Customer Ratings & Reviews

In comparison to the integrated Realtek ALC898 of my Motherboard the differences are substantial and the ALC isn't bad. The Good: The sound stage has more dimension yet vocals are more centralized in both stereo and surround mode which shows it has better stereo separation and improved ambiance. String and digital bass have more texture and percussion has more impact while being a bit more taut. All bass tones are warmer and have improved harmonics. Mids are a bit airier, transient response is improved and subtle details are more pronounced or brought more into the foreground. High are more detailed with a little less harshness while maintaining sparkle. The bad: No Dolby decoding when connecting to the Optical Input which is find a major shortcoming for a device at this price point especially when you consider decoding was available from Creative Labs at the same price a few years ago. At the least pass-through should be an option since it would not require Dolby licensing. No simultaneous headphone/speaker output, you can switch between modes via software so obviously the switch is done by an IC so why not have a simultaneous options. I use Skype while listening to music but have to use integrated for headphones because of this oversight in development. Getting a little picky here but the red LED needs an on/off switch it is quite bright and is annoying to me as my system uses blue LEDs, I will be changing it after the warranty expires maybe sooner. The indifferent: I gave some of the control panel enhancements a brief audition but found them to be unnatural and/or overstated and now have them turned off as I prefer to let my Yamaha RX-A3010 and/or JRiver Media Center DSP handle all the processing duties. I ran through a battery of tests using my calibration software/equipment and everything I tested either met or exceeded the advertised specs. Creative site has an error for frequency response (100Hz-20KHz) I measured 10Hz-22KHz at +/-1db which is excellent ( indistinguishable). I have this sound card in 2 systems here are some details on what they feed. 1: Yamaha RX-A3010, Klipsch Icon KF-28 Front, KF-26 Surround, KC-25 Center, (2x) Klipsch Sub-12 2: 2 Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 sets configured/modified to be a 5.2 set (2 satellites for each of the front l/r and center channels and 1 satellite for each of the 2 surround channels)

During some recent experiments attempting to recover data from a dead hard drive at work, I shorted out some USB ports. After rebooting, my motherboard's onboard sound was fried, so I needed an add-in sound solution for my work PC. Being a long-time Soundblaster user since 1993, I picked up the Sound Blaster Zx. The card installed easily and has been working flawlessly ever since. I really appreciate the separate volume and headphone/mic unit since the computer is in the floor and I alternate between speakers and headphones depending on the situation. I don't play games on this PC but I have the same card at home and it works great there as well for gaming purposes. You can get by using the motherboard's onboard audio, but there's no question that the Zx produces better quality sound. Modern games will work fine with either, but I've found that older games tend to work better with the Sound Blaster vs onboard. Worth it if you are interested in playing older games.

Going from an on board sound card to a separate sound card is like going from a receiver to separates. First, this sound card is well built and it comes with an external microphone and head phone jacks that you can control via a knob. This is an added benefits to be able to control the volume without either using your keyboard or mouse. The installation on my Dell 8900 was very easy. Just plug the board in, go to the mother board bios and disengage the on board sound card. Viola, you can now plug your speakers, head phones etc... to listen. The speakers I used is the Audioengine 5+, and the music coming out from it is wonderful. Bass are not boomy but tight. Highs are clean but not bright. I do not use the 5.1 channel and so do not have any review for that type of performance. Good card.

This is a very good sound card if you only accept the best. Lots of features and settings in its interface. You can't go wrong! Takes about 5-10 minutes to install...very easy to use and the sound is incredible if using good speakers.

This replaced a Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium which I thought sounded great, but this card sounds even better. No issues installing latest software for Windows 10 from Creatives web site. Highly recommend.

Works great kinda big red lights are obnoxious but can be removed with some basic electronic knowledge

Easy to install, love the sound quality made my floor and walls shake. Added a sub and five speakers who needs a stereo.

This is a great sound card it really packs a punch and with the right speaker send up you will be drowning in pure delight when listing to your music or even watching movies. There are a lot of tweaks to play with as well as some presets. I also like that this supports the HD front audio Connector. If you have a clear window on the side of your machine like mine does you will love the red glow that this card emits. I only had one issue that was fixed with a windows driver update. when the computer would wake from sleep the sound card would not work and the computer had to be rebooted. So far the window update fixed my issue. I am very happy with this over all!

I have always used Creatives' Soundblaster series of cards and am happy to report that this card performs well. I'm running windows 10 64 bit and I'm happy to report that this card, and its accompanying software, work well under windows 10. I also like the external pod which offers up headphone connectivity along with an in-built microphone.

Easy install. Has drivers for Windows 10. Sounds better than the onboard audio.

I have a pair of VMODA-M100's and they sound much better with this sound card. The only complaint I have about this sound card is, when I want to be able to hear myself while voice chatting there is definitely noticeable whine/interference when listening. Even causes echo sound. Other than that awesome sound.

Clear sound, easy installation, works great with Windows 10, loud without distortion. The driver CD is junk and doesn't work, get drivers from their website to save yourself some headaches.

While motherboard sound has come a long way, it still cannot beat a dedicated soundcard. The specs on my motherboard says it can handle up to 600ohm headphone. Ok , It does, But lacks that extra punch and sound quality that you will get from a dedicated soundcard. Using this with a Sennheiser G4ME ONE headphones. I tried my Gigabyte Z97_UHD3-BLK motherboard on board sound first and they sound ok. Then I Installed the creative ZX soundcard, Now my headphone shine ( with a little tweaking). Ok so why only four stars? There is no way to turn off the REALLY bright RED LED's. You will have use electric tape or cut the LED's off the soundcard (But then voids the warranty). If you are into building your own custom system then you know what I am talking about. I may try to swap out the LED's with blue ones and repaint the cover shield to match my system. Now If I can only find out which Blue LED's I can use to replace the red ones with ;-)

Excellent sound and easy to install. The red LEDs look good, but are really bright if you have a see through case. The external volume control and headphone jack is a real plus.

The low buck ones die in just 6 mouths wanted a heavy duty one for the new rack server for my LPFM station that would stand up to the pounding beats of trance and dance It sucks to have it fail while on the air For what this one cost it better last ! The remote is handy for plugging in a I pod or a lap top The EQ is nice along with the bass boost with the crossover You MUST configure it Has nice features for speaker testing and setting up surround Im not giving it the final verdict yet lets see in a few months how it is doing The red LED makes a nice glow thru the servers fan filters too . WBMB

For the pricing of this sound card. This is a great addition to the onboard audio codecs. This card outputs 5.1 with punch.

I have used Creative Sounds products for years and have never been disappointed. Great Sound Card and a reasonable price.

I like this soundcard, but remember that your speakers will not mute themselves automatically when you plug in headphones.

Can sound really good once you get everything dialed in but that part is not so easy. Once you do you will be happy.

I was having issues with sound prior to buying this product but not anymore and it was on sale for 40 dollars cheaper than normal price :D