Creative Sound Blaster Z Initial Impression

so, my current setup is a fiio e7/e9 paired with hd650's. i also have RCA out going to an onkyo ht-rc260 powering a pair of pioneer bs41's. How would the quality of my setup sound if i replaced my e7/e9 with this and powered the hd650's with this, and used digital out of the card to the receiver to power the speakers?

i'm not too good with comparisons of DAC's so not sure how the quality of sound would shift. Thanks in advance for any input anyone has.
 
Happy Hopping said:
My ear is average. However, I don't want to buy the Z and the card failed in a few years. In other words, what's the quality of those capacitors in comparison to ZxR? If it can last say 6 years or so, I'll be happy.
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My X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI has been in constant use since I bought it just shy of 7 years ago, still sounds and works perfectly :). I'll probably replace it when I upgrade to (I'm guessing) a Broadwell CPU from my Sandy Bridge one, as those won't be having PCI slots :p.
 
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Sage Osaka said:
so, my current setup is a fiio e7/e9 paired with hd650's. i also have RCA out going to an onkyo ht-rc260 powering a pair of pioneer bs41's. How would the quality of my setup sound if i replaced my e7/e9 with this and powered the hd650's with this, and used digital out of the card to the receiver to power the speakers?

i'm not too good with comparisons of DAC's so not sure how the quality of sound would shift. Thanks in advance for any input anyone has.
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When you use optical, you use the receivers dac. For music and movies, that is probably better. For gaming, you should try straight from the sound card with sbx pro enabled or not as you prefer.
 
spaceman said:
When you use optical, you use the receivers dac. For music and movies, that is probably better. For gaming, you should try straight from the sound card with sbx pro enabled or not as you prefer.
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thanks for the reply. how is the 600 ohm amp in this card comparable to the 600 ohm amp in the e9?
 
Sage Osaka said:
thanks for the reply. how is the 600 ohm amp in this card comparable to the 600 ohm amp in the e9?
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600 ohm is pushing it for the Z. The E9 should be the better amp. I only use the Z as a source, not as an amp.
 
GoldenTiger said:
My X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI has been in constant use since I bought it just shy of 7 years ago, still sounds and works perfectly :). I'll probably replace it when I upgrade to (I'm guessing) a Broadwell CPU from my Sandy Bridge one, as those won't be having PCI slots :p.
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I haven't use a sound card since 1995. I have been using on-board sound card on all my PC for almost 20 years. Now, I can't remember which 1 of you told me there is a significant difference between a sound card vs. the board. So I'm willing to give it a try

So I haven't been in touch w/ sound card besides the board card. As such, why do I need the ACM? What really does it do? As I don't use headphone, only speakers, so I don't know why any1 who doesn't use headphone needs to pay for this ACM

And as to sound quality, such as audio coming out of 2 speakers, can you tell a difference btwn. a ZxR vs. Z?
 
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You don't necessarily need the ACM, it's just a convenience feature that gives you an external or extended connection source for your speakers/headphones. Whether or not you will be able to discern the difference between a Z and Zxr is a difficult question to answer due to so many factors involved such as the speakers in question, the media, and your ears. I primarily used headphones and the difference between the Z and Zxr is very noticible here.
 
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Wiki said there is no difference btwn. Z and Zx, but a big difference btwn. Z vs. ZxR in its construction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster#Sound_Blaster_Z-series

The Sound Blaster ZxR is the top of line sound card of the series and uses an entirely different card from the Z and Zx. Some of its features include TI Burr-Brown 124 dB SNR DACs, two swappable op-amps, a 600ohm 80 mW TI TPA6120 headphone amplifier, and 192 kHz stereo pass through. The Sound Blaster ZxR comes with a daughter board that contains its own Sound Core3D processor, optical input and output, and two RCA inputs that feature a TI Burr-Brown 123 dB SNR analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The ZxR can record up to 24-bit/96kHz. The ACM and two boards (main and daughter) have a black color scheme with no LED lighting.
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I've had this card not work correctly under windows after dual booting from other "non windows OS", I know this isn't normal usage but the only way to get it working again is to shutdown and then turn off the power supply and remove the power cord. Then on the next boot it works again in windows. I'm not sure if it's a software issue because the card still shows up under the device manager. Hopefully this helps anyone facing a similar issue.
 
elzeus said:
I've had this card not work correctly under windows after dual booting from other "non windows OS", I know this isn't normal usage but the only way to get it working again is to shutdown and then turn off the power supply and remove the power cord. Then on the next boot it works again in windows. I'm not sure if it's a software issue because the card still shows up under the device manager. Hopefully this helps anyone facing a similar issue.
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I have to reboot at times after making changes with Win 7.
 
