Amazon Sound Blaster ZX $109

Does this have a hookup for front panel case jacks? Also is the external module headphone amplified?
 
Thanks!
Has anyone seen any comparisons between it and the x-prelude?
Cant find anything so far.
 
I would love to see a good review on one of these as well. I want to know how the sound quality compares to something like the Xonar DX.
 
are the creative drivers still complete ass? after trying a titanium, and their epic fail of an excuse or drivers, I'm not even considering creative these days...
 
The new drivers have been great for me. Very easy to adjust and no install issues on two PCs.
 
Yeah, even Daniel K said that the Recon 3d drivers seemed nice and simple which is a good thing imo.
 
I went from my Titantium X-Fi PCIe to the Z base model.

I didn't think sound could get better from my Sen. PC 360 or Z5500's. It did. Borderlands 2 had improved clarity, a sharper more refined sound ("crystal clear" comes to mind). No more popping from speakers, and drivers seem to be super stable. I haven't tried any OpenAL games yet, but will install BF2 and a few other games and test them out.

I was going to jump ship and go Asus or another sound card but glad I waited.

Oh...and the ability to finally have BOTH headphones AND speakers plugged in at the same time and having the ability to switch between the two with a few mouse clicks is a very welcome addition. I can't believe it took this long to implement this feature.
 
I'm still using my X-Fi XtremeMusic after all these years. This sound card actually shows a marked improvement from the X-Fi?
 
I bought the B&H. Came to 113 or so with shipping. Says ships in 7 to 10 days though. I'm hoping it comes quicker than that, but otherwise I'll just forget about it it and up it will show one day. :)
 
Really want one of these, but I need an SSD and a few other parts before a sound card.
Hopefully another sale rolls around the summer.
 
texuspete00 said:
I bought the B&H. Came to 113 or so with shipping. Says ships in 7 to 10 days though. I'm hoping it comes quicker than that, but otherwise I'll just forget about it it and up it will show one day. :)
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yeah I am not digging the 7-10 days thing at all. plus if I have an issue then I am not sure how this place will handle a return. I think I will wait until its on sale at Amazon again. it pisses me off when they have something on sale and I miss it though because I check hot deals every day.

EDIT: if you click on the question mark next to shipping details it says: Estimated arrival at B&H is 7-10 business days. Your order will only be charged at time of shipment.

I guess they dont stock anything like this at their actual store/warehouse.
 
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Brian48 said:
I'm still using my X-Fi XtremeMusic after all these years. This sound card actually shows a marked improvement from the X-Fi?
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XtremeMusic doesn't have a headphone amp, front panel connectors, or optical out. Plus it runs in a PCI slot which is becoming rare.

I've gone from XMusic to XGamer to Xonar DG to the Z and been happy with the progression.
 
cannondale06 said:
yeah I am not digging the 7-10 days thing at all. plus if I have an issue then I am not sure how this place will handle a return. I think I will wait until its on sale at Amazon again. it pisses me off when they have something on sale and I miss it though because I check hot deals every day.

EDIT: if you click on the question mark next to shipping details it says: Estimated arrival at B&H is 7-10 business days. Your order will only be charged at time of shipment.

I guess they dont stock anything like this at their actual store/warehouse.
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B&H is being pretty conservative. The few times I have ordered form them and they said that, it came within a few days. A USB3 SD card reader arrived next day in fact.
 
Modred189 said:
B&H is being pretty conservative. The few times I have ordered form them and they said that, it came within a few days. A USB3 SD card reader arrived next day in fact.
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well I just pulled the trigger on it at newegg but will keep that in mind.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
That newegg gift card is as good as cash. ;)
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and you have up to a year to use it so I know I will buy something else from them during that time. if it would have been a 30 or 60 day time period then I would have passed since I cant think of anything I need from them in the next couple months.
 
Modred189 said:
B&H is being pretty conservative. The few times I have ordered form them and they said that, it came within a few days. A USB3 SD card reader arrived next day in fact.
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B&H just wrote to say the $104.40 price was a mistake and that they were canceling my order. Guess they're REALLY conservative. They wanted to charge me $134.95 instead.

Oh well. Just won't order from them again.
 
nbuubu said:
B&H just wrote to say the $104.40 price was a mistake and that they were canceling my order. Guess they're REALLY conservative. They wanted to charge me $134.95 instead.

Oh well. Just won't order from them again.
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$134.95 seems to be everybody's sale price for yesterday. I got it for that at newegg plus a $20 card. I ordered around 1 PM yesterday and its out for delivery today. newegg will almost always get it to me next day with regular free shipping unless its that eggsaver shit. eggsaver will travel across 5 states for over a week before getting here. lol
 
Got an email from B&H, it was a pricing mistake, and now I've missed out on the NewEgg deal. GRRRR!! NEVER ordering from there again. Last item was lost, not their fault, but still that plus not being able to get in on the newegg thing anymore.... last time I shop at B&H.
 
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Agreed, never shopping from B&H again. Also missed out on the Newegg deal thinking B&H would honor the price as Amazon did.

The fact B&H doesn't allow customers to change addresses or even cancel an order without contacting customer service during business hours, with long delays between responses, is another red flag.
 
mine arrived from newegg about 30 minutes ago. lol that was only 16 hours from the time I placed the order.

if it is not a noticeable improvement over my usb recon3d then I could make someone a deal that missed out.
 
cannondale06 said:
mine arrived from newegg about 30 minutes ago. lol that was only 16 hours from the time I placed the order.

if it is not a noticeable improvement over my usb recon3d then I could make someone a deal that missed out.
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I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. Mine just arrived too. :D
 
Now that I'm looking into it, I'm tempted to get the ZxR when it's available.

I've had an Asus Xonar D2X for years but have had nothing but bad driver problems. When I upgraded to Windows 8 the D2X was causing system instability and crashes ... been using onboard sound and not happy for a few months.
 
Like to see a review of this sound card. Asus surely dropped the ball on their crap labeled "ROG" Pheobus with no driver support. "ROG" name should be removed and everyone that bought one given a full refund. Then a public apology should be made to everyone also.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. Mine just arrived too. :D
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well it turns out my mobo slot must have issues or I have interference. it has nothing to do with the card though as I actually threw out my recon3d card a few months ago thinking it was defective. grr I could have sold that card so that pisses me off. anyway I will have to stick with the usb recon3d with this pc.

EDIT: its on its way back to newegg now
 
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I work Midtown and visited B&H once and never again. Newegg's deal was sweet.
 
nbuubu said:
B&H just wrote to say the $104.40 price was a mistake and that they were canceling my order. Guess they're REALLY conservative. They wanted to charge me $134.95 instead.

Oh well. Just won't order from them again.
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Yeah, screwups happen, and not everyone honors their pricing mistakes like Amazon sometimes does. B&H has its little quirks (like their business hours), but I have been buying camera stuff from them for almost 25 years and have spent several tens of thousands at their store, and they are one of the best camera and pro audio/video stores in the business. Never had reason to complain about their service and I would recommend them to anyone looking for high dollar camera gear.
 
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