X-Fi Extreme Gamer is Wayy Too Quiet!!

[Metalhead666]

Ok, let me start. I have a 2.1 speaker system. It's not too hot, probably about 50-60 watts, however it was working very adequately, putting out quite a bit of sound for it's size. So anyways, I was planning on upgrading to a 5.1 550 Watt system, so I decided to upgrade my Sound Blaster Audigy 4 card to a Sound Blaster X-Fi because I had heard they were the best. I went with the X-Fi Extreme Gamer as it had the best reviews on Newegg. So here's the trouble: I just finished installing this thing, I put in all the software, upgraded the driver, and changed all the mixer settings to the way I had 'em w/ my old card. When I finally put on some tunes, I got nothing. So I turned up the volume on my speakers. I turned it up say 75% of the way before I could hear jack ****. Have to turn it to about 95% the way up for a comfortable listening level. Also taking into account I was listening to an mp3 that was very well produced and was louder than average. Many songs, games, movies have elements that are very quiet or subtle. Guess I would just be crap out of luck in that case. Anyways, I have fiddled w/ the settings for about an hour and it is obviously not going to get any better, so I am wondering if anybody has experienced this w/ this card or any card for that matter. Maybe this is just the way the geniuses at Creative make these cards, or maybe I just got a broke card. Sorry I know this was long, thank you very much if your still reading it! Just wondered if anyone has any ideas/experience?

 

[Nitestick]

at the risk of insulting you i noticed that in the whole post you didn't seem to say you tried turning up the volume in windows

 

[Metalhead666]

Yeah I know, I thought I implied that when I said that I had been fiddling with the settings for over an hour, which included turning up the vol thru windows. I built my computer myself so I know quite a lot about it, however I am not a very high-tech person so all I really know to do is put in the hardware, install the drivers/software, and mess w/ the settings thru the Creative Console. My last card, an Audigy 4, worked fine. (w/ the exception of some scratching at higher volume) This new "better" card simply does not. I'm using the same exact speakers and everything. Not only is the sound too quiet, it's not even good. When you turn it up all the way so you can hear it, it sounds like a ****ing 8 track. A shitty 8 track. I am starting to think maybe there is a short in the board. Well, same thing, if anyone has any experience w/ this plz respond. Thanx.

 

[EricB]

do you have an asus mobo? did you uninstall the audigy 4 drivers first?

 

[Metalhead666]

Yes I do have an Asus mobo. A p5w DH Deluxe. I uninstalled the Audigy Drivers and all the apps from creative. I also made sure the onboard Realtek audio device was disabled and that everything was enabled for the X-Fi card.

 

[EricB]

you have a conflict. I know that. that particular board hates the x-fi. I once posted a workaround here but since they change this forum, I can't find it