I've been playing with a SBz. Quick question for those using these:

If I go through Optical Out to my receiver (Yamaha), the Windows volume doesn't work - I have to use the application volume. Is this correct? Or is there a way to use the master windows volume? It makes it so my volume knob on my keyboard doesn't work.

If I switch over to 5.1 analog, knob works fine.

Testing with flac files.
 
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Spidey when you use optical, the audio signal is passed to your receiver. Your receiver then processes the signal with any modifications such as volume then converts the signal to analog so your speakers can play the sound. When using optical, its normal that windows volume has no effect since all it is doing is passing an audio signal to another devices so that devices then processes the sound.

If using optical out a sound card is useless since the signal is going directly through it.
 
Spidey329 said:
I've been playing with a SBz. Quick question for those using these:

If I go through Optical Out to my receiver (Yamaha), the Windows volume doesn't work - I have to use the application volume. Is this correct? Or is there a way to use the master windows volume? It makes it so my volume knob on my keyboard doesn't work.

If I switch over to 5.1 analog, knob works fine.

Testing with flac files.
Click to expand...

There are three different combinations of settings that can get digital audio out via the optical SPDIF-Out jack. Volume can be adjusted using the familiar speaker volume control for two of these combinations, the other uses the "What U Hear" slider and associated balance control sliders instead.

Long story short....If the speaker volume has no effect then you are using one of the cinematic encoders (DDL or DTS) with "Speakers" as your playback device. In that case, use the "What U Hear" mixer slider if you wish to control volume at the PC.

Let me know if you're interested in the "long story long".
 
Sage Osaka said:
thanks for the reply. how is the 600 ohm amp in this card comparable to the 600 ohm amp in the e9?
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You could do what I do if you don't trust on board amplifier in a noisy computer environment filled with GHz noise.

Hook up an external headphone amp to the line out of the sound card.

The DAC will still be in the noisy environment, but at least the amp will be outside.
 
for those who own this sound card, would you buy this optical cable to your integrated / pre amp.?

http://www.qed.co.uk/hdmi-digital/o...d-performance-optical-digital-audio-cable.htm

Or would you go w/ a cheap $5 optical fiber optic cable from Mono?

since it's a digital fiber optic signal, what's the difference between a signal sending thru this cable vs. the same signal sending thru a $5 optical cable?

the description from 1 of its dealer says:

The new fibre has half the signal attenuation per metre of its predecessor, allowing it to comfortably transmit the high bandwidth signals (up to 11MHz) demanded by today’s multi-‐channel digital audio links.

The cable features a stepped refractive index core that minimises light absorption and modal dispersion of single mode optical signals at the fibre boundary. Precision cladding techniques create a marked decrease in refractive index at the fibre boundary, which changes the angle of incidence of the light beam so that more is reflected back inside the fibre.
This all makes for decreased jitter and cleaner audio data transmission.a medical grade Optical Digital Interconnect to connect your DVD Player, Digital TV Box or games console to your AV Amplifier or Receiver.
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Happy Hopping said:
for those who own this sound card, would you buy this optical cable to your integrated / pre amp.?

http://www.qed.co.uk/hdmi-digital/o...d-performance-optical-digital-audio-cable.htm

Or would you go w/ a cheap $5 optical fiber optic cable from Mono?

since it's a digital fiber optic signal, what's the difference between a signal sending thru this cable vs. the same signal sending thru a $5 optical cable?

the description from 1 of its dealer says:
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Get the $5 cable. If you are using digital only, It makes no sense to upgrade your sound card.
 
I wouldn't buy any cable since at least my Zx came with optical cable unless it's too short.
 
I need a 30 ft. cable if I were to connect to my integrated amp., but 1 of the dealer quoted me $129 + shipping. Mono is $5.04 + shipping. $129 is 1/2 of the price of the ZxR, so I guess I'll go w/ Mono, because I'm guessing for games, I can't hear the sound difference
 
New Sound Blaster Z driver released:

http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1

Release Date: April 12, 2013
This download contains the software(s) and application(s) for Sound Blaster® Z-Series. For more details, read the rest of this Web release note.


