# Creative X-FI HD USB revealed



## razvitm

So i bought a new soundcard, the x-fi hd usb, and opened it up so everybody can see just how much hardware this baby hides under the hood. So i'll just post a picture...
   

   
  After i'll install the drivers I will make some RMAA tests, but beware, this thing has awesome output but not so hi-end input, so basically the rmaa results kind of benchmark the line-in, not the line out, because the line-out has far better specs.
  Stay tuned...


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## razvitm

By the way, just spotted the heart of this soundcard as being a Cirrius Logic CS5361 KZZ, i will search the web for it's datasheet for specs but after the rmaa tests
   
  Later edit: Cirrius Logic datasheet says that this chip will do :
   
   24-bit Conversion
   114 dB Dynamic Range
   -105 dB THD+N


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## razvitm

so here's the rmaa test, actually two tests, both tests were conducted using the headphone out as signal source, and the first test used the mic-in as recording device, while the second test used the line-in as recording.
   

   
  So it has better specs than my creative x-fi xtreme gamer, but lets analyse these results a little. We can see that altough the mic-in has a little more noise, it has better (lower) harmonic distortion. 
  For some subjective listening experience: I own a Sennheiser HD485 set of headphones, and it drives theme to extinction...  really, if i let the volume at 100% for 15 minutes my headphones start smelling like roasted duck. The output current capability of this soundcard is great. And while playing at 100% volume, there is no distortion in the headphones...
  All tests were conducted at 24 bit 96 KHz settings in creative console, and i use foobar2000 for playing flac files with resampler activated and set to 96KHz ultra mode.


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## alexgh16

Nice post,thank you for sharing


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## razvitm

Update: I found another chip that seems to be the DAC: AKM AK4396VF.
  By the way, I managed to fry the muting circuit on this card by trying to run rmaa between two computers. When i inserted the jack from the x-fi hd usb into my other computer's soundcard, some small flames appeared, because one computer was grounded and the other was not, and the output muting circuits on the x-fi hd usb fryed, leaving me without sound on both line-out and headphones out, but fortunately the opamps had not been affected, so I rerouted the headphone out directly to the opamp output using verry thinn wires, a modified soldering iron with a verry narrow tip, and a magnifying glass, lots of light. It's a job for old chinese people but i did it and now there's sound output again. YEY!
   
  the small dark smd got left out... it sorth of happens here in Roumany, when you fix something, it's often that some parts remain left out:


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## kniah

Does the X-Fi HD USB have the EMU20K2 processor?


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## thuantran

No, it's this http://www.creative.com/oem/products/chips/ca0189.asp


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## razvitm

This is a macro of the muting circuit removed because it was defective, and the strapping to make the soundcard usable again:
   

   
   
  and the full board at hi-rez


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## raymond555

Awesome card,thanks man!
  I have the X-fi titanium HD pci-e and its just kick ass!


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## sterling1

I purchased my X-FI HD for the express purpose of getting USB  to optical S/PDIF on my Sony TA-E9000ES preamp. It works, and with Windows 7 properties set to 24/96, which matches the highest bit rate the Sony will accept, so far, all genres of music I've filed in iTunes, no matter the bit rate, sound really good up-sampled to 24/96 as processed in Windows.


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## razvitm

When I run RMAA in win7 on the X-FI HD USB at 24bit 96KHz i get an error saying that the usb device has exceeded maximum bandwidth... has anyone else bumped over this problem?


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## DrGroove

Quote: 





razvitm said:


> When I run RMAA in win7 on the X-FI HD USB at 24bit 96KHz i get an error saying that the usb device has exceeded maximum bandwidth... has anyone else bumped over this problem?


 


  make sure it's plugged into a USB 2.0 slot, not USB 1.0 or 1.1


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## Vitor Machado

Any comparison against the uDAC-2 and/or Fiio E7?


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## Mad Max

Damage sucks.
  Good thing you were able to repair it.  =]
   
  Might you do any cap and opamp rolling?


