I reuploaded this due to a youtube error where the video wasn't showing up? KZread must hate aussies T_T

@sgtnik4871

7 жыл бұрын

everybody does

@paragon1017

7 жыл бұрын

hadokrn

@MadIIMike

7 жыл бұрын

I like Aussies :P I'm not really in the market for such a card, since I'd have to throw the budget towards CPU/GPU rather than a Soundcard or Headphones to make use of it... but I could definetely see myself picking up one of those on the used market some day. Afaik prices for soundcards on the used market are quite low compared to GPU/CPU.

@sondreavik5337

7 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, everyone hates Aussies mate, especially ping (pong). ;-)

@FR34KZ

7 жыл бұрын

T_T

2017 is here... and so are PCIe power connectors! Molex. Seriously.

@OTechnology

7 жыл бұрын

Sata would be better. PCIe would be a waste

@Speedycat

7 жыл бұрын

nothing wrong with molex imo, most new PSU's still have a couple of em anyway

@Hornbowman

7 жыл бұрын

O!Technology Anything but molex would be okay. Didn't think about SATA, that would indeed be more appropriate in this case.

@Speedycat

7 жыл бұрын

RevengeofGothzilla i prefer Molex tbh... if its a qualtiy plug atleast Sata powerconnectors allways seem a bit flimsy to me ..

@amshermansen

7 жыл бұрын

Nothing wrong with molex? Well aside from the pins being loose as fuck in nearly every single product out there that uses them. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've had to push in pins that go loose, or wiggle around the plug for ages to get all of them to fit. SATA power - Now.

For me personally it's MIDI or bust.... Great Video as Always

@Speedycat

7 жыл бұрын

ahh i see, an enthusiast from the past aswell! :-)

@yumri4

7 жыл бұрын

the problem with you statement is most independent video's ( like above), movie studio videos, in game movies, and etc. render into default .avi and default .avi or .mp4 and use AAC which is up to 48 channels of sound, 16hz to 48 kHz sound wave lengths, and etc. but most of this is done away with by VP9 encoding from KZread and by the speaker allowed range of at max 20hz to 20kHz then the realistic set up of 1,2, 2.1,5.1 and 7.1 sound supported in videos, games, and online content, so to this even if you had a .midi file for the music the amount of people who would really use it are so few no on lets the .midi file out of the music studio anymore

@jlewwis1995

7 жыл бұрын

Budget-Builds Official "midi or bust" EW, no, xm or bust, midi sucks for anything except exporting note sequences in daws

@gavincurtis

7 жыл бұрын

You need the Cinco MIDI organizer.

@xan1242

7 жыл бұрын

pls midi > xm midi is not for noobs LOL

RGB on a damn sound card with a Molex connector....LMAO!!!

@yumri4

7 жыл бұрын

many things still use Molex just most of them are not for consumers so Molex is still around to this they probably are using Molex as they VRM solution is made for Molex and they do not want to reconfigure the VRMs to meet a PCIe connector or that the kind of VRM needed for PCIe has more EMI then the VRM for a Molex connector which probably is so as PCIe handles a lot more power than Molex and more power = higher EMI when you want a low EMI inside the case you go with low EMI parts to do the same job as good or better so as you are not doing any over clocking high end VRMs made for 60+ watts each are not needed but they will still emit the same EMI leakage as they are made for 60+ watts if you are using a PCIe 6-pin connector you also have most PSUs will have 6+2 pin connectors to which the +2 pin part will introduce EMI to the card which you will not want if going for better than on board sound in a sound card better than on board sound is hard to do as the Realtec sound chip updates so often as blu-ray encoding is chagning but after it stoped changing the chips stoped changing then for VR sound the chip changed once to do that though only on 1 VR device that in time failed you also have the HDMI output from nVidia / AMD is already good enough for many ppl that they only update when they need to support some new feature that is included in monitors

@yumri4

7 жыл бұрын

ah then sorry about that

@Choom2077

7 жыл бұрын

The rgb thing got me. Basically for kids out there looking to treat their pcs like ricers. Body kit, spoiler and all.

@lolschrauber

7 жыл бұрын

I'll propably buy it anyway. Though I can't imagine ever using the RGB. Case is too tidy to put a fucking molex cable in a place like that.

@paddydoestech

7 жыл бұрын

Microtron's Grid correction those are ricers not tuners, tuners want power

it has rgb so it must make my sound run faster.

@ICEGTN

7 жыл бұрын

faster and more colorful sound

@TheGreatMcPain

7 жыл бұрын

Wrapping a RGB strip on my CPU Cooler automatically gave me a 5.0Ghz OC.

@mtsn

7 жыл бұрын

if I want to print it do I need a CMYK model?

@mrspecs4430

6 жыл бұрын

just download more kHz

@gabrielwhite3890

6 жыл бұрын

King Christo Tech I put RGB on my condom and it gave me a vasectomy

You won't understand the difference between onboard audio and these specialized cards until you hear the difference. Too many people are content with onboard audio because they think it's the best they can get or it's the standard. Or quite simply that came free with their board unlike most graphics solutions so they're happy with it.

@Choom2077

7 жыл бұрын

You nailed it.

@exidrial431

6 жыл бұрын

lol internal sound solutions always suck. All the PCIe soundcards I ever owned were barely any better than onboard. External soundcards / DACs will almost always sound better. I don't understand why you people always insist on putting analog signals INSIDE your noisy pc case. That's stupid.

