Verdict: Top-quality surround sound if you have the right kit
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music is a product of which we're big fans. Not only is it a great sound card, but it overturned conventional wisdom. Prior to its arrival, few people thought there would be any point in paying £90 for a sound card, given the relatively high standard of motherboard audio. Yet the X-Fi was an absolute revelation. Not only did it supplant integrated sound, it even convinced me to listen to my old 128Kb/sec Shed Seven MP3s again.
This month, we have another sound card hoping to overturn conventional thinking and topple the reigning sound champion, the HDA Digital X Mystique 7.1 Gold.
The question is whether it's worth saving money and opting for the Mystique. The Mystique's box makes a big song and dance about the card's Dolby Digital Live (DDL) abilities, and of the card's features, it's certainly the 'Hey Jude' of the bunch. The Mystique has a Dolby encoder, so it can take any audio source and output a digital bitstream, which, if you have a Dolby Digital decoder connected, results in true 5.1 audio. For DVDs, this feature isn't that useful, as most discs already have Dolby Digital soundtrack ready for a decoder to pick up. For music and games, though, it's potentially great, as it means your speakers are fed discreet 5.1 audio, rather than having to upmix. The X-Fi can't do this, so it seems like quite a big advantage for the Mystique.
However, in order to get any use out of the DDL capability, you need 5.1 speakers and a Dolby Digital decoder, like the Logitech Z-5500 speakers. We connected the HDA to the Z-5500s using an optical cable, and tested it against a PC equipped with an X-Fi. In Need For Speed: Most Wanted, the HDA triumphed, producing superb and very precise surround-sound effects. Our car's engine noise was rooted to the centre speaker, while signposts and other cars whipped past in the left and right satellites. The X-Fi wasn't quite as strong on the positional audio - the effects were much more mixed together, with our car's engine echoing through all the satellites.
In Battlefield 2, however, the X-Fi was superior. Battlefield 2 makes great use of EAX Advanced HD 5, so the X-Fi can generate a great-sounding battle. The Mystique's C-Media CMI8768+ chip is only compatible with EAX1 and 2, so while it does a good job of job placing sound effects in the satellite speakers, the game still runs in 'Software' audio mode, and doesn't provide the full range of effects.
When it came to music playback, the X-Fi came out on top: the 24-bit Crystallizer really helps boost MP3s, although again, the Mystique didn't put in a poor showing. The Dolby Digital encoder meant that it filled our 5.1 speakers with crystal clear sound, and provided an enveloping sound field.
As soon as we disconnected the Z-5500s and plugged in headphones, the Mystique's performance plummeted. One of the X-Fi's best features is CMSS-3D, a virtual speaker technology that works especially well if you're using headphones. The Mystique offers a similar effect in its control panel, allowing you to create a set of 7.1 virtual speakers, but it sounds as if you've thrown a bunch of musicians down a large, deep well. CMSS-3D is far more impressive.
The rest of the Mystique's control panel features a variety of options that range from mildly and briefly entertaining to completely useless. There's a karaoke button that quite effectively strips the vocals from the music track that's currently playing, which could conceivably be fun, and then there's a set of audio filters, such as Psychosis, that ruin whatever you're listening to in a variety of ways.
As you'd expect from a card that features a Dolby Digital encoder, the Mystique is well outfitted with both digital and analogue ports. There are four analogue outputs for 7.1 sound and two 3.5mm mini-jacks for input (microphone and line in), and two digital S/PDIF outputs, one coaxial and one optical.
CONCLUSION
Unless you have 5.1 speakers and a Dolby Digital decoder, the Mystique is useless, and you should buy an X-Fi. However, if you have the right kit then the Mystique is worth considering, since, in some scenarios, it's a worthy alternative to the X-Fi. There are no ASIO drivers, so it isn't good for music production. It's great for DVD, as it has digital outputs; it's good for music, although it isn't quite a match for the X-Fi. The Mystique really shines in games though. The X-Fi has the edge in games that use EAX4 or 5, but in other cases, the Mystique is superior, and will really give your surround-sound speakers a workout, providing a truly scintillating experience.
It's a shame that the Mystique isn't cheaper, and has so many caveats, but at least there's now a viable alternative to the X-Fi for gamers.
