Product Description

The powerful audio processing engine of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatality Champion Series PCI Sound Card boosts real game performance by more than 15% over ordinary motherboard audio. The additional X-RAM frees up system memory and improves audio quality and performance. Use headphones or multichannel speakers to accurate locate your enemies by sound. Take your games to the next level with EAX Advanced HD sound effects.Restore the detail and vibrance to your music and movies with X-Fi Crystalizer technology. Voices are centered and ambient sounds are moved all around you. On-board connectivity - Shared line in, microphone, digital out via 1/8-inch mini jack, line level out (Front/Rear/Center/Subwoofer/Rear Center) via 3x 1/8-inch mini jacks, internal line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector, X-Fi I/O Console upgrade connection System Requirements - Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP Service Pack 2, x64 or Media Center Edition, 1 GHz Intel Pentium III, AMD or equivalent processor, 256MB RAM, 600MB of free hard disk space, Available PCI 2.1 Slot

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13884 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Creative Labs
• Model: 70SB046A00003
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.10" h x 14.40" w x 4.10" l, 3.10 pounds
• Memory: 64MB

Features

• Technical Specifications
• 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate
• 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
• 16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
• 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output

From the Manufacturer

Get the fastest, most realistic game play possible with Sound Blaster

Gaming Mode

Boost game audio performance even further Free up system memory and improve your audio quality and performance in games such as Battlefield 2, Prey, Quake 4, Doom 3 and others that take advantage of X-RAM.

	Battle in a 3D soundscape Bullets whiz past your head. Explosions shake the room. Take your games to the next level with EAX® ADVANCED HD™ sound effects.
	Revitalize your compressed game sounds X-Fi Crystalizer makes gunshots sound crisp and sharp and explosions really boom for the most intense gaming experience yet.

Here's the speed you need
This powerful audio processing engine boosts real game performance by more than 15% over ordinary motherboard audio.

Hear your enemies before they find you
Slip on your headphones or put your multichannel speakers to work for you with positional audio that's so accurate you can locate enemies by sound.

Enjoy clearer voice chat
Talk it up and hear the difference Sound Blaster X-Fi makes. Every voice comes through loud and clear.

ENTERTAINMENT MODE

	Make MP3s sound better than CDs X-Fi Crystalizer technology restores the detail and vibrance to your compressed music and movies. All the highs and lows are intelligently enhanced so you'll hear everything in crystal clarity.
	Turn stereo music and movies into surround sound X-Fi CMSS-3D technology expands your stereo MP3s and digital movies into surround sound over multichannel speakers, stereo speakers or even headphones. Voices are centered in front of you and ambient sounds are moved all around you.

Enjoy cinematic DVD movie sound
Get THX® certified surround sound plus cinematic DVD movie playback with PowerDVD software featuring DTS™ and Dolby Digital® -EX decoding (free download with purchase).

Control it all from your couch
Browse through your music, movies and pictures with the X-Fi wireless remote and Entertainment Center software.

AUDIO CREATION MODE

Get advanced audio and music creation features Ready to record your latest track? This smart sound card gives you a dedicated audio creation mode plus digital and analog connections for all of your audio gear. You'll get near transparent conversion between any resolutions, digital-matched recording, low latency ASIO support and more.

CONNECTIVITY

	Rear Connectors Easily connect your favorite audio equipment.
	I/O Drive Connectivity Connect and adjust your gaming headset volume with ease. Never run out of connections during gaming.

Sound Blaster X-Fi is Fatal1ty's choice for audio

"When I'm competing, I need top-class performance and the most realistic sound to help me know where my opponents are. Sound Blaster X-Fi really delivers for me... there is nothing faster or better." Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is the best-known professional gamer in the world with 38 First Place wins in nine years of tournament play.

Customer Reviews

Ear Piercing Shriek = RMA Return
This is the 2nd PCIx1 sound card that I bought for the same Gigabyte motherboard. The first card, an Asus Xonar card, crashed while playing certain games. So, I bought the tried and true Creative. After about 5 minutes of use it emitted an ear-piercing scream - along the lines of a smoke alarm, or building fire alarm. I tried different ports, disconnecting the I/O drive - reinstalling the software - typical things one does to try to avoid the RMA process. Amazon tells me that the replacement is enroute, and I hope that the new one doesn't give me the same problem - because if it does then I'd be looking at replacing the motherboard, assuming then that the sound card isn't the problem. If it does reoccur then I'll try the card in another pc to see what happens. Also, since my experiences with Vista have been less than stellar I've only used XP so I can't report on Vista performance.

Fantastic Sound Card!
Amazon was great about getting the sound card to me pretty soon after I ordered it. It didn't take very much work to get it up and running at all. I'm running windows XP, so that might have something to do with the ease of installation and use. I'm absolutely loving the sound that I'm getting out of my PC now!

X-FI Platinum is horrible
This product is garbage. Bought it because the specs looked awesome, but there is a HUGE catch: there is a well known issue that some of these cards (if not all) will introduce a popping noise into your audio. Creative acknowledges the snap-crackle-pop issue, but does nothing to remedy the problem. No patch, no replacements, nothing. This leads me to believe they have faulty hardware. They blamed certain motherboard manufacturers, but other people with other motherboards have experienced the exact same issues.

I wouldn't recommend creative products to my worst enemy after buying this card.