@mrspecs4430

6 жыл бұрын

my onboard sound is quite decent and does better surround sound (with built in dts tech) than my SB ZxR. recorded booth and played it on one device for comparison and the on board recording was more clear and I had a better spatial awareness. ... but in direct/live comparison (switching headphone jack between the sound cards) the ZxR sounded just a little richer. (using headphones with linear frequency response curve)

@ShortHandedNow

5 жыл бұрын

@@exidrial431 PC's electromagnetically speaking are much more "quiet" then they were in years past for the most part. The difference between this card and let us say an External Schitt Stack combo is inaudible. (I own both and I can testify that either will make the average user a much more happy camper.) I also have a budget Asus DG card laying around that still makes a night and day difference compared to a NON amplified on-board solution. All of these products have a place... People just don't seem to know any better.

@exidrial431

5 жыл бұрын

@@ShortHandedNow Well I probably was generalizing too much back then. I don't know how good/bad this sound card is but from my personal experience internal sound solutions are always bad, because I never ever had luck with internal sound. I had a Z97 Maximus VII Hero which had annoying buzzing on the sound all the time. Then I got an internal Xonar DX which made it less worse but there was still buzzing and a high pitched noise on my mic. Then I got the Z370 Aorus Gaming 7 which has EMI problems as well. I ultimately decided to get the external Xonar U7 Mk2 which fixed all my problems. Getting a cheap external DAC would probably have had the same effect though. I still think that putting analog signals inside the pc isn't the best idea ever, your pc is really noisy and you're basically asking for interference, external sound cards / DACs aren't even (much) more expensive than internal ones. Maybe I just got unlucky, who knows. I'm just speaking from personal experience. Edit: BTW you can hear EMI at 3:01, it's quiet but that's EMI.

Sound cards are they back? I never knew they went some where I myself have never use on board audio I find it lacking. I like my PCI-e hardware based sound card as it has a much richer audio output and not flat sounding like most on board solutions.

@tacopizza2003

7 жыл бұрын

+Rocky12345 Most people who want better audio than what "on board audio" provides, switched to (external sound cards) USB audio interfaces.

@ProPotato

7 жыл бұрын

USB sound... eew! Personally never left sound cards myself either. Been running Beyerdynamic DT990 PRO 250Ohm Open Backs with a ModMic for gaming on a Sound Blaster ZX-R since it came out and i have nothing but great things to say about both pieces of kit.

@tacopizza2003

7 жыл бұрын

+Scott Hughes "USB sound... eew!" Most professional studio recordings are done using USB, Thunderbolt, or Firewire connected audio interfaces. Off hand the MOTU HD192 (Core Computer Recording System) is the only professional grade external audio interface I know of that still uses a PCI connection. And I don't know of any internal audio interface that is over $1,000 (USD). There is a lot of interference inside a computer (fan motors, electrical wires, etc.). So it's more practical to have your audio interface outside of the computer, instead of inside of the computer.

@ProPotato

7 жыл бұрын

tacopizza2003 True to outside, much less interference, better quality. Honestly i did jump the gun, reading USB I immediately thought razer products and gimmicky 'gaming headsets'

@tommytomthms5

7 жыл бұрын

I personally like my audio to be fulla schiit if you know what I mean.

I've been watching your videos for about a year now. You've come so far as a youtuber. Keep up the hard work and you'll continue to grow even more. Great content as always :)

The creative "What U Hear" function is pretty amazing.

@musikmitadrian1351

2 жыл бұрын

realtek has something similar called stereomix

We need a comparison video between this and the ALC 1220. How much better is this sound blaster really.

@jopyeap

7 жыл бұрын

Raman my onboard 1220 cant even compare to my old asus dx... its especially evident the limitation of onboard when you try to play music and game at the same time. everything sounds muffled.

@Andytlp

7 жыл бұрын

alc dac is only as good as its implementation in a given board. I have alc 1150 on x99 mobo with proper shielding and channel separation that have texas amps, it sounds excellent. Zero noise even if you raise the volume to 100%. I would buy an external amp/dac but i hear no need. The same cant be said about another pc in the house... which you can hear internal pc noise at about 50% volume.. and an even older pc from about 2011 the noise is unbearable even at like 10-20%!. Unless dedicated sound cards literally jack into my brain im not missing much. From the looks its just more of the same at an already imperceptible range. Seems like theyre selling voice changer. Which can be done in software. Now to be fair i never used a souncard apart from really old days. Dedicated sound is as dead as cd drive.. and i havent even installed dvd drive into my main pc everything is done on steam. Ifi had 150~ to throw away id get it though. just to hear any difference. It would probably be colored and im only interested in neutral.

@00Klingon

7 жыл бұрын

Joseph Yeap that almost sounds like ducking going on. I wonder if that's a driver/software issue?

@taiefmiah

7 жыл бұрын

go for a monoprice DAC amp. it's a much better DAC and amp, but costs less than this.

