Overclock.net › Forums › Industry News › Hardware News › [Creative] Creative Introduces the Sound Blaster Z-Series
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

[Creative] Creative Introduces the Sound Blaster Z-Series - Page 19

post #181 of 297
11/11/12 at 1:15am
Sorry for the noob question but what would be the best route for plugging in high-Fi headphones into for the top 2 z cards? (The ones that have the external ACM module) In the ACM for ease or directly to the sound card? I finally chucked my "gamer" headphones with the 3.5mm plug and got some real headphones with the thicker plug. I know these new Z cards have a dedicated headphone amp. Is this something that will work just plugging into the external ACM or does it have to be plugged directly into the sound card? I have speakers too so I would like to use the ACM when I go headphone mode but not if I'm going to miss out on quality/features. Thanks.
Reply
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #182 of 297
11/11/12 at 3:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by reaper12 View Post

And wouldn't the optical out on your motherboard sound exactly the same?

This. Optical bypasses the soundcard's DAC chip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sticks435 View Post

Isn't that what CMSS3D does? Takes a stereo source and makes it surround?

In laymans, Yes. Technically, a bit more than that wink.gif
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swiftes View Post

Virtual surround is the biggest joke going, all it does is attempt to create stereo space through panning the mix and splitting the signal. You can't get a truly "wide" sound out of Stereo speakers unless they are placed accordingly, I have always felt that a true pair of decent stereo speakers running an unmolested source (CMS3D off) will sound much better. Just my 2c.

Do realise that soundstage and imaging are two different concepts. The width is the not only thing to consider and to be honest, imaging is much more important for realism.
Edited by chinesekiwi - 11/11/12 at 3:16am
The Delayed 'Upgrading-to-this-cuz-I-need-to-game-and-on-the-fly-encode-and-LAN-stream-video-at-the-same-time' System
(16 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i3 2120 Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Shader unlocked XFX AMD/ATI HD6950 12GB DDR3 1600 CL9 (3 x 4 GB) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Intel 330 Series SSD (180GB) + 3.625TB storage LG GH20NS15 Windows 7 64 bit Dell U2311H (A01) calibrated (R:99 G:95 B:98) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic Genius Multimedia Antec Neo Eco 620c 620W Aerocool Vx-R Logitech G400 
Mouse PadAudioOtherOther
Razer Mantis Control NwAvGuy O2 DAC + O2 Headphone Amp beyerdynamic DT880 600 ohm headphones 100 M/bit cable internet connection 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
The Delayed 'Upgrading-to-this-cuz-I-need-to-game-and-on-the-fly-encode-and-LAN-stream-video-at-the-same-time' System
(16 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i3 2120 Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Shader unlocked XFX AMD/ATI HD6950 12GB DDR3 1600 CL9 (3 x 4 GB) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Intel 330 Series SSD (180GB) + 3.625TB storage LG GH20NS15 Windows 7 64 bit Dell U2311H (A01) calibrated (R:99 G:95 B:98) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic Genius Multimedia Antec Neo Eco 620c 620W Aerocool Vx-R Logitech G400 
Mouse PadAudioOtherOther
Razer Mantis Control NwAvGuy O2 DAC + O2 Headphone Amp beyerdynamic DT880 600 ohm headphones 100 M/bit cable internet connection 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #183 of 297
11/11/12 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seyumi View Post

Sorry for the noob question but what would be the best route for plugging in high-Fi headphones into for the top 2 z cards? (The ones that have the external ACM module) In the ACM for ease or directly to the sound card? I finally chucked my "gamer" headphones with the 3.5mm plug and got some real headphones with the thicker plug. I know these new Z cards have a dedicated headphone amp. Is this something that will work just plugging into the external ACM or does it have to be plugged directly into the sound card? I have speakers too so I would like to use the ACM when I go headphone mode but not if I'm going to miss out on quality/features. Thanks.

