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Topic: Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro (Read 10488 times) previous topic - next topic
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Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Hellos,

So I decided to buy a Sennheiser HD 650 only because I will get them new at a really good price (arriving in the next 2 days ) and now I also wanna buy a really decent soundcard. I will be using this soundcard mainly for music playback with said headphones but I also would like to go back to play with audio production (nothing really serious and not really essential since I understand most semi-pro soundcards are really much more expensive).

I don't have any headphone amplifier and I would like to pass that if I could get a decent soundcard with a decent headphone output, capable of driving this 300 Ω gadget. My choices are limited since I usually can't get anything else but Creative around here. The Auzentech is already a stretch since I'm would have to order it online from another european country.

I've been reading the reviews about the X-Meridian and it's generally considered a very, very good soundcard. I also know there's a (deserved) pet hate against Creative but the X-Fi series, especially the higher end models, seem to be "decent". The only information I got about the headphone amplifier in the Auzentech X-Meridian is this: "TI's TPA6111A2 for FP_AUDIO powerfull headphone out". I don't know nothing about this regarding the X-Fi Elite Pro. The questions are: can these soundcards drive the Senns HD 650 well enough (compared to budget headphone amplifiers)? Are both of them really good soundcards, generally speaking? What alternatives do you suggest (price below 300 euros)?

Thanks in advance.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #1 –
I have an X-Fi Platinum and i'm pretty satisfied with the power of the Headphone Out on the front panel. It drives my little Sennheiser PX 100 (32 Ω) exceptionally good, and it also delivers with my AKG K290 (150 Ω), albeit a bit more quiet, but there's enough headroom, and it doesn't hiss when you turn it up. And putting the X-Fi into "Entertainment Mode" and listening to movie sound with CMSS-3DHeadphone enabled is something i'd never want to miss. It is maybe the only simulated 5.1 headphone sound that is actually convincing. Of course, for music, that's not a selling point. But unless you plan to listen very loud, the X-Fi might do the trick.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #2 –
Quote from: CiTay on
I have an X-Fi Platinum and i'm pretty satisfied with the power of the Headphone Out on the front panel. It drives my little Sennheiser PX 100 (32 ?) exceptionally good, and it also delivers with my AKG K290 (150 ?), albeit a bit more quiet, but there's enough headroom, and it doesn't hiss when you turn it up. And putting the X-Fi into "Entertainment Mode" and listening to movie sound with CMSS-3DHeadphone enabled is something i'd never want to miss. It is maybe the only simulated 5.1 headphone sound that is actually convincing. Of course, for music, that's not a selling point. But unless you plan to listen very loud, the X-Fi might do the trick.


X-fi is great for music.

Turn it to Audio Creation Mode
Turn bit matched playback on
Turn sample rate to 44.1khz
Disable EAX
set volume master to 79%
Use foobar /w out ASIO and flat EQ

Enjoy  Amazing

And besides, we should try to not listen to music super loud, that way you enjoy it more - provided we dont come across the means of regenerating ear cells, or even life for that matter, within the near future

Till then

My beater computer, which an alien would probably laugh at, Contains an X-fi, and I use audio technica ATH-W1000 headphones. A great combonation to listen to lossless music with.

Quote from: cyde on
Quote from: CiTay on

I have an X-Fi Platinum and i'm pretty satisfied with the power of the Headphone Out on the front panel. It drives my little Sennheiser PX 100 (32 ?) exceptionally good, and it also delivers with my AKG K290 (150 ?), albeit a bit more quiet, but there's enough headroom, and it doesn't hiss when you turn it up. And putting the X-Fi into "Entertainment Mode" and listening to movie sound with CMSS-3DHeadphone enabled is something i'd never want to miss. It is maybe the only simulated 5.1 headphone sound that is actually convincing. Of course, for music, that's not a selling point. But unless you plan to listen very loud, the X-Fi might do the trick.


X-fi is great for music.

Turn it to Audio Creation Mode
Turn bit matched playback on
Turn sample rate to 44.1khz
Disable EAX
set volume master to 79%
Use foobar /w out ASIO and flat EQ

Enjoy  Amazing

And besides, we should try to not listen to music super loud, that way you enjoy it more - provided we dont come across the means of regenerating ear cells, or even life for that matter, within the near future

Till then

My beater computer, which an alien would probably laugh at, Contains an X-fi, and I use audio technica ATH-W1000 headphones. A great combonation to listen to lossless music with.




