Perhaps because of its gaming focus, and because of its reliance on a single DAC, the X-Fi's analogue audio output isn't quite as clean as that from either of Asus's cheaper Xonar cards, although the difference is barely noticeable and largely one of personal preference.
Creative provides software support for several Dolby and DTS surround sound standards, including the excellent Dolby Digital Live.
The S/PDIF in is an interesting feature, but largely useless unless you want to play or record digital audio from another source.Ĭreative's software and driver support has regularly been a sore point for users of their sound cards, but we didn't have much trouble getting everything up and running, despite a minor issue with some conflicting patch updates under Windows 7. The X-Fi Titanium has more ports than either of the Asus cards in this test, with dedicated optical S/PDIF in and out ports in addition to the usual 7.1 analogue outputs. This makes the X-Fi Titanium an appealing alternative to more expensive models in Creative's range, as it has the same X-Fi CA20K2 processor, 8-channel Cirrus Logic CS4382 digital-to-analogue converter (DAC), 4-channel Wolfson WM8775SEDS analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) and SNR of 109dB. However, few developers have taken advantage of X-RAM's advanced capabilities. X-RAM can also be used store additional high-quality sound voices, assuming a game is designed to do so.
X-RAM promises more: it's automatically used by OpenAL to improve frame rates in games by caching uncompressed audio to reduce the need for on-the-fly decompression. These aren't major losses - in practice, EM shields don't make a major difference to the already minimal interference from other system components.
Audio technologies Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, DirectSound3D GX 2.5, EAX 2.0&1.0, DirectSound HW, DirectSound SW, A3D 1.0, OpenAL generic modes, 128 3D sounds processing capability (EAX5 software emulation), SoundFont, ASIO 2.0 driver supportĬreative's X-Fi Titanium lacks the electromagnetic shield of the Fatal1ty Pro version, as well as its big brother's 64MB of X-RAM on-board memory.Outputs 4 x 3.5mm mini-jack analogue surround out, optical S/PDIF out.Inputs 3.5mm mini-jack mic/line in, S/PDIF in.Specifications: Manufacturer: Creative Brand: HP Model Number: SB0880 Spare Part Number: 493346-001 Part Number: 493226-001 Product Line: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Compatible Port/Slot: PCI Express x 1 Channels: 7.1 DAC Data Width: 24-Bit Features: Playback sampling rates: up to 192 kHz ASIO 2.0 support: 16-bit/44.1 kHz, 16-bit/48 kHz, 24-bit/44.1 kHz, 24-bit/48 kHz, and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring S/PDIF output sampling rate: 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz EAX 5.0 support Creative ALchemy X-Fi CMSS-3D positional audio Dolby Digital Live encoding DTS connect support OpenAL support TeamSpeak certified for clear voice chat Connectivity: Speaker Out: 4 x 3.5mm Jacks Line / Mic In: 1 x shared 3.5mm Jack Optical Out: 1 x TOSLINK Optical In: 1 x TOSLINK Compatibility: Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe Audio Card Creative XFi Titanium PCIe Audio Card Creative XFi2 XtremGamer PCIe Audio Card HP SkyRoom Desktop (PCIe) Audio Kit HP Z200 Base Model Workstation HP Z200 Workstation HP Z400 Workstation HP Z400 Workstation (CTO) HP Z600 Workstation HP Z800 Workstation HP Z800 Workstation Base Unit Condition: New, Brand: HP, MPN: 493346-001, Item Height: 1.000, Item Length: 12.000, Item Width: 8.Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Manufacturer: Creative It comes as pictured and does not include any additional parts or accessories. This sound card is new and has never been used. Its HP spare part number is 493346-001 and its HP part number is 493226-001. Condition: NEW Warranty:Prime 30 Day Warranty This is a Creative SB0880 Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium 24-Bit PCI-E sound card for HP workstations.