Creative Sound Blaster Z Series

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

  1. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Yes, disable, the sub...You do not have a dedicated subwoofer, so the card should essentially be sending normal full range stereo.
     
  2. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Yeah, you are right.
    I saw an earlier post of his and his subwoofer isnt separate, its part of his speaker system with its own crossover "by the looks of it".

    Tj, as Robscix said, your speakers must be left as full range.
    Thats it.
    No matter what you do with the PC, your speaker system should feed bass to the subwoofer.
    You can increase the amount of bass from the PC with an EQ or using the tone controls.

    You may be able to change the settings on the speaker system if you arent happy with the bass output.

    Soz for the confusion, its not been that easy to decipher.
     
  3. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    Ok cool, thanks for all replies. :)
     
  4. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    With your system, your bass is filtered from the stereo signal, if it is removed prior to going out, such as would be the case with bass redirection, you will have bad sound.

    Just remember that with such a speaker system, as far as your software/source is concerned it is just stereo.

    Hope that helps.
     

  5. Lycronis

    Lycronis Maha Guru

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    Sort of off topic but... Rob, any ETA on your ZxR review?
     
  6. ArgonV

    ArgonV Master Guru

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    Ok, so let me get this straight...

    I have a 5.1 system, where the front L/R, Rear L/R and center speakers all go into the sub. From there, the sub has 3.5mm Ins (front/rear/center) that go from the back of the sound card to the sub. I have Windows audio set to 5.1, but you're saying in the Sound Blaster control panel for my ZxR I should have my sub unchecked? And I should also set full range both in Windows audio but also in the Sound Blaster control panel? And should I also uncheck my sub in the included speaker setup of the Windows audio Configure section?

    Or does all that just apply to 2.1 setups without a dedicated sub/center line in from the Sound Blaster?
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2013
  7. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    If your subwoofer has an individual connection to the soundcard, you need to enable it, otherwise it wont get used.
    You forgot to mention the subwoofer connection on your setup, it should be the other connection on the 'centre' channel lead.
    Unless you have an uncommon setup.

    The system we were discussing earlier connects via "stereo" (2.0) only.
    The stereo connections go into the amplifier (in the subwoofer box) where the bass is sent to the subwoofer and higher frequencies to the speakers.
    So the front speakers need to be sent all the bass, which is why they need to be set to 'full range'.
    There is no direct subwoofer connection to the soundcard.

    Because there is no specific "subwoofer" connection to the soundcard from his amplifier, enabling the subwoofer on the soundcard would have either no effect or would send the bass to nowhere.
     
  8. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    ArgonV your system will be fine.

    Btw, that is downmixing from 5.1 to 2.1 and theoretically you can hear 5.1 sounds in 2.0/2.1 system? I dont have separate sub output, so that sub icon is useless for me.

    Edit: i see Mufflore already explained it. :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2013
  9. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Yeah, this really only applies to speaker systems without a dedicated subwoofer input from the card. Such as many 2.1 systems, as they are essentially 2.0 systems with the subwoofer filtering it's bass signal. Where as with many 5.1 systems..etc the subwoofer is fed a signal from the soundcard.
     
  10. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Let's get few things straight so that you understand my thinking:

    - ASIO is bit perfect when single source is playing but it can be useful to have multiple sources playing though ASIO. Handy, not supporting this is not a positive feature in my book.
    - If you lower volume, it will not be bit-perfect since it more that likely will use some kind of digital volume control.
    - Creative's implementation is more flexible, gives more features yet all the benefits.
    - Main feature of ASIO is the low latency access that bypasses OS. There's no rule why multiple applications can't play audio at same time though ASIO. If that's not allowed, it's ASIO implementation limitation.

    That's my point of view and now I'll drop this subject.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2013

  11. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Fair enough :)

    As it leaves the PC then maybe, depending on the function of your sound hardware.
    When recording bit perfect samples on the PC, you will want to leave them untainted.

