Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Audio System SB1090 by Creative
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Digital camera reviews of Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Audio System SB1090
Digital camera Review: Definite Improvement to onboard laptop sound
Summary: 4 Stars
I have several incarnations of Creative Sound cards on different computers. This X-fi Surround 5.1 is a great boost to the stock (high definition?) audio on most all laptops. You are given the ability to change bass functions and tweak the entire spectrum with a very nice graphic equalizer. EAX can be enabled as well as some other very cool enhancements.
The new interface is fun, which brings up a facsimile of a stereo receiver, along with a big volume knob, and all the tweaks are in a lighted row on the main dashboard. My X-fi Titanium for desktop also provides a similar look and features.
Now, the sound produced by the X-fi Titanium for my desktop is far superior to X-fi 5.1 for my laptop. Also, I haven't tried putting the X-fi 5.1 on a desktop, and I am assuming it will sound considerably better with the increase in firepower. X-fi Titanium on a desktop is shockingly superior to onboard sound, and should be a must add-on. Last comment on the Titanium, it is also superior to the Audgy 2zs cards that are excellent in their own right.
One negative that happened out of the box, was loud clicking and popping with or without any sound playing. After some effort, I tried a different USB cable, and voila, it worked great. This external add-on will really make your MP3/WMA/movies sound much much better. Installation is a snap, and just remember to disable the onboard sound in the device manager, which I'm not sure the instructions state at all.
I tested this with three different Sony headphones, from earbuds to the top of the line Pro model. Not until I loaded up the Pro headphones did I really hear it start to strain to pump out sound at louder levels and remain clean. Most users will not be listening with these beefy earpieces though. The price has dropped recently and is definitely more affordable. I usually only review something I feel confident in giving a full five stars, but the four stars here is really 4.75 stars. It lost a fraction becuase of the minor lack of punch that I get on my desktops, which is a little too picky maybe.
Digital camera Review: Does exactly what I need it to do.
Summary: 4 Stars
This thing does exactly what I need it to do. It plays audio over both the digital optical connection and analog connection at the same time. The sound is nice, and there's tons of audio options in the control panel.
The only negative is that it does use some cpu power. While playing music it takes about 6% usage on my pc (Intel Core 2 Duo 7300 w/ 3gb ram).
Overall I'm impressed. Great performance for the price.
Digital camera Review: Earl's Review
Summary: 5 Stars
The Creative Lab SB1090 Sond Blaster X-FI Surround 5.1 was very easy to setup, hooking it to my computer with the USB connector was a breeze. The sound come out great using my creative 5.1 speakers. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for an upgrade sound card.Digital camera Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a bit skeptical b/c of the reviews on amazon and creatives website but that was due to a bad driver but since then Creative has a new driver that fixes the problem of audio lag and it works great. I now have full surround sound on my laptop through my logitech 5.1 speaker set.
This is a great product and I am so far satisfied.
Digital camera Review: Excellent purchase that saved the day
Summary: 5 Stars
I had the unfortunate experience of frying the sound on not one but two Dell Inspiron 5100 laptops, and was faced with the dilemma of either replacing both motherboards or both laptops, as the sound chipset is obviously built right onto the motherboard. How fortunate I was to buy Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster X-Fi for a little over $36! The sound is excellent, the product superior, and truly saved the day for me! Hats off to Creative Labs for a job well done!