sound blaster Can I use my Sound Blaster Zx ACM with a Sound BlasterX AE-5

[AiRJacobs]

Can I use my desktop Audio Control Module (ACM) from my Creative Sound Blaster Zx, with the new Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 without any audio quality degradation (bottlenecking)? I currently do not own the AE-5, so I can't test this myself.

 

The reason why this concerns me is because the AE-5 has a much higher quality DAC, AMP, frequency range, and pretty much everything else. I am not sure if the ACM from the Sound Blaster Zx would somehow degrade the audio quality in any way on the AE-5. I pretty much need the ACM because my Audio Technica ATH-A900X headphones have no volume controller and neither does my keyboard. I like to change the volume on the fly when I game. watch movies/videos, listen to music, and edit videos/audio. Honestly, I may not have a choice.

 

I don't personally see why the ACM would degrade the audio quality, but I have a hypothesis that since the ACM was designed specifically for the Sound Blaster Zx, it may only be able to output what that card can (24-bit, 192Khz) and act as a bottleneck. I am not really sure, but I would like a second opinion. If I am paying for high quality audio, I want the most out of what I pay for.

 

I am happy to provide more information if necessary, but please don't give those b.s. responses such as, "You can't even hear that high quality of audio", or "Sound cards suck!", or "Why do you need a sound card?"

 

Thank you.

 

Product links for reference:

Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5

Creative Sound Blaster Zx

Audio-Technica ATH-A900X