Sound blaster ae-9 thoughts

[Tigerleon]

When I got this. Which was like 2 hours ago, I didn't really get high expectations because I didn't know how much it would change. But with my dt 990 pros it made a pretty huge difference. They can be driven a lot easier and the sound sounds more full. The clarity when using SBX mode is really good compared to onboard audio. The onboard audio was fine but with this soundcard it made it even better. It also has a 3.5mm mic and XLR mic output. This soundcard is very worth the price I paid for. I can strongly recommend this if you game or listen to music. Hell I dunno maybe even music production.

[Tigerleon]

I forgot to mention the software. The software is really straight forward and really good. No problems with it at all and it was easy to install. The EQ settings were easy to understand and I really had to turn down the treble when using the soundcard. Before I needed to turn it up. I almost got deaf when I plugged them in.

[Statik]

What made you buy that over an amp/amp + dac combo?

[Tigerleon]

6 minutes ago, Statik said:

What made you buy that over an amp/amp + dac combo?

I thought I wanted to get something that was new to the market and it looked good and reviewers like it. Also I want a thing that takes up minimal desk space.

[The Flying Sloth]

I'm glad you're enjoying your purchase but without multiple high quality XLR inputs and well built ASIO drivers there's not a chance of it being used for production, and that's without even considering the poor price point when compared to interfaces for production.

 

Again, in sure it's great and it powers everything brilliantly and is exactly what you wanted, that's perfect, but it's not a production device, it's a consumer device.

 

6 hours ago, Statik said:

What made you buy that over an amp/amp + dac combo?

I don't want to start any more beef but OP specifically wanted to buy this product from the start, many other options were supplied but in the end he chose to purchase his initial choice. It sounds like he's enjoying his choice too so that's a positive.

[Statik]

Just now, The Flying Sloth said:

 

I don't want to start any more beef but OP specifically wanted to buy this product from the start, many other options were supplied but in the end he chose to purchase his initial choice. You make your own conclusions from that, I'm not reading into it.

I wasn't trying to start shit or tell OP he was wrong. I was genuinely curious as to why he bought it. I remember sound cards being more popular when I built my first rig 5-6 years ago, but I haven't heard anything about them in recent years, and looking at upgrading my audio setup myself in the near future, all I've really heard/read about is amps/dacs.

[The Flying Sloth]

Just now, Statik said:

I wasn't trying to start shit or tell OP he was wrong. I was genuinely curious as to why he bought it. I remember sound cards being more popular when I built my first rig 5-6 years ago, but I haven't heard anything about them in recent years, and looking at upgrading my audio setup myself in the near future, all I've really heard/read about is amps/dacs.

Sorry for the disclaimer, that was more for the OP, there were some quite heated discussions on the previous thread and I don't wish to reopen those lines. 

 

The reason external solutions have become for more popular is that they are much less prone to interference and the price point is much better than sound cards. Some consider sound cards obselete as better priced and technically better external options are available pushing internal sound cards into the background.

[Tigerleon]

7 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Sorry for the disclaimer, that was more for the OP, there were some quite heated discussions on the previous thread and I don't wish to reopen those lines. 

 

The reason external solutions have become for more popular is that they are much less prone to interference and the price point is much better than sound cards. Some consider sound cards obselete as better priced and technically better external options are available pushing internal sound cards into the background.

I mean yeah I understand. Although I have made research of EMI and I understand that you maybe haven't used internal soundcards in a while because newer ones have so good shielding you can't hear anything. Even an audiophile said this:

Now. He having said that I can completely agree. I can't hear any interference even when I game when my GPU is under heavy load.

I really like this soundcard. Anyways. It's good that everyone is different right?

Also I think I could hear EMI on my onboard audio. Because there was a slight hissing noise when changing windows volume levels. I don't know if that's normal but now it is gone.

[e22big]

37 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

I mean yeah I understand. Although I have made research of EMI and I understand that you maybe haven't used internal soundcards in a while because newer ones have so good shielding you can't hear anything. Even an audiophile said this:

Now. He having said that I can completely agree. I can't hear any interference even when I game when my GPU is under heavy load.

I really like this soundcard. Anyways. It's good that everyone is different right?

Also I think I could hear EMI on my onboard audio. Because there was a slight hissing noise when changing windows volume levels. I don't know if that's normal but now it is gone.

Good sound card never have interference issue for a while now, I have been using both sound card (the orginal ASUS Xonar STX) and external DAC/AMP. Never heard a single hiss from the card even when it sit right next to the GPU. The external DAC/AMP is in fact the one I have a massive hissing issue and both are purchase at around the same price. Hissing is more than just a position issue. It's just the matter of preference whether people prefer a card or an external (the external however, do have the benefit of not taking your PCI-e lane)

[rice guru]

Soundcard's and even most motherboards emi isn't really an issue these days . My personal issues with soundcard's and why I don't use them is their lack of value in the growingfast moving audiophile space. 

[Tigerleon]

23 minutes ago, rice guru said:

Soundcard's and even most motherboards emi isn't really an issue these days . My personal issues with soundcard's and why I don't use them is their lack of value in the growingfast moving audiophile space. 

That could be the reason why the flying sloth hates internal sound cards

[The Flying Sloth]

2 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

That could be the reason why the flying sloth hates internal sound cards

I said right from the start that they're poor value, you're absolutely correct.

[rice guru]

To be fair their is also a plethora of bad value popular products in the core audiophile space like the dragonfly red

[jasonvp]

22 hours ago, Tigerleon said:

 When I tried the surround sound it was like a different world. Almost no reverb.This soundcard is very worth the price I paid for.

Cool.  Glad you're happy with it.  I assume by "surround" you mean the virtual headphone surround setup in the Sound Blaster Command software?  If so, to take full advantage of this, make sure you tell the games you're playing that they have access to surround sound, assuming the choice is there.  Some games allow you to select it, others will just pick it up automatically.

 

Depending on the game: you might want to turn the 7.1 off and make it a 5.1 device.  Do that in the Windows Sound Control Panel, under the "Configure" button.  Some games just don't seem to work quite as well with 7.1 as they do with 5.1.  Figuring that out is just a trial and error sort of thing.  I have my 7.1 permanently disabled because the older games I play all do Surround very well, but trip over themselves with 7.1.

[Tigerleon]

1 hour ago, jasonvp said:

Cool.  Glad you're happy with it.  I assume by "surround" you mean the virtual headphone surround setup in the Sound Blaster Command software?  If so, to take full advantage of this, make sure you tell the games you're playing that they have access to surround sound, assuming the choice is there.  Some games allow you to select it, others will just pick it up automatically.

 

Depending on the game: you might want to turn the 7.1 off and make it a 5.1 device.  Do that in the Windows Sound Control Panel, under the "Configure" button.  Some games just don't seem to work quite as well with 7.1 as they do with 5.1.  Figuring that out is just a trial and error sort of thing.  I have my 7.1 permanently disabled because the older games I play all do Surround very well, but trip over themselves with 7.1.

I never use virtual surround for competetive gaming but I like it sometimes.

[jasonvp]

3 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

I never use virtual surround for competetive gaming but I like it sometimes.

It works superbly well for Rainbow Six: Siege, the Battlefield series of games, and even the new CoD/Warzone.

[Tigerleon]

1 minute ago, jasonvp said:

It works superbly well for Rainbow Six: Siege, the Battlefield series of games, and even the new CoD/Warzone.

I play much battlefield 1 and I've just gotten into warzone.