" audio processor that it claims is 24 times more powerful than its predecessor. Xtreme Fidelity sets a new standard for audio by supporting a combination of 24-bit quality, stunning audio clarity with a minimum of 110db SNR and the new CMSS® (Creative Multi Speaker Surround) 3D headphone and surround speaker technology. Consumers will be able to upgrade their existing CD and MP3 music to the Xtreme Fidelity standard, using applications that can run on the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio processor. Being able to upgrade an existing library of music to Xtreme Fidelity differentiates it from other high-end music standards such as DVD-A and SACD, which offer limited selection and require consumers to repurchase their music in that specific format. When consumers upgrade their CD or MP3 music to the new Xtreme Fidelity standard, they will be able to experience playback that sounds better than its original CD recording. The ability to make CD or MP3 music sound better than the original recording is certainly a bold claim, but better is relative. Creative touts the X-FI's ability to spread music over multiple output channels, which could easily be construed as superior to two-channel stereo audio. With 51 million transistors and a claimed capability of over 10,000 MIPS, the X-FI has plenty of horsepower under the hood. The chip has multiple engines and a flexible architecture that can redirect computational resources on an application-by-application basis. X-FI will also come with a new version of EAX. Creative will be previewing the X-Fi at E3 next week. _______________ Source: Tech Report Thanks to daRk_heLmet for the submit. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

May 12, 2005, 11:52 PM	#3
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	I look forward to this uberness. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

May 13, 2005, 06:35 AM	#5
HunterZ DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: Seattle, USA Posts: 257 Rep Power: 0	yawn Just more proof that Creative makes money through marketing and other sleazy corporate business tactics instead of by making innovative products. Ironic that a company whose name is "Creative" doesn't actually create anything new on their own. __________________ Athlon XP 3200+, Gigabyte GA7N-400Pro2 Rev 2.0 (nVidia nForce2 chipset), 1 GB DDR400 (CAS 2.0, dual-channel), ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB AGP 8x, WinXP Pro SP2, DX9.0c., Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers

May 12, 2005, 11:07 PM	#2
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	so this will require a new sound card then? lovely.

May 13, 2005, 10:18 AM	#6
crapman777 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 158 Rep Power: 0	$$$ that's all it is. Honestly how much more clarity can people notice in their sound cards? Anyone notice the Audigy4...well its out there, and not any better than my audigy2 zs... so why bother, i think its getting to a point where Creative are starting to sound like ati and nvidia with their products, HD this and Extreme pipline that. Now its Xi FI, whatever. Buy some decent speakers and save yourself the trouble of handing more profit to a company that isnt really trying...