Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card Review

2011-01-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card

Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card Technical Details

Accurate 3D positional audio
Dolby Digital Live encoding - Connects directly to your home theater system through a single digital cable for compelling 5.1-surround sound.
Hardware accelerated performance - Get unbeatable performance in your favorite games with hardware-accelerated audio that blows motherboard audio away
X-RAM - Boost performance even further in games like Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Prey, Unreal Tournament 3 and others that take advantage of X-RAM
Clearer voice chat - Plug in your headset or microphone and hear the difference. With high quality inputs and hardware audio processing, your teammates will hear you loud and clear

Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card

Step up to the choice of professional gamers with the Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card, and get the ultimate PC gaming audio experience. With support for the latest technologies, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series delivers realistic environmental effects and 3-D positional audio so accurate, you'll be able to locate opponents by sound for a gaming advantage that might mean the difference between a win and a loss. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty is Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel's choice for audio.

PCI Express Sound Blaster
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
At a Glance:

Powerful audio processing for better game performance
X-Fi CMSS-3D creates nine virtual speakers when using stereo headphones
X-Fi Crystalizer restores lost detail in compressed music and audio
Realistic gaming effects with EAX 5.0
64MB of X-RAM for better performance in supported games

64MB of X-RAM gives you an added performance boost for compatible games.

Powerful Audio Processing Boosts Game Performance
The PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card employs a powerful audio processing engine. Unlike other motherboard audio solutions that task the computer processor, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty performs the heavy lifting and leaves your processor free to work on other tasks. This results in unbeatable game performance while still delivering all audio effects with outstanding 24-bit sound quality. 64MB of X-RAM for Enhanced Gaming Performance
Featuring 64MB of X-RAM, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty provides a performance boost to games such as Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Unreal Tournament 3, and more. You can play with all the best audio settings enabled without having to worry about sacrificing performance.
Realistic Gaming Effects with EAX 5.0 Technology
With support for EAX ADVANCED HD technology, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty delivers rich environmental effects for a complete immersive gaming experience. You'll hear bullets whizzing by your head, feel earth-shattering explosions, and experience other sound effects that bring you closer to the game.
Positional 3-D Audio
With X-Fi CMSS-3D technology, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty delivers outstanding surround sound whether you're using headphones or speakers. When used with a regular pair of stereo headphones, X-Fi CMSS-3D creates nine virtual speakers for exceptional surround effects, letting you feel like you're sitting in the best seat of a movie theater. You'll get an advantage in games, too, with the ability to locate enemies by sound before they see you.
And with multichannel speakers, you'll be able to hear exactly where the audio cues are--even between speakers. Voices will be right in front of you and ambient sound will surround you, just like a live performance. CMSS-3D works with both desktop stereo speakers and full surround speaker systems.
X-Fi Crystalizer Restores Lost Details
Recover lost audio detail with X-Fi Crystalizer technology. This smart technology restores the audio detail that is lost in compressed audio files so you'll regain vibrancy and clarity in your games, music, and movies. Highs and lows that were lost are enhanced, so whether you're listening to cymbal crashes or wailing guitars, you'll hear the sound as it was meant to be heard.
High-Quality Voice Chat
With high-quality inputs and hardware audio processing, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty ensures great vocal quality in your voice chats, so your teammates will hear you loud and clear. Plug in your headset or microphone, and you'll hear the difference instantly.
Intense Cinematic Sound for Movies
The X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty delivers THX-certified surround sound for a cinematic experience right at your computer. Cyberlink PowerDVD software is included (via free download) and supports DTS and Dolby Digital-EX decoding for an unmatched DVD movie-watching experience.
The X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty also supports Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect encoding (Windows Vista only), so you can connect directly to your home theater system through a single digital cable for fantastic 5.1 surround sound.
Advanced Features for Audio and Music Creation
For those in the audio- and music-creation business, the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty offers advanced features and high-quality inputs for outstanding recording results. A dedicated mode supports near transparent conversion between any resolutions, digital-matched recording, low-latency ASIO support, and more.
System Requirements
Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, or XP; Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor or equivalent; available PCI Express (x1, x4, x8, or x16) slot; 256MB RAM (512 MB RAM for Vista); 600MB of free hard-disk space; CD or DVD-ROM for software installation; headphones or amplified speakers; Internet connection to download PowerDVD player software.
What's in the Box
SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card, Quick Start leaflet, and installation CD.

