creative z card

batchie

batchie

batchie

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Just got delivery of the OEM version of the new creative Z, it doesn't come with the dual-microphone array which I'm not bothered about but it also hasn't got the red cover either, will this effect the performance in anyway or is it there for aesthetics.:confused:
 
Interesting. No red cover either. So the OEM version cost £10 less and comes without microphone or cover shield. So much for melmac's thought that the microphone bundled with the retail Z, is worth £30. £5 more like. :p

It shouldn't effect the performance, unless you have a fair amount of EMI in your case. Even then, if there is too much, a shield may make little difference.
 
thanks for the quick reply, i was quite underwhelmed with the look of the card, the bag of haribo looked more expensive.
Will try tonight to see if it is an improvement on my auzen card, i only use headphones with my set up so I'm hoping for a bit of a difference.
 
Marsman said:
Interesting. No red cover either. So the OEM version cost £10 less and comes without microphone or cover shield. So much for melmac's thought that the microphone bundled with the retail Z, is worth £30. £5 more like. :p

It shouldn't effect the performance, unless you have a fair amount of EMI in your case. Even then, if there is too much, a shield may make little difference.
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Marsman, I would love for you to quote where I said the mic was worth £30. Go on show me.

You won't because I never said it. The only one that made any reference to the cost of the microphone was you when you were talking about the Creative Zx and why the £30 difference in price. You said the microphone wasn't included with the Zx, I just pointed out to you that it was, you were just too blind to see it.

Your quote on the differences between the Zx and Z.

Marsman said:
No difference at all. The specs are exactly the same looking on their site. More Creative nonsense, making people pay more for the same thing. Bundle a control pod thing and charge an extra £30 for it. In fact, they don't include the microphone with the Zx by the looks of it, meaning they are charging more than £30 for that control pod thing.
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Oh, and just check the prices, don't know where you are getting £10 from? The OEM is £20 less here on Overclockers, It would be £25 less if the Retail Z wasnt on special here.
 
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batchie said:
Just got delivery of the OEM version of the new creative Z, it doesn't come with the dual-microphone array which I'm not bothered about but it also hasn't got the red cover either, will this effect the performance in anyway or is it there for aesthetics.:confused:
Click to expand...

Did you get it on the pre-order price of £47.99?

I would say a few people were angry with overclockers about the missing mic and EMI shield. The pre-order advertisement showed them both included in the OEM version.

Not sure if the Red Emi shield will make a difference for you. Depends on your computer I guess. Check it out and see how it sounds, if you get unwanted static and noise in your audio then you might need one. Chances are you wont.

haha, of course it's not as nice looking without the Red Shield :D
 
yes i paid the new price, not quick enough of the mark with my purchase, but overclockers need to state what is not included or at least change the picture, which is misleading.
 
OEM hardware usually just means no fancy packaging just a plain box.

The actual hardware should be exactly the same as retail, certainly the red EMI shield should be present..
 
melmac said:
Marsman, I would love for you to quote where I said the mic was worth £30. Go on show me.
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Relax. I was joking around because of your comment in this thread. :)

melmac said:
WEll, maybe not :D But, they aren't as far apart pricewise as you think. Remember the Z cards come with the soundblaster beamforming microphone which costs £30 if you buy it seperately.

I wish they released a version of the Z that didn't include the microphone. Could be called the Z lite or something and charge £59.99 for it. That card would sell like hotcakes :)
Click to expand...

I screwed it up anyway by thinking the OEM version costs more than it actually does. :o



melmac said:
You won't because I never said it. The only one that made any reference to the cost of the microphone was you when you were talking about the Creative Zx and why the £30 difference in price. You said the microphone wasn't included with the Zx, I just pointed out to you that it was, you were just too blind to see it.
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Not strictly true. :p
 
Any way guys, tried it last night with WARFIGHTER and MAX PAYNE 3 and I've got to say for 50 quid it was a great buy the sound quality is amazing over my Auzen prelude, i can hear things in the games not picked up before and the Bass is more booming.
Going to play around with the settings later and try with some movies and tunes.
 
My main issue was with warranty which they have now changed to 1 year as well so from the product description and images it looked like we were getting the mic, EMI shield and 2 year warranty but now we dont have any of that.
 
batchie said:
Any way guys, tried it last night with WARFIGHTER and MAX PAYNE 3 and I've got to say for 50 quid it was a great buy the sound quality is amazing over my Auzen prelude, i can hear things in the games not picked up before and the Bass is more booming.
Going to play around with the settings later and try with some movies and tunes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a very nice sound card. For music it is really good, I was very surprised at how good.
 
Marsman said:
Relax. I was joking around because of your comment in this thread. :)



I screwed it up anyway by thinking the OEM version costs more than it actually does. :o





Not strictly true. :p
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Ok, Sorry, had a bad day yesterday. :(

I completely forgot about that thread. :p But, in my defence, I didn't think the the microphone was £30, I knew it was £30 because it's on the creative store at that price. I think a good lawyer would wrangle me out of that one :D

Again, apologies.
 
batchie said:
Any way guys, tried it last night with WARFIGHTER and MAX PAYNE 3 and I've got to say for 50 quid it was a great buy the sound quality is amazing over my Auzen prelude, i can hear things in the games not picked up before and the Bass is more booming.
Going to play around with the settings later and try with some movies and tunes.
Click to expand...

Hi

I also am using the Auzen prelude soundcard.would you say that the Creative Z card is a lot better than the prelude ?





.
 
I read somewhere that Z version uses non audio grade G-Luxon capacitors, where as the more expensive ZX/ZXR use Nichicon FG audio capacitors & same headphone AMP as ASUS ST/STX.
 
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I've just bought one of these today. I went for the OEM Creative Z for just under £48.

Initial impressions are very positive. I'm just trying a bit of music and, even with cheap £18 Sennheiser HD201 headphones, things are much 'livelier' and involving than my old Xonar DG used to be.

Driver installation was very straightforward. So far so good. :)
 
[QUOTEHi

I also am using the Auzen prelude soundcard.would you say that the Creative Z card is a lot better than the prelude ?][/QUOTE]

if you use head phones yes, i have a decent pair of ATH AD900's and everything sounds a lot better, i haven't got any speakers so i cant test the cards other outputs.
 
I'm wondering why are there no reviews yet. If it's better than an Auzentech Prelude, that means it's also better than a Xonar D2X. If that is indeed the case, you'd have thought sites would be chomping at the bit to review it.
 
Creative rep replies later in same thread with...

CreativeRS said:
To confirm what others are saying the Z series base line is not equipped with the Nichicon FG capacitors. That's for the Zx and ZxR series.
Click to expand...

Hmm... :confused:
 
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