MaximumPC 2005 11

NOVEMBER 2005 MA XIMUMPC 65

too much for the CPU. With the X-Fi, you
get better audio and frame rates.
So where does that leave Audigy 2 ZS
owners? If you use speakers, the differences
are probably too subtle to make the upgrade
worthwhile. With headphones, however, an
upgrade yields noticeably improved sound.
Also in the X-Fi’s favor is the ability play

up to 128 audio streams in such games as

Battlefield 2 at the highest quality setting. That

might sound like overkill, but on a 64-person

server, the game will generate more than the

64 audio streams the 2 ZS is capable of.

Mind you, the X-Fi isn’t perfect. We’re

disappointed we can’t tune headphone

acoustics like we could on many Sensaura

parts. On the base XtremeMusic card,

you can’t even program the jacks to

support headphones and a set of speakers

simultaneously. And we definitely don’t think

the extra RAM and pointless LED in the

Fatal1ty FPS card are worth the extra cash.

Still, it’s hard to foresee anyone

making a better all-purpose soundcard

than the X-Fi series in the near future.

Despite predictions of its death, it’s pretty

clear to us that the soundcard is still alive

and kicking. Bada Bing!

—GORDON MAH UNG

The X-Fi Elite Pro breaks the bank but gives you a break-out box with an RIAA preamp. $130, http://www.soundblaster.com

CREATIVE LABS X-FI

Painful pricing, and

where’s the FireWire?

Headphone gaming

doesn’t get any better

than this.

ROLLING STONES

GALL STONES

9

MA XIMUMP

C

KICKASS