X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
Feature
Creative's latest offering is Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro (if that's not a mouthful, I don't know what is!), which offers native PCI Express support.
Concentrating on the gaming use, we won't talk about audio creation functionality or CD playback quality (although the bit-matched playback feature deserves a mention – it plays your CDs at the original sample rate they are mastered at, rather than converting it to other frequencies). In essence, the driver software allows you to define your work mode: gaming, entertainment and audio creation. You need a good ear to hear the differences, but basically the gaming mode increases the bass and makes the sounds seem deeper and richer – which may not be that useful when you watch movies and want to make out the dialogue (which is what the entertainment mode is for).
Gaming use
The EAX 5.0 and the 3D positional audio with headphones are what the gamers will find the best qualities of the card – these really work wonders on even basic headphones, providing you with a clear sense of direction for every sound that you hear (providing, of course, that the game supports these features). It gives you a great edge when you can actually tell where those quiet steps or faraway shots are coming from and can turn to face your enemy before they get to shoot you in the back. Personally, we found these features very useful in Crysis and Crysis Warhead.
And, in addition to giving a great directional experience, the card also delivers impressive sound quality – rich, deep and powerful. And, although I promised not to talk about anything else than gaming, the X-Fi Crystalizer really brings the life back into MP3 encoded music, making it richer and more natural.
Closing thoughts
Begone integrated audio chips, begone and never come back! Truly, a decent sound card can do a lot to one's experience of sounds and music and a great sound card will transform that experience to something else entirely. This is what we experienced with X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro – the soundscapes this card offers in games actually transform the entire experience. You want to play even old titles again just to see how different the realistic 3D soundscape can make them feel.
The only downsides of the card are the price tag and the extremely slow-to-install drivers. Also, you naturally need to have good headphones or speakers to actually hear the best that the card has to offer.
If you truly care about the sounds in your games and can get over the somewhat steep price of the card, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro is something that you should really consider. Most of the competition, such as Xonar DX, are poorer in features even if they come at a decreased cost (although there are exceptions that we'll look into in future reviews). And, to make the decision easier, you can opt to buy PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium instead. It is pretty much the same card, but without the black box to cover it and it comes at a greatly reduced cost as well.
But, as far as Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro is concerned, we recommend it full-heartedly – especially if all you have previously experienced are integrated audio chips.
Our score: 9/10