Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Sound Blaster X3 can be described as a multimedia powerhouse. If you game, watch movies, play music - this device covers all fronts. This sounds fantastic when compared to motherboard audio, and it adds power to headphone audio. It has great software and Sound Blaster is far superior to other "gaming" audio solutions. - Super X-Fi A unique feature of this device. Super X-Fi recreates the virtual speaker system with room acoustics utilizing personalized face and ear profiles which are scanned with your smart-phone cameras through the app. The virtual speakers can be configured all the way from 2.0 channels to 7.1 channels for surround content. For music, it can add new dimensions to certain music content. Some music content is meant to be heard unaltered, and other music content is meant to be blasted on speakers. If you listen to the latter, Super X-Fi will most certainly make your headphone audio more enjoyable. The best part is enabling/disabling Super X-Fi is super easy, which makes A/B testing and experimentation possible between different songs. It opens the sound stage by miles, moves the music from your ears to in front of you, and gives you some thick sub-woofer bass. Super X-Fi is perhaps the only "virtual speaker" or environmental based audio processing I'd ever use for music, because it simply doesn't sound like fake trash. There was clearly specific attention paid to making music sound great. For movies, Super X-Fi adds an unparalleled cinematic experience unlike anything I've ever heard in headphones. The surround sound function of Super X-Fi works with surround content on Windows, most notably Netflix - where a large portion of their content has 5.1 surround channels. When enabled, it actually sounds like a theater. It's simply a great cinematic audio experience. Not much more to say in this department. For gaming, Super X-Fi shines in its customization. The face and ear scanning allows Super X-Fi is able to create a convincing, realistic, and accurate 7.1 surround effect which simply outdoes any other product I've tried. The rear channels are amazing, and it's some of the best 7.1 virtual surround sound you can experience. I've tested it against Dolby Atmos, DTS Headphone:X, Waves NX, Windows Sonic, GSX 1000. Some games won't benefit from a 7.1 virtual surround sound solution, especially games that have object based surround and great sound engines built in. The great news is that Super X-Fi has all the previous benefits mentioned. If you don't like it for games, it will be fantastic for movies and music. I've personally been leaving Super X-Fi 7.1 enabled for gaming because of its extremely accurate positioning...even if it's only limited to 7.1 channels when compared to object based surround like Atmos. Creative touts Super X-Fi as the "holy grail" of audio. Is that true? Well it seems to have improved nearly every aspect of my multimedia consumption on headphones with the push of a button. I'm not sure there's any other sound processing product that will sound as great as this with the many types of media. To make things better, Creative is continually developing the technology and improving it. It is currently on Gen2, and I wonder what Gen3 will bring. (No doubt in a software update for this very product.) - Sound Output So just beyond the processing, the DAC and Headphone Amplifier built in will sound great for the price this product sells for. It is no doubt an improvement over any onboard audio, and will sound and perform better than products from gaming brands such as the Astro MixAmp, SteelSeries GameDac, and the GSX 1000. They are all popular products, but this will outdo them in every single way. The amplifier output on this product is probably comparable to the Sound BlasterX G6 and Schiit Fulla 3. Very versatile, and will drive even studio grade/high impedance headphones that are currently popular. It has a low gain/high gain setting so you can reach reasonable volumes on differing headphones and earbuds. An incredibly rare feature of this product is the full 8-channel AK4458VN DAC and complete 7.1 surround speaker outputs. Configurable speaker outputs are 2.0, 2.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.1, and 7.1. So whichever powered speakers and sub-woofer you have...if you keep adding more...you'll have a full surround system. And remember, at this price, even having the ability to switch between speakers and headphones at the push of a button (or software toggle) is rare. (Looking at you Schiit Fulla 3) The thing measures exceptionally well in terms of both frequency response and total harmonic distortion, according to a video review on You-Tube. I've found it to sound detailed, natural, and very nice to listen to. I can also crank up the volume and enjoy my headphones more than before. Speaking of volume, this device is synced to the Windows volume on a driver level. Any adjustment in the mobile app, desktop application, Windows volume, and through the knob...will all adjust the same volume. Very convenient to not have to manage two different volumes. - Software Some consider this to be the best and worst part of a Sound Blaster product. The software is very well designed, modern looking, and with great features. It's called "Sound Blaster Command", and it's used in all the newest Creative products. I've had my fair share of software bugs, some crashes, and some unplugging needed between the device and drivers. But Creative has updated this even in the few weeks I've had it, and most of the bugs have subsided at this point. SBX - These enhancements are a classic Sound Blaster addition. It contains what I believe to be the second best 7.1 surround virtualization available - only beat by SXFi. That's right, there are TWO methods of 7.1 surround virtualization on this product. SBX surround is the more tame effect, which gives games a less processed canvas to create a soundscape. (It doesn't have any of the room acoustics or space of SXFi.) It's also decidedly unlikable for movie and music content for me when compared to SXFi. It's a very good close-to-ear experience with, again, the best rear channels I've heard. (Only beat by SXFi.) SBX crystalizer restores detail to processed audio, SBX bass adds bass to content without EQ, SBX smart volume normalizes audio to protect you from extremely loud sounds & makes quieter and louder parts closer to each other, SBX dialog+ apparently makes spoken content easier to listen to. EQ - It's just an EQ - and you can draw on it. You draw your EQ and it creates the EQ for you. It also comes with plenty of profiles, including game specific and footsteps enhancer. Scout Mode - This is a special sauce invention which Sound Blaster doesn't really describe. It's designed to give a competitive advantage when listening for footsteps. It dynamically listens and increases/decreases in game audio ques to make footsteps and movement stand out dramatically. It works, but it also disables all other sound features when enabled. It's controlled by a hot key, and it meant to be used when you have a double-take on whether you really heard footsteps or not. Could be considered cheating by some. Recording - This device has an amazing and clean microphone input. Seriously, it's best in class. It has a natural, clean, and full sound. The voice processing is brilliant. It has auto volume adjustment, acoustic echo cancellation, very nice noise reduction, and microphone EQs which can really improve the sound of a microphone. I'd say most headset microphones you plug in will sound fantastic. Top it all off with zero-latency hardware microphone monitoring (sidetone) and a beefy microphone amplifier for a clean signal from the bigger headset mics. Encoder - This can encode Dolby Digital sound streams and output them through it's optical output. Audio Balance for Game/Chat - On computers you get two sound inputs on this device which can be mixed and adjusted on the fly, then sent off to your headphones. Discord can use one sound stream for example, and the game can use the main sound stream. They are both mixed. With one click of the giant knob, you can adjust the balance to one source or the other by the direction you turn the knob. Also convenient for mixing music/gaming on the fly without exiting a game. Sound Blaster has a video on You-Tube for the setup. Mixer - The last tab of the software is a mixing panel where you can control the volumes of every device. All the hardware monitoring of the line in/mic in...recording volume. All outputs. Everything can be adjusted on a per channel basis. - Usage Overall I found this device to look fantastic on my desk, and it implements really well into the rest of the stuff I own. I enjoy the increased audio quality and options. It’s super convenient to be bus powered, and uses a modern USB Type C connection. (Like every product should.) I do believe it is a better product than the G6 in terms of design and software. I just really enjoy using it. Easily one of the best products I’ve purchased in a long time. - Conclusion If you’ve made it this far, I’ll just repeat what I said at the beginning of the review to sum things up. I really love this product and it is a great value. The Sound Blaster X3 can be described as a multimedia powerhouse. If you game, watch movies, play music - this device covers all fronts. This sounds fantastic when compared to motherboard audio, and it adds power to headphone audio. It has great software and Sound Blaster is far superior to other "gaming" audio solutions.