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Creative Labs SB0886 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series Sound Card Reviews :

Review 1 :

This is an awesome product. Simple to install. Lots of features. Nice looking. Amazing sound (specially the surround sound created for headphones). Runs all my games with crystal-clear clarity, excellent effects and positional audio without a glitch.

This is not my first Sound Blaster, so I already know that the included drivers CD is outdated and loaded with bloatware. So, for those having problems with the card I suggest that you leave the included CD unopened and instead head to Creative's web site to grab the latest x-fi driver for your card, the latest control panel and the latest alchemy version. Install them in the following order:

1. Driver.
2. Control Panel.
3. ALchemy (Vista only).

Forget anything else included in the CD unless you really need it or want to try it.

I did that and I didn't have to activate anything. The activation is only needed if you plan to use the included software and I think it is because of some Dolby and DTS codecs but I'm not sure. With just those 3 things right now my X-Fi is running perfectly fine under Windows Vista 64-bit edition. I haven't found any incompatibility yet.

***UPDATE***

So far so good. I just wanted to include a few extra tips for those having problems.

I have a motherboard with Intel chipset (MSI X48 Platinum) and I haven't had any problem, but I've heard that people with nForce motherboards are having sound problems so I would like to suggest the following actions:

1. Download the latest BIOS file for your motherboard (if available) and update it. (See your manufacturer's web site for more information on this and be careful. You could brick your motherboard if it's not done properly.)

2. Download the latest chipset driver for your motherboard. It's gonna be either from Intel, from nVidia, from AMD or from VIA. Check their websites for instructions.

3. Download the latest Windows updates.

After you have done that then you can head to Creative's web site and grab the needed files. Finally install them in the mentioned order:

1. Driver.
2. Control Panel.
3. ALchemy.

The previous recommendations can also work for people having problems with this card, but who don't own a nForce motherboard.

Review 2 :

I just got this card for a birthday present to myself. I have some Logitech Z-5500's for my speakers and have been using an Audigy 2zs card for a couple of years now. I had read that these new X-FI cards were quite a bit better and I also wanted the new EAX 5 and optical connections so I decided to go for this new one.

Well, I expected a decent bump in clarity and overall sound but I have to say I am blown away at the difference this new card makes! I honestly feel that this new X-fi is 5-10 times better than the Audigy 2 zs. EVERYTHING sounds SO much better....from games to DVD's and especially music. I always thought that music played through that Audigy 2zs was quite bland and now that I have tunes pumping out of these Z5500's it's now abundently clear. I have been missing so much and not even coming cloes to utilizing these fantastic speakers.

I did have a little trouble getting the drivers properly loaded up because it kept telling me I have a newer version of the drivers already. So the installer would quit. it was seeing my Audigy 2 drivers even though I had deleted everything. I ended up grabbing a set of beta Vista drivers for this X-Fi and that installer saw the older drivers and gave me an option to delete them and also write over any sound drivers left behind. So I got the drivers on, loaded up the control center, and then put on Alchemy. I didn't even use the cd that came in the box but note, they put a lot of stuff on it that you may want to use.

I hooked up my Z-5500's with an optical cable, made the proper adjustments in Vista and the control center, and things sound fantastic. With control center you can switch between a gaming, entertainment, and audio creation mode. They also have a crystalizer program in there that when activated makes everything sound so crisp you wont' believe your ears.

So if you are contemplating getting one of these go ahead and do so. If you already own an Audigy 2zs MAKE SURE to do so, you won't be disappointed. Please note that if you are running standard, run of the mill speakers you probably aren't going to hear that much of a difference. But if you have a nice set of speakers you will.

I have this plugged into my 780i SLI board. I am using the third "sli" slot on the bottom and it works perfectly. The slot just switches to a lower power mode if a different device is used. So don't' fret if you don't have access to one of those tiny pcie slots...any of them should work fine. (Any pci-e slot that is...)