Forgot to mention, Originally, when I went to purchase my cans, I was thinking of buying an Emmeline Hornet by Ray Samuels (check it out via google...) but, to my surprise the X-fi Fatality, which was the model I got, had an amp built in the front panel, much like the platinum. You can max it out and you won't really hear hiss unless you have golden ears or you strain to do so. I have tinnitus, so hiss and tinnitus mix. Screw em both though, Hail quiet listening sessions and lots of good food... Mmm. Hair cells. : )OP

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #3 –
Quote from: cyde on
X-fi is great for music.

Turn it to Audio Creation Mode
Turn bit matched playback on
Turn sample rate to 44.1khz
Disable EAX
set volume master to 79%
Use foobar /w out ASIO and flat EQ


You don't need all that really. Disable EAX is not needed anyway, as only games use it, otherwise it's already "disabled". Master volume to 79%, have you found any benefits with that? I did some RMAA testing with a loop cable and the results were very good at full volume. The results were, in fact, satisfying enough that i keep the X-Fi in Entertainment or Game mode for music listening, even though i'm aware of the resampling, but it's of a high enough quality that you won't hear the difference. What's important though is to disable Crystalizer. Flat EQ is preference, sometimes you can alleviate your speaker's shortcomings with good EQ settings, but i leave it off too.
 

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #4 –
I don't think any PCI card has a decent headphone output. You could try a firewire or USB one.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #5 –
The headphone output of the Elite Pro's deck is crap because the DACs in the deck are different from the ones which are in the soundcard itself, and that influences sound quality a lot. Besides, there is NO headphone amplifier in the deck despite it has a dedicated headphone-out. Thus, your Sennheiser HD 650 won't work properly and you won't feel the drive using them with an X-Fi Elite Pro as a source.

I personally have an X-Fi Elite Pro and I use a minimixer (Behringer UB-502)
to switch between my stereo speakers and headphones. I've got double benefit from such system because there is also a very nice headphone amplifier built into the mixer. Mixer is very cheap. (~50$).
All in all, sounds great.

As far as I know, the Sennheiser HD 650 have a high impedance and having a high-quality amplifier is a critical condition to get some real sound from them.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #6 –
Thanks for all the replies. I didn't reply earlier because I'm still waiting for the headphones. I guess the orders are still taking more than usual because of the time of the year. They were already sent, though.

Anyway, I've been thinking about what Leo 69 wrote about the headphone output in the deck and I can also get the Behringer UB-502 (or the XENYX 502, which seems equal regarding quality and is similarly priced here). However, during my search for soundcards I also came across the E-MU 1616m PCI, which is above my basic needs but has features that I care about more than EAX, Crystalizer, 7.1 support and X-RAM and may represent a better investment in the long term, especially if I get more serious about audio recording and production. A total of €342 for the X-Fi Elite Pro and the Behringer Xenyx 502 vs €460 for the E-MU 1616m PCI (if ordered from the US it would cost much less but I guess I'd risk customs taxes). It also seems to have better specs than the X-Fi Elite Pro in comparable features.

In the mean time, when the headphones arrive I will use them with an M-Audio Fast Track Pro and that has to be better than the onboards I currently have. As a curiosity, I must say that I recently tried, for several days, a set of AKG K 240 DF headphones (600 Ω impedance) on an onboard soundcard and although the sound wasn't very loud it was enough most of the time (with the volume chain maxed out).

My questions this time are: does anyone have experience regarding the E-MU 1616m PCI? Do you consider it a better investment than the X-Fi Elite Pro, in quality and features? How about the drivers for the 1616m, are they stable (I already learned that they are still working on Vista drivers)?

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #7 –
Quote from: m0rbidini on
My questions this time are: does anyone have experience regarding the E-MU 1616m PCI? Do you consider it a better investment than the X-Fi Elite Pro, in quality and features? How about the drivers for the 1616m, are they stable (I already learned that they are still working on Vista drivers)?


There's also a 1616, the 1616m is simply an extra-high-end version of the 1616, but otherwise the features are the same. Take note that E-Mu was aquired by Creative in 1993, so your money is going to them either way. The DSP of the E-Mu is a last-gen DSP of Audigy2 caliber, only they paired it with better components like the OpAmps. The X-Fi DSP is far superior, and even though the actual audio quality depends largely on the other components on the card, the X-Fi quality - especially the Elite Pro - is pretty nice. If you get more serious about audio stuff, you can do good recordings etc. with both cards, but i guess the E-Mu was more specifially designed for that.


Quote
I must say that I recently tried, for several days, a set of AKG K 240 DF headphones (600 ? impedance) on an onboard soundcard and although the sound wasn't very loud it was enough most of the time (with the volume chain maxed out).


For the X-Fi (i only have the Platinum), i'd have to turn it up maybe halfway for my 150 ? AKG K290 on the front panel, but i also use Replaygain in foobar2000. Nonetheless, i can reach more than acceptable volumes with it. Maybe you want to try it without a headphone amp first.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #8 –
Another option to get an excellent playback quality is $10-15 C-media soundcard with S/PDIF out, a bit-perfect playback driver and an external receiver from Japanese manufacturer for $200-250.

