Hands-on review: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

There's something I never really understood with quite a few gamers: Why do some spend two, three, or even five hundred dollars on a graphics card but then choose to skimp out on a great audio card? After all, audio does make up half of the experience, and with today's 3D environments, it truly does make a difference.

Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card (wow, say that three times fast) is the latest sound card from the long lineage of Sound Blaster sound cards and is geared specifically for the high-end audio enthusiast/gamer folks like myself. So what exactly makes this card so special? 

First, the hardware: The first thing you'll immediately notice is the aggressively-styled protective "shell" that covers the sound card. The shell doesn't do much besides protect the hardware components, but for those of you with case windows, it does add an aesthetic element (which is debatable). Additionally, when the PC is powered on, the logos light up, which is a nice touch. Underneath the shell is the X-Fi sound processor, which features 24-bit analog/digital conversions and a 109dB signal-to-noise ratio, and X-RAM technology, which adds 64MB of RAM for use with compatible games. 

Secondly, the connectivity: There's plenty of inputs and outputs to go around on this card: one analog mic in, four analog line outs (for 2.1, 5.1, and 7.1 speaker setups), a digital line out (for receivers and other digital equipment), and a digital line in (for gaming consoles, MiniDisc players, and plenty of other devices). Having the digital lines on the actual card, as opposed to a drive-bay accesory, caught my attention. To my knowledge, this is the only consumer-class card on the market (other than the other cards in the X-Fi series) to have both optical input and output physically on the card, which is a great plus.

And thirdly, the little things: Dolby Digital Live for 5.1 audio output over optical, Dolby Digital and DTS decoding for DVDs, the impressive software bundle, the pin header for front-case I/O ports, and color coded ports. Nice.

Installing the card went without any trouble on my Windows XP dual core machine. I then tested the sound card with a pair of headphones (Sony MDR-V700DJs and Logitech Noise Canceling Headphones), 5.1 analog audio speakers (Cambridge Soundworks), and a 5.1 digital receiver (Harmen Kardon AVR-235 with Onkyo 5.1 speakers). The X-Fi Titanium really shined with gaming, leaving me very impressed. Sound effects were clear and crisp, shots zinged across in 3D space, and there was no noticible lag, distortion, or interference. DVD sound decoded well with the card as well, and that coupled with the optical links makes this card a good choice for HTPCs.

At $149, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series isn't cheap, but you do have other options. Creative also does have the X-Fi Titanium, which loses the shell and the X-RAM technology, for $99, or the X-Fi Xtreme Audio, which lacks some of the high-end features, for $59. In an age of $500 video cards and $2000 gaming PCs, a high-end sound card is definitely a worthy investment for gamers and multimedia enthusiasts that shouldn't be overlooked, and the X-Fi Titanium is an excellent choice. You won't be disappointed.

Creative - Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series