Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi User manual

Howtousethismanual
Thisdocumentisdesignedtoprovideyouwithdirectaccesstovitalproduct
knowledge.Youcanresizethedocumentwindoworprintthisdocument,access
linkedwebsitesandgetinformationfromspeciallypreparedgraphics.
Tojumptoalinkedtopicorawebsite,clicktheunderlinedbluetext,orthe
handsymbol wheneveritappears.
Toshowashortdescription(tooltip)ofanobject,moveyourmousecursor
overit.Atooltipappearsafterafewseconds.
Youcanchoosetoprintportionsofthisdocument:
1. OntheContentstabbedpagetoyourleft,clickatopicheading.
Onthemenu,clickthePrintbutton.
Inthedialogboxthatappears,clicktheoptiontoprintonetopiconly,orall
topicsunderaheading.

Introduction
CongratulationsonyourpurchaseofCreative'slatestaudiorevolution,Sound
BlasterX-Fi™!WithcuttingedgetechnologyfromtheleadersinPCaudio,
SoundBlasterX-Fiwillgiveyouyearsofreliableentertainment.
ThisUser'sGuidecontainssoftwareinstallationandusageinformationforthe
SoundBlasterX-Fiseriesofaudiodevices.
Notes
SomeproductsintheSoundBlasterX-Fiseriesareonlyavailablein
certainregions.Formoreinformationonproductavailabilityandpossible
upgradeoptions,consultyourlocaldistributororvisit
www.soundblaster.com/X-Fi.

SystemRequirements
BasicRequirements
GenuineIntel®Pentium®III1GHz,AMD®1GHzprocessororfaster
Intel,AMDor100%compatiblemotherboardchipset
Microsoft®WindowsVista®64-bitwithServicePack1(SP1),WindowsVista
32-bitwithSP1,Windows®XPProfessionalx64Edition,WindowsXPService
Pack2(SP2),WindowsXPMediaCenterEdition(MCE)2005orWindowsXP
MCE2004.
256MBRAM(512MBforWindowsVista)
600MBoffreeharddiskspace
AvailablePCI2.1slotfortheaudiocard
Headphonesoramplifiedspeakers(availableseparately)
CD-ROM/CD-RWorCD/DVD-ROMrequiredforsoftwareinstallation
AvailableUSBportfortheIRReceiver*
Available51/4-inchdrivebayfortheX-FiI/ODrive*
AdditionalRequirements(whereapplicable)
Gaming
DirectX®9andOpenGL®compliant3Dgraphicsacceleratorwithatleast
32MBoftextureRAM
DVD-Video
6xorfasterDVD-ROMdrive
DVDplayersoftwaresuchasInterVideo®WinDVD®orCyberLink®
PowerDVD®(latestversionrecommended)installed
5.1or7.1speakersforoptimallisteningexperience
High-speedInternetconnectiontodownloadthelatestPowerDVDwith
Dolby®digitalandDTS®decodingcodec**
EntertainmentCenterandRemoteControlUsage*
MicrosoftOfficePowerPoint®97orlatertocontrolPowerPoint
presentationswirelesslyusingtheremotecontrol
AudioCreation
256MBRAMandaboveisrequiredforloading24-bitSoundFontbanks

Notes
Otherapplications,especiallygames,mayhavehighersystem
requirements.Refertotheapplications'documentationfordetails.
*Availablewithsomemodelsofyouraudiodevice,orasanupgrade
accessoryinsomeregions.
**Availablewithoutadditionalchargeforselectedmodels.

MoreHelp
Visitwww.soundblaster.comforthelatestSoundBlasternewsandproducts.
Thesitealsoincludesinformationonmakingpurchases,technicalhelp,andthe
latestdriverupdates.

AboutYourHardware
RefertotheQuickStartleafletforinstructionsoninstallingyourSoundBlaster
X-Fi.Tolearnmoreaboutyourproduct,refertotherelevantsectionbelow:
YourSoundBlasterX-Fiaudiocard
YourRemoteControl*
YourIRReceiver*
YourDigitalI/OModule*
YourSoundBlasterX-FiI/ODrive*
YourSoundBlasterX-FiI/OConsole*
Notes
*Availablewithsomemodelsofyouraudiodevice,orasanupgrade
accessoryinsomeregions.