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## Malrick

This is a little off-topic, but do you know much about the optical-in on the back? I'm currently running an optical cable from my Xbox (which the microsoft site says outputs PCM stereo 16-bit 48000) and then using the software enhancements in the card's THX Trustudio pro in order to get simulated headphone surround. I was just wondering if you had any idea what my audio settings should be at to get the optimal quality from this setup  Thankyou!


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## SeanTM22

Is the USB connection just for power?  Or is that the auido source for the device? Im confused...


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## kn19h7

Both in most case I think, didn't try how to use it with other audio sources though..


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## SeanTM22

Lets say I plugged a cable from my sound card to the inputs on this external device, and plugged the USB cable into the wall for power?  Would that work?


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## kn19h7

too lazy to try it myself==
   
  Read the review on top (by Spralwers), i think it answers your doubts
  http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-System-SB1240/dp/B004275EO4


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## whatsinaname

I have been running a pair of Swans M10 out of my on-board sound card (Realtek ALC889A). Am thinking of moving to a DAC + HS50M active monitors.

How would the x-fi HD USB compare to something like the NuForce uDAC 2 in my situation? 

(The phono pre-amp in the x-fi HD is tempting though.)

Edit: First post. Longest lurker ever?!


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## razvitm

The software driver sends audio to the card through the usb port. I don't think the card can operate just powered from a usb phone charger or something similar...


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## razvitm

Quote: 





mad max said:


> Damage sucks.
> Good thing you were able to repair it.  =]
> 
> Might you do any cap and opamp rolling?


 

 CAp and opamp modding? Let me explain something... dac and adc converters are very expensive compared to an opamp, so creative makes sure they select an opamp with better specs than the output of the dac, so the audio performance will not be downgraded by the opamp. any (better) other opamp will make this card sound the same because you already reached the limit of the dac. and as far as capacitors go, it has already some pretty good ones...


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## Mad Max

Quote: 





razvitm said:


> CAp and opamp modding? Let me explain something... dac and adc converters are very expensive compared to an opamp, so creative makes sure they select an opamp with better specs than the output of the dac, so the audio performance will not be downgraded by the opamp. any (better) other opamp will make this card sound the same because you already reached the limit of the dac. and as far as capacitors go, it has already some pretty good ones...


 

 If only that were true...  =\


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## WhiteCrow

soooo...does this upscale? (96/196) or even 16kb to 24kb, what are the specs on this I cant find any.


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## Mad Max

What you mean is _upsampling_, and 16-_bit_ to 24-_bit_.  You can certainly output 16-bit as 24-bit, though there will be no difference in sound.
  Upsampling is possible from 32kHz to 96kHz is possible  as well depending on what programs you use.  Be aware that upsampling/downsampling colors the sound.  I personally don't recommend it, but some people like it.


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## jiiteepee

http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-Blaster/Any-plans-to-implement-44-1-Khz-support-Creative-X-FI-HD-USB/m-p/575451#M160504
   
   
  jiiteepee


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## Battou62

: /


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## Mad Max

Quote: 





jiiteepee said:


> http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-Blaster/Any-plans-to-implement-44-1-Khz-support-Creative-X-FI-HD-USB/m-p/575451#M160504


 

 Fail.


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## WhiteCrow

wow.......is this a good DAC? I am just not ready to drop 300 on a new dac as I just dropped 500 on mah RS-2's. If it comes to it i may just bite the bullet and save up for a headroom dac*not the 1000$ one*


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## Assimilator702

Quote: 





whitecrow said:


> wow.......is this a good DAC? I am just not ready to drop 300 on a new dac as I just dropped 500 on mah RS-2's. If it comes to it i may just bite the bullet and save up for a headroom dac*not the 1000$ one*


 

 You'd be better off with the Headroom or something of comparable quality.


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## WhiteCrow

as someone who has tried this product or are you just saying the headrooms better beacuse they say it's better?


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## Roller

Quote: 





whitecrow said:


> wow.......is this a good DAC? I am just not ready to drop 300 on a new dac as I just dropped 500 on mah RS-2's. If it comes to it i may just bite the bullet and save up for a headroom dac*not the 1000$ one*


 


  You do realize that the X-Fi HD USB costs less than $100, right?


