Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card with High Performance Headphone Amp and Beam Forming Microphone

The Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z ReviewI bought this card for the sole purpose of taking advantage of SBX Pro Studio for Headphone. After listening to stereo mix versions of multiple HRTF formulas (CMSS3d, Dolby, Razer, Crap) I settled on going for this specific solution. It seemed like a nice compromise between the razer sharp precision of CMSS3d and cinematic fullness of Dolby Headphone.Upon testing SBX Pro Studio through multiple headphones the surround sound was impeccable. It is very accurate, without having harsh tones and dead spots that you get with even CMSS3d in certain situations. The game audio is not particularly impacted in a negative way, playing Nier which part of the experience is auditory and musical it still sounded quite great. There was a fullness in the sound stage, without having any negative effect on its deadly accurate positional cues. In a game like Counter-Strike Go I found myself catching people to my back and sides at the exact angle they shot at me from. Rather then having a rough idea, I felt as if I was enveloped by a believable 3d space.I had the Sound Blaster Z output a stereo mix through Optical output to my USB dac, and it imparted no noise or nasty oddities.In short, if you're a gamer looking for great surround sound capabilities through headphones this is probably the best card for you. If you are an audiophile, or music affectionado then you probably own a USB dac already with optical spdif input. This card benefits you by providing you with the surround sound processing for games as well as the high Digital to Analog fidelity of your current headphone audio system. So it most definitely is not a waste if you buy this card solely for gaming as either group, unless you don't enjoy SBX Studio.As a gaming card it does its job. Seriously gets a 10/10 if all you care about is this functionality.The digital input while only 2.0 is also good, clean and low latency. I tested this out with my Playstation 4 connected to my sound blaster Z. While it would be great if you could get use SBX Studio Pro, it basically acts similar to a switch. Except if you wanted to play with your PS4 while using PC Discord on the same pair of headphones it is /very/ possible and perhaps one of the best reason to use it.---That ends the good things about this card. ---The microphone input is one of the worst i've had the displeasure of plugging my microphone into. It was more of a curiosity thing since I own a cheap USB dongle for my headset mic. There is a considerable amount of static on the input, with or without microphone boost. None of the settings seem to really make things better, for instance noise cancellation severely degrades the audio quality while eliminating most of the noise from interference.The only redeeming factor of the microphone input is Crystal Voice, so everyone can bring out the inner Alien in themselves. That said if you're going to get this card, investing in a $10 USB soundcard dongle w/ mic input is highly recommended.Since I started writign this review and holding it here for a later date I had an opportunity to try the Dac/Amp from the headphone output over a fairly extended period of time. (problems with my USB device)The amp on the headphone output is fairly weak, and while in most cases you can get more then enough volume out of a song, and video. There are some where not even 100% windows volume can you elevate the volume to get a desired level. In games it hasn't been a problem because they generally run much louder then anything else.The output is not destroyed by interference of any kind (I guess these components have better shielding or are higher quality then the mic section). With no audio, or slow audio there is no discernable noise being generated by the card through my headphones. The result is clean sounding audio. Despite the circuitry being well designed in my case, the DAC itself has poor to average audio quality.Slower, or even sounding music sounds about decent enough. There is a warm veil that you tend to get from cheap dacs but its not an overbearing loss of resolution if you're going from a $70-$150 USB dac. Where the problems start is when the energy of a song starts to r ise, especially those with fairly heavy bass. The sound card looses all of its coherence, as if it is struggling to keep up with the song. Voices become a bit wobbly in some songs, and you can tell there is a fairly poor cut off in frequencies the lower and higher you get. This card does not do Music good at all over its analog headphone output. If you get this card merely to listen to music you will be gravely disappointed. That said ignorance is bliss, but even so the problems it has are immediately obvious.I never tried the included Microphone as I have a far better mic attached to my headphones, and no 5.1 speaker system.-----------All in all its one of the most amazing sound cards for gaming if SBX Studio tickles your fancy (check youtube). But for everything else it is terrible and your dollar can go further.I gave this card a perfect rating because of how it handles its main job of providing believable HRTF through SBX Studio. Especially when you pair it with a better outboard dac then the one inside of the card. For those that have more expensive, higher end equipment you will reap its benefits.If you want a general purpose sound card plus amplified headphone output then this card is an absolute miss and you should ignore the rating. It is terrible for general usage. If you want a good microphone input, look to be paying an extra $10 for a USB Dongle.Edit:Quick edit, even for the discerning audiophile the crystallizer and bassboost on SBX studio is incredibly fun to use. Even while using the sound cards dac. The dac is pretty bad still but the sound is 'fun' with all the processing. The bassboost is not as detrimental as other software solutions.