@MickdeRaad

7 жыл бұрын

If you use your front audio jacks it really depends on how you do the wiring of said front audio connector.

hey dude congrats on 200k subs! you sure have come a long way and it's nice to see this channel getting better and better :)

Always love the vids. It would be nice if you made one explaining your testing methodology. I will commend you on your dedication to thorough reviews! Already looking forward to the next one, m8

Step one: create a product pretty much no one uses Step two: add rgb to the product that probably cost you a couple cents to add Step three: put "pro gamer" "X" and "RGB" on the packaging Step four: profit

@FloorManiac

7 жыл бұрын

I disagree dude. My next build will likely include a sound card like this. They pull a tiny bit of load from the cpu (i.e. the cpu is not processing your audio anymore), and sound phenomenal.

@amshermansen

7 жыл бұрын

That's not the case with onboard either, Floor.

@1967KID

7 жыл бұрын

joris yauw my turtle beach ,x12 came with a earforce dss2 and it works grate on my pc plus I got turtle beach px22 on my other rig I did use saunblaster cards in the 90s early 2000 ,I fill that for games no need to spend cash on a pci soundcard, just my opinion.

@07wrxtr1

7 жыл бұрын

Agreed. That's exactly what occurs in the car aftermarket world. All of a sudden everyone makes an air intake that does nothing a drop in K&N filter couldn't do, but they stamp their name on it = profit. People will pay for a name so they can look the part at car shows. Besides, Whynot just get a real dac with xlr outs like the Emotiva Stealth DC-1? emotiva.com/products/dacs/electronics/dacs/stealth-dc-1 Then you can use some real QUALITY speakers, not that COMPLETE BULLSHIT logitech sells, pair it with some M-Audio's like these: m-audio.com/products/view/m3-6 Audio engine also makes some good stuff... or you can go all out on the OPPO if you run low impedance studio headphones: www.oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/

@ethan5354

7 жыл бұрын

or an alternative route to making big big profit step one: be valve done

Sound Is amazing from this card...so clear, sounds are amazing...songs sound different.Instruments In song pop out

excellent review ... love this card & creative is always a good buy. I currently run an older Audigy2 something or another ... but will be looking to get this

Listening to this through my ae5 I recieved today! Drives my Sennheiser Game Zeros great. I'm not that much of an audiophile to tell you wether this is the thing to do but it sure beats the onboard and I find value for money here.

Good video, I hadn't considered a sound card in years. I will have to look at this one. Thanks.

@vinnyonyt9964

7 жыл бұрын

same.

@jonathanhiener2463

7 жыл бұрын

+Jerry Watson Don't. Buy an external DAC. You don't want an analog line level signal in a PC case, regardless of shielding. Sure, the specs may be great, but a noisy PC case with so much electronic interference is basically the worst place to put your expensive DAC.

@jonathanhiener2463

7 жыл бұрын

***** Sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today, yeesh. Surround sound emulation isn't necessarily better than a well done stereo image, it's mostly reverberations and some extra crosstalk. I never said the components in soundcards can't be of excellent quality, but it's not advisable to put analog audio traces in a PC case. I don't doubt the quality of the amplifiers in a soundcard (unless it's some cheap thing), it's just that an external DAC or amplifier will have less noise to worry about. I don't see how the 1990's were any different as far as interference to today. I do agree that a soundcard is basically the only choice for a cheap *real* surround sound for speakers, as not many USB DAC's feature 5.1 outputs. I apologize for the 'spamming' I originally wrote the message here, but thought it would be better to post it independently. My mistake, I'm just trying to help those with stereo output needs make a better informed choice before spending their money. If you could have the same DAC components interally or externally, I'd always recommend the external to avoid the now beaten-to-death topic of interference and distortion that even a well shielded sound card is more likely to experience.

@07wrxtr1

7 жыл бұрын

Whynot just get a real dac with xlr outs like the Emotiva Stealth DC-1? emotiva.com/products/dacs/electronics/dacs/stealth-dc-1 Then you can use some real QUALITY speakers, not that COMPLETE BULLSHIT logitech sells, pair it with some M-Audio's like these: m-audio.com/products/view/m3-6 Audio engine also makes some good stuff... or you can go all out on the OPPO if you run low impedance studio headphones: www.oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/

@jonathanhiener2463

7 жыл бұрын

+nnamcost No offense intended, as I am a gamer, but if you think that something with "Gaming" or "For Gamers" written on it is quality, based on that fact alone, you must not have experienced midrange to high end audio equipment. Creative Labs is a joke amongst *real* audio companies, and you can tell Creative themselves aren't an audio company on based solely on their spec sheet for this product, which is ultimately useless. For some, this sound card may work fine, but I hope nobody assumes it's particularly high quality for audio beyond gaming. I will never recommend a sound card for someone who needs quality stereo output. I am not the most experienced with HRTF in games, other than knowing some use it, so I can't talk from experience on that front, but I can tell you there is a lot better equipment out there from other companies. A true 5.1 will be better for a competitive shooter, but surround sound effects of an amp are just that, effects. The signal being fed into them doesn't tell the amp where footsteps are. The best it can do is make the output echo-y, which some may prefer, but it isn't a requirement because it doesn't actually increase the accuracy of sound placement like footsteps. So far the only benefit I see to buying a sound card is if you need real 5.1 output on a budget. Otherwise you will get better quality products from companies like Emotiva, Schiit, SMSL, etc. for a similar price.

I still have a old Creative Titanium HD, i didnt hear anything from a Onboard Chip from Asus, Gigabyte or MSI which comes close to this sound.

@CheapSushi

7 жыл бұрын

Nothing out really compares to the Titanium HD, even the Z series since it was probably the last card with hardware for true sound acceleration instead of lots of software emulation..

