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Creative Sound Blaster Z Initial Impression

spaceman said:
Well either the back of the card or the acm work as an amp. Unless the zx disabled the onboard amp in favor of the acm. Obviously, if you got the zx, you should use the acm.I got the Z bc I have no use for an external amp.
Click to expand...

The ACM is passive.
 
ocellaris said:
The ACM is passive.
Click to expand...

Yeah but you plug it into the onboard amp so it is an extension of that. Hmmm. I wonder if it sounds better straight out of the card then. Whatever, I ordered the Z bc I didn't think the acm was worth $50.
 
i dont get the logic of some people.
there are many pictures of the acm and you can clearly see that it is a potentiometer with built in microphone, that has 2 plugs, one for headphone output and one for microphone input.
yet i see stuff like "why doesn't it control the volume of the speakers" and other weird stuff
(speaking in general, not only about hardforum, but youtube comments, creative's forum and other forums.)
 
Got my Z today. So the main distinction b/w it and the onboard digtial out to my receiver is the positioning detail. Especially in the rear sounds. I can hear things in a more realistic and 360 degree fashion. Other than that, it does not sound much better. So if you want to get that good sense of where the bad guys are, this does the trick better than onboard and a degree or two better than my old asus DX1 soundcard.

Not sure about the sound quality yet. I did get gold caps though one is a bit bent.

Certainly it is louder and clearer than the Asus though. Same volume levels as the Asus were way too loud on the Z. Not distorted either. Just too loud.

The Z is a good gaming sound card. Need to play with the setting some more but so far, so good.
 
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Yeah, extremely effective card. I was playing BF3 AK expansion Alborz Mountains map. Running around as infy, I heard a distinct but faint sound of someone approaching me from a trail above and around a corner a bit. Clearly discerned the distance and if it was one or more people in a very natural and realistic way. Melted his face before he even realized I was waiting for him.

Powerful as a Joe Rogan spinning back kick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_nyuuuJjh0
 
What is the deal with the ZxR? I thought it was released a month or so ago, but is nowhere to be found. Was it recalled or something?

I've been holding off on buying a Titanium HD waiting for the ZxR.
 
Had my ZX for a few weeks. Much better then onboard. Overall very pleased. Only issue I have is if I get a crash of any kind, I have to do a fallow up reboot to get sound back.
 
Droc said:
Had my ZX for a few weeks. Much better then onboard. Overall very pleased. Only issue I have is if I get a crash of any kind, I have to do a fallow up reboot to get sound back.
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Are you positive about it being better than onboard? Could be a placebo!!!

;)

I think the drivers are still a bit unstable too. Might just be an issue with windows and it being new hardware but yeah.
 
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There's indeed driver update available from Software Auto Update, downloading now.

EDIT:
I can confirm that there's now ASIO support for Zx too with new driver. Way! And it's proper multi-client ASIO driver! I love my Zx now!
 
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Tup3x said:
There's indeed driver update available from Software Auto Update, downloading now.

EDIT:
I can confirm that there's now ASIO support for Zx too with new driver. Way! And it's proper multi-client ASIO driver! I love my Zx now!
Click to expand...

What country do you live in? I'm getting nothing from the auto update.

Did you originally install from the cd?
 
Soundblaster ZXR, Driver Version 2.17.9


Got an update today
creative music server
common audio driver interface 2.31.29
creative smart recorder 2.41.30
 
ocellaris said:
What country do you live in? I'm getting nothing from the auto update.

Did you originally install from the cd?
Click to expand...

Finland. Don't use the one in CP, use the separate thing instead. Though it's now available on Creative's site.

Z-series is probably their best card line ever.
asio0kscd.png

Foobar playing with ASIO out in the background.
 
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I have not hooked up my daughter card yet. I'll do that today.

To enjoy the full features of the Sound Blaster ZxR, use the DBPro connection to connect the sound card and its daughterboard. The chart below highlights the software differences between one with DBPro connection and the other without.

Software features.......................................|With DBPro connection...|Without DBPro connection
Cinematic (SBZ Control Panel) |...................YES...................................No
Advanced Features (SBZ Control Panel).....YES...................................No
SPDIF Out (Windows Control Panel)............YES...................................No
SPDIF IN (Windows Control Panel)..............YES...................................No
AUX-IN (Windows Control Panel) .................YES...................................No
Click to expand...
 