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## EstilhaS

Is it possible to feed the power from two separate sources? I bet that if the soundcard is connected to a pc, and at the same time to a gaming console, and then turning off the pc, the power isnt cut to the soundcard. This should prevent the reset of the sound card and the mute of the spdif channel that is muted by default, right? And making it possible to use the sound card without beeing connected to a pc.
   
   Or even better, could the sound card be modded to have the spdif-in turned on by default?
   
   I know i might be saying lots of bull without fully understanding how all of this works, but i refuse to belive that i cannot use it like i used my extigy.


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## Pettervo

I have a question for anyone who owns the Creative X-fi HD..
   
  I am thinking of buying the creative x-fi hd. However I am a bit worried whether my computer has a good enough processor for this.. I see Creative specify that you need a 2.2 GHz or faster processor.. I have a computer with a dual-core 1,3 (yeah) GHz CULV processor..
   
  I guess the 2.2 GHz are required for lossless music, and perhaps also using some of the sofware for equalizer etc.. I will be playing mostly 320 kbps mp3, so do you think my computer will manage? In your experience, does this unit demand a lot of computer power?


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## WhiteCrow

Quote: 





roller said:


> You do realize that the X-Fi HD USB costs less than $100, right?


 
  ...I was talking about getting the headroom DAC earlier in the thread, is why i asked if this was a good DAC or if I should wait and buy the Headroom.


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## EstilhaS

Quote: 





pettervo said:


> I have a question for anyone who owns the Creative X-fi HD..
> 
> I am thinking of buying the creative x-fi hd. However I am a bit worried whether my computer has a good enough processor for this.. I see Creative specify that you need a 2.2 GHz or faster processor.. I have a computer with a dual-core 1,3 (yeah) GHz CULV processor..
> 
> I guess the 2.2 GHz are required for lossless music, and perhaps also using some of the sofware for equalizer etc.. I will be playing mostly 320 kbps mp3, so do you think my computer will manage? In your experience, does this unit demand a lot of computer power?


 


  From this specific sound card i cannot say for sure, but using specs below the minimum and for high bit rates, i'm pretty sure you will have some sort of problems, like digital "clicks".
   
  Also bare in mind that this card beeing an usb card, will require more from the pc than a regular one connected through pci or pci-x.


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## Roller

Quote: 





whitecrow said:


> ...I was talking about getting the headroom DAC earlier in the thread, is why i asked if this was a good DAC or if I should wait and buy the Headroom.


 

  
  My bad, I didn't follow your line of thought.
   
  @Pettervo: From the description of your CPU, I assume it's a C2D CULV. While having a low clock rate, it should perform acceptably with any audio format, be it mp3 @ 320kbps or any lossless format.
   
  The requirements Creative states are usually to be taken in account for when using the soundcard along with general computer usage. Consider the following: unlike HD video, HD audio doesn't require a lot of bandwidth, and you should be able to have smooth playback on even the highest output formats available, as long as you don't push the computer to do heavy tasks while listening to music. From my experience, having higher sample rates is more taxing on the CPU than higher bit depths, so that's also something you should keep in mind.
   
  After all, 24/96 playback was feasible enough over a decade ago, with under 1GHz single core CPUs


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## srisaikat

All I am telling is about the sound what I think is most important factor for any audiophile. I found it to be harsh but as well as detailed. One have to take an interval at least once after 30 minutes because of the headache. There is no question that it is detailed but that does not necessarily means it is a product for audiophiles. But Creative made a good try but its nearly (not totally) a failure. If u want to use it for long sessions then stay far away from this one.


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## sonci

Quote: 





srisaikat said:


> All I am telling is about the sound what I think is most important factor for any audiophile. I found it to be harsh but as well as detailed. One have to take an interval at least once after 30 minutes because of the headache. There is no question that it is detailed but that does not necessarily means it is a product for audiophiles. But Creative made a good try but its nearly (not totally) a failure. If u want to use it for long sessions then stay far away from this one.


 
   
  maybe you should leave it on for some time, new equipment need some time to burn in,


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## sterling1

I've enjoyed my X-FI HD for about a year now, using it as a DAC, ADC, and as an USB to S/PDIF interface. The only function I've not experimented with is S/PDIF to USB. So far, I cannot imagine an interface that could sound better, since, comparing source material processed with it to SACD or vinyl direct, I cannot distinguish that SACD or vinyl  sounds better. What more could one want?