@blahblah7720

7 жыл бұрын

so,the titanium HD is the best sound card out here?are the sound actualy that good?Better than modern hardware?

@jordanwest8943

7 жыл бұрын

kaan yazici Irish

@Keullo-eFIN

5 жыл бұрын

Titanium HD is awesome what I've heard. I'd trade my SB Z to one of those anytime.

Glad to see you got your YES back. Youre the best, and best wishes mate

Hey, I am having a slight video playback issue here on KZread probably due to my bad internet, so I would just like to thank you for including some of the video info and outcome in the description so I didn't miss out on what happened

How does it compare to the Asus STX-II?

For people who actually are about audio quality and running multiple setups they have been for years and always will be I don't see how people use on board tbh. You wouldn't use on board graphics

@exidrial431

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah but onboard graphics are noticeably worse than dedicated GPUs. Onboard sound chips aren't much worse than dedicated INTERNAL PCIe sound solutions.

@Carlton_Banks

6 жыл бұрын

Onboard graphics while improved, are still noticeably worse then dedicated in overly demanding tasks, such as rendering or mining. Menwhile, onboard soundcards made such leaps over the years that in an ABX test with evenly matched volume control, for the untrained ear, they are notably indistinguishable from a dedicated soundcard or an external solution. That's why for the 98% of the PC populace, onboard sound is "good enough".

To me this is really exciting, that these types of products are being produced again. I'd love to have a current product like my Soundblaster in my recording machine that's up to date so I could leave XP behind. Right now I record on my zero-latency XP rig and then take the song data to my up-to-date gaming laptop for programming and mastering.

thanks for this! hate usb interfaces but had to move to them. now there is hope.

I would still advise going for Asus STX solutions, and if you are really crazy about audio you can get burson op-amps and some additional resistors and replace them without worry, while here op-amps are soldered. Also, who the fuck needs rgb on a soundcard?

@TheError404

7 жыл бұрын

I doubt that anything in a DIP socket would give better performance than a surface mounted component which has much lower inductance and parasitic capacitance. Also, those Burson opamp specs are not even that good compared to some other precision op amps. And having such a tall unshielded device in a horrifically noisy environment (plenty of switch mode converters in the PC) would absolutely wreck the sound

@erickauffman

7 жыл бұрын

If you have an RGB set up then a RGB card is very desirable. I may buy this card just for the RGB to be honest. I have the Soundblaster Z right now but only use it for the optical output and the software that it comes with for gaming. If I get this I will probably only use it for the same thing since I have the Uber Schiit stack that I use to drive my HD650's.

@briankerr6543

7 жыл бұрын

Djordje Nedic RGB...because I like it and can afford it. Enough said.

@dxmxgxd573

7 жыл бұрын

He likes his sound coloured

@taiefmiah

7 жыл бұрын

TheError404 what specs are you talking about? while you can have some very transparent op amps, most suck because they are poorly implemented

I personally do not think it it should be necessary to have a piece of garbage connected to my PC that sits atop my desk to enjoy good clean music. If an internal card can give me that without the need for a gaudy black plastic desk wart, then I am all for it. Bring on the sound card!

That sound card looks amazing, sound cards never went anywhere they always have been and always will be better than on board audio.

congrats on 200k !!!!!!

>get an expensive soundcard/DAC >use gaymer headsets with shitty sound quality really makes me think tbh

@FlawedbyDesign777

6 жыл бұрын

I wind wired around a permanent magnet..

@Keullo-eFIN

5 жыл бұрын

I know some people who bought a soundcard and they continue to use their fucking USB headset. I'm dead serious.

one amp for each ear, wow... How else would you amplify a stereo signal... If you care about high quality sound and recording, get an external DAC/ADC. They can not pick up noise from within the case and have a better I/O configuration. This is mainly software you are paying for, paired with good looks.

Danm, thats some really frikin good mic quality you get from having that sound card

I just got the Sound Blaster ZXR and it is very fine indeed. This one has a few higher specs that the ZXR, but looks like it is (as the name implies) tailored more towards gaming rigs with a need for flash. I went with onboard audio for a while and thought it was fine. Then I decided to get the ZXR (since all of my other machines used sound cards) and was reminded about what I had been missing.

can i get a god damn YES for this soundcard

@Armand79th

7 жыл бұрын

YES!

Sound cards haven't ever gone away, you're trying too hard to be Mr future tech and getting ahead of yourself.

@techyescity

7 жыл бұрын

I got so far ahead of myself that I went forward to the past.

Congrats on 200k 😁

@Tech YES City Hey, thank you for great informative video! Creative was one of my favorite brands when I was a child (nomad, soundblaster live etc.) It's great to see them return after years of silence. I have a question though. I have Sony MDR 7506 and Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones. Would I benefit from this soundcard with those headphones or do I need high impedance ones to get my moneys worth?

SNR of 116 dB is not that good if I'm honest

@erickadriansanchezjimenez9471

6 жыл бұрын

MyKeyz actually is advertized with 122 DNR.

@julianwest4030

5 жыл бұрын

116 is great. The compact disc only goes as high as 96dB. 24 bit audio is around 130 dB and it's considered the threshold of sound for humans, meaning you'd only really benefit from it at very loud volumes.