Works as intended, alittle confusing to set up but once you do the audio in games and in general for music and watching videos is miles better. Would strongly recommend if you have a decent headset to pair with.

Bought for the sole purpose of being able to listen to Apple Music's Hi-Res Lossless audio on my Mac Mini. Extremely easy to set up. I didn't love that it came with a USB to USB-C connector instead of (or in addition to) a USB-C to USB-C, but luckily I had one laying around. For those curious, I was able to achieve Hi-Res Lossless (up to 24-bit/192 kHz) with my Sony WH-1000XM3 wired to this DAC via 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable.

Excellent for my needs. I wanted something that would increase the volume to my headset & allow me to switch from headset to speaker without switching cables. This does exactly what I wanted. Connected a USB from my computer to the X3, then connected my headset & my speaker to to their outputs. I can switch the output by pressing for a second the SXFI button. Every thing works great.

Don't install the software - you don't need it. Works perfectly without it. Number one feature: can switch between speakers and headset without needing to plug/unplug headset. Love the big volume knob.

Good boost for your audio. To many usless features but good to turn your gaming audio to the next level

This may be an older version of creative's product, but do not count it out when you're cross shopping for products like this! My use case: this is hooked up to my computer via USB C audio port, using Audioengine A2+ speakers, and the extra aux in is plugged into my Nintendo switch dock (the switch dock is using a USB to aux converter). This allows audio to pass through my computer and I can stream. Since the audio engine a2+ has Bluetooth support, I can use it with my phone with the pc on or off... Making this a perfect setup. There's also a headphone jack in the front for when I need it, bypassing the need for extra long cables to reach my speakers. After so many years, this is still my favorite pc audio peripheral.

Amazing signal processor. Probably the best. I’ve been with Creative for 20 years. I’m using it with Sennheiser HD650 and an audio interface with studio resolution. It sounds amazing. I’m using it in a chain PC->Focusrite Scarlett Solo/192kHz-24bt-1024/USB2.0->Creative X3/192kHz-36bt/AC where it’s set up and works off a separate outlet and combined with Sennheiser headphone it sounds extremely precise and deep. Sounds gets tighter and deeper and you can easily compare it with expensive analog processors. Both compensate each other and work as a single unit.

This Creative Sound Blaster is the best for my laptop sound. After loosing sound on my laptop, I investigated sound alternatives for my computer. It works great!

Creative Sound Blaster is awesome. Excellent external sound card with head phone amplifier. Has a built in DAC it's a must for any gamer.The sound quality is incredible I would say it rivals some stereo systems.

Sound is very good. Pretty cool settings to adjust sound. You can actually raise the volume on your headphones that are maxed out. Can get really really loud.

Last windows update bricked my old sound card, so I needed a fix to get my home theater pc working again. This unit did the job and sounds better than the old device. There are a lot of settings for headphones I may never use, but who knows, maybe a nice gaming console will happen in the future lol.....

Great audio DAC for gamers that want a little more power for their new headphones.

If you need a solid DAC then this is the one for you. There many options that you will probably not use, but better to have them and not use them than not to have them but need them.

Wonderful accessory for my TV. The headphones I use does not have an online volume control. I have my TV set up where the output is for many different sound settings. Therefore, the volume does not work with my headphones with the TV volume. This Creative Sound blaster accessory did the trick. And with present EQ settings, I can adjust it for each different type of sound I want to hear depending on the audio media I'm listening to.

Works Great. The difference between just my motherboard audio and this is night and day. Love it!

Nice boost to sound! perfect for what I needed it for.

After years in the industry they still haven't figured out how to get the DDL encoding correct. Sadly even the omni surround 5.1 had minor issues with DDL! If you're using this as a headphone amp I'm sure it works great.