Mi s-a intamplat de nenumarate ori sa aud aberatii de genul "ce are placa X in plus de placa Y, nu sunt amandoua placi de sunet?". Alteori, aud chestii de genul "asa, si ce are foobar mai jmecher decat winampu'?". Am dat din greseala peste o lista de specificatii ale placilor X-Fi de la Creative si m-am gandit sa le postez mai jos, ca sa priceapa lumea ca EXISTA diferentze si nu mai trebe luat totul asa de usor.
Asadar:
X-Fi ExtremeMusic/Platinum: Identical cards; good 8 channel DAC (CS4382); quite good Wolfson ADC; mediocre JRC/NJR OPamp for front channels; el cheapo ST opamps for other channels; Platinum comes with front bay module and remote.
X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS: Card almost identical (same DAC & ADC, same OPamps) with ExtremeMusic/Platinum except 64 instead of 2 MB ram and additional LEDs; comes with front bay module and remote like Platinum.
X-Fi Elite Pro: Different card; 4 very good top-of-the-line stereo DACs (CS4398); very good AKM ADC; juicier ok JRC/NJR OPamp for front (JRC/NJM2114); ok JRC/NJR OPamps for other channels (JRC/NJM2068); also 64 MB RAM and additional leds; comes with remote and external module, which additionally sports 3 PCM1804 ADCs for the analogue inputs.
and in detail:
The lower 3 X-Fi series uses:
Cirrus Logic CS4382 D/A converter (192 kHz, 114 dB)
Wolfson WM8775 A/D (96 kHz, 102 dB)
Input Op-Amps: MC33078
Output Op-Amps: NJM4556 for front, STL 4558 for surround
The X-Fi Elite Pro uses:
Cirrus Logic CS4398 D/A converters (192 kHz, 120 dB)
AKM AK5394 A/D converter (192 kHz, 123 dB)
Output Op-Amps: NJM2114 for front, NJM2068 for surround
RACK:
TI Burr-Brown PCM1804 A/D converters (192 kHz, 111 dB)
Cirrus Logic CS4392 D/A converter (192 kHz, 114 dB) and NJM4556 op-amp for the headphone jack