Creative sound blaster x-fi xtreme audio

[sobranie]

Have subject card fitted.
Feeding through to quad44/405 and quad speakers.
The card is giving a 'wavering' sound which is most disconcerting.
Switching off the 'equalisation' in the software pc control gets rid of the problem but
this renders the sound mixer inoperative and control of treble/bass etc is gone.
The problem seems well known and some people find that switching off the loudness
control solves the issue.
However, where is the loudness control prey? 
If anyone is using this 'junk' card your help would be most appreciated.

[Simon]

Just a guess, but I'd say it's probably in the same place as the equalisation settings, or perhaps they just mean that 'Loudness' is an EQ preset which can be switched off, or set 'flat'?

[Gary]

However, where is the loudness control prey? 
If anyone is using this 'junk' card your help would be most appreciated.

Never had issues with this card when I used them, I think its in the enhancement tab Device>enhancement. Making sure it has latest drives help.

[sobranie]

Never had issues with this card when I used them, I think its in the enhancement tab Device>enhancement. Making sure it has latest drives help.

Latest drivers d/l this week, no difference.
Enhancement box, not present.

Just a guess, but I'd say it's probably in the same place as the equalisation settings, or perhaps they just mean that 'Loudness' is an EQ preset which can be switched off, or set 'flat'?

EQ presets or user defined, as soon as you go away from 'flat' the wavering commences.

I am now becoming convinced that this is a win7 64bit prob.  I shall probably consign the card to the
care of the bin shortly and purchase a higher spec. Asus card in due course.

Thanks for comments guys.

[Steve]

There's probably some wave conversion going on somewhere which is producing the jitter. It is possible for Windows to play bit perfect sound but that in itself would reduce your ability to tune the sound.

As an example  http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=466157

[stevenrw]

FWIW I have been using an Asus DX card for some time now. I have to say that it is a stunningly good card, especially when you consider that it was only around £50. I use BeyerDynamic headphones which are 250ohm impedance and the Asus drives them like a dream because it has a dedicated headphone amp.
However, you should be aware that you do not get any useable software with the card. I used a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 card back in the day, under XP and I recall it came with some really quite good software, such as wave studio editor and a thingy to automatically record podcasts etc. If you are just looking for excellent sound quality then I'd certainly recommend the Asus. I think Creative have lost their way since the architecture changed with Vista/7/8.
Luckily it seems Asus has stepped into the sound card field with excellent products at realistic prices.

[sobranie]

There's probably some wave conversion going on somewhere which is producing the jitter. It is possible for Windows to play bit perfect sound but that in itself would reduce your ability to tune the sound.

As an example  http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=466157

A most interesting read Steve. Thank you.

[sobranie]

I think Creative have lost their way since the architecture changed with Vista/7/8.
Luckily it seems Asus has stepped into the sound card field with excellent products at realistic prices.

I totally agree especially with the problems I have.  With this in mind I'm going for ASUS Xonar Essence STX from Amazon.
A little pricey but I am using Quad Gear (44/405) with quad speakers and this gear requires a good quality source.

Once again, my thanks to all who replied.

[Steve]

A bit more here


http://www.hi-fi-insight.com/bit-perfect-audio.html

Can't recall your OS but windows 7 is much improved over XP for sound reproduction when Kmixer seems to upsample everything.