24Bit Soundfonts with X-FI

[Spratman]

Yes. It would seem that Creative Labs is releasing a brand new audio product that promises to bring with it 24bit soundfont technology. Not sure if this means the soundfont standard will be "improved" as such, but it's nice to know that 24bit hasn't been entirely forgotten.

Checkout the new "X=FI", more specifically the "music enthusiast" page here.

There's also a mention of "3d midi" (whatever that really means is anyones guess, there's plenty of hype over there].

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this information. Moderators, do your worst!

And no I don't work for Creative.

Cheers
Spratman

[MrM]

Strange that the same company no longer sells soundfonts; they just closed their online shop. I am not amused they did this; I've bought 2 CD's of them, and was considering buying some more, but now it seems the (old) SoundFonts cannot be bought anymore.

Before: http://web.archive.org/web/200312020204 ... ounds.html
(insert swearing here)

Now: http://soundblaster.com/soundfont/

[Spratman]

Well when you think about it MrM, it's quite possible that the products are considered past their used by date. Probably haven't been shifting a large enough volume of them, and if they're serious about this X-FI stuff then it's likely those products may be replaced by something else.

There are certainly quite a number of claims on the website for this new product / technology. If 24bit soundfonts work properly without many problems it'd be wonderful. Claims about the ASIO drivers will obviously require real tests, with real users and large files.

I cringe at the word "enthusiast" and the mention of "themed" setups for the software which drives these interfaces. Bite me if you like, but the appearance of words and phrases concerning the aforemention do make me wonder about how serious they are about the products usefulness. Which may or may not have a bearing on whether or not Creative themselves will sell new soundfonts.

In the past there has always been a catch with Creative Cards. They're not all bad though, I've bought serveral Sblive's, but I more or less use it for games these days.

Spratman