    You can maintain bit perfect and adjust the volume by increasing the bits/sample if this is supported in the hardware/software you use.
    This is one of the advantages that 32bit internal operation DACs have over 24bit internal DACs.
    Take for example, the Oppo 105 Blu Ray player, this uses the Sabre32 32bit DAC and doesnt lose quality when adjusting the volume on the player.
    The Cambridge Azur 752BD uses a 24bit internal DAC and doesnt start to sound at its best unless the player reaches over 90% volume.
    The Cambridge will lose quality as it must either be fed through a pre-amp (at 100% volume on the player) or will lose quality through using the players volume control.
    If you are going to use another pre-amp anyway it wont matter to you, but if you want all the sonic delight, a 32bit internal DAC can deliver it by using it as a pre-amp/volume controller.

    Thats almost a better way to express it.
    But you dont get 'all' the benefits if you have more than one audio source playing, you lose bit perfect.
    If that doesnt matter to you, thats fair enough, but it needs to be expressed well for other peoples needs.

    Its main feature gives low latency, low latency isnt its main feature, its a consequence of its main feature (direct communication).
    You could say its 'a' main feature.
    Agreed, its nice to have access to more modes of operation.

    :)
     
  12. scrapser

    scrapser Master Guru

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    For anyone who's interested, I have had my ZxR now for nearly a week. I have Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers (with sub). I have been in discussion with Creative about the 2.1 configuration instructions (or lack thereof). They are considering my point on this as a possible change to their instructions.

    Anyway, they recommend using the "Stereo" configuration for 2.1 systems. For my speakers this is working well. If I use the "5.1 Surround" and turn off the speakers I don't have (center and rear L/R), I can use the bass management settings but this card really improves the sound to the point where you can easily get too much bass so you don't necessarily need it.

    I'm not a sound engineer so I'm talking about this more from an experiential perspective. So far I am very happy with the ZxR.
     
  13. DutchDance

    DutchDance Guest

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    Hey all,

    I got Sound Blaster ZX since yesterday.

    I got the speaker set called Z906 from Logitech.
    Now i am a bit testing which settings are the best.

    Any know which are good settings for games and for movies/audio?
    I allready changed some stuff and made few profile's but wondering what is the best setup for it. Since cant find really any information about a few profiles on the net here.
     
  14. NetSpider

    NetSpider Guest

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    I'm thinking about going for the ZX from Titanium HD ...
    Mainly for Head Phone/Speakers Switch and the ACM .

    i know the SNR is lower on the ZX , will i notice any diffidence ?

    Some one made that switch from Titanium HD to the ZX and can tell the outcome ?
     
  15. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Why do you want a ZX over the TitanHD?
     

  16. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    He prolly want 5.1 analog output and the headphone amp that the ZX has that the titanium HD doesn't has. And before some one says it, the info on creative site is wrong, the card doesn't have a headphone amp, but a chip that deliver very low voltage out of the headphone output. That isn't enough to power headphones that need the voltage to be driven correctly.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2013
  17. Keitosha

    Keitosha Ancient Guru

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    Last driver update is driving me insane. The card seems to have itself installed twice. Every time i restart the card is "somewhere" else. I need to select to either:

    2- Sound Blaster Z
    Sound Blaster Z

    My speaker settings are also called 2- Speakers and the next reboot just Speakers.

    How can i fix this? In device manager there's just 1 SBZ to be found, but it has 2 instances or something. Because of this BS the card is also not saving settings, just like the good old XFi with the older drivers in W8. :bang:
     
  18. NetSpider

    NetSpider Guest

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    well , i made the switch from Titan HD to the ZX .

    and i can say honestly its great , sounds great .
    the ACM is very nice ,and more power to the Head Phones ...

    so i'm glad i did it .
     
  19. fighterisr

    fighterisr Guest

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    the regular titanium? should be the same like all of the other cards.
    if you need a really good recording quality, you can find it on the ZXR dbpro or the titanium hd, with the rca in.
     
  20. bigcid1

    bigcid1 Master Guru

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    Can You explain how you know it doesn't have a headphone amp?
     

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