YEs, you can plug the quarter inch headphones into the ACM, and you will get all the same features as you would if you plugged it directly into the card. The module just connects to the card.
Reply
Reply
post #184 of 297
11/11/12 at 10:29am
What would be the best way of connecting this up to a true 5.1 gaming headset, using the analog connections direct into the card or using the optical output into the provided DAC box that came with the headset? The headset is the Tritton AX Pro 5.1.

The DAC box that came with headset uses Dolby Digital, so with this card having Dolby Digital Live would 5.1 work with games using the optical output?
Reply
Reply
post #185 of 297
11/11/12 at 4:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Belz View Post

What would be the best way of connecting this up to a true 5.1 gaming headset, using the analog connections direct into the card or using the optical output into the provided DAC box that came with the headset? The headset is the Tritton AX Pro 5.1.
The DAC box that came with headset uses Dolby Digital, so with this card having Dolby Digital Live would 5.1 work with games using the optical output?

Unless you plan to get a good pair of headphones or a speaker system later on then I would just stick what you got. There isn't going to be any difference in sound if you output to the Dac using the optical out on the card compared to outputting it using the optical out on your motherboard.

If you do want to use the abilities of the card, then use the analog connections direct to the headphones. I don't don't know much difference this will make to using optical and go through the DAC. I would like to think that the analog would sound better.
Reply
Reply
post #186 of 297
11/11/12 at 6:23pm
Have X-Fi Fatality I bought for like $35. No complaints and no need to upgrade. Crystalizer is kind of neat I guess?

Honestly if I was building a brand new from scratch system I don't know if I would even bother. The onboard audio chips have improved 1000% in quality and driver stability in my tenure as a system builder (20 years).

I have a Audigy 2 and a SB live 5.1 collecting dust in my closet, and those set me back over $100 each back in the day. Can't sell them for 99 cents on Ebay now...
Ghetto Power
(17 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 @ 4.2ghz Asus M4N75TD GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 8GB Kingston DDR3 1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Corsair Force 3 180GB SSD Seagate 500GB SATA Benq 16x IDE DVD+RW (IDE in tha house!) CM Hyper 212+ 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win 7 X64  2 x 26" 1920x1200 LCD Logitech K800 Antec 650w 80+ Bronze something 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Antec Three Hundred Logitech M510 Fry's big flat black fabric $3 lint catcher SB X-Fi Titanium 
Audio
Klipsch Promedia 2.1 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Ghetto Power
(17 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X4 955 @ 4.2ghz Asus M4N75TD GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 8GB Kingston DDR3 1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Corsair Force 3 180GB SSD Seagate 500GB SATA Benq 16x IDE DVD+RW (IDE in tha house!) CM Hyper 212+ 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win 7 X64  2 x 26" 1920x1200 LCD Logitech K800 Antec 650w 80+ Bronze something 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
Antec Three Hundred Logitech M510 Fry's big flat black fabric $3 lint catcher SB X-Fi Titanium 
Audio
Klipsch Promedia 2.1 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #187 of 297
11/12/12 at 4:12am
I'm sort of confused being an audio noob, If I buy one of these sound cards would I want to do RCA or TOSLINK out to my Amp/Dac?
SandyBridge
(16 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i7 2600K Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 Intel HD Graphics 3000 (GT2+) Radeon HD 6970 
GraphicsRAMRAMHard Drive
Radeon HD 6970 Corsair  Corsair  128gb OCZ Vertex 3 4x Spinpoint F3 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Lookinf for one. Das Keyboard Professional S XFX 1050 800D 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
SandyBridge
(16 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel Core i7 2600K Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 Intel HD Graphics 3000 (GT2+) Radeon HD 6970 
GraphicsRAMRAMHard Drive
Radeon HD 6970 Corsair  Corsair  128gb OCZ Vertex 3 4x Spinpoint F3 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Lookinf for one. Das Keyboard Professional S XFX 1050 800D 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #188 of 297
11/14/12 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by reaper12 View Post

And wouldn't the optical out on your motherboard sound exactly the same?
Originally Posted by bojinglebells View Post

if you're going to listen to music in stereo, yes it would sound the same, however X-Fi provides CMSS-3D which can be amazing for many games and is something optical out from the motherboard (something not always available with on-board motherboard audio) would not provide

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi View Post

This. Optical bypasses the soundcard's DAC chip.

