Creative Sound Blaster Z Initial Impression

Exostenza said:
So you guys with the card I need some help. I am having problems with the beamforming mic and was wondering if they are inherent to it or can be fixed/tweaked. My problem is that when I use it for multiplayer gaming it picks up very sound I make such as every keystroke or tiny tap on my desk which is very bad for the people on the other end. Is there any way to get it to only pick up my voice or am I going to have to find another mic solution as I hate push to talk?

Thanks in advance.
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Try to position better so it's pointing more at you, or even slightly over your head. Also change the focus settings in the control panel so that it's narrower.
 
Matthew Kane said:
Intrigued...
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Intrigued indeed - I'm going to have to consider the base Z for not just my own PC (replacing the low-profile XtremeGamer in PCI) but Mom's computer as well (replaces the Audigy 2 ZS Gamer LE, also PCI) - the quality is too high and the price is too low to pass over.

The only issue (an admitted quibble) is poor brick-and-mortar availability.
 
Bigbacon said:
how does the Z differ from X-fi?
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The base Z is, in fact, the direct successor to the first-generation SoundCore-powered Recon3D, which itself succeeded the original X-Fi XtremeGamer/XtremeMusic/XtremeGamer low-profile. (The latter three cards - XtremeGamer/XtremeMusic/XtremeGamer low-profile, despite differing PCBs, all used the same drivers and have the same compatibility and capabilities as far as Windows goes - all are also PCI, whereas the SoundCore-based cards are entirely PCIe X1.)

Like the Recon3D, the reason for the SoundBlaster Z is the continuing deprecation of PCI (some chipsets -- notably Intel Z77 - have no native support for PCI at all), and the continued need to offload audio processing from the CPU (not necessarily for gaming/EAX/DirectSound, as the need for that has decreased, but for other usage, such as for communications/Skype/TeamSpeak and similar applications). However, the Z still has one issue that has continued to plague the Recon3D - poor brick and mortar availability of the base model. (As it stands, the best place to purchase the base Sound Blaster Z is Newegg or Creative Direct - not MicroCenter or Fry's.)
 
just picked up a z. came with the Nicheon caps. will have a titanium hd to compare it with this week.
 
Veedo said:
just picked up a z. came with the Nicheon caps. will have a titanium hd to compare it with this week.
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cant wait to get one too, but im waiting for the one that comes with the BurrBrown DAC.

right now im using base Recon3d, which is awesome for games, but for music and movies its not where it should be.

These new ones should cover all three fields.
 
My ZX also has gold nicheon caps.

I'm going to order the ZXR at first opportunity, haven't found it in stock anywhere yet.
 
My z arrived yesterday. Ordered through Amazon and I'm impressed. Sound sounds "fuller". Replaced a XFI titanium pcie. I like the software now...a lot less complicated. This card needs to be reviewed more. Enjoying it:)
 
Just got my Zx. Gold caps here and sounding awesome. Replaced a x-fi platinum. Just listened to music so far, will try BF3 and Far Cry later tonight. Like others are saying, the sounds are "fuller" and a little clearer. Very nice mic control. Could never get it working correctly with the x-fi. It was always picking up ambiance and echos making my sub go crazy. This has effects such as noise reduction and acoustic noise cancellation that works wonders. It can also change your voice to such things as a demon, alien brute, male to female etc. Pretty fun to play around with.
 
Veedo said:
just picked up a z. came with the Nicheon caps. will have a titanium hd to compare it with this week.
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I would be interested in your findings. I settled on the HD because I was unable to find the Z at the same price it was during Black Friday.
 
AlmostEvil said:
Just got my Zx. Gold caps here and sounding awesome. Replaced a x-fi platinum. Just listened to music so far, will try BF3 and Far Cry later tonight. Like others are saying, the sounds are "fuller" and a little clearer. Very nice mic control. Could never get it working correctly with the x-fi. It was always picking up ambiance and echos making my sub go crazy. This has effects such as noise reduction and acoustic noise cancellation that works wonders. It can also change your voice to such things as a demon, alien brute, male to female etc. Pretty fun to play around with.
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I feel the same way. I came from an x-fi titanium HD, and my intention is to get a ZxR when it's available. I am beyond impressed with this card - the 3d doesn't interfere with music quality as it did on the x-fi series of cards. The HD was great -- don't get me wrong -- but the 3d effect could, at times, affect music quality so i'd always enable it for games and movies only. With ZX, music is crisp and clear, and even enabling surround doesn't affect the fidelity. Music quality is pretty amazing IMO. The HD was a great card, but the ZX far surpassed my expectations. This card is staying, at least until I get a ZxR.