Review 3 :

I love this sound card because it sounds great and the mic works perfectly in games. I would highly recommend getting one of these if you game or you just want to listen to music on your computer and because it is excellent! X-fi sounds great in games and the dolby sound and the other bass boost and that treble are very potent. The crystalizer sounds beautiful. Very Groovy sound card I think it is the best one yet. Voice over works in xp home 32 bit on games, but not on Vista Ultamate 32 bit, I cannot get the voice over in Vista Ultimate to work, I am very dissapointed about that. I'm thinking about putting xp 32 bit home back on because it works nicely with my mic in games. You can even turn it up so loud that the other players get mad at you. I mean "it rocks their world". I would highly recommend getting this sound card its the best. I liked it so much I bought two and I'm using them on two different computers one a vista machine and the other on a xp machine. The vista program has never been compatible with all of my hardware or software(what ever the issue is), but the xp machine is working perfectly great.

Review 4 :

The Fatal1ty Titanium PCI-E sound blaster addresses a lot of issues that customers have been clamoring for for a long time. It finally migrates the X-Fi Sound Blaster to a PCI-E interface, gives users the option to plug their case's front panel connectors to the card, and color coded ports on the rear panel ( at least for their high end cards ).
The card itself looks great with a nice EMI shield on it, and though it is black colored, it really stands out from most of the others in the sound blaster line. The X-Fi logo lights up on the card too so you can see it if your side panel has a window.
The sound quality is extremely good although I am no audiophile, I am a gamer and channel separation is handled very well. Driver installation is a little wonky but its mainly because of the licensed dolby digital encoding software (oh btw it does dobly digital encoding now!) and the usual Vista weirdness. Overall though, it works and once its up and running, the results are great. Results with headphones is very good and games seem more pronounced with their positional audio effects.
You may have to adjust the settings in the creative control panel to make the rear port act as a mic if you prefer to plug directly into the card though. Default puts the mic input in the front panel connector.

Review 5 :

When I was selecting the components for a computers gaming PC i was building for myself, i never thought much about audio, and expected to be fine with the onboard audio of the Nvidia 680 motherboard, which is not bad at all, but after reading reviews and learning about how much your gaming experience is improved by a good Sound Board, i took the plunch. My 1st board didn't make it to to the computer, a junior version of this one, that doesn't have digital toslink, after returning it to exchange it for this one, (another $20 dollars), it was worth every penny. Not cheap but YOU DO fill the difference! Faster computer performance, even the Windows Media Player visual effects go 10 times faster, real time processing.

1) It installed without any problems, hardware and drivers. Those of you out there, make sure you have a ePCI express port available.

2) Works perfect with my Onkyo 905 Receiver, which automatically switched to direct audio when the Dolby Processing is enabled for the audio board.

3) Codemasters latest racing game, GRID, allowed to enable adjustment for hardware acceleration i was unable to activate before i had the audio board installed - keep in mind i am running 2 x Nvidia's 8800 GT in SLI mode.

4) I got out kick of the little light "X-FI" the board has on the top edge, my tower PC has a transparent cover to showcase all the installed gear.

5)The audio is amazing! Before installing it i had my receiver manage my Bose 5.1 system, but after installing this audio board, I've read postings on other sites, proposing that you will be able to tell from which direction is the enemy shooting you, I thought this was an exaggeration, but I can confirm this, as i myself can hear if someone is hitting my racing car on the left or right.

Conclusion, not cheap, but it does deliver the goods. If your PC is already loaded with all the goods, take the extra step and go for it.

BUY IT NOW

Review 6 :

I'm a creative fan since years .. I started with 8-Bit Sound Blaster in 1991, then SB16, SBLive, SBAudigy, Audigy2 and Audigy4 ..

After Audigy4, I didn't buy the original x-fi because i had only one PCI slot and i didn't wanna block myself out. I was sure that a PCI-e version was coming soon ..

There is this crown .. it's amazing performer .. many people reported drivers issues but for me it worked like a charm on Vista Ultimate 32bit..

Amazingly, I had clear framrate improvement in Gears of War! I guess that's because the CPU now has more room to do serious tasks instead of doing sound processing.

