Creative Sound Blaster Z SE PCI-e Sound Card

Dotarł zepsuty

Creative SoundBlaster Z SE is a PCI Express soundcard, the re – lease of the legendary Z card which was really popular in gaming circles. My first experience with audio cards was with the legendary ASUS Xonar DGX card (one the best cards for headsets, as well as headphones) which bought in 2017 seeing it on sale in a local popular PC shop in my country. After some time using it and hearing the native audio on my ASUS TUF Z370 PLUS Gaming (Realtek AC887 codec with TUF Custom) I eventually sold it, one of the reason for it was that driver support has by that time ended and the card was not really supported anymore since we all know that PCI Express soundcard market has shrunken considerably as of writing in early 2023. One the first things that I noticed after was that my headset at that time (Logitech G233 Prodigy) was not considerably loud with the motherboard soundcard on front ports of my PC, so the logical conclusion was to just simply plug it in back of the motherboard, well there’s one thing that most people do not own or forget is that some of us like speakers also (proud owner of Z623 2.1 THX certified) which was hooked up on my back port. So I bought a wireless headset (Xbox Wireless Headset by Microsoft) to solve that problem, both I came to the conclusion that for those of us who game on our PC and sit close to the desk, that wireless headset are not ideal since they make compromises on sound quality and are prone to interferences of other devices such as our smartphones and wireless mice (if you do not own one I recommended 100%). So I bought the legendary Drop + EPOS PC38x and I was blown away with the sound quality and microphone communication that these puppies had, and the immersion in gaming as well as movies, both the same problem appeared again, my speakers were at the back of the motherboard (since they support only a headphone jack you cannot use a microphone through them, I could have I probably wouldn’t’ have bought a sound card), so since I have no love for adapters of any kind the decision was made to find a solution, and that solution was Z SE which I am glad that I came up with that idea. This sound card is the perfect solution for us who use a multi audio setup, since this card has a special port for headphones, microphone, speakers and also many more. The sound quality with this sound card is at least 50 to 65% better than my on board sound. The speakers are better and the headset is now just as like the manufacture wanted it to be. Sure I could have bought a DAC (I was an owner of G3 both it’s more console oriented) both that would mean an additional cable and something to be at my desk, let alone updating the software and drivers of sound cards which was a hassle. The software that comes with this card is really great and you can simulate a discrete 5.1 on two speakers If you want to, while 7.1 that is available with headset option is automatic, which recognizes when you set it up and when you have not (a nice feature). The overall look of the card is really cool with the red color being the dominant and looking nice in my PC case. If you are somebody who uses speakers and headset together and does not have a motherboard which has multiple female ports of either 3.5mm or SPDIF for hooking up your speakers (Z623 are RCA or 3.5mm only) like mine, then this is an ideal investment since you get a better sound quality and forgot to mention is that you can also use the included equalizer and SBX profiles on speakers and headset together without any hassle, since you have button that you can change which device you want to hear, so no plugging and unplugging the headset and more. Creative you sure have outdone yourself, even if this sound card is just a refresh of you original one, and I am planning on using it as long as you support this product, recommended!

Sound with my Bose speakers is like night and day

This card works great, but man it’s loud. I had to go into settings and pull the db back quite a bit and it’s still quite loud. If I turn my pc up all the way, I’m sure it’ll blow my speakers.
I’m still trying to figure out why the 2.1 mode doesn’t separate the Left and Right channels. Support is asking me to reseat the card or try another pcie slot. I’ll get time someday.

If you are using a higher end amp this card is must to have. It provides much better sound quality than embedded card.

Pedí está tarjeta de sonido ya que el audio integrado en mi MB es bastante plano y en muchas ocasiones ahogado (B550m Gigabyte).
El paquete llegó sin problemas y al abrirlo lo primero que hice fue conectarla a mi PC, debo de hacer énfasis en que me tarde bastante para que pudiera encontrar el punto exacto para mí odio en el que la tarjeta sonara como yo quería.

De base, el software de Soundblaster Command nos da un preset que es más enfocado para gaming, el sonido se siente enseguida que se amplifica muchísimo, la cantidad de ruido que hacían antes mis bocinas en el nivel 100 con el audio integrado de Realtek, en esta tarjeta aproximadamente en el nivel 34 está igual de alto que en 100, por lo que es necesario ser cuidadoso al ir subiendo el volumen a las bocinas. En cuanto al sonido por defecto, puedo decir que estaba bien, sin embargo para tenerlo como yo buscaba, me metí al ecualizador, quite algunos modos como el surround que en bocinas estereo solo ahueca el sonido como si estuviera lejos. Pero una vez que encontré el punto perfecto, no le he movido.

Después de un mes aproximadamente, me compré un subwoofer el cual conecte en la tarjeta en el puerto que es para front/subwoofer y en un principio no sonaba el subwoofer, por lo que me fui a los ajustes dentro del software y me di cuenta que para que funcionará, es necesario bajar el formato de audio a 24 bits, 96000Hz. Ya que por defecto lo tenemos en 196,000Hz, sino se configura eso, jamás sonara el subwoofer o para 5.1, además de que es necesario que activemos en surround en la primera sección del software para que funcione, en la tercera sección en input seleccionar que sea 2.1, 4.1 o 5.1.

No me arrepiento para nada de haber hecho está compra, sin lugar a dudas se le puede sacar mucho jugo a esta tarjeta y se notara instantáneamente el cambio. Para la gente que está cómoda con su audio integrado no será necesaria una inversión como está, pero si eres exigente, está tarjeta no te va a defraudar para nada. Excelente compra.

Mi modelo es la Soundblaster Z SE, no tiene el LED rojo dentro de la tarjeta a diferencia del modelo que no es el SE.