Hi Guys
Recently I have been provided with a Creative Sound Blaster Z Sound Card to compare to my current set up.
For a few years now I have been using the fantastic Asus Xonar D2X. This is a superb sound card and has served me really well. I have steered clear of Creative sound cards after a bad experience with a Fatal1ty Pro card a few years back. Creative were 100% sure I would change my mind with this card.
After a product meeting before Christmas last year, we were presented with an early pre production sample of the sound blaster Z. I liked the innovation and the way things were going so I was keen to try one in my system.
The Box:
Packaged wonderfully, this is a retail packaged unit that I am using. The retail packaging is simply brilliant. There really isn't much else to say. The cards features are made very clear. In honesty, it doesn't matter too much to the majority of the OcUK customer base as you dont choose the card based on packaging with you all shopping on our website, but it certainly goes some way to impress when it is in your hands.
The interior of the packaging is very high quality with a flocked plastic retainer for the card itself and substantial clips holding the card firmly in place. behind the plastic retainer, you have the usual instructions setup info and paraphernalia as well as the Beamforming Mic.
Quality and Presentation
The sound card looks superb. This would look very much at home in a high end ROG board or even an SR-X. The card is surrounded in a beautifully finished shield which makes the card look superb. [the OEM version does not have this shield over the card]. The heatshield has a window in it so that you can gaze lovingly through it and see the quad core sound processor.
The rear pcie bracket is gold and looks brilliant on the rear of the PC.
Initial Setup:
What first impressed me about this card and a major plus point over my Asus D2X. No Power Cable! Using Corsair power supplies for the past 5 years+ has meant I have practically removed any use for floppy connectors but for my sound card. A floppy drive power connector to power a modern high end sound card is annoying, backwards and totally unreasonable for a modern high end computer system. This was my one major frustration with the D2X and not something I miss at all.
The Soundblaster Z comes with no external power requirements and slots into the PCI-E lane where it draws power.
Moving onto the installation within windows, the card detects and is installed in a few seconds with the recently updated drivers from Creatives much improved support site. This was where I was most anticipating issues, especially with my problems on my last Creative card.
The software is well put together and has a nice format that in my opinion is easier to navigate than the Asus software. Laying out the options down the left hand side provides a familiar interface to any computer user and means you can easily find the section you are looking for.
The equalizer settings were poor at the start and I had to fiddle for a bit to get settings that I was happy with for music playback as I felt that it lacked the punch that the D2X gave the music out of the box. Moving the sliders around fixed this and the sound through my speakers and headset were vastly improved.
Music:
Playing a variety of music it is easy to see that the Creative is really not aimed to be a direct competitor to the likes of the Xonar STX and it does fall down slightly. As I previously mentioned, the EQ settings need to be messed with to get the best sound out of the card and none of the presets seem to do the trick.
On bass heavy tracks the card struggled to get the sort of impact that my Asus card had easily with the sound feeling slightly empty in comparison.
On Rock and acoustic tracks, there was a noticeable difference with the clarity becoming immediately apparent. Guitars sounded very clear and there was a nice warmth to the music that I had not heard using the D2X.
Gaming:
This is where the Sound Blaster Z shines. Put simply, this is a gaming sound card and is ideally suited to that. It has brilliant positional sound and in game SFX are really enhanced. Playing the recently released 'Colonial Marines' it is easy to tell where enemies are coming from and how far away they are, it also goes some way to enhance the atmosphere of the game with things like the motion tracker echoing down corridors and pulse rifle bursts making a pleasingly convincing noise in closed environments.
Battlefield 3 is a game where my D2X shined and it was going to be easy to compare the SB-Z to it here. Operation Metro, plenty of carnage going on around me and the SB-Z didn't disappoint. Rifle fire echoing off walls was superb and explosions and characters barking commands nearby were noticeably clearer than with the D2X.
The Beamforming Mic
This is arguably the biggest selling point of the card. It simply plugs in and sits in front of you [or on top of your monitor]. It is a stylish, small mic bar that pics up as much or as little as you want.
Essentially it removes the need for a headset as you can use your speakers and put your mic pick up field right where your mouth is.
I tried it with music on though my speakers and it does work. you can hear a little bit of the music down the mic but not much at all. considering how loud the music was, it made a good argument for using your street headphones or pc speaker system as your main gaming output.
obviously there will be people that ultimately prefer a headset and you can just choose not to use the Beamform Mic but I personally think its a pretty cool inclusion with the package and a genuinely useful accessory.
In Summary:
The SBZ has a few flaws. It is a little flat sometimes and lacks the punch that the D2X has as an all round sound card. It also could do with being a few pounds cheaper to put it more in line with the Asus DX card that I believe it is more of a competitor for than the D2X. It currently retails at a price between the DX and D2X.
obviously, for a user looking for a better deal, the OEM SB-Z is also available and has no less features on the card but loses the beamform mic and attractive red shield.
The soundblaster Recon 3D is not worth considering now as the SB-Z surpasses it as a package really.
Whilst the flaws are there and pricing aside, The SB-Z is a truly brilliant gaming sound card. It was never meant to be the all rounder and the D2X whilst reproducing music in a more pleasing manner is simply not as good for gaming with.
The Beamform mic is a pleasant inclusion and it is nice to see innovation in sound cards these days as there is usually very little to discuss about them.
The package provides an excellent entry option into high end PC audio and gives the user a seamless software experience which is a brilliant step forward from the days where creative drivers were troublesome.
Pros
Cons
PRODUCT PAGE HERE
Recently I have been provided with a Creative Sound Blaster Z Sound Card to compare to my current set up.