  
  Quote: 





srisaikat said:


> All I am telling is about the sound what I think is most important factor for any audiophile. I found it to be harsh but as well as detailed. One have to take an interval at least once after 30 minutes because of the headache. There is no question that it is detailed but that does not necessarily means it is a product for audiophiles. But Creative made a good try but its nearly (not totally) a failure. If u want to use it for long sessions then stay far away from this one.


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## jiiteepee

Any info available regarding phono connection impedance/capacitance?
   
  jiiteepee


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## thrillhaus

So this card doesn't have CMSS-3D right? How does THX Tru Studio compare for 3d positional HRTFs?


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## firev1

Quote: 





thrillhaus said:


> So this card doesn't have CMSS-3D right? How does THX Tru Studio compare for 3d positional HRTFs?


 


  Yes it does not, for gaming theres EAX and for movies, you can use ffdshow Audio Processor which is a full featured DSP if your using MPC-HC and for music you can use VST plugins with foobar/whatever music player. THX Tru Studio is something I never use cus it does not work with ASIO besides theres better alternatives whether your using foobar/ media players besides Itunes.


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## thrillhaus

Could those of you with the X-Fi HD USB check out my other thread and tell me if you get clipping listening to the file?

 http://www.head-fi.org/t/573056/do-you-all-get-distortion-listening-to-this


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## firev1

Quote: 





thrillhaus said:


> Could those of you with the X-Fi HD USB check out my other thread and tell me if you get clipping listening to the file?
> 
> http://www.head-fi.org/t/573056/do-you-all-get-distortion-listening-to-this


 

 Nope, nothing =P


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## mcfeast

somebody help - i find this soundcard harsh and bright - is there anyway to mod the opamp etc or is it possible..
  to change this problem.
   
  ie. can i change the op amps and caps? and will that improve the sound from this device??
  im about to shelve this thing.


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## Gele

Regarding the quality of the DAC conversion - for me it`s important to check if the volume control is implemented by *slicing bits from the samples* (mul/div by 2/4/8/16/32/etc) or there is analog hardware potentiometers with digital control. Cheapest usb devices usually *do not* have analog potentiometers. Software volume control reduces the samples resolution especially in 16-bit mode. It can make your DAC to utilize 14 or less bits. If we want to prevent it, we need to set the *volume to 100%* on the software PCM and master controls and have potentiometers in our amplifiers - one *for each channel*. Since the analog potentiometers are noisy things and for 5.1 one would need a lot (6) of them, a digitally controlled analog solution is needed. Something like MCP41010. But note - the digital potentiometers add harmonic *distortions* (~0.05%) and have capacitance.
   
 AFAIK X-FI HD ust like SB 1090 does *NOT* have harware volume control, so it slices bits (Software volume control).  IMO creative is not a good design sold at not so low price. It doesn`t support usb asynchronous transfers (with precise clock to DAC) also.
   
 I still have X-FI SB 1090 and have found several major design flaws (LDO selection for analog circuits, lack of muting circuit, relatively powerful processor that`s not used even to do software volume control, doesn`t support usb audio class 2 standard, doesn`t get detected as Hi-Speed USB2.0 w/o drivers, doesn`t support usb async operation, software volume control, turns off & on the analog power of the DAC and amplifier ICs during usb bus resets which (in combination with very fast ramp-up LDO regulator) causes irritating spikes when it`s directly connected to a powerful amplifier). I bought it because I thought that it`s something that it isn`t.
   
  But did "Creative" fixed `em all in X-FI HD ? 
   
  How/where do you control the volume ?
   
  more information about asynchronous and other usb DAC solutions here: USB


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## our martin

I was thinking of getting one of these for my niece for the spare bedroom for laptop headphone listening or should i not bother?Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro - USB


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## sterling1

I've enjoyed my X-FI HD for about a year now. I use it today as a USB to S/PDIF converter. I am satisfied with my purchase. It also works as a S/PDIF to USB converter, as well as a DAC. I have used my X-FI for those functions too. I do not perceive that the X-FI has a sound. It just gets computer audio to my home theatre and audio from my DAT's, and LP's to my computer without fuss.


