Creative Sound Blaster Z Series

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

  1. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    Guys, how do I best set up the card for surround using my AD700 headphones? windows speakers to 5.1 and check surround in sbx? Need it for BF3 and similar games.
     
  2. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    Yea make sure you have it back on headphones after you have it set to 5.1, then config Surround in SBX to your liking.
     
  3. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    thanks mate. would leaving it on 5.1 and switching surround off work well for music? or is it best to switch back to stereo for music?
     
  4. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    IMO, make profile for music and game settings.
     

  5. JeyNyce

    JeyNyce Guest

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    @eclap

    Got your PM. I'll let you know how much it will cost to ship
     
  6. Happy Hopping

    Happy Hopping Guest

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    I do not use headphone but I'll be using this set of speaker:

    http://audioengineusa.com/audioengine-A5plus-tech

    what sound card should I go for? Z , Zx or ZxR? As the speaker only accept mini-jack in, and those stereo Right/Left in

    Now, I do have an integrated amp., a yamaha RXR 573, but those 5.1 speakers are constantly on, watching Tv or movie while I use the PC, so the chance that I can connect from any sound card to that yamaha is almost zero.

    The only time I can do it, would be to play a good video game, and connect from the optical out of a sound card to the input of the yamaha optical in. And I need a 30 Feet optical cable if I were to play a game, having optical out to the optical in of my yamaha.

    But I want to know:

    1) Is there a noticeable difference on sound quality of the 3 sound cards?

    2) Is there a difference in quality, such as capacitors between the 3 cards? As I am not remotely verse in the difference between Burr Brown DAC vs. Cirrus Logic DAC. As I don't want to buy the Z card, and the capacitor fails in 2 years

    http://www.soundblaster.com/gaming/soundcards.aspx

    3) I read the above, but what really is the ACM does?

    I want this new sound card for causal use, that is, using my PC while watching TV, it's just for basic sound theme effect, card game at facebook etc.

    Having said all these, what should I go for w/ the above Audio Engine speaker?
     
  7. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    you're right, it is exclusive, it doesn't even give an option to be non-exclusive. In Winamp it did. you could choose whether you wanted exclusive or not, also there was a few other options. Like you said, YouTube sound is awol when using WASAPI via Foobar.
     
  8. sounar

    sounar Guest

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    i was first quite excited with my ZX that i bought, it sounded excellent in music with the sbx features on...but once i tried gaming like bf3 with the sbx features on, all the sound levels sounded very harsh, very bright to the point of ear piercing painful..i have to turn off SBX and go in stereo direct mode for it not to have that ear piercing sound ingame bf3..it weird..but than music doesn't sound no where near as good with it off... i never had this problem with my previous xfi gamer card, im honestly not happy
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2013
  9. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    What SBX features are you using? I'd recommend only using Crystalizer and maybe smart volume.
     
  10. sounar

    sounar Guest

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    well there are only a few SBX features if im correct. There is crystalizer, surround and bass and a few others...i tried playing with all of them..on and off. the only way i dont get very bright harsh sound in bf3 when shooting or from big explosions is if i have SBX disabled and than go into speaker/headphone configuration and select direct stereo..otherwise sound is too bright and harsh sounding to the point where it starts cracking ingame..not music though...i dont know il fiddle with it more but i may return it...what do you have your sbx settings on?
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2013

  11. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    I just use crystalizer and smart volume. Sound like you need to tweak eq settings.
     
  12. sounar

    sounar Guest

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    hmm seems to be abit better now..will have to play with it more
     
  13. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Use too much crystalizer and smart volume and that can happen, I'd disabled both.
     
  14. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    are you using headphones? or speakers? what's your setup? some headphones can sound a bit bright.

    I'm using ath ad700 headphones with my Z and it sounds great in bf3. have crystallizer on 15 and bass on 10, surround on 85.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2013
  15. atimaniac

    atimaniac Master Guru

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    New s%^#t from Creative.Its better but still worst than Asus.Cheaper Xense is better than ZxR
     

  16. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    that is a bit ott to say the least.
     
  17. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Have you tested the ZXR?
    If so, what equipment and how did you test?
     
  18. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    You're talking a lot of crap there dude. You have a Xonar DG, a budget entry level card. You have no idea of what you're talking about. Have you tested any of these cards or just making **** up in your tiny little mind?
     
  19. Anarion

    Anarion Ancient Guru

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    Nice try, forest with nice cave is that way.
     
  20. sounar

    sounar Guest

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    Im using speakers, the M-audio BX5-D2, these speakers are naturally bright and i remember turning down the treble a bit in the control sound options on my old XFI...but with the ZX the option to adjust the treble is not there anymore or at least I can't seem to find it....im guessing smart volume is a good thing to have since it limits your volume range, say you put up the volume in bf3 to hear footsteps but the shooting is in the same range and not overly loud in relation to other sounds.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2013

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