This download supports and is applicable for the following models:
•Sound Blaster Z (SB1500, SB1502)
•Sound Blaster Zx (SB1506)

Added Enhancement / Features:
•Multiple fixes that improve the driver's overall stability and performance
•Added support for ASIO playback

Requirements:
•Microsoft® Windows® 8 32-bit or 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit
•Sound Blaster Z or Sound Blaster Zx

Notes:

To install this pack, do the following:
1.Download the file onto your local hard disk.
2.Double-click the downloaded file.
3.Follow the instructions on screen.
4.Re-start your computer when prompted.
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For ZXR as well:

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster&subCatID=872&subCatName=Gaming&prodID=21383&prodName=Sound+Blaster+ZxR&bTopTwenty=1&VARSET=prodfaq:pRODFAQ_21383,VARSET=CategoryID:1

File Name : SBZxR_CD_LD_1_00_16.exe
This download contains the software(s) and application(s) for Sound Blaster® Z-Series. For more details, read the rest of this Web release note.

This download supports and is applicable for the following models:

Sound Blaster ZxR (SB1510)
Added Enhancement / Features:
Multiple fixes that improve the driver's overall stability and performance

Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® 8 32-bit or 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit
Sound Blaster ZxR
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Received and installed my ZxR yesterday.

Snap impression is there really isn't any significant improvement over the Sabertooth x79's onboard sound. I'm running the line-out directly into some AudioEngine A2s that I use as computer speakers, and I only got a chance to test them with League of Legends (no music playback or "demanding" games yet) so it's not like I've put it through its paces yet.

I also have some AKG K701s I'll test with over the weekend as well as other games like BF3 and Tomb Raider. All in all I didn't have too high of expectations since I'll mostly just be using it to feed the A2s for gaming and web audio. I have other speakers in the same room for dedicated music listening.
 
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I would only consider the ZxR for use with good headphones. I don't hear any hiss with mine. Those powered speakers might be the source of the hiss. Test with the AKG's.
 
WetMacula said:
I would only consider the ZxR for use with good headphones. I don't hear any hiss with mine. Those powered speakers might be the source of the hiss. Test with the AKG's.
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Try testing it on the normal output as well; the line out might actually be a little noisier.

But otherwise, I agree that a nice sound card really only makes sense for nice cans these days. Otherwise, you'd be better served either by using a USB headset or using HDMI-out to a receiver.
 
Eldata said:
There are three different combinations of settings that can get digital audio out via the optical SPDIF-Out jack. Volume can be adjusted using the familiar speaker volume control for two of these combinations, the other uses the "What U Hear" slider and associated balance control sliders instead.

Long story short....If the speaker volume has no effect then you are using one of the cinematic encoders (DDL or DTS) with "Speakers" as your playback device. In that case, use the "What U Hear" mixer slider if you wish to control volume at the PC.

Let me know if you're interested in the "long story long".
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I'm interested. Right now, I am using Optical with the DDL encoder enabled. I do see that the "What U Hear" is displaying the sound. Is there a way to remap that to be the default volume control?

I tried my Realtek/ASUS with optical and those both allowed volume control on the PC without issue.

The SBz sounds much better with the encoders enabled over optical (Realtek had no encoder, so it was just stereo PCM, the Xonar had DTS:Neo which didn't work so well in a few games - FC3 comes to mind).
 
keefusm said:
Starting to get static in my audio... constantly having to reboot to make it go away. Not too happy about this.

Edit: It seems to have to do with the format settings and frequency in the control panel...Perhaps this will fix it.
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I've updated my motherboard BIOS, the SB ZX drivers and I've moved it to a different slot and after a period of time mine will still start to put out static. I've only noticed it happening when I have the headphones enabled (through the little volume knob addon that the ZX comes with) but that isn't surprising since I use the headphones ~90% of the time. I'm going to RMA it but that means shipping to Creative and waiting for them to send it back through UPS Slow-as-Possible ground or something. Has anyone else experienced this and had luck fixing it, or did I and the couple others I've read about just get unlucky with bad cards?
 
I picked up my ZxR a few days ago, and it sounds amazing. Noticed a huge difference over the onboard on the R4E. This is listening to FLAC music, it's a big difference, it's like listening to the same music in a whole new way or like listening to it for the first time again.

I have a pair of Beyerdyanmic DT990 600 Ohm headphones and they seem to be enough power to power them when I set them to the high gain setting. But I feel like they can sound even better with an external AMP which I also bought a FiiO E09K which I heard was pretty good. Though I'm not sure if the FiiO E09K will be enough, might have to look into a more expensive AMP to drive my DT990. I haven't tried the FiiO AMP yet, it's still in it's box unopened.