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## our martin

What about this does it make any stereo headphone surround?


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## firev1

Quote: 





our martin said:


> What about this does it make any stereo headphone surround?


 
  Yes. 
   
  With the advent of the ODAC, I can't really recommend the X-Fi HD much unless you need the Toslink and the connectivity options. The X-fi HD used as a headphone amp is terrible tbh as the input and output buffers appear to be the same(I measured it and referenced a photo of its internals). Using 24/96 output is one of the ways to get stellar perfomance out of the X-fi HD as poor upsampling can increase the distortion, this option is readily available in Foobar(somewhere) and Jriver Media Centre. 
   
  Long story short, It would be nice to pair it with a proper amplifier.


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## our martin

Quote: 





firev1 said:


> Yes.
> 
> With the advent of the ODAC, I can't really recommend the X-Fi HD much unless you need the Toslink and the connectivity options. The X-fi HD used as a headphone amp is terrible tbh as the input and output buffers appear to be the same(I measured it and referenced a photo of its internals). Using 24/96 output is one of the ways to get stellar perfomance out of the X-fi HD as poor upsampling can increase the distortion, this option is readily available in Foobar(somewhere) and Jriver Media Centre.
> 
> Long story short, It would be nice to pair it with a proper amplifier.


 
  My pc has 24bit sound anyway so you could use it with stereo headphones and get surround sound for gaming i.e battlefield3 will sound more directional and you will be able to hear were the chopper is with stereo headphones and it wouldn't down grade the sound? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





I think i won't bother there is supposed to be a buzzing noise i will go for the dss2 instead and get my niece a fiio e17 instead of the xfi soundblaster because there's supposed to be a poppin noise.. But thanks anyway!


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## OlegYch

Hey guys

Does X-Fi HD properly support EAX? I found this thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038146997 which seems to suggest that there are some problems
Is it better in modern games than e.g. Asus Xonar U3 ?


Aleh


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## Roller

Quote: 





olegych said:


> Hey guys
> Does X-Fi HD properly support EAX? I found this thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038146997 which seems to suggest that there are some problems
> Is it better in modern games than e.g. Asus Xonar U3 ?
> Aleh


 
   
  If you're comparing the X-Fi HD USB with the Xonar U3, then it does have superior EAX support. However, when compared to PCI and PCIe X-Fi cards, it doesn't have as good support due to the lack of pure hardware audio pipeline. The Xonar U3 has limited EAX support (the same as onboard audio chips) and lower output quality.
   
  Overall, the X-Fi HD USB is a superior device in both general audio playback as well as gaming.


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## OlegYch

Thanks Roller!


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## jvandyk

I own this card along with an Adcom GDA 700 20 bit external DAC. It works like a charm getting my bits to the Adcom. I also am using it to listen to 24 bit FLAC and ALAC native. It is strapped up with a pair of Kimber PBJ's. In 16 bit mode, the sound does not compete with 15 year old $1,000 Burr Brown DAC. It also doesn't do HDCD. But with 24 bit files it is much more competitive since the older DAC has to truncate to 48 or 44.1. I am happy with the sound in 24 bit and it works very well with JRiver in terms of controlling the hardware. Using JRiver, I can also upsample 16 bit to 24/96 with the Creative/JRiver.
   
  But in the end, still not as nice as even the old classic Adcom/Burr Brown with 16 bit material. It's a good buy for $90 though!  An even better buy would be to find a used Adcom GDA700 for around $250! Same chipset as a Mark Levinson No 36 DAC and Nelson Pass Class A output stage!. I'm never getting rid of mine!


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## TJ Max

Hi , can anyone compare the X-Fi HD with the Audioengine D1? If  the D1 is significant I am willing to upgrade.
  Right away I can see that the X-Fi HD has a couple 1-ups over the D1 by haveing a Line in/Phono input as well as a Optical Ouput and Microphone input. But hows the difference in sound?