YourSoundBlasterX-Fiaudiocard
Youraudiocardhasthejacksandconnectorsbelowtoenabletheattachmentofa
widevarietyofdevices.Theavailabilityandpositionofthejacksandconnectors
mayvary,asshownbelow:
SB046XSeries
SB055XSeries

SB073XSeries
Jackor
Connector Description
1. AD_Linkconnector ConnectoneendoftheAD_Linkcabletothisconnector.ConnecttheotherendtotheAD_Link
(26pin)connectorontheX-FiI/OConsole*.

2. LineOut3jack
Connectthefollowinginputsonpoweredanalogspeakersorahometheaterreceivertothisjack:
On5.1systems:FrontCenterandSubwoofer
On7.1systems:FrontCenter,SubwooferandSideLeft
3.
LineOut2jack
Connectthefollowinginputsonpoweredanalogspeakersorahometheaterreceivertothisjack:
On4.1and5.1systems:RearLeftandRearRight
On7.1systems:RearLeft,RearRightandSideRight
4.
LineOut1jack
ConnecttheFrontLeftandFrontRightinputsonpoweredanalogspeakersorahometheaterreceiverto
thisjack.Youcanalsoconnectyourstereoheadphoneswitha3.50mm(1/8-inch)plugtothisjack.
5.
FlexiJack
ForSB046XandSB055Xseries
Performsa3-in-1function,supportingMicrophone-in,Line-inandDigitalI/Oconnections.
Connectoneofthefollowingtothisjack:
analogdeviceslikecassetteplayersandotherline-levelsources
amicrophone
theDigitalI/OModule*
externaldigitalaudiodevicesthatacceptstereoPCMorcompressedDolbyDigital/DTSBitstreamfrom
theS/PDIFoutput
SeeConfiguringyourFlexiJack.
ForSB073Xseries
Performsa3-in-1function,supportingMicrophone-in,Line-inandOpticaloutconnections.
Connectoneofthefollowingtothisjack:
analogdeviceslikecassetteplayersandotherline-levelsources
amicrophone
externaldigitalaudiodevicesthatacceptstereoPCMorcompressedDolbyDigital/DTSBitstreamfrom
theOpticaloutput
OnaSB073Xseriescard,thisjackdoesnothavetheDigital-infunctiontosupporttheDigitalI/OModule.
6.
CreativeProprietaryconnector
ProvidesaproprietaryconnectionforCreativedevices.Donotusethisconnectorunlessinstructedtodoso.
7.
AuxInconnector
ConnectananalogCDcable(availableseparately)fromtheanalogoutputonanaudiodevicelikeaTV
tunertothisconnector.
8.
Powerconnector
PowerstheX-FiI/OConsole*viatheAD_Linkconnector.Connectapowercablefromyourcomputer's
powersupplytothisconnector.
9.
AD_EXTconnector
ConnectoneendoftheAD_EXTcabletothisconnector.ConnecttheotherendtotheAD_EXTconnector
ontheX-FiI/ODrive*.
10.
FrontPanelHeaderAudioconnector
ConnectoneendoftheIntel®FrontPanelAudiocable(availableseparately)tothisconnector.SeeFront
PanelHeader(forSB073Xseries)forspecifications.

11.
SPDIFI/Oconnector
ConnecttheOpticalDigitalIOCard*tothisconnector.
Notes
*Availablewithsomemodelsofyouraudiodevice,orasanupgrade
accessoryinsomeregions.
SelecttheDigitalI/Ooptionwhenconnectingdigitalaudiodevicestothe
DigitalI/OModule(availablewithselectedmodelsorasanupgradeoption).
Alsoselecttheoptionifyouwanttoconnectexternaldigitalaudiodevicesthat
acceptstereoPCMorcompressedDolbyDigital/DTSBitstreamfromthe
S/PDIFoutput.SeeConfiguringyourFlexiJackformoreinformation.
Somemodelsofyouraudiodevicecomewithabuilt-in64MBX-RAM.This
specialRAMisreservedforgamedeveloperstostoreagame'saudiofileonthe
audiocard,forfasterretrieval,processingandplayback.Anygamethatsupports
X-RAMreceivesanevenbiggerperformanceboost.