Sound Blaster Z Opinions

[URANIUM]

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z

 

How is it?

[Beerzerker]

Not bad.
The hardware itself is good.
The software, although OK could be better and know these do not have support for Linux like all other SB cards.

Have one I've owned for two years now and it works fine. Only issue I ever had was it getting too warm, causing the card to cut out for a sec, then start up again and kept doing this repeatedly.

Removing the little window and placing a CPU fan from an unused AM3 cooler fixed that problem - No cutting out or anything else since. Others say they've never had that happen so.... I can't speak to that but in my case it did and that's how I fixed it.

[BigDamn]

I own the SoundBlaster Audigy 2, SoundBlaster Recon3D Fata1ity, and the SoundBlaster ZXR (very similar to the Z). One thing will hold true with all CreativeLabs cards... you WILL have issues with their drivers at some point. Is it severe? Not really, but an annoyance at the least. But their software is at least intuitive and a major step-up from Asus's interface (haven't used an Asus card in years tho).

 

So as far as the Z / ZXR go specifically, I have great things to say about the sound quality. I run an optical cable to my Yamaha HTR-6230 which drives my 5.1 channel sound system (you can find the full specs on my Steam page, found on my LTT profile) and sounds fantastic. Music is crisp and a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over any onboard audio to date. Although there is a built in 600ohm headphone amp, I don't use it. I've found that plugging in my Sennheiser HD 650's directly into my receiver gives me better sound quality than the card itself, but that's not really surprising (Note I use analog cables when on headphones).

 

If you're asking for my recommendation I'll say this: Your sound system is only as good as the source itself. If you have high-end speakers, pair them with a high-end amp, and connect that to a high-end soundcard or DAC. If you're using midrange audio equipment, save yourself some money and buy a midrange soundcard. I personally love my ZXR and will be using it for years to come.

[URANIUM]

19 minutes ago, Beerzerker said:

Not bad.
The hardware itself is good.
The software, although OK could be better and know these do not have support for Linux like all other SB cards.

Have one I've owned for two years now and it works fine. Only issue I ever had was it getting too warm, causing the card to cut out for a sec, then start up again and kept doing this repeatedly.

Removing the little window and placing a CPU fan from an unused AM3 cooler fixed that problem - No cutting out or anything else since. Others say they've never had that happen so.... I can't speak to that but in my case it did and that's how I fixed it.

Thanks for the info and heads up

[URANIUM]

13 minutes ago, BigDamn said:

I own the SoundBlaster Audigy 2, SoundBlaster Recon3D Fata1ity, and the SoundBlaster ZXR (very similar to the Z). One thing will hold true with all CreativeLabs cards... you WILL have issues with their drivers at some point. Is it severe? Not really, but an annoyance at the least. But their software is at least intuitive and a major step-up from Asus's interface (haven't used an Asus card in years tho).

 

So as far as the Z / ZXR go specifically, I have great things to say about the sound quality. I run an optical cable to my Yamaha HTR-6230 which drives my 5.1 channel sound system (you can find the full specs on my Steam page, found on my LTT profile) and sounds fantastic. Music is crisp and a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over any onboard audio to date. Although there is a built in 600ohm headphone amp, I don't use it. I've found that plugging in my Sennheiser HD 650's directly into my receiver gives me better sound quality than the card itself, but that's not really surprising (Note I use analog cables when on headphones).

 

If you're asking for my recommendation I'll say this: Your sound system is only as good as the source itself. If you have high-end speakers, pair them with a high-end amp, and connect that to a high-end soundcard or DAC. If you're using midrange audio equipment, save yourself some money and buy a midrange soundcard. I personally love my ZXR and will be using it for years to come.

Thanks for the info and recomendation