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## supra-mp3

I have just unpack mine recently and the sound is excellent. Im using Grado Sr60 .The bass is quite awesome with that card.The big advantage its an easy swap from computer to computer.My next step is to try the phono pre-amp


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## greatwl

Hi,
  
 I have to unplug/plug X-Fi HD USB every time to make it work on Windows 7,
 anyone knows how to make it auto detected by computer?   Firmware
 and driver are the latest already.


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## kennydee

OK! I just registered and want to ask you a question or two about using the Creative Soundblaster USB dac. Would it make a sonic difference if I routed my turntable's pre-amp output through the DAC and into my computer to transfer my LP's using Audacity. I want to create FLAC files for playback through the dac and into my stereo system. I read the reviews on this device and it sounds too good to be true. I would appreciate any advice.
  
 Thanks,
 Kenny Dee


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## rene62

I owned this X-FI USB HD product for about a year, i couldn't test the signal line-out with a good amplifier, but i had a chance to listen with ATH-AD900 40R headphones. I still haven't heard anything better then X-FI HD with these headphones.. they were like 100% compatible with each other. No harshness, no clicks or cracks. I could turn volume from 0 - 100% without any headache's.
  
 Most important, it a had a very good slam(drums, pendulum like).


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## WarCable

This Creative X-Fi HD USB gotten my interest.
  
 I am a gamer and have been looking into several options. With the help of some people here http://www.head-fi.org/t/780003/gaming-and-surrou-errrr-positional-sou-errrr-spatialization-oh-crap I narrowed it down to a setup which involves SB Studio Pro and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 ohm headphones because I will use it to virtualize 7.1 surround through the stereo headphone
  
 I was looking into both the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB and the X-Fi Surround 5.1 pro though I think the latter is only usefull for an external setup with speakers and it would not add anything if being used just with headphones and virtual surround.
  
 I did read somewhere that there is no way to equalize the X-Fi HD USB so that might be a bit of a bummer because I fear that it combined with the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohms might sound a bit on the thin side.
  
 So anyone has any idea? Should I get it this USB sound card with its own amp?
  
 As a sidenote, I know there are other options but that requires me to go to Asus and their Dolby Headphones technology which I consider inferior to both CMSS-3D and SBX Studio Pro. I listened to encoded samples on youtube and though it can really draw you into the action, it lacks accuracy so I hope I can tweak SBX Studio pro a bit through equalizing to get a bit more immersion while keeping its crisp clear accuracy


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## TJ Max

warcable said:


> This Creative X-Fi HD USB gotten my interest.
> 
> I did read somewhere that there is no way to equalize the X-Fi HD USB so that might be a bit of a bummer because I fear that it combined with the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohms might sound a bit on the thin side.


 
  
 I've owned the x-fi hd for almost 5 years now. It's actually pretty old. Initially there was no EQ. but since then there has been software update ad firmware updates All the reviews are based on the original software. And now there is a 10 band EQ. So if you buy one and install the software from the installation CD -and find no EQ then you need to upgrade the software from the website.
 Also I think Creative advertises the Amp for headphones up to 300 ohms. However you'll get better performance with headphones 150 ohms and below.


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## WarCable

tj max said:


> I've owned the x-fi hd for almost 5 years now. It's actually pretty old. Initially there was no EQ. but since then there has been software update ad firmware updates All the reviews are based on the original software. And now there is a 10 band EQ. So if you buy one and install the software from the installation CD -and find no EQ then you need to upgrade the software from the website.
> Also I think Creative advertises the Amp for headphones up to 300 ohms. However you'll get better performance with headphones 150 ohms and below.




I noticed how old it is )
There isn't much out there as alternative since I heard the X-Fi chip matters. Ideally the X7 would of course be a better choice but seeing its price tag I am pretty much stuck with a limited choice of external sound cards to choose from. 
No matter what choice or interest one develops, there always seem to be a drawback. Your input is useful and again makes me doubt. Using an amp is no option as I have read here that it is counterproductive to use an amp with amped sound cards. 
I read fantastic things about the DT 990 pro regarding virtual surround gaming and really got my eyes on that one... sigh


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## TJ Max

Here is the most recent and most insightful review of the X-Fi HD that I know of.
 http://marlene-d.blogspot.com/2012/01/creative-labs-soundblaster-x-fi-hd-usb.html
  
 There also the Sound Blaster X5 to consider.


