The 20K1 chip was launched in August 2005, and ever since it has been used in a variety of audio solutions[buzzword] from Creative, and more recently third-party manufacturers, such as Auzentech and Audiotrak.
The audio processor on X-Fi was the most powerful at its time of release, offering an extremely robust sample rate conversion (SRC) engine in addition to enhanced internal sound channel routing options and greater 3D audio enhancement capabilities.
[citation needed] X-Fi's resampling engine produces a near-lossless-quality result, far exceeding any known audio card DSP available at the time of release.
E-MU 20K features the Quartet DSP, a set of 4 identical digital signal processors interconnected with a wide ring bus.
A big improvement in the X-Fi DSP over the previous Audigy design, is the complete overhaul of the resampling engine on the card.