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Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Review

Audio/Others by stefan @ 2010-12-03

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD is the latest sound card from Creative, aimed at both gamers and audiophiles, thanks to the included high quality components. For the first time, Creative offers us the possibility to swap the OPamps, to fine-tune even more the sound quality.

The Software Part I

Right before installing the card inside the computer, we must make sure to uninstall the previous audio drivers (to avoid conflicts or system malfunction). Even if we have owned a Creative sound card before, it is most likely the older drivers won't be compatible with the new hardware.

When we insert the disk into the drive, an Autorun menu will pop up and will prompt us to select the language in which the installation will proceed:

After the language has been selected, we will be prompted to accept the Creative end-user software agreement:

Next, we can choose to install right away the software or customize:

The installer will ask us in which operating more we will want to start: entertainment, game or audio creation:

There is a part of the installation when we have to sit back and wait for it to complete:

After the installation is complete, a restart will be required:

The Product Registration application will pop-up after the system has restarted and will ask us to register the card in the Creative database, to gain more benefits like accessing the knowledge base, benefit from the product returns service or get email/phone call support:

Next, the Creative Software AutoUpdate will appear and will ask us to bring the installed software to the latest versions:

After the updates have been selected, the downloading phase will start:

The AutoUpdate feature got the latest versions of most the software, except the beta drivers from the website:

The Entertainment Mode is one of the three modes in which the card can function; it is meant mostly for movie and music playback. The THX TruStudio PC feature is also present here; on the top part of the interface we can see the features enabled, we can navigate through the menus by clicking on the icons, adjust the Volume, Bass or Treble, but also switch between the available modes:

Comment from jmke @ 2010/12/03

Seems like I'll be holding on to my Audigy 2 ZS Pro for a little longer

Quote:

we can conclude that it is not possible to connect analog surround speakers directly to the sound card; f

I have this speaker set: http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/creative-thx-550/ which still does all it needs to excellently;

Comment from Stefan Mileschin @ 2010/12/03

Well, I am doing most of the listening on my headphones

Comment from jmke @ 2010/12/03

see the volume controler, there's a headphone jack at the front, comes in very handy when it's dark outside and it needs to be quiet in the house

but during day I can wreck havoc with 5.1 surround and big base

Comment from Stefan Mileschin @ 2010/12/03

Would have liked to do that too, but in my apartment you can hear very well from one room to another, even at low sound levels

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