Quote:
Originally Posted by EricB  (btw those modded x-fi don't necessary sound better. they just up the voltage to make them sound louder*. |
that's not true at all...the main difference between a modded XFI and a standard one is that the crappy stock cheapo opamp is replaced for something better, in my case I replaced it with a LM4562 which is pretty highly regarded everywhere...and replaced the power filter cap with a Sanyo WG 1500uF in order for cleaner power delivery.
And the results were not louder at all, it was a completely different soundstage...much tighter and more accurate bass, and brightly detailed highs.
People usually go from there to jump the decoupling caps and replace the rest of the caps on the board for higher quality low ESR caps...but I figured if I was going to do all this work I should just ditch the sound card and build my own amp and assemble my own DAC. Fancy EAX effects really didn't help me in games and I don't want any virtual spatialization or funky effects, i want to hear the music as it was recorded.
and it's paid off