This is the best gaming sound card I have ever had. Based solely on me now being able to hear people moving on foot in BF3 even with vehicles nearby. Pretty amazing details in the sound now.
 
I am blown away by the ZxR....I'm running an Onkyo 7.1 reciever and Polk floorstanding speakers with Mirage center and rears and sub...it's so crisp and clear....Creative hit this out of the park!!
 
spaceman said:
This is the best gaming sound card I have ever had. Based solely on me now being able to hear people moving on foot in BF3 even with vehicles nearby. Pretty amazing details in the sound now.
Click to expand...

You using "Scout Mode"? Any good?
 
Got my Sound Blaster Z and Audio Technica ATH-M50. These replace onboard audio (Asus P6T Deluxe V2) and Razer Carcharias headphones.

I'm in a new world.

No problems with drivers (Win7-64), and I haven't had a lot of time to fiddle around with the application options, but so far, so good.

I haven't had a discrete sound card since the X-fi Xtrememusic. So for me, this was a substantial upgrade.
 
Sprayingmango said:
I am blown away by the ZxR....I'm running an Onkyo 7.1 reciever and Polk floorstanding speakers with Mirage center and rears and sub...it's so crisp and clear....Creative hit this out of the park!!
Click to expand...

uhhhh...... why do you not have matching front Left Center and Right speakers.......i give up.
 
My research has been inconclusive...though I haven't used the search function in this thread...

Is the Sound blasterZ/Zx (140$+12% tax here)>Asus Xonar STX (190$+12% tax here)? I do not care about surround sound, I own a pair of Sennheiser PC 360's and Denon D2000 (probably going to sell these) headphones.

I have a Denon 1713 reciever which I use for my consoles and PC unless I use my PC mic. Any point connecting the 1713 to the sound card?

Thanks.
 
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NCX said:
My research has been inconclusive...though I haven't used the search function in this thread...

Is the Sound blasterZ/Zx (140$+12% tax here)>Asus Xonar STX (190$+12% tax here)? I do not care about surround sound, I own a pair of Sennheiser PC 360's and Denon D2000 (probably going to sell these) headphones.

I have a Denon 1713 reciever which I use for my consoles and PC unless I use my PC mic. Any point connecting the 1713 to the sound card?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I would get the Z over the STX for gaming. My setup is the Z connected to my receiver via the headphone out. So I plugged in a 1/8th to rca cable into the Z and plugged it into the receiver. My receiver has a really nice headphone amp. So the Z can do it's job as a great gaming sound source and I get better sound with my superior amp. Win win.

Scout mode does work for me. With it enabled, I can pretty much "see" people and vehicles with my ears. Pretty deadly. Plus you can use a hotkey to turn it on and off in game. It improves the clarity of Teamspeak too.
 
I am also very impressed by SBX surround for gaming. I know some may hate their prior products (and that would be justified with the unimpressive recon3d) but I think the Z will win many people over. It really think it's the absolute best line of soundcards that CL has put out in years - and the surround for games is great.
 
This ZxR is the best sound card I've ever owned. Hands down. Destroys anything from Asus, HT, etc.
 
I wish it was 7.1....Sticking with the X-Fi Home Theater HD. I still play EAX games. This ZXR looks awesome, but 96khz 7.1 HDMI with EAX out suits me better. I would switch, if they update to 7.1 in the future.
 
it would be a waste if you connected a ZXR with a digital out
 
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Why is creative ignoring 7.1 recently? I would think being a gaming sound card you would want those channels for positioning better. Do games not support 7.1 so it's not worth putting it on? or is there something else? It feels silly since very early nearly all sound cards were 7.1 until now.
 
i dont see a point in 7.1 gaming with speakers, when high quality stereo headphones+virtual surround does it much better.
 
Devastadus said:
Why is creative ignoring 7.1 recently? I would think being a gaming sound card you would want those channels for positioning better. Do games not support 7.1 so it's not worth putting it on? or is there something else? It feels silly since very early nearly all sound cards were 7.1 until now.
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fighter is right.

The number of gamers who have real 7.1 analog speaker setups is probably very small compared to gamers who use headphones, and people with 7.1 setups hooked up to PCs are likely to bitstream audio to their receivers though HDMI anyway. So the 7.1 analog market share shrinking from both sides (gamers using high quality headphones, and high end setups going digital).
 
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