 

Originally, I heard a drastic difference between the two. But I have since made some changes and started using foobar2000 which is better than Winamp for FLAC. I took a second listen with a number of songs and the two sound very similar. I swear sometimes the Titanium HD sounded better with bass and treble but it could be my head. But with the Creative, you have Audio Creation Mode and Bit-Matched playback which is nice. As of now, I am sticking to the Titan HD. The only negative about using the Titan's Opt out though is it takes away the ability to have 5.1 on your speakers and you've gotta RCA stereo it to your 5.1 amp. But I prefer headphones and like playing around with CMSS-3D so it's cool.

 

Originally Posted by iARDAs View Post

which headphone is that?

 

I didn't know headphones have optical. I might buy one.

 

Audeze LCD-2 Rev. 2, but I was referring to my Rega DAC with optical. I'm not aware of any headphone that has optical.

-=AreA=- "52"
(19 items)
 
Crappy Grandma Machine
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K SandyBridge (Stock) Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Rev. 3.0) Asus Gtx580 DirectCu Dos G.Skill Sniper 8GB - 1600, 12800, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Crucial M4 Crucial C300 Samsung Spinpoint F3 Samsung Spinpoint F4 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black Western Digital Caviar Green Western Digital My Passport Asus DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Philips 42" LCD HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 2ms Deck Legend - Gaming / Unicomp Spacesaver - Des... Corsair Professional Series GOLD AX850 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
CM HAF X "nVidia" Edition Gaming - CM Spawn / Desktop - Logitech G9x  Mionix Propus 380 x 2 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X4-945 (D) 3.0 GHz (95W) Foxconn H-ALVORIX_HF-RS880-uATX Radeon HD5450 512 MB VDDR3 memory 8 GB Samsung DDR3 1300 Ghz 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1000 Gbytes Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Philips 42" HD 1920x1080p TV/Monitor HP Standard 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Bestec 300W ATX0300D5WC B HP Standard Black HP Standard Opitcal Black Cushion 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
-=AreA=- "52"
(19 items)
 
Crappy Grandma Machine
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K SandyBridge (Stock) Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Rev. 3.0) Asus Gtx580 DirectCu Dos G.Skill Sniper 8GB - 1600, 12800, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Crucial M4 Crucial C300 Samsung Spinpoint F3 Samsung Spinpoint F4 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black Western Digital Caviar Green Western Digital My Passport Asus DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Philips 42" LCD HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 2ms Deck Legend - Gaming / Unicomp Spacesaver - Des... Corsair Professional Series GOLD AX850 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
CM HAF X "nVidia" Edition Gaming - CM Spawn / Desktop - Logitech G9x  Mionix Propus 380 x 2 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X4-945 (D) 3.0 GHz (95W) Foxconn H-ALVORIX_HF-RS880-uATX Radeon HD5450 512 MB VDDR3 memory 8 GB Samsung DDR3 1300 Ghz 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1000 Gbytes Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Philips 42" HD 1920x1080p TV/Monitor HP Standard 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Bestec 300W ATX0300D5WC B HP Standard Black HP Standard Opitcal Black Cushion 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #189 of 297
11/14/12 at 7:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jumpdownlow View Post

I'm sort of confused being an audio noob, If I buy one of these sound cards would I want to do RCA or TOSLINK out to my Amp/Dac?

 

If you have high-quality cables, both should sound similar. TOSLINK/Optical is a must for 5.1 but if you're using headphones it won't matter. I personally went for the best Optical out there. Pick the best you can afford. Blue Jeans RCAs are what you'd want from there but if you're gonna connect it to your 5.1 amp go Optical. Also, make sure you know whether you need Toslink to Toslink or Toslink to Mini-Toslink/Miniplug.

 

These is also Coaxial which is similar to TOSLINK and some soundcards use. It is up for debate whether Coaxial is better than Optical. I've read a lot that Coaxial sounds more digital and Optical sounds more real.


