sir , as a kid growing in 90s and using original sound blaster cards , i love your content !

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Haha, thank you! I also grew up in the 90's and ok, part in the 80's. I love sound cards back then, but I didn't have any money! So now is a great time to go trough all those cards from long ago.

Finally some contentsss! Good video, not sure about the sweater, still think a nice fresh dress shirt will make this channel grow even faster.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Working on it!

I have a gaming headset with both mic and audio 3.5mm jack and i want to connect it to my laptop. Is it better to connect it through a "Y" splitter or like this creative play3 usb sound card?

Thanks for the review, have you had a chance to review the Creative Sound Blaster G3 to see if it's any better?

@AntonsHardware

Жыл бұрын

Not yet! I've been looking for one, but my channel schedule is full until march next year. Maybe then I'll buy one.

Antons thank you for your great reviews and analysis, I bought the Play!4 and I purchase it because of the lockdowns for WFH. And as such, it delivers better audio experience than the built-in sound solution for conference calls, online presentations, and quick meetings. After that I used it for movie watching and again it is a much better experience than the plain built-in solution. Thanks to that I'm now considering an internal Audio solution for gaming.

@fabucho8410

4 ай бұрын

do you think the Play!4 hold 250ohm headphones?

@FrankBruce

4 ай бұрын

By experience@@fabucho8410 I have only used it with a Windows PC and not with a PS 4, I may not be able to answer your question

very useful info. i was thinking of buying this to drive my 24 ohm headphones a bit louder than onboard audio, but i will have to look for something else.

@AntonsHardware

9 ай бұрын

Check out the USB C audio jack from apple. Cheap and is good!

@guguigugu

9 ай бұрын

@@AntonsHardware i dont have a USB-C port on my PC. if i plug into USB 3 with an adapter is it going to be louder than my realtek onboard?

Unfortunately, Creative screwed up their update drivers when trying to fix the hum with low impedance headphones. If you download their original drivers, the results are far better than the 250ohm results. Highly recommend this fix.

@LemureLemure

10 ай бұрын

Where do you find the original drivers though? The current ones on their site are genuinely terrible, i get a worse sound quality than with on board card and running them with windows drivers is actually better.

Did you test it with the enhancements off and updated software? I ask because many reviewers say it sounds much better than their default laptop or desktop DAC when they turn off all the enhancement. Thanks!

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Dear Marko, I always test with the enhancements off, with the latest drivers and a fresh install of Windows 10. The reason that most reviewers say that it is better than their laptop or desktop dac, is because they either don't bother to test the card and just copy paste the marketing info from Creative. Or the test isn't a weighted test. Meaning that the test is done with a signal to both the line in of the testbench and a signal to the headset via a splitter. That way the sound card has actually work to produce audio. When I did a test that was unweighted, like most reviewers do, I got decent results as well, which were more in line with other reviewers. But that's not a real test that reflects normal every day use. :) It's like testing a car under optimal condition. No wind, perfect temperature, a car in front to reduce drag. You may get excellent mileage, but it does not reflect reality. Good question by the way! :)

Would love a review of the new Sound Blaster X1

@AntonsHardware

Жыл бұрын

I'm planning on getting one in 2023! I'm curious as well. :D

I just got the G1 as a quick fix instead of this or a used G5 and I am really happy after seeing the frequency responses on your channel. Not super but the flatter G1 sounds really great also compared to Lenovo sound, and when line out to a receiver it has a clear normal sounding gain again without having to overdrive the amp or outputs. Good thd at louder volumes also, fair for sale price. Sounds more like CD audio again. Do you have any videos or recommend a budget ASIO recording soundcard, or usb interface? Thanks again

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Simz, Go to hear! If I had to choose between the G1 or the Play! 3, I'd go for the G1 as well. Another good option may have been the Fiio Olympus 2. A tiny litte sound card that works great with laptops. I'm not into ASIO at this moment, but I'm thinking about making content about it! Thanks for the comments! Anton

@NinjaRastaMon

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Anton! I heard about the Fiio stuff and it being really good, along with a new THX one. Your expertise would be appreciated on ASIO cards, and maybe even awareness of them, as I had no idea about this large but similar DAC niche. However I believe any DAC with recording duplex at 24 bit 96khz would be considered an ASIO capable sound card maybe? But then there is the frequency spectrum you can compare that probably makes or breaks it.. I'll be watching man thanks!

