Soldato
- Joined
- 8 Jun 2018
- Posts
- 2,827
Objective
I've decided to update to the AE-7 for the headphone surround sound that the SB Command offers over the headphones. With the Zx I had a very hard time determining the direction of footsteps in Modern Warfare. Those who play on console can with average cans. Which gives them a pretty big advantage over me to audio ping my position when I run.
Reasoning
Headphone Used: Sennhesier 598 @ 50 Ohm
Audio Quality for both: 24bit 48kHz
AE-7: 7.1 Surround Sound Headphones vs Zx: 2.0
I decided to upgrade my audio as it was getting long in the tooth. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the Zx. It simply didn't offer any virtual sound sound (for Modern Warfare). I've tried using applications Windows Sonic, Dolby Access, SB's Scout Mode, etc but nothing would improve audio positioning in game. Unless, you've played Modern Warfare on console and came back to playing it using the Zx it's hard to describe the difference. Other then the fact you can actually tell where the footsteps are coming from. For example "Audio Ping":
-You and another player are both behind a wall that includes stairs, next to the wall.
-The wall is tall enough where you can't see the other player going up the stairs.
-Each player take turns walking along the wall and going up the stairs. Your job is to know when they are walking along the wall (left/right of you) and going up the stairs.
With the Zx (regardless of what I tweaked), I can hear footsteps walking. And, to some degree hear them going up the stairs. However, I cannot pinpoint when they past me walking. Nor how high up the stairs they go. I just know someone is on the other side of the wall more or less (for Modern Warfare).
With the the AE-7 (with headphone virtual surround sound, with some tweaking) I can now pinpoint when the player is approaching me. I can tell when they are walking past me. I can now actually hear the different sound footsteps make going up the stairs. I can now tell how high they are, etc. I can predict where the player is going to be and have my crosshair on them 95% or better just before I see them. This is Audio Pinging a player. And it's improved my overall K/D by 0.02 so far since I bought it (for Modern Warfare).
Although I could trick it in win10 to use 5.1 it wasn't reliable in games. And in all honesty only seem to be 2.0 as well. I do wonder if Commander could be used in Zx and instantly get 7.1 virtual? I really don't know at this point and don't believe that Commander would recognize Zx as compatible.
AE-5 vs AE-7
I didn't want the AE-5 because I wanted the ACM as well as encoding capabilities that I have with the Zx. I do actually use those features so that was important for me.The AE-5 was a slight down grade in that regard. However, with the AE-7 I lost the case audio header connector (at the back of the unit) that the Zx offered (the AE-5 did offer that). But it was something I could live with.
(In hindsight could I have used the ACM from the Zx with the AE-5...yes. However, I still wanted the use of the Encoding). I also wanted 32bit audio capabilities as well. And I don't have any use for Optical In either.
Scout Mode
Scout Mode is much better with the AE-7. With the Zx all the sound was simply low. With the AE-7 all other sounds except footsteps, etc were lowered. I could tell what direction a player was coming from without seeing them (this is within a 10' radius IMO). This was a huge difference between the 2 cards. I really don't know if that was a result of the card or the software. But now all ambient noises are reduced so that you can hear the player. That includes movement, footsteps and other sounds. I can even hear difference in footsteps between indoors and outdoors for example (for Modern Warfare).
Audio Control Module
The ACM that came with the AE-7 exhibited a hum that I was able to fix by taking the unit apart and cleaning the the 1st and 2nd circuit board with 90% alcohol as it had a film of something on it. Perhaps it was flux? Not sure. I also cleaned the inside of the 3.5mm and 1/4" jack ports. I have special needle like cotton swaps that I use for other electrical stuff for the 3.5mm jack port. I don't have pics of the new ACM but it's identical to the old one (above).
Once I cleaned it the noise stopped. And I haven't had a problem since.
Software
The software for the Zx is the Sound Blaster Z-series Control Panel.
The Software for the AE-7 is called Command.
If you were use to the "Control Panel" from the Zx it's going take getting use to the "Command" as it re-organizes things and makes it a bit more cumbersome using the SBX Pro Studio. The sliders and radial dial buttons on the Control Panel are replaced and consolidated into "Dials". Not hard just a tad less intuitive then before. But it does work. I haven't tried many of the other profiles though. Pitty, I didn't find a profile for Modern Warfare. I had to create my on.
With AE-7 Surround Sound sound is more directional and I can pinpoint it better. With Scout, although it's a bit quieter I hear footsteps and other movements with more precision now. I can tell when they get close to me vs just hearing them on the other side of the wall, for example. I can tell when someone is passing me now and can change direction and follow them although I can't see them. This is a huge difference between the AE-7 vs the Zx. Keep in mind this is when players are sprinting, etc. Not when dead silence is used.
