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Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Sound Card Review
| Author | Niall Magennis |
| Published | 8th Dec 2008 |
| Manufacturer | Creative |
| Supplier | Buytech |
| Price | £72.74 (Exc VAT) |
| as reviewed | £83.65 (Inc VAT) |
| Latest Price | Click here |
| Design |  |
| Features |  |
| Performance | |
| Value |  |
| Overall | |
9 comments
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TrustedReviews NewslettersSo the Fatal1ty Pro's design and features are all well and good, but how does the card actually sound? In titles like Crysis and Bioshock the Fatal1ty Pro is a really mesmerising performer. It produces very precisely positioned surround sound effects that really add to the tension during game play. Shots reverberate around rooms in a realistic fashion and you can really hear the difference in echoes and reflections as you move between different rooms and structures.
Using the loop back test in RightMark Audio Analyzer on an Acer Aspire M3200 desktop, we measured its noise level at 101.8db, which is excellent, so it's hardly surprising that it sounds wonderfully lively and natural for music and recording, while also doing an excellent job of positioning surround sound audio in film soundtracks. In fact, it's pretty difficult to find fault with the card at all and in terms of performance we'd say that it's the best out there for a dedicated gaming rig.
Of course, there is a downside and that's the price. You're paying a premium for the Fatal1ty Pro over cards like the Asus Xonar DX PCI-E, which can now be had for just £56. That said, although the Asus Xonar DX costs a lot less, its emulated EAX 5.0 support just doesn't compare to the realism and precision of the Fatal1ty Pro in games.
Verdict
There's no doubt that the Fatal1ty Pro is a top-class performer. Its support for EAX 5.0 HD and OpenAL is exemplary, as is its performance with music and film sound tracks. However, it is a tad expensive and has relatively limited connectivity which narrows its appeal somewhat. Still, if you're into gaming and want the best card on the market at the moment, then we can heartily recommend it.
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Keith said on 8th December 2008
nanite2000 said on 8th December 2008
@ TheLostSwede
Creative have always provided a polished looking product off the shelf. It's when you dig a little deeper (i.e. used a product for longer than is availab... more
Niall said on 8th December 2008
The X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro uses a newer X-Fi chip (EMU20K2) that has been tweaked to work on PCIE. It doesn't seem to suffer from the same issues that affected cards that ... more
Xiphias said on 8th December 2008
It's not very fair to compare the Xonar DX to the Titanium Fatal1ty, you should be comparing it to the normal X-fi Titanium which is around the same price.
When... more
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A quick question, did you try it with a set of headphones?, I've a 22 month old baby so I have to were cans during the night. If you did, was the surround sound stage say bet... more