Review 7 :

I upgraded from a Creative Sound Audigy 2 ZS Gamer, and while I wasn't expecting a huge leap in anything other than sound quality, I received much more.

To start, the sound quality is superb! I never thought I'd notice such a difference. A good set of games to test out is Unreal Tournament 3, Battlefield 2, and Empires: Total War. Even without games, you can tell a huge difference in the quality. Music sounds a lot more clean and clear, using the correct software settings. Movies sound a lot more realistic too. One cool thing is that Creative now supports Dolby Digital Live, which was much needed.

What may shock some is that this sound card really and truly increased my frames per second in games! I wasn't expecting a huge frame boost, but I got a whopping 10 frames in most new games. Plus, most of the new games I play are actually playing a lot more smooth (or less jumpy) with the new sound card. Not only that, my games just sound so much better.

The software that comes with the card is good out of the box, however, doing the auto update may result in something such as "Can't find layout.bin" when installing. The fix is to NOT let the update run. Creative can't pack their software correctly apparently so just right click the .exe file and extract to a folder. Then just open the folder and install. Do this for ALL of their software, especially in Windows Vista.

I highly recommend this card for any gamer. Heck, even a music/movie fanatic can't go wrong with it!

Review 8 :

This is a great sound card; from the ease of installation, to the use of a PCIe slot, to the EMI shielding, I couldn't have asked for more. As with most CL cards, it's best to get current drivers from their web site rather than use the included CD...but you know that already. Also, don't forget to disable the mobo's sound card in the BIOS...or there will be a problem...but you know that too. So with those two issues out of the way, there is nothing standing in the way of you receiving great sound!

Since this was a new build, I wanted something that would take advantage of my new mobo features [5.1 & HD sound] so I chose the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional...I have no regrets. The music [jazz, symphony, rock] coming from my Logitech speakers sound wonderful. Since I'm not a gamer, I had no idea about the young man's picture or how this card works for gamers [although it should be the same]...but as a retired sound engineer [for a PBS station back East] the music I listen to is crystal clear as with the sounds I've created for the web sites I've designed. The only problem, if you want to call it that, was making sure the Cooler Master ATCS 840 HD case front HD sound lead/wire was solidly connected to the card...the front head phones work like a charm [and I don't have to manually turn the speaks off!].

I'm running Windows XP [Vista had too many problems & 7 is too new for all bugs to be worked out] on a Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 with an AMD Pheonom II x4 955 [OCed], so I can't address any problems previous reviewers have mentioned with other OS...but if you update your BIOS, Windows, then install the drivers for this card [and disable the on-board sound] you should not have any problems with your new Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional sound card.

Review 9 :

Needed to upgrade our sound card .
I read the many reviews and had mixed feelings ,but having used many of Creatives Sound Blaster cards in the past with zero issues we decided on this card.We paid $99 so feel like it was worth it.We saved $25 on Amazon and on some other sites selling it almost a $50 savings.Even at Walmart it was more expensive.
My husband and children play lots of music on the computer. He also enjoys playing music in chat programs.We play a lot of movies and have recorded tv input on the computer.We use Skype a lot with our daughter who is away at college. All of which run suberbly with this card.
We aren't gamers here so I can't however comment on that usage.
Excellent clarity .There were no issues with installing the hardware or software.There is however lots and lots of "fluff" that the average everyday user doesn't need.Settings I'm sure we will never use.
I am not understanding the couple of reviews that complained about several hours to download and not being able to use Skype or chat programs.It took about 45 minutes to load and get updated drivers and such and programs are all working well.
We are running Win 7.
Please note my review is intended to help the average everyday home PC user like myself and family whose looking to upgrade their sound card.

Review 10 :

I updated an old SoundBlaster Live! audio card when I rebuilt my system around a core i7 CPU. Having an extra PCI-e slot that wasn't used and probably never would be given the move to the newer slots I figured that I'd buy a sound card that would make use of this "appendix" slot.

The card adds back features that seem to have been removed in Vista via it's ALchemy software. It installed without a hitch and arrived before promised from J&R.

I have no regrets on this purchase and would recommend it to anyone with the appropriate hardware and a desire to upgrade from on-board sound.

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