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I will definitly take a closer look at asio and create a video about that! :D

This is more for people who broke their 3.5mm jack on the board or is not working because of some failure so you buy this and you can hook up any headphones again on your broken audio port PC or laptop.

Hello Anton! I want to know your opinion, which external audio card to choose for a laptop? Personally, I'm looking towards the Creative G6, is it worth the money or is there something better? Can the G6 match the sound of the Creative AE5?

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

The G6 and the AE5 are both very capable soundcards. I'm an internal sound card lover, so I'd get the AE5. But quality wise they are very similair.

what about the X-Fi USB ?

I tested multiple usb sound cards including the connexant 31993 and the play 3 is the best I've tested. It certainly isn't horrible like you're stating and a lot better than almost all onboard audio solutions. The only negative I've found is the low signal to noise ratio.

@Gorguruga

6 ай бұрын

Have you tested it on microphone recording? Wondering if it can record studio quality vocals for music?

does support windows 11?

Hello, can you help me? after installing the program, the program writes the audio device was not detected. Installed the driver and the card is working. But the program cannot detect the card.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like there is an issue with the USB port. Have you contacted Creative?

Man nice collection but you should sell some of this stuff. I was curious for my quastion is modern but smaller is better then older but bigger. Its interesting for laptop or if you let using it as a smartophone dac.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

You sound like my wife! She wants me to sell cards as well! :D Yes you are correct! It may be interesting if you use it with a smartphone. But you will need a converter, because it has a USB 2.0 plug and not USB C.

@MikeleKonstantyFiedorowiczIV

2 жыл бұрын

@@AntonsHardware meh i need something what can easy connect to phone as a small dac, i heard new mini creative soundcards has it. But i dont remember model name now.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

I know... The play! 4!!!! nl.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-play-4 Sorry site is in Dutch. You can change region on the bottom right. :D

@MikeleKonstantyFiedorowiczIV

2 жыл бұрын

@@AntonsHardware Yeah i was never of fan of those mini usb dacs, maybe for some old cheap laptop. But with compatability with all new consoles and smartphones it start to be interesting as a travel budget dac i hope they give decent hardware inside.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

I'm looking forward to get my hands on the Play! 4, but other than that, I don't know of any other external sound cards that may be interesting. Do you have a suggestion?

Can this be used for a speaker line out?

@AntonsHardware

6 ай бұрын

It can. But it isn't the best solution.

I have 32ohms headphones, but i have laptop. Are they play !3 will be better ?

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Laptops are targetted at 32 ohm headphone, so with that regard, you won't hear any difference. I'm even betting the laptop will sound better that the Play 3!

@babyyou548

2 жыл бұрын

@@AntonsHardware oke thank you

I have the Play 3 and the sound is significantly better than the onboard audio on my Dell Optiplex 7020. To me, the audio quality is much better when you enable "SBX Pro Studio" and turn on the crystalizer and bass options. Turning on "smart volume" makes the audio louder and gives it a punchier sound (sometimes necessary when watching KZread and the video itself has low volume, etc.) but I don't always turn it on. Sometimes the audio is a little too bright with this sound card but on the whole, I think it's pretty decent for the price.

@AntonsHardware

9 ай бұрын

I tried to find out what kind of codec is used on the Dell, but it mustn't be the good. So it's good to hear that the Play 3 improved your audio quality!

I’m thinking about getting one of these from work, does anybody know if they work with apple earbuds with the aux end??