Caveats
1) With the Zx I never had any volume issues. But wit the AE-7 it was always low. I would keep the audio in win10 around 30-50% and keep the knob no more then half way. So whenever I used the volume for Youtube, VLC, etc it would be set to low.So when I installed the new card I was surprised that the sound was low. It took me a day to realize that Headphone Gain set to Normal (in Commander) was still to low for my headphones. I had to use the highest setting to get the volume to where I had it before. So if you notice low volume check with that 1st.
2) The icons that show up in the lower right corner are different. Personally, I liked the old one.
Zx
AE-7
3)The Command offers updates that you simply cannot get through the Sound Blaster website. You have to navigate Commander and check for updates in order to get the most current driver (at the time of this writing): 3.4.62.0 (Jan 2020). I don't understand why this version is not available from SB own website (IE: AE-7 > Support > etc) which shows the latest from October 2019. I highly suggest you get the update as it re tweaks the GUI and adds features missing with the Oct 2019 version. Odd though, as it was there in "Control Panel". For example the Level option found in the EQ. etc. I am not sure why it took them so long to fix that?
Update from Last Year (which is available from SB website). This is from an AE-9 though. As I didn't take a pic of the EQ before I updated myself. However, this still represents what I saw on the AE-7.
3.4.62.0 Update from 2020. The Gain Level finally added.
Other Games
I played Division 2 and there is a big difference between the ZX and AE7 in that game. Division 2 also uses Dolby access. I really did notice it’s use with the Zx. But with the AE7 I hear a lot of audio position ambient cues. The direction of wind, an owl hooting in a certain direction, etc. The audio aspect of the game brings real life sound to life in the game as you walk about.
Even without Dolby Access aka Dolby atoms for headphones, I still hear positioned audio cues for gun fire and other chatter. Where as before with the Zx I heard it but the position wasn’t clear.
I played Battlefield 5 and although the audio sounds slightly better I couldn't get audio positioning in this game. I've also read complaints in their forums about audio as well. So IMO the issue is the game engine.
https://forums.battlefield.com/en-us/discussion/comment/1546397/#Comment_1546397
https://forums.battlefield.com/en-u...-ingame-cannot-hear-enemy-footsteps-tanks-etc
https://www.reddit.com/r/Battlefiel..._it_just_me_or_audio_for_approaching_enemies/
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/dice-sound-design-engineers-are-failing.1326182/
Issue
Headphone Gain appear to be identical to Zx at the highest setting. I had to use the highest preset to use 50 ohm headphones. The highest gain is suppose to be 150-600 ohm. Which I find very hard to believe if you are using the Audio Control Module. Did Sound Blaster really compensate for the ACM when making those claims? I've found no material to address this.
This is a big deal for me as I was actually looking to upgrade the headphones that would take a higher ohm. Now lets be clear the Zx ran my cans just fine. The issue is that the AE-7 is no better (as long as I use the highest preset). Which was one of the reason why I bought the AE-7. I expected to use Normal which is 32-149Ohm rated preset. In which I can hear the sound reduce in overall volume when I set it to Normal. Which now becomes lower then Zx. At a guess, this very software feature would do the exact same thing for Zx Control Panel if made available IMO. So, headphone Gain:
Low: 16-31Ohm
Normal: 32-149Ohm
High: 150-600Ohm
These settings, IMO, are arbitrary. It's no way High is starting at 150 Ohms using the ACM. No way!!!!! 50 Ohms...now we talking. But not 150 Ohms.
Now, I'm taking a bit longer to discuss this because there is another aspect of this that needs to be talked about, the volume of the ACM. 100% volume is never an acceptable option. And although, technically, above 50% is acceptable to reach 150 Ohms it's still should be better then the Zx. That's the point here, not what the pot can do but how it compares to the Zx. With the Zx 50% volume vs Ae-7 50% volume on the ACM with volume of win10 at 40% the Zx is louder then the AE-7 (Normal headphone gain). Sure, I could increase the ACM to 80% and get it just as good. I didn't have to do that with the Zx (although the Control Panel doesn't offer a headphone Gain option).
Did I place the AE-7 in the same PCIe slot as the Zx? Yes.
Did I use the ACM from the Zx to see if Gains improved? Yes, no change
Well then smartie pants why not use the jack on the back of the card and ditch the ACM? The gains are louder from the port on the back of the card true. But that's true for both the Zx and AE-7, it's a given.
Did you use the 3.5mm jack or the 1/4 jack? I used the 1/4 jack for my headphone
Buts reviewers have said that the AE can handle well over 150 ohm cans just fine so I'm not sure why yours can't? Correct, reviews did say this but they didn't compare it to the Zx. And there was no actual comparison to say if the gain was on par either. And if I'm not mistaken it was the AE-9 that did this. Which require an PCIe power connector on the back of the card.
My Game Play Video for Surround Sound Difference
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