Auzentech X Fi Forte vs Creative X Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion

I am contemplating on getting one of these. Both are based on X Fi, so is there any difference between the driver suite (and stability) of either? Both are currently available to me for $140.

I plan to use them for gaming on Win XP currently, but will move to Win 7 later. Are the problems associated with X Fi limited to Vista or do they exist on Win XP and Win 7 as well?

Personally I like the form factor of the X Fi Titanium better than the X Fi Forte. I am not a fan of long half size cards. and the Champion is currently under discount and I will get the front panel for the same price point. So I would go with the X Fi Forte only if there is any difference in the drivers/stability of the two.

One more thing, do both support real time Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. I read that X Fi Forte supports it, what about the Titanium?

 

front panels always reduce SQ. go with forte imo

 

personally i prefere X Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion that im owner too i have no problems at all on vistax64 ultimate

 

The forte uses higher quailty components, as well as better op-amps. besides having a op-amp slot. so i suggest the forte. it will have better sound quailtyt over creative X-FI's.

 

What about the drivers? Any difference in that aspect as well?

 

there the same mostly i think forte had more options but it could have been the diff in the cards them self's being as i went from xtrememusic -> forte, forte will have much better SQ and i am very happy with the card. for the most part

 

The Forte (and all Auzentech cards) are free from all the driver issues that plauges Creative.

Auzentech <> Asus > Creative

 

After a lot of research, I'd take Auzentech compared to Creative. Higher quality overall. Go Prelude, better card overall. DAC's for one are better than the Forte. Forte is like a cut-down version of the Prelude (imo). Prelude is PCI (which I don't see as a problem, PCI-e is just marketing especially when it comes to sound cards).

The Prelude has:
Line In
Line Out - FL/FR/C/SW/RL/RR/RSL/RSR
SPDIF In - Optical and Coaxial
SPDIF Out - Optical and Coaxial
Mic In
Joystick/MIDI
CD/Aux In

While the Forte only has:
Line In - 3.5mm(1/8") stereo mini-phone jack
Line Out - 4 x 1/8" Stereo mini phone jack for Line outputs
Mic In - 3.5mm(1/8") mini phone jack
Midi/Joystick

 

The forte has a headphone amp output on the card, the prelude doesn't that's the major different other then the forte using a adapter for the rest of the 5.1/7.1 analog out puts. If the user needs a headphone amp without buying a standalone one and wanted a X-FI chip then the forte would be his better choice over prelude and creative X-FI.

 

As far as I know, the drivers for all X-fi cards, regardless of being Creative or Auzentech use the same drivers, with nothing more than a change in their skins. Perhaps things have changed since launch, but I don't believe they have. More than likely, those drivers you are praising are indeed Creative's.

 

They are creative drivers, but done in a way that make them work better on Auzentech cards then they do own creative cards. Creative doesn't let auzentech touch the drivers for some odd reason.

When I had a prelude I didn't have issues with the Prelude drivers, I have had Creative X-FI driver issues in the past when I was using my Xtreme music in my main many years ago as well when I still had the old card in another computer before i sold it.

Now the X-FI Xtreme gamer that i was using in another computer that I took out my dads comp didn't have issues in the other comp I had. But what auzentech drivers are mostly are, modded drivers done in a way to have less issues.But there still not perfect. But they just tend to work better which why certain groups mods the prelude drivers for use on Creative X-FI cards.

 

I use PAX drivers. Best of the best. I don't have issues anymore. Can't even recall the last time I had any problems. Creative Windows 7 drivers are just barebones with no EAX support(aka garbage) and I expect that Auzentech cards are hampered by the same OpenAL issues I'm facing. I expect a big driver release at the end of October to make my card just as good as it was on Vista.

 

Thanks for all the inputs guy's, I placed the order to import the X Fi Fatal1ty Champion in the end. I am getting the Fatal1ty Champion slightly cheaper than the Forte because of a limited period $60 discount.

I am going to avoid the analog electronics of the sound card for the most part as I have the Astro A40 Mixamp which takes a Digital Toslink input as well as doubles as a Headphone Amplifier, So I guess it won't matter much what card I go for if the main differences are in the analog part of the sound card.

 

u see m8 its good card the titanium not like other of creative thank god xD

 

Well since I do own one of there sound cards I would go with Creative now.. driver updates.

 

Are there any limitations to the PAX X Fi drivers. When I get my X-Fi should I directly use the PAX X Fi Suite for the installation?