Three Cards In One
As we've said, X-Fi cards have three operating modes: Entertainment (for activities like listening to music or watching a DVD), Games, and Audio Creation (sound and music). You choose one of the three via a Mode Switcher and the card is reconfigured to provide the best performance for the activity chosen. Naturally, the possibilities - and also the control panel - are different depending on the configuration you choose. The table below provides a summary.

The Mode Switcher lets you choose the operating mode that corresponds to what you're doing at a given moment. The X-Fi card is reconfigured in a few seconds to provide the best possible performance.
| Entertainment | Audio Creation | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMIDI Playback | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 3DMIDI Interaction | No | Yes | No |
| EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 | Limited | Limited | Yes |
| EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 | Limited | Limited | Yes |
| EAX ADVANCED HD 3.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Number of Auxiliary Effects | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Maximum Number of Reverbs | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Insert Effects | No | 4 | No |
| ASIO Out Channels: Dry | 1 pair | 5 pairs | 1 pair |
| ASIO Out Channels: FX | No | 4 pairs | No |
| ASIO In Channels: WUH | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| ASIO In Channels: Basic | 2 (1 pair) | 2 (1 pair) | 2 (1 pair) |
| ASIO 2.0 Support | Limited | Yes | Limited |
| ASIO 2.0 Direct Monitoring | 0 | 12 (6 pairs) | 0 |
| Bit-Matched Playback | No | Yes | No |
| Bit-Matched Recording | No | Yes | No |
| CMSS-3DSurround | Yes | No | Yes |
| CMSS-3DHeadphone | Yes | No | Yes |
| CMSS-3DVirtual (2 Speakers) | Yes | No | Yes |
| CMSS-3DVirtual (4 Speakers) | No | No | Yes |
| CMSS-3DInteractive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24 bit Crystalizer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Graphic EQ | 10 bands | 10 bands | 10 bands |
| Smart Volume Management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bass Management | Advanced | No | Advanced |
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