Creative has really pulled out all the stops with the new X-Fi line of sound cards. The completely redesigned Sound Processing Unit (SPU) is immensely powerful and produced the highest quality music and sound effects that I have ever heard on my PC. If you're an extreme gamer that wants the best sound quality or an audiophile that demands sound quality that could destroy your ear drums, look no farther than the X-Fi Elite Pro. Although the X-Fi Elite Pro is very expensive, you can always opt for one of the less expensive X-Fi models.

Pros

• Unparalleled sound quality and processing ability
• 64MB X-RAM which will hopefully be utilized soon
• Huge, convenient and useful breakout box with numerous inputs and outputs
• Amazing and powerful software bundle; both the drivers and stand-alone programs
• Included batteries for the remote

Cons

• Odd and sporadic install issue with BIOS and system boot up
• No proper manual or mode "cheat sheet"
• Drivers require QuickTime be installed to work
• No consistent increase in game performance
• The breakout box is HUGE
• The approximate $400 price tag
• No Dolby Digital Live support

All of that being said, the price will come down, compatibility issues will be solved and performance will increase once developers begin to code games to take advantage of the X-Fi. Doom 3 and Quake 4 already have patches out for limited X-Fi support and more games are sure to follow suit.

Please provide feedback or questions about this review in the following discussion thread.

Just added is a new, in-depth guide that I created, walking through how I got to the speaker settings I currently have and love, in hopes that you, the readers can maybe save yourself some time and have your speakers set up in what I consider to be the perfect sound.

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