X-Fi Prelude is Better that X-Fi Elite Pro

It seems that Creative's selling point is beginning to fade out. And evidently "selling point" translates to X-Fi cards. Now I don't know how or why they decided to sell their own X-Fi chips to other system integrators but it seems that most of their clients are planning to roll out even better versions than the X-Fi Elite Pro and its CS DACs.

Auzentech for example, will produce a prosumer-end card called X-Fi Prelude. And as it turns out, they posted a detailed specification page of the upcoming sound card. Note that at the moment Auzentech's card is the first third party sound card which is based on Creative Labs X-Fi CA20K chip series.

Auzentech will be pairing the X-Fi chip with professional AKM DACs and ADCs which will probably result in an impressive audio output. Auzentech will use 4 2-channel AKM AK4396VF DACs for the output of the X-Fi Prelude, each boasting 24-bit resolutions and 192 KHz sampling rates with an impressive 120dB SNR for all 8 channels. An AKM AK5394AVS ADC will take care of the input and the analog to digital conversion. This too will work in native 24/192 mode.

Regarding the OPAMP Auzentech will use National's LM4562NA OPAMP with a rated 0.00003% THD (which is better than most professional solutions under $500). However this OPAMP can only work with two channels, the other six will feature TI OPA2134 SoundPlus OPAMPs which will produce a noticeably higher THD. Unfortunately the OPAMPs cannot be replaced (as is the case with most professional sound cards).

Aside from that, everything from the EAX support to the 64MB of onboard Ram have been taken from the original design and will be included in the final card. No words on the Dolby Digital / DTS decoder and the support for DTS:Neo PC yet. And there's no expected MSRP either. I can't help but wonder whether it will be more expensive than the Elite Pro. Let's hope it won't.

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