Creative Sound Blaster Z Series

Discussion in 'Soundcards, Speakers HiFI & File formats' started by IanM, Aug 15, 2012.

  1. Lotek

    Lotek New Member

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    Thanks for the warm welcome. The Phobeus hardware is great. Asus software / driver support? Not so much. The card came out in Sept 2012 and the drivers are still in beta. I got tired of waiting on Asus.

    I was able to purchase the SB ZXR on the Creative Labs site. It was fulfilled through Amazon. They had 8 cards on the Jan 2. All are gone now.

    http://us.store.creative.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster-ZxR-PCIe-Sound/M/B00AQ5PK6I.htm
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2013
  2. Still did anyone put through RMAA the analogue part of the card?

    And what DAC it uses? Can't find anywhere...
     
  3. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Simple loop back test would be useless, it's only as good as the ADC on the card. AFAIK it has Cirrus Logic CS4398 for front channel (Z and Zx).

    ---
    By the way, why the headphone out has different rating?
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2013
  4. rincewind

    rincewind Guest

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    Are you asking about the Z or the Zxr?

    The Z has the CS4398 for the front channels.

    The Zxr has the PCM1794 for the front two channels and the PCM1798 for the other four.
     

  5. DJ_Casper

    DJ_Casper Guest

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    Last edited: Jan 9, 2013
  6. Andreasie

    Andreasie Guest

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    Hiya guys

    i got a question about the sound card chip i dont rly get what so special about this new Sound Core3D audio processor last time i saw the THX pro studio or something was the newest ectra but what happens to that? did it got old and new one is better or? cause atm im wonder what i should pick Sound Blaster Zx or the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD i got a 5.1 surround set so i think the sound blaster Zx would be better or? plz some suggestion^^
     
  7. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD is stereo card so you can rule that out.

    --
    If someone can explain why headphones have different dB SNR rating, I would really like to know. Does the sound suddenly start to suck when you attach headphones or what? If I end up getting Zx, I definitely do not want to make downgrade.
    [​IMG]

    I could use the mic since I don't have any at the moment and the volume control would be really handy. I have trouble with the volume with the Forte, headphone out is unusable. It's just way too loud and I have to attach headphones to line out and still even 6% is close (at 4% sound output stops so not much room for fiddling).
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2013
  8. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    what does this mean, is PCM17xx superior? And what are its spec. compared to CS43xx
     
  9. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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  10. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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  11. benbenkr

    benbenkr Guest

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    Hey guys.

    Just wanna say something regarding both the Z and the Zx.
    On paper it does look like the only difference that seperate them both is the ACM that comes with the Zx, which is $50 more than the Z.

    However, I found out that the Zx uses Nichicon Gold caps instead of the Z just using a mixture of regular G-Luxon and Fujicon caps. What is weird is that there are some batches of the Z which DOES USE Nichicon Gold caps, but it seems that most batches from 2013 onwards are all on G-Lux/Fujicon.

    I have confirmed this with those who bought the Z back in Nov 2012 and those who just got their Z a week ago.

    Capacitors itself don't really make a huge difference interms of quality since they are after all still electrolytic capacitors only, but just worth a note for those who wanna know.

    Other than that, no difference so far from the both at least for now.
     
  12. fr33k

    fr33k Ancient Guru

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    i am considering a zx or zxr but can't decide. the zx is over 150$ less than the zxr it seems. seems like some price gouging maybe?
    anyway I plan to use my current card in a media pc and i need a gaming audio platform for this one.
    anyone got any thoughts on why one should buy a zxr?

    *edit* so far it seems there are only 3 reasons anyone should get a zxr.
    changable op-amps (questionable, unless you're just ocd i don't think you'd need to)
    126db snr (by now though the diminishing returns are likely only noticeable to some one making music.)
    the "sister" card with a few extra connectors.
    I am just not seeing the 150$ there.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2013
  13. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Yeah, same thing here.
     
  14. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    I was going to get the ZxR but got fed up waiting so I bought the ZX last week, currently waiting on delivery. Buying directly from Creative is the cheapest in the UK so far. Use this code WMFB123 for 15% off.
    I kinda figured that while the ZxR will be a far better card I probably don't have the speakers to make full use of it so I decided on the ZX. Can't wait to test it tomorrow, so far the general consensus of the Z series has been very good.
     
  15. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    the point of the op-amps sockets is to beable to change the sound card sound signature to something that you want, so it fully customable, or to better metal can op-amps.
     

  16. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    127,49 € with free shipping. Not bad vs. 139 € from local shop (although Amazon UK is cheaper at £98.87 but it's not in stock). ZxR is just too pricey for me, especially after getting second GTX 680. It's a small mystery to me whether or not it has higher quality headphone amp than Forte (I'm not quite suer what to make of this). I wouldn't like to downgrade, side step would be fine since I have other plans for Forte. Lack of ASIO support is a bit disappointing and OpenAL sound probably isn't as good (CMSS3D in stereo mode is pretty damn good in OpenAL and in old games with Alchemy; not just sounds behind but under and above you).
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2013
  17. fr33k

    fr33k Ancient Guru

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    right but my current card already does that. So if i felt the need to i'd just do it with this one... I run a 600ohm headphone setup and the difference isn't noticeable for games.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2013
  18. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    Just got my SoundBlaster ZX and I must say I'm impressed. A distinct improvement over my Auzen Prelude with custom Opamps. Loving this card so far, you can tell everything in it is of a high standard. Creative seem to be back on their game. Worth a purchase guys!
     
  19. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    How well does the volume control thing work and is the mic decent?
     
  20. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    Volume control is not working at the minute, mic is pretty good. Gonna try and troubleshooy it in a bit.
     

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