I was wondering if someone could explain to me the significant distinctions (other than the obvious price difference) between the AuzenTech HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Connect and the Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

I'm basically wondering if the Auzentech offers anything that the X-Fi doesn't.

Thanks for any input.

-hartigan

Anyone happen to have any advice on the above question?

I don't know much about that Auzen Tech card, but the general consensus is that the Creative X-Fi is the pick of the bunch by far for home PC use.

That other card looks like it has tons of stuff on it that the average PC user/gamer would never use.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex That other card looks like it has tons of stuff on it that the average PC user/gamer would never use.

That's the main thing I was wondering.

Thanks a bunch for the reply Dex!! Greatly appreciated mate.

I've never heard of this card but it doesn't seem like it caters to the Pro Audio or Gamer crowd (despite how much they seem to emphasize games). It does NOT have EAX, as far as I can tell, which does enhance sound in games pretty significantly. This looks like a nice card for, perhaps, a media center PC

Quote: Originally Posted by _Sexy_Pants_ I've never heard of this card but it doesn't seem like it caters to the Pro Audio or Gamer crowd (despite how much they seem to emphasize games). It does NOT have EAX, as far as I can tell, which does enhance sound in games pretty significantly. This looks like a nice card for, perhaps, a media center PC

great advice _Pants_. Thank you!!

Hey hartigan,

I actually have the HDA Mystique Gold 7.1, this is the Xplosions little brother. It is made by a company called HDA, and was licensed for sale in the USA by a company called BlueGears. They have since closed shop and are now being sold by Auzentech.

I can't stand Creative's driver support so I decided to give a different sound card company a chance. It works really well for me with a Klipsch 5.1 speaker setup. The XGear 3D software is really nice for spacialization. I do believe that the card does support EAX. I like mine.

All of the problems I was having with my sound card have been solved with this HDA card. If your speaker setup actually has digital outs this will use Dolby Digital Live, which I have heard is absolutely amazing in game. Mine doesn't, they are analog outs, but it still sounds great. BTW it is the First card to market with Dolby Digital Live.

For the price it was a nice pickup, I think. Of course I got the Mystique and not the Xplosion.
Google HDA (HiTec Digital Audio) I think, and read a little more. They have both gotten rave reviews.
http://www.hidiaudio.com/index.html

Regards,
Grumb

That's some great info Grumb. It's nice to have a personal testimonial on a product to assist the decision-making process.

Well the Xi-Fi supports ALL EAX versions from the original up to 5.0 (Called EAX Advanced HD).

From a gamers point of view, this is as good as it gets... positional audio in games from years gone by
up to the best gaming sound in the latest games... and yes... connect a digital speaker set to it, it
would be a shame to use the analog connectors....

Just do a search of PC Apex on "Xi-Fi" and read all the threads from regular members here, they are all
pretty 'baffled by it...

As for the driver issue.... yes I've had some problems with my old Soundblaster Live! but they were solved
by new drivers... never had any problems with my Audigy 2.... even installed the latestt drivers for it the
other day, they are from jan. 2006... go figure!

One other important thing, imho, the Creative cards don't tax the processor as much as other sound
solutions do... might make a few frames difference...

All in all... I just see one reason to look beyond Creative and that is when doing very specific audio jobs...


Just my 2 cents....

TDR
-----------------
edit ....well.... waddayouknow! I found a review!

Quote: Conclusions When we looked at HDA's first entrance into the discrete sound card market, the X-Mystique, we saw an excellent piece of hardware that introduced a much sought-after feature with it's Dolby Digital Live encoding abilities. Quite simply, the X-Plosion has topped that achievement, and by quite some margin. The addition of DTS Connect may not be a show-stopper for everyone, but it is bound to attract a fair amount of excitement and interest, and rightly so. From our testing however, the biggest news should perhaps be the improvements in overall audio quality that have been made with the X-Plosion, with it giving a substantially better showing than its predecessor, and more than giving the SoundBlaster Audigy a run for its money. Sure, it may not quite be an X-Fi (That may well be a comparison for another day), but everything it does do, it does exceptionally well. As with the X-Mystique, the X-Plosion's biggest falling point is in its gaming performance and featureset - The lack of support for the latest, greatest EAX functionality may well put off gamers, and sadly is something we will most likely never see change with Creative Labs having the stranglehold on the discrete sound card market they currently do. This is a real shame, as a combination of Dolby Digital or DTS encoding alongside EAX would make for a gaming experience par excellence. As it is however, using Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect does add to the gaming experience, so if you can live without EAX 3.0 and upward support, and don't mind a heavier performance hit from using hardware 3D sound, then the X-Plosion may still be able to tempt even avid gamers. However, the big draw of the X-Plosion is, in most cases I suspect, the ability to play back audio and video content in multi-channel surround sound regardless of source, and in this regard HDA's effort excels. If you aren't a hardcore audiophile, then you may well be tempted to save some money by going for the X-Mystique instead, but if you like the idea of DTS support and the higher quality output on offer here, then you can't go far wrong with the X-Plosion, and you're guaranteed a purchase that your ears will thank you for.

Read on here;
http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...1&limitstart=3

TDR is correct about the EAX.

Of course "In my entirely personal opinion, all in all the loss of advanced EAX effects is easily offset by the added multi-channel audio capabilities of the X-Plosion" something that was failed to mention. I dunno, over the years I have futzed with the only real choice on the market "Creative" and had to mess with crap drivers that didnt work correctly on half the games I played or I had to deal with crappy music audio performance. (pop hiss pop)

I am not saying that the XFi isn't a good card, it is an excellent card. I just put my money on a different company, because I want more of a choice in the soundcard industry. So, I am gonna support the underdog. I liked the price comparison when I bought mine, so I went the different road and don't feel I am really lacking in performance or sound quality so far.. The Xplosion is new to market, but the Mystique has alot of reviews, and they say the Xplosion is even better. Use that as a gauge I suppose. Frankly, when it comes down to it sound is a personal thing anyway. So, good luck and happy hunting.

G

Well all I know is that the Creative Sound Card is THX certified, while the other one isn't.

The X-Fi series of sound cards are amazing. I've got the Platinum model, and the sound quality is extremely crisp. The drivers are PACKED with features and tweaks, and they ACTUALLY WORK! I was suprised that they worked so good.

I highly recommend the X-Fi series.