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Review: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Go! |
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| Published by: Moyes on 03/12/2008 at 16:06 pm |
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Moving away from Game Reviews, we have also got a review for everyone on a notebook who strives for some more audio power! Dignitas member  Robert 'Moyes' Haxton had a look at the SoundBlaster X-Fi Go! by Creative to find out for you if it the savior for sound-disadvantaged notebook users. Take a look inside!
Over the last two years I have shifted from desktop PCs to laptops, but one of the sacrifices I have made along the way is a reduction in sound quality. With limited space inside for technical wizardry, it is understandable why laptops seldom get associated with the phrase ‘audio monsters’.
Laptop redemption however may well be at hand!
I have the opportunity to test the ‘Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Go’ and it promises to rejuvenate my audio experience.
Opening the box
I associate sound hardware with circuit boards, cleverly adorned with a liberal spread of exposed electrical bits and bobs. The X-Fi Go however is a small sleek self-contained device that plugs straight into any USB slot. The drivers are already on the device and within a few seconds I’m confirming their installation. After a reboot to complete the process, I plug my headphones and microphone into the rear of the X-Fi device and prepare to put it through its paces.
Time to play…
I considered baptising the X-Fi with Edith Piaf tracks, classy, but with the recordings no doubt originating from the 1950s/60s I thought better of it. I opted instead for ‘hit tracks’ from the Verve, Enigma and Paul Simon, and quickly found myself merrily soaking up their musical rhythm. Once my music session was over I felt rather enchanted with these old tracks, more so than usual, and I concluded the X-Fi was performing well.
Would I still be impressed after a round of intense gaming action?
I decide to whip out Silent Hunter 3, a game that places you at the helm of a German U-boat during WW2. I thought a wartime patrol in a craft that relied upon accurate sound detection for its very survival was quite appropriate for the occasion.
Before a single mooring line had been cast off I knew the surround sound was working. With a dockside German brass band dutifully serenading me and my crew off to war, I took station on the bridge and surveyed the scene. I noted with satisfaction how the sound from the band shifted in intensity from one ear to the other as I rotated the camera, even the maraudering seagulls took on an added menace!
Once out to sea I stumbled upon a lone merchant in rough seas and whilst it did its darndest to try and evade, I eventually dispatched it with a single torpedo. It was the moment of impact that took me by surprise, the kill was inevitable, but the meaty blast of bass I received through my headphones took me so much by surprise that I literally ‘jumped’.
Final thoughts
The X-Fi Go certainly delivers a refined audio experience and anyone that lacks specialised sound hardware should investigate this device. The X-Fi is especially designed to overcome some of the audio limitations imposed by Windows Vista and that was a big plus with me.
Other benefits include 1GB of memory, software that allows you to morph your voice, even access to a downloadable karaoke player for those moments when hearing a tune in your head just isn’t enough!
If you find the X-Fi Go in your stocking this Christmas, you can be reassured that the day has got off to a good start!
Robert ‘Moyes’ Haxton
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Articles Comments |
| nice review, great device |
| Nice read and it is indeed a good device! |
Nice read This sound card rocks frist time we used it was on crysis final at i35 so good for lans! if u got to play on someone elses pc
but your config on the 1gb pen and take ur sound with ya to any pc i highly recommend it as well :D |
| nice read, nice one moyes! |
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