Creative Unleashes the Power and Performance of Sound Blaster X-Fi Hardware Audio Processing for PCI Express

Creative Unleashes the Power and Performance of Sound Blaster X-Fi Hardware Audio Processing for PCI Express

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - the Official Sound Card of the Championship Gaming Series

MILPITAS, Calif., May 16 -- Creative Technology Ltd, a worldwide leader in digital entertainment solutions, today announced the PCI Express Sound Blaster(R) X-Fi(R) Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound cards, unleashing the full power of Creative X-Fi hardware audio processing for PCI Express-based PCs.

The new PCI Express Creative sound cards each feature a striking design that screams "high performance." Creative will equip the world's best professional PC gamers, who are now competing in the Championship Gaming Series (CGS), with the new PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series, the official sound card of the CGS, the only worldwide professional video gaming league.

"Audio plays a huge factor in professional gaming, where every competitive advantage can make the difference between winning and losing. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty edition sound cards significantly enhance any professional gaming rig, enabling us to hear what we can't see and perform at our highest level," said Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, world champion gaming legend and exclusive on-air analyst for the CGS.

"I demand extreme performance from my PC, and I won't settle for less than Sound Blaster X-Fi. It gives me the huge advantage of hearing my opponent before they can see me, and finishing them off before they can do anything about it," said Yazan "Clown" Ammari, Counter-Strike Source member of the San Francisco Optx CGS team.

"We've developed the PCI Express models of our Sound Blaster X-Fi gaming sound cards to meet the specific requests that we've received from end users," said Steve Erickson, VP and GM of audio and VLSI for Creative. "We have re- architected our X-Fi processor so we can deliver even more performance and provide the best audio available on the PC today. You'll know why it's worth the upgrade to PCI Express the second you hear it. We've also added Dolby Digital encoding, for connection to a home theater system for an awesome gaming experience. We created an entirely new I/O drive with an innovative design that can fit either a 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" drive bay. Plus, the Sound Blaster Titanium series cards are optimized for Windows Vista with UAA- compliant hardware."

Priced at US$149.99, the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series features Dolby Digital encoding, for single-cable connection to home theater systems. The card leverages the power of the X-Fi processor optimized for PCI Express to deliver accelerated audio for improved game performance, with ultra-realistic EAX 5.0 effects and 3D positional audio. Hardware-powered 3D positional audio and EAX 5.0 effects provide stunning positional audio realism over headphones and speakers, for a much more immersive gaming experience than any motherboard audio solution can offer. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series also vastly improves voice chat clarity in online games where collaboration is vital.

"With its superb audio fidelity, EAX 5.0 support, and 128 hardware- accelerated voices, the Sound Blaster X-Fi is simply the best way to experience the rich soundscape of Guild Wars. Gamers who really care about how their PCs sound should give it a serious listen," said James Boer, ArenaNet audio programmer and Game Audio Programming author.

Priced at US$199.99, the new PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound card includes all of the features of the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series, plus an internal I/O drive for quick front panel connection to headphones and headsets. This versatile internal I/O drive design offers the choice of placement in either a 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" drive bay. The 3 1/2" drive features mic-in and headphone-out connections. This drive slides inside the 5 1/4" drive, which adds RCA line-in connections.

The world's first native PCI Express hardware accelerated sound cards, the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Championship Series sound cards also feature:

  -- Creative X-Fi processor specifically designed for high-speed PCI
     Express slots in modern PCs
  -- X-Fi Crystalizer(R) technology, which leverages audio algorithms to
     intelligently and selectively determine how to restore the highs and
     lows from sound effects, instruments and vocals and voices that were
     damaged or diminished during the MP3, AAC, game audio or other
     compression processes
  -- X-Fi CMSS(R)-3D technology, to create virtual surround sound through
     speakers or headphones in games or music.  In games, you hear your
     opponents in their exact location.  With music, the sound expands so it
     completely surrounds you.
  -- Dolby Digital support for compelling 5.1 surround sound through a home
     theater system
  -- Creative ALchemy(TM) to restore EAX(R) and surround sound in
     DirectSound game titles running under Vista
  -- Certified UAA compliance for maximum Windows Vista compatibility
  -- X-RAM dedicated audio memory to boost performance in select games
  -- THX Certified surround sound for cinematic movie audio playback
  -- PowerDVD software with DTS-ES and Dolby Digital-EX decoding
  -- 24-bit audio quality and 109db SNR audio clarity
  -- ASIO recording support with latency as low as one millisecond with
     minimal CPU load

The PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Championship Series sound cards are available for pre-order today at Amazon.com/pcguts, Creative.com and Frys.com. For more information about the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound cards, visit soundblaster.com.

About Creative

Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users. Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN MP3 players. Creative's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment -- anytime, anywhere.

This announcement relates to products launched in the United States. The product names, prices and availability are subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Creative Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster X-Fi, Crystalizer, EAX, CMSS, ALchemy and ZEN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.