Need advice- Sound Blaster ZxR

[BrownBear0311]

Sound Blaster ZxR

 

I was thinking about getting this sound card right here. I haven't bought a sound card in a long time but I would like one for gaming. I understand there are plenty of audiophiles on here so before you laugh just understand it is purely aimed for gaming.  I still want your input as there are many of you on here that know more than me when it comes to Audio.  I feel like this is a good sound card for gaming and nothing more.  That is all I use my PC for. Anyway thanks for any input.

[Ryoku]

2 minutes ago, BrownBear0311 said:

Sound Blaster ZxR

 

I was thinking about getting this sound card right here. I haven't bought a sound card in a long time but I would like one for gaming. I understand there are plenty of audiophiles on here so before you laugh just understand it is purely aimed for gaming.  I still want your input as there are many of you on here that know more than me when it comes to Audio.  I feel like this is a good sound card for gaming and nothing more.  That is all I use my PC for. Anyway thanks for any input.

I have one It's not really needed if you have a half decent motherboard with audio built into it, I like the volume control it comes with that has headphones and mic input/outputs but you could probably find something like that for cheaper to addon to the onboard sound.

[Squanchy]

Personally, I got the Sound Blaster Z, and I love it. I first got the sound card because I got a solid nice actual headphones that needed a amp to be driven properly as the motherboard / sound chip could not drive them correctly. Secondly, Some of the features on the card do help in some games, as like "scout mode" in FPS's do help a bit to give you a edge, basically makes the frequency of footsteps become a lot more pronounced. And I did notice that my mic sounds a bit better on the sound card vs the motherboard's sound chip.

 

As for that ZxR, I don't think that one is necessarily needed, the regular Z card would be a solid choice.

[seduce_me]

"Gaming" does nothing to improve the audio in games,

[BrownBear0311]

7 hours ago, seduce_me said:

"Gaming" does nothing to improve the audio in games,

I never said it did. I'm saying that is what it will be intended for.

[Pomfinator]

5 hours ago, BrownBear0311 said:

I never said it did. I'm saying that is what it will be intended for.

You don't need a sound card for gaming.  Gaming soundcards area literally just the same components on your typical onboard or cheaper soundcard, slapped onto a PCB with some extra shielding, and sold to consumers for a huge markup.  

 

If you want to spend money, you get a Schiit Fulla 2 / Micca Origen, those are half the price and offer better quality and features.  If the thing you really wanted was that control center that could go on your desk, they have it, as both have an up-facing volume knob great for desk use.

[BrownBear0311]

32 minutes ago, Pomfinator said:

You don't need a sound card for gaming.  Gaming soundcards area literally just the same components on your typical onboard or cheaper soundcard, slapped onto a PCB with some extra shielding, and sold to consumers for a huge markup.  

 

If you want to spend money, you get a Schiit Fulla 2 / Micca Origen, those are half the price and offer better quality and features.  If the thing you really wanted was that control center that could go on your desk, they have it, as both have an up-facing volume knob great for desk use.

My only question now is what are a good set of headphones to go with those?  Something that won't put a hole in my wallet but also lets me put those dacs to use.

[StormEye]

If you are in need of Soundcard/DAC-Amp-Combo from Creative for whatever reason, the only product that is recommended from them is the X7.

 

I have used many of their "high-end" products, including ZxR (which I still have in my warehouse), in the past and none of them are worthwhile.

 

Internal cards they offer are all subject to quite frequent pops and buzzes that cannot be avoided due to EMI in the case, despite their claim of excellent shielding. Also, ZxR's control hub is pretty bad quality when audio is concerned. It is not able to drive any high-impedence headphones due to the hub cutting available power coming from the card itself. So headphones like Sennheiser HD800 will sound muddy. Its actually why/how I got into proper DAC and Amps in the first place, as HD800 just did not sound right when using ZxR.

 

External DACs (like E and G series, and I have E5 at the moment) have annoyingly loud hissing white noise when powered on and no audio is being played. I can see the appeal of G5 if you are a console gamer, and ESPECIALLY for Final Fantasy XIX players who need voice communication with PC players (my friend plays on PS4 and I play on PC, so I gave him one). But apart from that small minority of gamers, its just waste of money.

 

X7 so far is the only one that performs pretty darn well, but it still lacks in relative audio quality compared to similarly priced DAC-Amp-Combos out there. However, X7 makes up for the audio quality by being able to perform as a mixer. I am able to connect PC, Consoles and iPad all at once be playing at the same time (added benefit of charging iPad while at it). I switch to a proper DAC-Amp-Combo if I am going to listen to music seriously anyway.