The 3D is also far better than what the Recon3D had. So far i'd put it on par with the titanium HD, although I haven't done a direct headphone comparison between CMSS3D vs SBX surround. SBX surround is definitely better than the THX surround used on the recon3d line, though.....

The other features are pretty great as well, especially the mic echo cancellation and headphone amp/audio control module.. Really enjoying the card, so far.
 
Just got an email back from creative, the zxr will be in stock on the 10th, so tomorrow.
 
Veedo said:
Just got an email back from creative, the zxr will be in stock on the 10th, so tomorrow.
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thanks for that info, i hope i grab one.

asus and their minimum wage driver team can keep sucking.
 
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I wonder which actually has better sound quality, Zx or Forte. They are rather similar.

By the way why dose this have different rating for headphones?
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ShadeZeRO said:
would you recommend it over the STX?
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In 3d positional sound it blows the STX away in the gaming department from what i have read so far.

and unlike the Recon3d, these come with much better DAC's, so they also offer awesome sound quality for music and movies from what im hearing.

but the best feedback that i been hearing about these new creative sound cards are the drivers, it appears Creative fired all its previous driver team and hired the people who know what they doing, as of now they are flawless even under Windows 8.
 
ShadeZeRO said:
would you recommend it over the STX?
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Here's where I would put the Z series ahead of the STX. The 3d positional audio is excellent in games - it is far better than THX surround used with the recon3d line, and you can also use SBX surround for general use. With the x-fi cards, 3d surround was great in games but could cause distortion in music. I haven't found that to be the case with the Z series. You can turn surround on and leave it turned on for everything with no adverse effects. Anyway, the ZX/ZXR are definitely better for positional audio in games compared to the essence STX.

For music playback and content creation i'd say the STX is about equal - but I think the ZX/r is better in every other area.

The Z(x)(r) also have 600ohm headphone amps, so while it comes with an ACM I only use that for the mic. The headphone amp on the ZX is great - while the x-fi titanium doesn't have a headphone amp at all. The quality of the output from the headphone jack on the card is pretty phenomenal, definitely one ups that x-fi titanium HD in that respect. The titanium HD definitely required an external headphone amp, while the ZX/R do not.

Personally, I would give it a shot. I had a titanium HD and got a ZX and was blown away - so much so that I'm definitely buying a ZXR as soon as it becomes available. I really feel like this is Creative's best audio card in a long, long time.
 
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Don't know, but it was a good video. Who buys a new card for personal use and then takes the EMI shield off of it just for a review. Cool.
 
txfeinbergs said:
Don't know, but it was a good video. Who buys a new card for personal use and then takes the EMI shield off of it just for a review. Cool.
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a [H]ard forum member, that's why I asked! got right in there with the camera, he did a nice job. now if creative would get off there arses and let us buy one we could be doing our own review :D
 
By the way, how well does the volume control thing work that comes with Zx?
 
great video, the inside of the card looked like boss.

cant wait to get my hands on it when it comes available.

i already have someone who wants to buy my Recond 3d, he claims he only plays games and he's using mobo's sound.

Recond 3d was a major upgrade from mobo sound when i got it to play games, it was a night and day difference, im sure he will be happy with it for $40 bucks.

I just need more for my music and movies so i need dat ZxR.
 
