Creative Sound Blaster Z Mikrofon Test

Creative Sound Blaster Z Soundcard Review

Written By:

Updated July five, 2022

Over the years I take flip-flopped back and forth over the merits of an aftermarket soundcard for PCs, and for adept reason. Over the years the merits have shifted. Every bit onboard sound on motherboards became more than robust and complex in its audio reproduction, the need for expensive audio processing units was diminished. Considering the demand waned, so did the manufacturers creating said products.

Only Creative is still around, arguably the best at this particular game. Without question the company is conspicuously 1 of the finest sound product manufacturers around. So it was with self-inspired interest that I seized the take a chance to review their new Audio Blaster Z 5.1 Dolby Digital soundcard.

The Sound Equalizer Z is a robust audio product for a reasonable price. Y'all get a ton of options to tweak your sound, several Creative tools and applications inside the SBX Pro Studio utility suite arranged on an included CD. At that place is something there to play nicely with music, movies and games. The Z also connects to your on-system audio decoder or abode theater by style of a single digital optical cable. Plus it includes an external Beamforming microphone.

One of the major improvements over the previous iterations of Creative soundcards (X-Fi flavour), is this audiophile  can exist connected to a PC motherboard via PCI or PCI-Express. My last Creative X-Fi soundcard was restricted to PCI-e simply, which made for some artistic arrangement edifice at times.

To get information technology up and running is uncomplicated stuff. Power your rig down and pop the Sound Equalizer Z in whatever available slot mentioned. And then connect your speakers and headphones (embedded 600 ohm headphone amp) via the 3.5mm jacks and/or the optical out. The Sound Equalizer also supports optical in for mixing in music from an external source for editing and such.  Moreover the Z soundcard supports 192 kHz straight pass through to analog out. Ability on your system. It's always adept to enter your motherboard bios and disable onboard sound devices so there is no commuter conflict between onboard audio and your new Audio Blaster Z. Relieve and exit. Once you're back at the desktop, permit your arrangement detect new devices and and so insert the included software CD to install drivers and SBX Pro Studio utilities.

The SBX Pro Studio is another characteristic standing stage-high looking down on the previous Sound Equalizer soundcard offerings. Gone is the system crashing audio mode switching requirement. The old utility suite made employ of 3-audio modes; ane each for Music, Entertainment and Audio Editing. However, if whatsoever programs were running during the switch, you ran the risk of either locking up your system and/or killing your computer's sound completely. Only a system restart would jar things back to sanity. None of that madness is nowadays with the Z. Withal the Z retains the versatility of previous products.

The Z sports a hefty 116 decibel signal-to-noise ratio. That's something most motherboard sound would drool for. The SBX Pro Studio is replete with a host of tweaks and settings. The master Pro Studio department allows you tweak surround, crossover frequency, loundness (normal, loud and night) and moving picture dialog sounds. It even features a quick media sample video used to compare and evaluate your settings. Crystal Voice is all mic and vocalisation chat stuff. You can navigate through repeat cancellation and Crystal Voice FX, where you tin can make your vox sound like a muchkin, alien, robot, elf, male, female and so much more. Scout Mode is an interesting new feature. This is supposed to grant the user supersonic hearing in games. It works to the detriment of your other sound performance. But you tin can hear enemies and footsteps from a bit farther away. Scout mode tin exist hotkeyed for turning off and on on the fly.

Then there are the usual suspects like an expanded equalizer, the ability to save profiles, Dolby Digital and DTS settings and a standard mixer for adjusting the various book settings for mic, digital in and out, and speakers. The Pro Studio fifty-fifty eliminates the incessant hassle of switching between speakers and headphones with a 1-click switch right there in the quick-loading utilities.

I accept to say, my time with the Sound Blaster Z has been across pleasurable. Information technology utterly  trounces the onboard Realtek audio chip on my X58 motherboard. Installation is a snap and the richness it adds to your audio is amazing. Games see the biggest benefit, but without question music and entertainment are given the "red carpet" treatment. Even the included Boomstream microphone, which admittedly I didn't remember much of, is a marvelous add-on to your desktop setup. All listeners on the receiving end reported complete clarity with the sound environment similar to me being on stage with a microphone in a acoustically enhanced auditorium. I tested the mic over Steam, TeamSpeak, Skype and 10-Fire phonation chat applications, with zero complaints.

General audio performance may not exist exceedingly meliorate than previous iterations. Still this is a worthy successor to the achieved 10-Fi series of soundcards. Plus the refinements to the software suite and low end price tag, coupled with the continued richness in audio and sound clarity make this a no brainer. At approx $100 (some retailers), the Artistic Sound Blaster Z soundcard is a formidable upgrade to nearly whatever onboard sound solution.

Editor Rating:

[Rating: four/5]

Smashing

Bottom Line: I recommend the Artistic Sound Blaster Z for anyone looking to enhance their systems audio in all forms, beyond the capabilities of their onboard audio.

Pros

• Incredible enhancement over onboard sound in games, music and movies
• A plethora of options and tools for tweaking audio
• Supports PCI and PCI-Express
• Includes an excellent external Boomstreaming mic.

Cons

• No clip or way to affix the microphone to keyboard, desk-bound or display
• A costless PCI or PCI-Limited slot is required

The Creative Sound Blaster Z is available at Amazon for $104.99!

Spawned in the horrendous heat of a Los Angeles winter, James was born with an incessant demand to press buttons. Whether it was the car radio, doorbells on Halloween or lights, James pushed, pressed and prodded every button. No elevator was left unscathed, no building intercom was left united nations-rung, and no person he's known has been left un-annoyed.

Source: https://www.gadgetreview.com/creative-sound-blaster-z-soundcard-review

Posted by: holleyseentrusels.blogspot.com

Share this post