For C-media 8738/8768 bit-perfect playback driver see here:
[a href='index.php?showtopic=49350']Homebrew CMI 8738 drivers[/a]

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #9 –
The Senns HD 650 arrived yesterday and I've been listening to them. It's good to find new details in music that I've been frequently listening for years. I never had such a high quality set of headphones. The best ones I had before were some Sony circumaural closed headphones bought in '95 for something like 60 euros and they lasted for more than 10 years. I'm very pleased with the sound quality and everything except for the maximum attainable volume with my setup. Like I said in the previous post, I'm using them with a borrowed M-Audio Fast Track Pro (USB powered) and what I consider my normal listening volume requires the Fast Track Pro to be with the headphone output set to maximum volume. I find this strange for this kind of equipment. Not that I consider the Fast Track Pro a big deal or something, but I was expecting it to drive this headphones a little better. I compared it with the onboard output and it's not really that different, regarding volume.

For music playback I'm using foobar2000 with Replay Gain at normal settings (track mode, apply gain only,  pre-amp set to 0 dB). I'm using ASIO for output (and tried the other options). While using ASIO, foobar2000's sample size output is locket at 32 bit, right? If so, if I use a soundcard that supports ASIO and 24 bit output, the risk of clipping is null/next to null (listening to music, not editing)?

Last question: does anyone know if the 1616m has a more powerful headphone output compared to the Fast Track Pro? I can't tell by their specs (Fast Track Pro; 1616m PCI - you can check the headphone output section in both). I expect so, since it's geared towards more professional uses and it's not USB powered (the external dock).

Maybe it would be better to change the main thread title to something more general like "Soundcard/Audio interface capable of driving high impedance headphones".

Quote
There's also a 1616, the 1616m is simply an extra-high-end version of the 1616, but otherwise the features are the same. Take note that E-Mu was acquired by Creative in 1993, so your money is going to them either way. The DSP of the E-Mu is a last-gen DSP of Audigy2 caliber, only they paired it with better components like the OpAmps. The X-Fi DSP is far superior, and even though the actual audio quality depends largely on the other components on the card, the X-Fi quality - especially the Elite Pro - is pretty nice. If you get more serious about audio stuff, you can do good recordings etc. with both cards, but i guess the E-Mu was more specifically designed for that.


I also read about the 1616, but I decided I could afford the difference and buy to the 1616m which, having better ADC/DACs, will end up being useful in the near-future in other ways than just better theoretical quality while listening. I don't mind giving money to Creative, as long as the specific product and support are good. Regarding the X-Fi processing capability: yeah, it has a much more powerful processor but I feel that it's designed in a way that I wouldn't be able to fully use that processing power in VST effects or other audio production tasks. The 1616m at least is designed with that in mind. I recognize I drove the thread away from its original topic and I'm sorry for that. The Auzentech X-Meridian, while looking like an excellent card, is hard to get here and is designed for music and movie playback only, which is no longer the my purpose.

Quote
Another option to get an excellent playback quality is $10-15 C-media soundcard with S/PDIF out, a bit-perfect playback driver and an external receiver from Japanese manufacturer for $200-250.

For C-media 8738/8768 bit-perfect playback driver see here:
Homebrew CMI 8738 drivers


Yeah, I've also been following that topic and it could've been one of the possible solutions for my dilemma but is no longer only because my mindset changed. Thanks for the suggestion.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #10 –
E-MU cards are good for recording and playback. Headphone output on my 1820m sounds very good and I imagine the 1616m is the same. Your original options are not appropriate. If you are on a budget you could consider the 0404 USB, which should be almost as good if you don't need very low latency.

Auzentech X-Meridian vs Creative X-Fi Elite Pro

Reply #11 –
Quote from: m0rbidini on
Like I said in the previous post, I'm using them with a borrowed M-Audio Fast Track Pro (USB powered) and what I consider my normal listening volume requires the Fast Track Pro to be with the headphone output set to maximum volume. I find this strange for this kind of equipment. Not that I consider the Fast Track Pro a big deal or something, but I was expecting it to drive this headphones a little better. I compared it with the onboard output and it's not really that different, regarding volume.

Last question: does anyone know if the 1616m has a more powerful headphone output compared to the Fast Track Pro?

The 1820m has a very powerful headphone output and the 1616m likely the same. I would have mentioned that as a potential problem if you hadn't said you need something loud. Watch out though, as you are likely doing your ears a lot of damage. Listening to things loudly really isn't necessary unless you already have hearing problems.