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well I must say I had no idea how fun computer audio could be. I spent most of my music listening time in the living room or the car. my living room is not exactly the best place for this because I am often never in the ideal seating position, and the avr is set up more for movies. (modest 5.1 system with an H/K avr and infinity primus series speakers)

im running a pair of the $50 pio bookshelf speakers and a Dayton/hsu 10 inch sub(off and on). I am powering the speakers with an indeed ta2021 t amp, but also have an audiosource amp 100 that I have been sampling also.

running with the onboard audio on my crosshair v formula z, I could get a real nice sound in my opinion with a fair image. then I popped in the Z. its good, really good. in all my thousands of dollars that I spent on car and home audio over the last 13 years, I would never have thought that sitting in front of my computer monitor with 2 little speakers facing me would be the most enjoyable music listening session I have had yet.

for the money I have into this setup, I amazed at how it sounds. if you shut your eyes and listen its as if I can pick out where each instrument and voice is coming from. ive heard my fair share of stuff over the years, but this setup gives new meaning to the term stage.

so, in the beginning I was not expecting to be very impressed with a sound card upgrade, but figured eh what the hell lets try it. now im really dying to get my hands on the tihd and zxr, but Im sure the difference will not be as extreme.
 
just got an email back from creative, the release of the zxr has been delayed, they did not give a date. bummer.
 
The Zx is now only $120 on newegg, was $150 on amazon, so i'm in for one!

Haven't had a sound card in my comp since my X-Fi Gamer, so i'm excited to try this one. Here's to hoping Creative finally put together a good one!
 
skindogg said:
The Zx is now only $120 on newegg, was $150 on amazon, so i'm in for one!

Haven't had a sound card in my comp since my X-Fi Gamer, so i'm excited to try this one. Here's to hoping Creative finally put together a good one!
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give us your feedback when you put it to test.
 
maverick0817 said:
With the ZX at $120, is the ZXR really worth paying an extra $130 for?
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Not unless you have a super expensive 5.1 system to pair it with.

Personally, I want a ZXR - but the ZX gives you a very good experience as well. Creative seemingly upgraded it prior to the product shipping, as they all have nicheon gold caps and 600ohm headphone amps. Going by the original product announcements, those features were not mentioned originally (for the Z and ZX) and were probably added at the last minute. I love my ZX - I had a titanium HD previously.
 
I will be using AKG 550 headphones and the home theater in my sig. Not sure what people consider super expensive, lol.
 
maverick0817 said:
With the ZX at $120, is the ZXR really worth paying an extra $130 for?
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What people still don't get is this:
The Z and the ZX are the same sound card. The only difference and why you're paying the additional $50 for the ZX over the Z is just the ACM (Audio Control Module) unit and the optical cable it comes with. The sound card on both the Z and ZX are 100% the same. Specs on the creative site verifies it and the review on newegg.tv confirms it too from the creative rep.

Now when it comes up to the ZxR, you're paying for a top notch sound card that rivals but I think it's truly now a cut above the Asus Essence ST/STX card. The STX is already a $200 soundcard, and the ZxR has all the same and more some than the STX, I think it's worth the money, as it fully supports DTS, and all the gaming features that the STX doesn't support. I think the ZxR is truly a card that is well balanced for the person looking for high end near audiophile sound card and want all the gaming features on top of it without losing anything on both ends or at least not much.

There is a difference in the DAC (you get a bur-brown DAC) and the headphone amp (Texas Instruments high fidelity amp), and you should get better performance as there are 2 soundcore chips on ZxR as the 2nd chip is on the daughter board.

The ZxR can only be truly appreciated if you got a good pair of headphones. Some high end studio grade beyerdynamics or sennhiser or something along those types of headphones to appreciate the ZxR. If you're not willing to drop money that costs more than the ZxR on a pair of high end headphones don't get the ZxR. People who buy the ZxR/STX are the people who are willing to drop about the same amount if not 2-4x the amount on a high end pair of headphones to appreciate this type of soundcard, some go the extra mile and get external custom amps.

If you're running regular gaming headsets @32Ohms the Z or ZX is the card for you, though with a studio grade headphone you can still get it powered up though the Z and ZX and run them well; but the difference between the Z/ZX to the ZxR DACs and the AMPs I think with a good pair of studio grade headphones you'll hear the difference enough to justify it, those that are wanting something and waiting for something amazing for a long time from dedicated sound cards that are truly in it's own league compared to everything else.

I'll be picking up the ZxR, as I have a pair of Beyerdynamics DT990s that are itching to be paired with this sound card.
 
maverick0817 said:
I will be using AKG 550 headphones and the home theater in my sig. Not sure what people consider super expensive, lol.
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Then yes. Worth it. You will hear a difference in terms of detail and dynamic range bc your gear is sensitive enough to show it. The ZxR sound should be more realistic than the Z.

Go for it.
 
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