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.

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The Software Part II

When clicking on the little Mode button, the Mode Switcher application will appear:

 

 

 

The Speakers menu allows us to select the output device and also to do some tests; we do also have an advanced button which lets us to adjust volume levels per channel:

 

 

 

 

In the EAX effects menu, we can select the desired one and also the effect amount; this is a very known feature though older Creative audio cards users:

 

 

 

In the THX TruStudio PC menu, we can adjust some extra special effects that can be applied to the audio material; these could be also found with the previously reviewed World of Warcraft headphones, also from Creative:

 

THX TruStudio PC Surround provides immersion control to enhance the natural sense of audio depth and spaciousness by creating virtual surround sound channels. Stereo content or multi-channel content played over stereo speakers and headphones will sound as if it's coming from all sides while voices remain centered in front and original balance and timbre is preserved.

 

 

THX TruStudio PC Crystalizer restores the natural dynamic range that is lost when iTunes and MP3 music gets compressed. This makes the music sounds as good as the artist originally intended, and adds an enhanced level of realism for movies and games.

 

 

THX TruStudio PC Speaker fills in the missing low frequency tones and gives the extra impact for a better entertainment experience. Consumers no longer have to tolerate lack of bass in speakers built into notebook PCs, 2.0 speakers or headphones, as THX TruStudio PC Speaker technology dramatically improves the sound experience without a subwoofer.

 

 

 

THX TruStudio PC Smart Volume addresses the problem of abrupt volume level changes during playback and between songs by automatically and continuously measuring volume, and intelligently applying gain and attenuation to compensate for those changes.

 

 

THX TruStudio PC Dialog Plus enhances the voices in movies for clearer dialog, allowing the listener to hear the dialog over the rest of the soundtrack and over ambient noise in the listening environment.

 

 

In the EQ menu, we can customize the 10-band equalizer, but we can also select from some of the predefined presets:

 

 

 

 

Something that could be also found on the World of Warcraft headset software interface is VoiceFX, some funny effects that can be applied live to our voice when using the microphone. The Silencer is a technology which eliminates unwanted background noise that threatens to disrupt our conversations, ensuring that our voice is heard loud and clear:

 

 

 

 

In the Mixer menu, we can adjust both playback and recording volumes for different ports:

 

 

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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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