Edited by Deverica Wolf - 11/14/12 at 7:14am
-=AreA=- "52"
(19 items)
 
Crappy Grandma Machine
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K SandyBridge (Stock) Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Rev. 3.0) Asus Gtx580 DirectCu Dos G.Skill Sniper 8GB - 1600, 12800, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Crucial M4 Crucial C300 Samsung Spinpoint F3 Samsung Spinpoint F4 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black Western Digital Caviar Green Western Digital My Passport Asus DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Philips 42" LCD HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 2ms Deck Legend - Gaming / Unicomp Spacesaver - Des... Corsair Professional Series GOLD AX850 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
CM HAF X "nVidia" Edition Gaming - CM Spawn / Desktop - Logitech G9x  Mionix Propus 380 x 2 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X4-945 (D) 3.0 GHz (95W) Foxconn H-ALVORIX_HF-RS880-uATX Radeon HD5450 512 MB VDDR3 memory 8 GB Samsung DDR3 1300 Ghz 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1000 Gbytes Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Philips 42" HD 1920x1080p TV/Monitor HP Standard 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Bestec 300W ATX0300D5WC B HP Standard Black HP Standard Opitcal Black Cushion 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
-=AreA=- "52"
(19 items)
 
Crappy Grandma Machine
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2500K SandyBridge (Stock) Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Rev. 3.0) Asus Gtx580 DirectCu Dos G.Skill Sniper 8GB - 1600, 12800, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
Crucial M4 Crucial C300 Samsung Spinpoint F3 Samsung Spinpoint F4 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
Western Digital Caviar Black Western Digital Caviar Green Western Digital My Passport Asus DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Philips 42" LCD HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 2ms Deck Legend - Gaming / Unicomp Spacesaver - Des... Corsair Professional Series GOLD AX850 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
CM HAF X "nVidia" Edition Gaming - CM Spawn / Desktop - Logitech G9x  Mionix Propus 380 x 2 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X4-945 (D) 3.0 GHz (95W) Foxconn H-ALVORIX_HF-RS880-uATX Radeon HD5450 512 MB VDDR3 memory 8 GB Samsung DDR3 1300 Ghz 
Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1000 Gbytes Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Philips 42" HD 1920x1080p TV/Monitor HP Standard 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Bestec 300W ATX0300D5WC B HP Standard Black HP Standard Opitcal Black Cushion 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #190 of 297
11/14/12 at 9:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deverica Wolf View Post

If you have high-quality cables, both should sound similar. TOSLINK/Optical is a must for 5.1 but if you're using headphones it won't matter.
I think only some sound cards support 5.1 via optical out. X-Fi doesn't but one of the ASUS models do.

This guy says optical can only carry stereo:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeerPowered View Post

Optical can only carry 2 Channels of uncompressed PCM audio. HDMI can carry 8. Optical is great for 2.1 book shelf speakers, but you are diminishing your audio quality if you use it with 5.1/7.1 Also your receiver would take over any audio processing from your card.
A sound card is meant for 2.1 Bookshelf speakers or headphones or a Logitech type setup. A 5.1 HTIAB doesn't need or require a sound card, HDMI out from your GPU will work much better.
What's the right answer?
Hoth Defroster
(9 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
3570k @ 4.8 ASUS Z77 V-Pro MSI 7950 16GB @ 2400 G.SKILL Trident X 
Hard DriveCoolingPowerCase
Samsung 830 256 Noctua NH-D14 Corsair AX-1200 Corsair Obsidian 800D 
Audio
Titanium HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Hoth Defroster
(9 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
3570k @ 4.8 ASUS Z77 V-Pro MSI 7950 16GB @ 2400 G.SKILL Trident X 
Hard DriveCoolingPowerCase
Samsung 830 256 Noctua NH-D14 Corsair AX-1200 Corsair Obsidian 800D 
Audio
Titanium HD 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Hardware News

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Overclock.net › Forums › Industry News › Hardware News › [Creative] Creative Introduces the Sound Blaster Z-Series