SB AE-9 vs X7? And PCI-E vs USB in general?

[apav]

Hi guys,

 

I will be looking to upgrade my Sound Blaster ZXR soon. I was considering the Sound Blaster AE-9, but after l learning that the 3080 and 3090 (which I am considering upgrading to as well) are 2.75 and 3 slot cards respectively, I'm not sure if a PCI-E sound card is still an option for me unless I get creative with a vertical extension cable. So I was looking at the X7 as an alternative, but I am wondering if there is any noticeable difference between them, or between PCI-E and USB sound cards as a whole? I think I read somewhere that USB compresses the audio more, though I don't know if that could ever make a real world difference.

 

Thanks!

[rice guru]

You can get better value from usb options new stuff comes around more often and has a ton more competition so things sound as good if not better for cheaper.. The ae9 is currently the best sounding sound card it's not actually bad and is a decent piece of gear. The x7 is pretty awful though doesn't sound that great, gimmick riddled and none of it good. You can build a external stack that does everyrhing it does for cheaper. Usb  is a fine way to transfer music. You just need a decent dac to decode the files and a good uncompressed format like FLAC or dsd and you should be fine

[Tigerleon]

2 hours ago, apav said:

Hi guys,

 

I will be looking to upgrade my Sound Blaster ZXR soon. I was considering the Sound Blaster AE-9, but after l learning that the 3080 and 3090 (which I am considering upgrading to as well) are 2.75 and 3 slot cards respectively, I'm not sure if a PCI-E sound card is still an option for me unless I get creative with a vertical extension cable. So I was looking at the X7 as an alternative, but I am wondering if there is any noticeable difference between them, or between PCI-E and USB sound cards as a whole? I think I read somewhere that USB compresses the audio more, though I don't know if that could ever make a real world difference.

 

Thanks!

The X7 great. Especially for gaming. But I think you should stick to your ZXR

I have the Sound Blaster AE-9 and it is amazing. Maybe not worth upgrading from an already pretty good soundcard.

[Ahoy Hoy]

USB doesnt compress audio. audio is some of the smallest file sizes you can get even high fidelity audio files are still less then 100mb for song. USB 2 can hand 480MBs. USB can transfer a whole three minuet song in seconds.


Sound card wise probably not worth upgrading as there is close to no difference between any of those soundcards including your current one when referring to sound quality. As long as it fits