For a few years now I have been using the fantastic Asus Xonar D2X. This is a superb sound card and has served me really well. I have steered clear of Creative sound cards after a bad experience with a Fatal1ty Pro card a few years back. Creative were 100% sure I would change my mind with this card.
After a product meeting before Christmas last year, we were presented with an early pre production sample of the sound blaster Z. I liked the innovation and the way things were going so I was keen to try one in my system.
The Box:
Packaged wonderfully, this is a retail packaged unit that I am using. The retail packaging is simply brilliant. There really isn't much else to say. The cards features are made very clear. In honesty, it doesn't matter too much to the majority of the OcUK customer base as you dont choose the card based on packaging with you all shopping on our website, but it certainly goes some way to impress when it is in your hands.
The interior of the packaging is very high quality with a flocked plastic retainer for the card itself and substantial clips holding the card firmly in place. behind the plastic retainer, you have the usual instructions setup info and paraphernalia as well as the Beamforming Mic.
Quality and Presentation
The sound card looks superb. This would look very much at home in a high end ROG board or even an SR-X. The card is surrounded in a beautifully finished shield which makes the card look superb. [the OEM version does not have this shield over the card]. The heatshield has a window in it so that you can gaze lovingly through it and see the quad core sound processor.
The rear pcie bracket is gold and looks brilliant on the rear of the PC.
Initial Setup:
What first impressed me about this card and a major plus point over my Asus D2X. No Power Cable! Using Corsair power supplies for the past 5 years+ has meant I have practically removed any use for floppy connectors but for my sound card. A floppy drive power connector to power a modern high end sound card is annoying, backwards and totally unreasonable for a modern high end computer system. This was my one major frustration with the D2X and not something I miss at all.
The Soundblaster Z comes with no external power requirements and slots into the PCI-E lane where it draws power.
Moving onto the installation within windows, the card detects and is installed in a few seconds with the recently updated drivers from Creatives much improved support site. This was where I was most anticipating issues, especially with my problems on my last Creative card.
The software is well put together and has a nice format that in my opinion is easier to navigate than the Asus software. Laying out the options down the left hand side provides a familiar interface to any computer user and means you can easily find the section you are looking for.
The equalizer settings were poor at the start and I had to fiddle for a bit to get settings that I was happy with for music playback as I felt that it lacked the punch that the D2X gave the music out of the box. Moving the sliders around fixed this and the sound through my speakers and headset were vastly improved.
Music:
Playing a variety of music it is easy to see that the Creative is really not aimed to be a direct competitor to the likes of the Xonar STX and it does fall down slightly. As I previously mentioned, the EQ settings need to be messed with to get the best sound out of the card and none of the presets seem to do the trick.
On bass heavy tracks the card struggled to get the sort of impact that my Asus card had easily with the sound feeling slightly empty in comparison.
On Rock and acoustic tracks, there was a noticeable difference with the clarity becoming immediately apparent. Guitars sounded very clear and there was a nice warmth to the music that I had not heard using the D2X.
Gaming:
This is where the Sound Blaster Z shines. Put simply, this is a gaming sound card and is ideally suited to that. It has brilliant positional sound and in game SFX are really enhanced. Playing the recently released 'Colonial Marines' it is easy to tell where enemies are coming from and how far away they are, it also goes some way to enhance the atmosphere of the game with things like the motion tracker echoing down corridors and pulse rifle bursts making a pleasingly convincing noise in closed environments.
Battlefield 3 is a game where my D2X shined and it was going to be easy to compare the SB-Z to it here. Operation Metro, plenty of carnage going on around me and the SB-Z didn't disappoint. Rifle fire echoing off walls was superb and explosions and characters barking commands nearby were noticeably clearer than with the D2X.
The Beamforming Mic
This is arguably the biggest selling point of the card. It simply plugs in and sits in front of you [or on top of your monitor]. It is a stylish, small mic bar that pics up as much or as little as you want.
Essentially it removes the need for a headset as you can use your speakers and put your mic pick up field right where your mouth is.
I tried it with music on though my speakers and it does work. you can hear a little bit of the music down the mic but not much at all. considering how loud the music was, it made a good argument for using your street headphones or pc speaker system as your main gaming output.
obviously there will be people that ultimately prefer a headset and you can just choose not to use the Beamform Mic but I personally think its a pretty cool inclusion with the package and a genuinely useful accessory.
In Summary:
The SBZ has a few flaws. It is a little flat sometimes and lacks the punch that the D2X has as an all round sound card. It also could do with being a few pounds cheaper to put it more in line with the Asus DX card that I believe it is more of a competitor for than the D2X. It currently retails at a price between the DX and D2X.
obviously, for a user looking for a better deal, the OEM SB-Z is also available and has no less features on the card but loses the beamform mic and attractive red shield.
The soundblaster Recon 3D is not worth considering now as the SB-Z surpasses it as a package really.
Whilst the flaws are there and pricing aside, The SB-Z is a truly brilliant gaming sound card. It was never meant to be the all rounder and the D2X whilst reproducing music in a more pleasing manner is simply not as good for gaming with.
The Beamform mic is a pleasant inclusion and it is nice to see innovation in sound cards these days as there is usually very little to discuss about them.
The package provides an excellent entry option into high end PC audio and gives the user a seamless software experience which is a brilliant step forward from the days where creative drivers were troublesome.
Pros
- Superb Gaming performance
- Attractive packaging and product offer a high end feel
- beamform mic actually works well and gives you the option to play without a headset
- plenty of outputs on the unit for multiple configurations
- no external power requirements is a huge bonus
Cons
- price could be a few pounds cheaper to compete with the DX
- sound quality in music is good but lacks a little punch
- OEM version presents great value for a savvy user not interested in the extras
PRODUCT PAGE HERE