It was microsoft that gave up on sound cards with windows vistas sound drm garbage.

@scythelord

7 жыл бұрын

It wasn't sound DRM, it was that Microsoft decided to drop support for Directsound from DirectX 10. That effectively dropped support for standard hardware accelerated sound entirely, negating the advantages of the soundcards that existed. Sound through soundcards didn't offer enough advantages over cpu processed sound.

@TheUtada1983

7 жыл бұрын

Like EAX.

@cracklingice

7 жыл бұрын

Soundcards offered a LOT of advantage over on board solutions before Vista broke stuff.

@700gsteak

7 жыл бұрын

creative did a good job at holding back sound technology by suing the competition with frivorous lawsuits then 'saving' them by buying them cheap. they got what they deserved when microsoft got rid of hardware sound.

I have this card for 3 months and I love IT its the best sound card I have ever have (My first SB 16 ) and own 5 different CL cards over the last 25 years !!

I'm still using a Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme Fata1ity card. I'll check this new card out when/if the old one dies. Thanks for the video. :)

This could replace my usb dac/amp unit. Interesting.

@taiefmiah

7 жыл бұрын

it won't, it's a worse poduct

@chadswood

6 жыл бұрын

taief miah You dont even know what setup he has. How do you know its better then this card? Noob

@muradshawar

6 жыл бұрын

I was thinking about getting a amp and DAC Combo found a really good one for $150 but when I saw this video I went with this sound card instead. Put it in the PC and don't have to worry about it finished.

Make sounds cards cool again! #MSCCA !

@Choom2077

7 жыл бұрын

SAD!

Tech YES City Good video! Brian, do you have any idea how this sound card compares to the X7 of Creative? I love audio, I am happy with more options. The big question is if you should buy a dedicated DAC and amp for general purposes or a sound card like this. One correction though, there might be one or two sub-$100 headphones which do require more than onboard audio to get the best out of it. Not a lot, certainly not any gaming headset.

Great soundcard and it is fairly cost effective when on offers...Love the audio quality which is just stunning with my Beredynamic headphones. With my Bookshelf speakers just as stunning..well worth it....

Don't buy soundcards. Buy an external DAC. You don't want an analog line level signal in a PC case, regardless of shielding. Sure, the specs may be great, but a noisy PC case with so much electronic interference is basically the worst place to put your expensive DAC.

@izzuera

7 жыл бұрын

Not everyones desk have the space for a External DAC

@cj09beira

7 жыл бұрын

its not regardless of shielding

@rizrizriz

7 жыл бұрын

Good external DAC are getting smaller (to the size of thumbdrive) and better sounding not sure what's the problem is unless you're going for serious TOTL setup.

@jonathanhiener2463

7 жыл бұрын

***** I kind of doubt that people couldn't find a 4 x 5" space somewhere on their desk if they already have a pair of cans. Bruno Cardoso​ Yes it is. Shielding is great and all, and I'm not saying this sounds bad, but you'd be better off buying an external amp + DAC for the same price and getting analog signals the hell out of a computer case. It's a better purchase for the money.

@izzuera

7 жыл бұрын

well welcome to asian cramed apratments man

and no fucks were given about 5.1 or 7.1 Surround Sound System owners... :-( ...stupid Headphones.

@techyescity

7 жыл бұрын

It has toslink 5.1 support and analog 5.1. Though no 7.1

@Speedycat

7 жыл бұрын

there is most likely going to be a 7.1 version aswell, was the same with the Soundblaster Z

@EspHack

7 жыл бұрын

if you are going to use toslink you might as well gift the 150$ to soundblaster

@jamegumb7298

7 жыл бұрын

ZeroB4NG Easy. I run hdmi to my surround receiver. Done. Make sure you do 96kHz bitstreaming for extra quality if you like. Denons have an excellent virtual surround on their receivers for headphones as well even on the absolute bottom models. Many other brands do too.

@1301407gl

7 жыл бұрын

well if you're not a big movie or video game guy 5.1and 7.1 is Unnecessary most music is made with 2.0 in mind

Great case you have! Having an Air 740 also here :)

I have a Sound Blaster Z and a 5.1 surround sound speaker setup using a receiver and bookshelf speakers. Looks like I'll be getting the AE-5. :)

Anyone using a sound card for gaming in this day and age better have a good reason. Hint: "it sounds better" isn't a valid complaint anymore. Onboard audio has long since passed the threshold of adequate audio for gaming and daily use. Unless you're doing extremely critical listening on your PC (pretty much no one), you will NEVER notice a difference between discrete sound cards (even one as nice as this) and onboard audio. Your gaming headphones will kill most of the benefits of this card. Hell, you could get better audio than this card with a dirt cheap USB DAC and a proper amp / power block. The limiting factor in PC audio isn't the DAC anymore and hasn't been for a LONG time - it's the amp stage and your speaker output. And no, your "gaming headphones" or "bass rocking speakers" are nowhere near appropriate for critical listening. Gaming, daily use? Yes.

@saturnGEEK

7 жыл бұрын

The reasons of choosing an external DAC or sound card come down to what the purpose is. Home theatre machine to 5.1/7.1 home theatre speaker systems a sound card is the way to go. Even for some of those 5.1/7.1 analog headphones. If you've spend +$200 on headphones, then a DAC may be a better option. However, if you want to shove audiophile crap down everyone's throat, so be it.