Other than that my Logitech Z680s sound way better on the ZxR than it did with the digital out on my R4E. Both Analog and over Optical Out. Noticed a huge difference as soon as I turned them on.

Over headphones the positional sounds sound way better over headphones than it did with the onboard. Listening to faint distant gunfire and footsteps was way better than it did with the R4E.

I'm loving this card. The only weird issue I have is when you're on optical out with speakers, and you switch it to headphones, the optical out is still pumping sound out. I heard it's a driver issue as it's been reported on the creative forums. Only workaround is to turn off the speakers or mute it.
 
I am not a professional audio editor and honestly have not seen the use for external sound cards for the many years. The onboard audio now days is more than adequate for most anyone. And I for most users the onboard gpu now in in intel/amd cpus is more than enough for most people also. I don't even know why they make low/mid range video cards anymore.
 
yelsewshane said:
I am not a professional audio editor and honestly have not seen the use for external sound cards for the many years. The onboard audio now days is more than adequate for most anyone. And I for most users the onboard gpu now in in intel/amd cpus is more than enough for most people also. I don't even know why they make low/mid range video cards anymore.
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Monochrome monitors were enough for most people as well.
 
Going to buy another SoundBlaster Z and stick it inside my 2nd PC and use it as DAC.

I was going to buy the Fiio E17, but from what I gather, SBZ has better sound quality. It doesn't make any sense, but oh well.
 
InnervateD said:
I picked up my ZxR a few days ago, and it sounds amazing. Noticed a huge difference over the onboard on the R4E. This is listening to FLAC music, it's a big difference, it's like listening to the same music in a whole new way or like listening to it for the first time again.

I have a pair of Beyerdyanmic DT990 600 Ohm headphones and they seem to be enough power to power them when I set them to the high gain setting. But I feel like they can sound even better with an external AMP which I also bought a FiiO E09K which I heard was pretty good. Though I'm not sure if the FiiO E09K will be enough, might have to look into a more expensive AMP to drive my DT990. I haven't tried the FiiO AMP yet, it's still in it's box unopened.

Other than that my Logitech Z680s sound way better on the ZxR than it did with the digital out on my R4E. Both Analog and over Optical Out. Noticed a huge difference as soon as I turned them on.

Over headphones the positional sounds sound way better over headphones than it did with the onboard. Listening to faint distant gunfire and footsteps was way better than it did with the R4E.

I'm loving this card. The only weird issue I have is when you're on optical out with speakers, and you switch it to headphones, the optical out is still pumping sound out. I heard it's a driver issue as it's been reported on the creative forums. Only workaround is to turn off the speakers or mute it.
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Noticing a huge difference in sound is usually indicative of loudness effects or equalization somewhere along the line. Two working (hifi quality) soundcards should sound extremely close to eachothers.
 
Could someone that has the Z confirm for me that headphone auto-detection works on it? Meaning that if I plug in my headphones into the front panel ports, it will automatically mute the speakers and switch the speaker setting from 5.1 to headphone?
 
I recently sent my ZxR back for a refund. I had some issues with the card not being recognized at start-up.
I would have to cold boot about 3 times before the card was found.
I did experience my first blue screen of death since installing windows 7 a year ago.
It was during creatives driver install process.

I may of got unlucky with bad hardware, but didn't want the hassle of swapping for a new one and trying again.

I am pretty happy with on-board sound since getting my audio engine a2 speakers.
 
Timobkg said:
Could someone that has the Z confirm for me that headphone auto-detection works on it? Meaning that if I plug in my headphones into the front panel ports, it will automatically mute the speakers and switch the speaker setting from 5.1 to headphone?
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yes it does.
 
Burpy said:
I recently sent my ZxR back for a refund. I had some issues with the card not being recognized at start-up.
I would have to cold boot about 3 times before the card was found.
I did experience my first blue screen of death since installing windows 7 a year ago.
It was during creatives driver install process.

I may of got unlucky with bad hardware, but didn't want the hassle of swapping for a new one and trying again.

I am pretty happy with on-board sound since getting my audio engine a2 speakers.
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You got unlucky. And you are really missing out too.
 
Yeah bad hardware for sure. I have had zero issues with mine. Unreal that creative made this card and drivers.
 
elzeus said:
Do you run any other OS's on that machine?
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No, just windows 7 on a SSD.

Another odd but small issue was when booting up, the windows start-up sound would either cut out half way, or not play at all.
 
The only issue I have with my Zx is the mic port only works if the cable is plugged in 3/4 of the way in and rotated at a certain angle.

Fortunately Creative said that's enough for an RMA.
 
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