Creative Sound Blaster Z Retail - $64.99

this card is amazing compared to my x-fi extrememusic and asus dgx!!

much better all around sound with bass,crystalizer and 3d positioning.
 
Rhentno said:
I would love to hear your impressions, thanks.
Click to expand...

Holy shit the difference is astounding. This card is incomparable to my Asus on-board

I'm typing this as I'm playing between spawns.

The most noticeable differences are:

Quality - sounds are crisp/clear/clean compared to the muddled on-board audio.
Density/Complexity - I'm hearing more sounds than before, things that were no clear enough or output at the proper levels to notice.
Balance - Everything is balanced so well. For example audio that your soldier produces compared to a vehicle a few feet away. (hard to explain)

Feels like in the new Superman when Zod heard everything for the first time.. shit is nuts.

Everything is infinitely more crisp, directional audio is so much better. Best $64 I've spent in a while without a doubt.

Protip - Play on WarTapes

** Jet just flew by, I came in my pants.
 
Ihaveworms said:
I got mine in today too. Question: Do you have to enable the headphone amp or is it just always being amplified? I ask because it says it can support 600ohm headphones, but mine are 80ohm.
Click to expand...

It's always active so long as you use the headphone jack on the back. Unlike the ZXR, there's only the one amplifier setting, so you'll probably have to keep the volume setting below 30.
 
jolli said:
It's always active so long as you use the headphone jack on the back. Unlike the ZXR, there's only the one amplifier setting, so you'll probably have to keep the volume setting below 30.
Click to expand...

Yea, I have experienced this.

I had my volume maxed out before installing this card. Now I'm down to around 30-40/100.

This is awesome as the volume was not loud enough even at 100% before. Now at 100% my head would explode.
 
jolli said:
It's always active so long as you use the headphone jack on the back. Unlike the ZXR, there's only the one amplifier setting, so you'll probably have to keep the volume setting below 30.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is what I am finding. Volume around 15-20% is plenty. Bass is a lot stronger than my onboard. It feels more punchy when explosives go off in BF4.
 
On a happy note, I just swapped out my OEM Z for the retail version and the caps on the new one are the supposedly superior gold variety. The OEM card I had came with the all black caps.

I ended up selling the OEM card (under a month old, doh) to my brother instead of putting it in my HTPC.

The red lights are as bad as everyone says! I'm glad my case window faces away from me. It looks like Christmas in there between the glowing Nvidia cards and the red SB lights.
 
jolli said:
On a happy note, I just swapped out my OEM Z for the retail version and the caps on the new one are the supposedly superior gold variety. The OEM card I had came with the all black caps.

I ended up selling the OEM card (under a month old, doh) to my brother instead of putting it in my HTPC.

The red lights are as bad as everyone says! I'm glad my case window faces away from me. It looks like Christmas in there between the glowing Nvidia cards and the red SB lights.
Click to expand...

Either cover it with electrical tape like I did or cut out/desolder the LED.
 
Mine will be here Tuesday but I have a doc apt in Dallas although I'm sure I'll be home prior to the postal guy delivering.
 
I was able to get a new boxed Zr off eBay about 5 months ago for $100 which I thought was a steal

Since I have really nice pro audio monitors, KRK Gen2 8's ... I didn't hear probably as big of a difference like some of you did.

My biggest compliment would be the software ... it just works and doesn't seem intrusive and like bloatware. Really really nice GUI.
 
Looks like mine should be arriving Tuesday. Still debating on what speakers to pair with this.
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1
Swan M10 or M20
Custom setup - I have an older receiver sitting around.
 
How does this card compare to a Thunderbolt? I have the crosshair V thunderbolt card.. I don't' know if that or the mobo uses Xfi? That's creative too isn't it?

I wonder if it will make my Logitech Z-680's sound new again.

Just looked it up... My audio card is using C-Media 6631
 
Last edited:
jolli said:
It is quite convenient to be able to switch between speakers and headphones at the click of a button.
Click to expand...

True. (For those of you with the older Creative SoundCore-based cards in PCIe, the feature first appeared there - it's in the Recon3D or TitaniumHD [software] Control Panel, which is Taskbar-pinnable as well in Windows 7 or later.)
 
PGHammer said:
True. (For those of you with the older Creative SoundCore-based cards in PCIe, the feature first appeared there - it's in the Recon3D or TitaniumHD [software] Control Panel, which is Taskbar-pinnable as well in Windows 7 or later.)
Click to expand...

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=381416

Link to a tool this guy wrote that adds a ton of really useful features for this card (Hotkey for Heaphone/Speaker switch, separate profiles for headphones and speakers, and more!). I haven't tested it myself but it looks really promising and stable. I will be using this when i get home from work.
 
B!nd. said:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=381416

Link to a tool this guy wrote that adds a ton of really useful features for this card (Hotkey for Heaphone/Speaker switch, separate profiles for headphones and speakers, and more!). I haven't tested it myself but it looks really promising and stable. I will be using this when i get home from work.
Click to expand...

Actually, the (software) Control Panel for the PCIe cards (a similar one is also standard fare for the Z series) includes some (but not all) of those features, including separate profiles for headphones and speakers - if there is a feature I am looking for that is NOT included in the Creative program, I'll check out your link.

The only quibble (and I admit that it's a quibble) about the Recon3D (in Fatality Professional trim) is the red LED is brighter than the identical one on the X-Fi XtremeGamer. And I can confirm one other thing - that the XtremeGamer *was* the root behind my Windows BSODs (WHEA_UNRECOVERABLE_ERROR) - due to that 4GB address bug; with the Fatality Pro in place, I haven't had that error at all. (That is also why I have not passed the card to Mom, who usually gets my hand-downs - she actually has MORE RAM than I do - 5 GB v. 4 GB. Instead, I'll try to chase down another Fatality Pro for her.)
 
Got mine yesterday, installed today. Sounds pretty good, and the easy swap between 5.1 and headphones is quite nice. Took a little tweaking to get the headphones to sound good (for music), and I'm not sure it really sounds quite as good as my D2X, though it is certainly crazy loud with the headphone amp (like I have to keep the volume around 10% or so with headphones).

Overall, not bad, but not mind-blowing either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top