@3800S1

7 жыл бұрын

I agree and I also will add this. Imho dedicated sound cards have gone backwards with gaming as its been nearly 15 years since game titles had EAX and then with vista onward there was no support for direct sound so yeah its all much for muchness and on board sound for gaming at least is on par these days. I am not sure why creative even have EAX support on their cards, like how do you use it if virtually no modern game supports it, older games that did can't use it as there is a catch 22 problem, 1. modern OSs as I mentioned have no direct sound support (ie hardware acceleration) so older games wont work in EAX mode, 2. installing an old OS like xp, 2k or 98 wont work as the creative cards on offer wont support these OSs and why would you? I doubt even XP would run a modern system. So the point of gaming and EAX on these dedicated cards is pretty much moot these days unless game developers, MS, Kronos group and creative work together to make it work. I have actually built old retro PCs cira mid/early 2000s so I can revisit and enjoy a time when games had super realistic and vibrant environmental sound. Only then did I realize how much the industry dropped the ball when it came to gaming audio. There is a think called creative alchemy for vista and newer to bring back EAX for old titles but they only patched a number of games and many of the ones I play aren't supported and do not work, still sound flat and lifeless. Thats where the retro PC comes in for that.

@salmansengul

6 жыл бұрын

I've been using dedicated soundcards from Creative since 2006 and never regretted it! So I disagree with you good Sir! But your opinion might be okay for some gamers/people!

@Ragnar_Rock

6 жыл бұрын

@BlownMacTruck: I´m using Beyerdynamic MMX 300 2. Gen (770 Pro) and Phillips Fidelio X2 Headphones and believe me, there is a huge difference between a good soundcard like SB ZxR and that onboard trash. If you don´t notice any difference between onboard sound and a good soundcard with this HPs, than you should go to the doctor let him check your ears. And for music listening I use a Fiio X5 3rd in DAC mode. So, I don´t buy a soundcard for listening to music, but for real good gaming sound and the software features like virtual surround, that no usual USB-DAC can deliver. And no, you can´t get better sound of a "dirt cheap USB DAC"! If you want better sound with a USB-DAC + HP Amp then you have to spent at least 300-400,- €, wich is double the Price of this card or the ZxR. So, sorry dude but it´s bullshit what you say and you don´t know what you are talking about.

@firexallst4rz277

6 жыл бұрын

Even tho my on board audio sounds decent it can output 5.1 or 7.1 even though it says it does in my motherboards manual so in order for me to achieve that I need to buy a sound card and this one does exactly that

this guy from Tech City constantly looks and sounds like he's constipated.

@techyescity

7 жыл бұрын

I am constipated yo.

@Limitbreakur

7 жыл бұрын

lol

@JamesMichaelDoyle

7 жыл бұрын

no need to be so BM sorry, I couldn't resist.

Great video! I've always been a fan of non-motherboard sound cards. I'm currently listening to an old PCI ESI Juli@ card... it's magical, so quiet! One thing though... you should really be measuring cross talk with external equipment, not the sound cards own level meters. I'm not sure where to software level meters get their information from, but I'd bet it's not at the output jacks. :-)

I was lucky to get an old Creative Titanium HD soundcard for free a while back when I bought a used x58 board, memory, & CPU combo. The sound card made a night and day difference and sounds incredible. There even was a new quality of sound and increased volume that came out of my $50 Logitech 2.1 speakers that I never heard before or thought possible. I had no idea what I was missing. The day I finally decide to sell my PC and upgrade, I'm keeping the soundcard and using it in the next build.

"high-definition" playback is snake-oil bullshit.

@GreatGodSajuuk

7 жыл бұрын

BUT ALL MAH KILOHURTZ UP THE ASS IT MUST SOUND GOOOOOOOOOD

@taiefmiah

7 жыл бұрын

ChasingTruth TakingFlak LOL. what's obvious in high end audio, is that there are a lot of shills, however, there are many good things

@BenWillock

7 жыл бұрын

Well its a way of marketing 32 bit 384kHz audio support in a way that the general consumer (read RGB gamer) can understand. Admittedly, I think marketing this high end of a product to gamers is a bad idea but we'll see how successful they are I guess.

@phillycheesetake

7 жыл бұрын

It doesn't matter who you are, you can be the most distinguished composer to ever live, 32/384 playback affords you no benefit. Every PC supports sampling at any frequency and bit-depth you want, but playing it back in that form is pointless. Not only is it pointless, it will encourage idiots who don't understand sampling theory to shell out money for "high definition" copies of music they already own.

@taiefmiah

7 жыл бұрын

yh that 32/384 LUL. That feel when the DACs people like the most are either 16/48 or 24/96, because they have good characteristics.

NO. Lay them to rest...

@xTurtleOW

7 жыл бұрын

I bet you use gaming headset

@jrmo9289

7 жыл бұрын

TheTurtleOffDoom probably does lol

@taipeitaiwan10

7 жыл бұрын

Gaming headset? Ha. No way. They sound like crap. I got a separate AMP/DAC for my Philips Fidelio X2. And they sound great.