System setup (keep in mind I'm using high end setup):Denon AVR 3D receiverKlipsch 5.1 Quintet Speker systemSoundBlaster ZWindows 8 Professional16hih DDR3AMD 8120 8 core processorSamsung SSD 830 256HBGigabyte 990FXA UD3Geforce 660 TiVizio 3D LED 42" TVCorsair TX850W Power supplyAs a an avid audiophile user myself I love details and clarity. I usually upgrade every 2 years but after owning a X-Fi Titanium fatality I couldn't find a reason to upgrade since the sound quality was top notch in my opinion. I saw the recon3D came out and passed it on by as it didn't appear by reviews nor users seemed to be really happy about it. I figured I would be with the X-Fi for some time. I was mistaken as after seeing the features of the SoundBlaster Z and the price point I couldn't refuse. But my expectation were low.I couldn't be more wrong. I have it paired up with a 5.1 Klipsh Quintet system and a newer Denon AVR 3D receiver. With this setup and the much improved signal to noise ration rated at 116db it was more than noticeable with my setup of the vastly improved quality of the SoundBlaster Z. When I hear the audio come through using the DTS and Dolby Digital through the optical link my mouth hit the floor. INCREDIBLE! I heard sounds that I thought the X-Fi put through clearly and the Z just blew it out of the water. The clarity, the range certainly paired up with my Denon and Klipsch speakers is getting the full benefits of it all now. My system was held back by the X-Fi inferior processing and quality.Your going to hear that there isn't much improvement over X-Fi and that's ridiculous as the reviewers obviously didn't test it on a high fidelity setup where your going to more than notice it. The Dolby Digital EX and DTS Neo sounds awesome.Gaming has been taking into a new dimension. The scout mode is flawless. With my Chimera 5.1 5.8ghz Razer headset I can hear exactly where the steps and shots are coming from. Up, down, right or left I can respond much faster using the scout mode and it's vibrant and clear. Furthermore,comparing this to the onboard audio just isn't even a comparison. Gigabyte touts nice audio from the Azalia but the SoundBlaster just puts it to complete shame. The difference is so astounding you'll see just how much junk the motherboard maker puts on the motherboard. It's painful now to listen to the onboard audio. If you think the onboard audio is good enough think again. Creative claims its 33 times better. After you hear it you'll agree with that statement.Another aspect is the beam forming microphone. Finally, out goes the mono microphone and it's so small and with the design on it easily fits on top of my 42" LED 3D TV. It's an incredible microphone as I'm 10 feet away from the TV and in a normal voice it picks me up and my friends through chat can hear me just fine. I also have a Windtunnel fan in my room that really makes a lot of noise. They can't hear it! I'm impressed as I would always have turned off the fan as it introduced noise. Furthermore, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking 12 Premium and that accuracy rate is definitely improved on the Z. At 10 feet away from the mic I can speak normal and it never misses a word and auto corrections significantly reduced. Again, the soundblaster Z shines through here.And as a final note this was used on windows 8 pro. And as some of you may find out the Dolby Digital Live and DTS Neo doesn't work with the X-fI drivers from Creative any longer. This issue is now functional as the drivers included off the disc work right out of the box. And that brings up another nice point. Creative has unbloated the software. It's not so bloated that it bogs your system resources down and takes a long time to install. It's apparent to me they designed this card from the bottom up. So far all the featuers work. I've used the EQ and it's nice, scout mode, special effects. And saving the custom profiles work just fine. I haven't experienced any crashing on Windows 8 at all and the drivers and software seem fairly stable. The receiver picks up the Dolby and the DTS and instantly switches mode without a hitch. It's rock solid and not bloated and much more simplified interface than in the past. My favorite feature is the switch to go from headphone to my speakers instantly. That was a well needed feature.My favorite thing about the Z? Everything. It surpassed my expectations as I didn't exptect much over my X-fi Titanium and I wouldn't dare send this back after hearing it I just can't give it up. It was a worthy upgrade over my X-Fi Titanium Fatality. The Dolby Digital Live and DTS Neo work flawlessly through the optical connected to my Denon receiver and Chimeria 5.1 headset. What an amazing audio and gaming experience. Just incredible.....just keep in mind without a setup like mine with higher quality receiver and speakers you won't hear the full benefit. But the SoundBlaster Z left with me a smile on my face and now I feel like Im getting the money I paid into this high end sound system. It was the sound card as the bottle neck the whole time and the Z just fixed that. Impressive. Creative deserves the highest marks for this card and for those with similar setups I urge you that you won't be unhappy with the upgrade coming from an X-Fi. The reviewers said it wouldn't be much difference. They didn't test it on a higher end system. They couldn't be more wrong about it get it and find out for yourself. I'll put my reputation on the line in this review that you won't be sorry you did or you'll ding me for if the review helped you or not.Go for it you'll hear it don't take my word for it. Your going to love what you hear. Just amazing!