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## WarCable

tj max said:


> Here is the most recent and most insightful review of the X-Fi HD that I know of.
> http://marlene-d.blogspot.com/2012/01/creative-labs-soundblaster-x-fi-hd-usb.html
> 
> There also the Sound Blaster X5 to consider.




Could you be meaning the e5? Can't find anything with X5. In that regard I found the Sound Blaster E1 headphone amp. Maybe I can use it with the X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro. That should offer the DT 990 Pro enough juice


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## TJ Max

Oh yes the E5, sorry. I owned it briefly. Even though its portable I think its better suited for desktop use. It does come with a stand.
 Binding an amp to an amp doesn't sound like a good idea. Because theres too many technical specs and sound signatures overlapping each other. You might as well wait two or three months and save up for a X7.


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## WarCable

tj max said:


> You might as well wait two or three months and save up for a X7.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## greenflash

I am considering buying either this device or the SB1090 (much cheaper down here) to hook it up to my Thinkpad e420. I don't care about 5.1 in this case, I would hook it up to a vintage stereo Akai amp.. Is that possible with the HD version? Also hoping it is Windows 10 compatible..


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## TJ Max

After not having used my X-Fi HD for a couple of years, I finally started using it again as temporary solution to use with a second headphone amp.  I'm using only the Line Out this time, connected to a Teac HA-501 with a pair of Beyerdynamic T5p headphones. And I have to admit that despite it's limitations being only 48/96khz 24bit this DAC still sounds great. Great detail and resolution, big sound stage, and almost a perfect bottom end. An overall engaging listening experience. And this thing cost about 9x less than the rest of the gear connected to it!


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## SpecChum

Just got one of these cheap on amazon warehouse deals as my xonar dx creates emi when used with my little dot.

Just needed a cheapish dac and the specs on this seemed pretty good for the price. 

We'll see how it goes.


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## laughingman2

I have just recently returned to pc gaming after a 10 years long console period.
 I want to use headphone, but also want to enjoy positional audio, so I bought an X-FI HD to utilize it's SBX surround feature.
 I have checked some youtube videos and found the SBX superior to Dolby Headphone (which sounded rather lackluster compared to my previous experiences with CMSS3D, SBX was closer to that).
  
 After I tried several games, I realized that in recent games you can't just change the number of channels in the game's audio menu (unlike back in the days), but it automatically recognizes the speaker settings from Windows and sends the same sound layout.
  
 In my case I set my soundcard to headphone and enabled SBX sorround. Games are recognizing this setting and sending stereo signal to the DSP which than creates a sorround sound based on this stereo signal. What I would like is, if this is even possible , to set the source to 5.1 or 7.1, than the game would send multichannel signal to the DSP which would create stereo signal to the headphone using SBX.
  
 As far as I know it is achievable with other manufacturer's devices, what about Creative?
 Thanks for your help in advance.


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## WarrenR

Does anyone know if the Creative x-fi hd can do 44khz over optical out?


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## Sterling2 (Dec 5, 2019)

WarrenR said:


> Does anyone know if the Creative x-fi hd can do 44khz over optical out?


If you set it's driver for that output it will deliver it. I keep mine set at 24/96 and it will up sample lower resolution files. I use the X-FI HD mostly to play iTunes to my Pre-Pro. I have iTunes files from 256k/44.1 to 24/192 and the X-FI HD will up or down sample to what ever its driver has been set to from 16/44 to 24/96. For example 24/192 will be down sampled to 24/96. Interestingly enough, my Pre-Pro will only receive up to 24/96 from optical S/PDIF so sometimes I send iTunes on PC to OPPO 205 which can decode 24/192 which is then sent to Pre-Pro via RCA connection. The OPPO is set to up sample all input to 24/96 but it can be set to send at native rate too. The X-FI HD can not be set to deliver digital at native rate, it will either up sample or down sample to the rate you set it to in its driver.


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