@Khosumi

7 жыл бұрын

you know, sound cards aren't only for gaming. listening / creating music can benefit greatly from them simply because of better sound quality than what your motherboard audio can produce. sound cards can't just "go away"

@gtheskater

6 жыл бұрын

eastsiide depends on the microphone, condensers most of the times need a preamp

Congrats on hitting 200k subs! #roadto1mil

looks sick. i've been using a Sound Blaster Z for quite some years now because on-board audio on my old mainboard was absolutely abysmal. actually no idea what it's like now, i just kept using the card. i've had problems in the past with occasional cyberdemonic possession where the audio output would suddenly distort to hell until reboot, but now it's working quite well. however, i still bought the Shiit Fulla 2 DAC/Amp for headphone use, primarily because the sound card always had an audible noise level. and i think the next time i get to upgrade my audio, i'm gonna go with an external USB solution rather than an internal sound card. like the Sound BlasterX Kratos S5 (RGB sound, yo) or some other powered speakers with a desktop USB-DAC/Amp stack

Perfect! Now my $11.00 Staples brand speakers with the RGB lit water fall feature will sound their absolute best. Everybody's coming over to my cubicle.

Ooo, I like it! I'm a sucker for RGB and good sound.

I hope Creative is back in business. I would give this card a try.

I love my E5 to death! It's works as a mic, 7.1 simulator with SBX and a travel companion. And now they finally has an internal sound card with 1 ohm output impedence. Something that was a problem on most internal sound cards before. I hope cheaper versions gets released.

I'm still rocking my ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus. Originally bought it as my motherboard had a very poor built in sound quality, both with weak amp and really annoying background noise, and struggled to drive my headphones. Still works really well, and the Dolby Home Theater extra program is very nice to make the sound be just like I want it for games, movies and music.

Interesting, this would be pretty cool, because my actual sound ports aren't working. Anyways good work as always bryan, see you later!

Yay! you brought back the "yes"!

Creative Labs was one of the first to release Windows 10 drivers for their products while ASUS was ignoring their community. I've been happy with the $40 Audigy FX but will be looking to upgrade with my next build. Thanks for the thorough review!

i like it keep up the good work .. how does this stack up against that Znxr or whatever it was called ... you know the one from creative tha5 came with a shield and it seperated the headphone audio jack by moving it to a "daughter board"

sounds good, so to speak. I might get one of these

guess what i still got a fully functional creative sound blaster platinum live drive 2, i just could not get rid of it since no drivers since windows xp, i kept it there for long years until, some Russian team decided to create custom drivers for it & it's alive :))) i could not believe hearing it again after so many years :) still plugging my guitar and midi into it works like charm to this day no issues.

Well, i always loved the sound of Creative cards. Although, and my favourite was the Soundblaster ZXR, after this card i kinda switched away from Creative. Because of the too many issues with the Z family (there are so many posts all over the internet on the various reasons), mine was the fact that the Soundcard would sometimes simply be gone or not booting up with the PC. I tried all sorts of different PCIe ports, and sometimes it worked again for a day or two, maybe a week, but then it was gone again. I tried several models, just to make sure it wasnt the one i had initially. I even tried with different mainboards, still the same issues. Sound was great, and I really loved the desktop thingy for the ZXR (something I desperately searched after that) and the sound was great. I also tried several drivers, the original (which hardly ever received updates) and some 3rd party ones, no difference as far as the issues were. Anyways, after that I waited quite a bit, using a damn Onboard sound which didnt made me happy at all, until the Asus Strix Raid DLX, which at least had a desktop controller of some kind, although its not the same and it has something thats really annoying. But again, compared to Onboard audio it sounds like Gold, and it was one of the very rare with a desktop controller. But I think Asus didnt really care too much for that card, because Software updates are very rare and the card has its own issues. Like the fact, that when I switch from Headphone to Speakers (and visa versa), its both its own device. The Headphones part and the Speakers part, even in the Audio device list. Which is not good, when you quickly want to swtich from Headphone to Speaker in a game for example, because the Game detected the Headphone part when it started, and uses that. If you simply switch to Speakers now, its also a new device, and you end up with no sound at all in the game. So, not only would I love a Creative sound card again, but without that desktop controller, it wouldnt make me happy. And since that new one doesnt have that, as much as I would love to try that out, it wouldnt give me what I want. Its too bad Creative screwed it up so bad with the Z series.

nice to see a prosumer audio card! good review thnks. Although ADC is analog to digital converter, that's ok, your reviews are much more approachable than that guy with the nice shirt lol.

@Tech Yes City, what did you say about the x ae-5 compare to the creative ZxR soundcard ? is x amp really so mch better ? when you would buy a new soundcard which support 600 ohm headset, which one would you take ?

Cant wait till July 8th, IM A FULL FLEDGED SOUND BLASTER DEVOTEE Creative Labs always and will be superior in sound , I want this to replace my Creative Sound BlasterZ ... LOVE THE CONTENT TECH YES !!! Always loved your videos your superior in many ways buddy !

@kamikazee2239

7 жыл бұрын

Better keep waiting according to the webpage AVAILABLE FROM 01 AUG 2017.

The one thing that would make me buy a sound card would be the option to make each and every program put out its sound through one of the 3.5mm jacks so I can adjust their volume with a physical mixer.

I always wanted an Audigy 2 with the breakout box. How about a version of this new model with a breakout box, and maybe some professional grade DACs and all kinds of inputs like XLR for recording?