@AntonsHardware

7 ай бұрын

I really don't know. I really dislike Apple products :) so I can't test that.

@xxtruss5556

7 ай бұрын

@@AntonsHardware I appreciate the reply. I tried it, and I can confirm, apple earbuds suck for gaming. Lmao

Same impressions for me. I tested it with Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 80 ohm and couldn't hear any improvement.

@kristianskeie6349

Жыл бұрын

same, did you figure out anything to make it better?

@warmlycalculated390

Жыл бұрын

@@kristianskeie6349 Yes, download the original drivers, NOT the latest. If your control panel has a switch for low v. high impedance, you're using the wrong drivers.

There are a lot of generic Chinese mini sound cards on Amazon. They are just plug and play. I was actually looking for a 3.5mm to USB converter to run my Soundcore Motion+ wired on my TV sticks (with hubs). I paid $12 Canadian for a UGreen branded one and I was impressed. The speaker sounded far better than it did with even a custom EQ setting in BT. In fact, I was going to buy a second one and pair them. I'm going to save my money now. I'm happy with the sound quality of TV, movies and music. It's just a bedroom TV. The thing is definitely good enough for someone who has blown their built-in soundcard. Apparently it has a DAC, soundcard and amp all in something just a bit bigger than the ISB A end on a normal USB cable.

@AntonsHardware

Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure that the Ugreen has a good DSP in it! End of this month (the 28th) I'm releasing a review about a UGreen product! Hope you like that one!

@amirevil666hasani6

Жыл бұрын

@@AntonsHardware hi antons. Ty for reviewing and comparing sound cards. Do you suggest ugreen over play3? I need a sound card for ps4 to make my headset louder. I rly tired of low volume output. No matter what i connect to ds4. It wont use all of the headset power

@amirevil666hasani6

Жыл бұрын

Hello. Which model did you buy

I'm confused because literally thousands of reviews on Amazon US and UK say this is a significant improvement over onboard audio, granted they are not professional reviews, but still it's strange you got such bad results. Could it be that the 2nd hand unit you got was faulty? I'm looking for a very simple USB sound card dongle that takes up no space and is portable and was going to buy this until I saw this review, literally the only negative review of the product I have found so far.

@AntonsHardware

Жыл бұрын

Very good question! There are multiple answers to your question. For most reviewers on KZread (and other channels) creating content is their real dayjob. They need to pump out as much content as possible, whatever it takes. The KZread algorithm will present your content to more viewers if you do a daily release. That means they don't have the time for doing in depth research and thus stick to whatever a manufacturer says trough their marketing department. That is what annoyed me a lot and is why I started my channel. I have a dayjob (I'm a IT manager) and have time to do in depth analysis. Also I spent way more on hardware than what comes in! (my wife isn't happy with this) I "earn" a meager €20 a month with my videos (I don't sponsored or anything). And that's ok! It's just a hobby for me. The other answer to your question is what is confirmation bias. Meaning, buyers will generally give good reviews for something they bought, since they assume their opinion is good. Still, the product is rather cheap, meaning that a minor quality increase is ok. But I still think it just isn't worth the money. I'm in no way an authority on this. I'm just an enthusiast with an opinion. :) Best question of the year! Thank you! :D

Thanks for the detailed review. I guess Creative's cheaper products are meh compared to Apple A2049 (USA only) or Delock 65899 in Europe.

@AntonsHardware

2 жыл бұрын

Well. I have a extreme dislike of Apple (sorry! :D) so I don't know about that! I haven't tried the Delock, but I will take a look at it in the future!

@therdosie6141

Жыл бұрын

@@AntonsHardware There's a new one with odd specs: Delock 66638, no info about the internals. Have a nice day.

I'm basically just going to be using this for Mic input as the garbage Intel SST Mic input is a buzzing mess on my system. And for what I'm using it for it's working flawlessly. But you can always do worse, a lot worse. You could get one of those no name USB sound cards, or the newer version of the Sabrent USB sound card, both of which are far worse than this.