I used to have a 7.1 Creative Audigy 2 with a good quality set of Creative speakers and my god did they sound amazing. People were usually shocked that my PC was the source of the music (due to volume/bass) they could hear as it wasn't as common for people to use their PC in that way as it is now. Honestly if you can afford to get a decent card with speakers to do it justice, the sound quality is incredible for a humble PC

congrats on 200k subs

Just ordered this for my older gaming / media PC to power a new set of Beyerdynamics DT990's and also to improve the sound signal going to my Klipsche Pro Media 2.1's which actually sound great already. I'm expecting great results based on reviews I've seen.

There's a *YES* between Tech and City, it looks satisfying.

Am I the only fan of sound cards here? Although I have an uneducated ear, I can clearly perceive a huge difference in games, music and movies. I find the sound a lot crisper, richer, deeper, and more enjoyable. For the last 10 years or so I have decided to include sound blaster sound cards and I have never regretted it, even less now that they have greatly improved in design and aesthetics, although they had already leaped forward with their previous Z generation which I'd have given the caption of this video to as the return of the sound cards. It was at that time when I grew over-enthusiast once again as not only would I be getting better sound but also a better looking rig. Kudos Creative for surviving all this long and still being in the making.

OHSHIT Tech "YES" City is back!

Great for those who go through a lot of different headphones like me and my brother. I'm just clumsy, and he's borderline careless with his headphones. Should be a great idea for his PC and mine whenever I get a job. Although if I don't by October I'll probably just show it to him and suggest he buy it for himself lol.

Late question even though this video was made last 2017: Is getting the AE-5 and upgrade from my ROG Phoebus Solo Sound Card? It works with windows 10 using the "last" updated driver 4.29? Thanks in advance.

Nice! I loved my X-Fi 10 or more years ago

I might be getting one of those.

Eh, pretty neat! I'd buy it if it was available in my country, but I doubt that's gonna happen for a good time. I'm using an old (But still decent) Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium from Creative Labs, and it sounds amazing compared to onboard and other cheaper options. Creative Labs always had great sound cards in my opinion, glad to see they are still releasing new ones every now and then.

No external controls? No external passthrough audio jack for headphones? Did they go back to stone age, forcing me to crouch under the desk looking for that port to unplug speakers and plug in headphones? I've been using Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (the uncut version of the cheapest x-fi) for over 10 years now, and every time I switch to built-in audio, I switch back to X-Fi in a minute. Music just doesn't sound the same. But its dying (bit by bit, sometimes it doesn't boot, sometimes I need to reinstall drivers 2-3 times to make it boot, most of the time it just works), so I've been looking forward to getting upgrade. I was thinking of Zx since it has a knob with microphone and audio jack for headphones which mutes speaker connected to the card but now there's AE5 and I'm lost...

The RGB header on the sound card reminds me of the old days with the gameport or even a CD drive interface on the soundcard lol

hope they do a good job of filtering the power well, thats why i have long time ago abandoned sound cards and use at the moment a Denon DA-300 DAC instead. Its an amazing DAC but dont have any gaming features what so ever

The question I have though....that optical port, is it output only or can it do input? I use my ps4 on my pc so I like integrating the audio all i can...I liked that function of the age old Titanium HD which mixed the toslink in --> toslink out along with system audio to my headphone amp.

making sound cards sound cool again? you know what i really like the sound of that tbh lets see what they can do and what has to offer.

I am using a Burson Audio desktop AMP with my MSI GT72S which comes with a SABRE DAC max at 192000 Hz at 24bit, sounds fantastic with my AKG cans or Klipsch R-15PM Monitors and Sub.

...and here I am over here still loving my Asus Xonar DX sound card with my Sennheizer HD598SE headphones.

Thank you for the review. Why did CREATIVE put a molex connector on the card...Sata power plugs in with so much ease.

Gonna get this and pair it with my DT 990 Pro 250 ohm headphones.

been using creative sound cards for years had the recon 3d now running the zx may look into this card now it finally released

Man I loved my Audigy 2, it came across so many computers

Kinda miss the old days... my SB16 + 2x CDROM costing an arm and a leg - and I took that SB16 MCD ASP through several systems, though not the accompanying CR563 - that went with the first system that I sold on, after replacing the SB16 with one from a local PC store (more a kind of warehouse, they were pretty good for parts) as in "what's the cheapest Panasonic interface card you have". Also ended up equipped with a cheap wavetable DB. PCI128 came next, and the midi on it sounded decent using the 8MB wavetable - as I understand it, PCI assisted hardware, with the samples in main memory but fetched by the card. LIVE came next, but then onboards began taking over - still a little nostalgic for the traditional OPL3 sound though, especially assisted by the Jamie O'Connell FMsynth driver

My only skepticism about it are the drivers and that they don't tell you the watts per channel for the amp. The part about the amp might be me misunderstanding the implementation of the amp. But the drivers are the biggest issue I have with my Asus Xonar STX and also of the Micca Origen. If Creative can keep the drivers updated, then I would buy it.

I was using a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty for nearly 10 years and recently switched to a SMSL SD793-II Digital Audio Decoder Amp and SMSL SA50 combo. Other than the annoying on and off clicks, it sounds pretty darn good. Being one one of those old gamers, I've always loved Creative. Would this card be worth it?

Always have a soft spot for Creative. Remember all those DOS games which had the mean sound as they were Soundblaster compatible! Me personally I am an optical out kinda guy to active speakers. However I would consider if I had some better head phones.

Had no idea soundcards ever went away :)