Is the ZxR still king in 2020?

[@taurihaidma359]

I bought zxr about 2 weeks ago for a 95€ and it sound so wide, detailed and clean. Unrealistically good purchase.

[@Mohagrus]

lucky that card is 500$ on amazon because its old stock discontinued product

[@taurihaidma359]

@@Mohagrus excuse me What???? 500USD???? I could buy like 10 zxr for 1000€ here at the moment :O. maybe even more then 10 :O.

[@-GameHacKeR-]

I've had the Zx OEM since launch the Zx Retail with EMI sheild about 2 years after that the ZxR for about 3-4years now maybe a little longer and have always used them with 5.1 Speakers and even though the cards have sounded great the drivers have had many issues and even with the current latest drivers there is surround sound issues where the direction will change which to fix I have to mute everything in software using the volume control menu then click the switch in the Sound Blaster Control Panel to switch to headphone wait a couple of seconds then click back to speakers then unmute and do a speaker test to make sure the direction has been corrected and if it hasn't repeat the previous steps most times is fixed the first time doing that. This issue has never been fully fixed, and it was the main issue that made me switch from Toslink to analog because I thought it couldn't happen with analog but it still does, But there was another issue with Toslink which came to selecting DTS or Dolby which I want on when using Toslink but if the speaker direction goes out then I have to enable DTS or Dolby again after which takes a few more steps to enable which requires having the advanced speaker configuration window being up on the Supported Formats tab when selecting the DTS or Dolby in the Creative Sound Blaster Control Panel window, the Support Formats tab in advanced speaker configuration MUST be open when selecting DTS or Dolby encoding it MOST be open if not it won't enable I don't know why it is but it is an issue and i've reported it with a video to creative and they responded and it's not fixed in various driver updates, I did report both issues at the time and they gave me a reg tweak to try out which helped a bit by delaying the surround sound direction error that will always happen at some point for no reason. I still love the Z series even though I always miss the older X-Fi EAX effects but these issues have never been fixed. I will most likely get a AE series at some point, but I am tempted to get the upgrade chips at some point for the ZxR. 3:50 that's not what the engineer said on the Newegg interview back at the launch of the Z Series the Z series has standard cheaper capacitors on the card and a plane stereo (directional) microphone the Zx has Nichicon gold capacitors and the ACM (audio control module) which is a stereo (directional) microphone and a headphone volume control knob. The ZxR has Nichicon fine gold capacitors which are a step up from the Zx and the the ZxR has the digital components moved to the daughter board with more shielding on both boards of the ZxR and removal opamps which can be switched out for even better ones if you want to upgrade your ZxR for analog output. if you've never heard of the Z series oem version it was the Zx with the Nichicon gold capacitors no retail box or microphone and no emi shield of red led's model number is SB1500 I still have my photos of it I took for ebay when listing it back in the day

[@Anon-cv7ru]

Wow... so my soundcard been with me for more than 10 years!!! 😅 I remember buying it off the physical shelf of a PC hardware store... many years back when it was still quite new same time where there was a Asus Xonar Essence STX...

[@thedeegee1601]

Still using my ZXR as of today as my motherboard onboard is a terrible ALC897 and has no chance of driving my AKG K601 headphones. I got it back in 2012 for €140 due to a pricing error :D The ZXR also supports Sound Blaster Command now, the new software.

[@Zockopa]

I still use the ZXR daily on a Win7U/Solus dualboot system. Soundquality in stereo is very good on both OS`s. No complains here. However for a top product the ZXR lacks badly in the software part. It lacks any controls for adjusting surround sound for example. I mean many features the way older Audigy2 ZS offered are simply absent in a more modern flagship ? Well,anyway,support for this soundcard ended years ago. So it is reduced by newer OS`s own campatibility drivers to a standart soundcard anyway - that still sound very good thanks to the hardware on the card.

[@RJ-pb1qx]

I'd certainly put my Auzentech X-Fi prelude up against it! I've never heard a better sounding internal soundcard to this day. Since I cant use it in anything other than a win7 box, i'm getting an EVGA nu audio to use in my win10 box

[@AntonsHardware]

Ahh, you are just as in love with your X-Fi as I am with the X-Fi Fatality! :D I've got a whole collection of X-Fi's now, but I'm missing the ones by Auzentech! So if you want to sell yours! Let me know! :D

[@MapSpawn]

How is your current setup working for you? What soundcard would you buy right now if money was no obstacle?

[@SurgemanX]

@RJ When you made this post about an Auzentech soundcard I got to thinking I have one of those too some where.And,sure as memory served me well I have a Auzentech HDA X-Mystique 7.1 that's never been used.Down side it's PCI.But,good looking quality from the specs. with a C-Media CMI 8768+ chipset.

[@RJ-pb1qx]

@@MapSpawn current setup has completely changed. No more nu audio card as I've gone fully balanced gear. I would recommend a nu audio for a pc sound card but if money was no issue then I'd ditch the sound card and go fully balanced audio with external DAC+AMP.

[@cristianoideyama]

I own a soundblaster Z and It sounds a lot better than realtek onboard audio on my Asus TUF B550M-Plus Motherboard. The difference betwen them are Very noticeble...

[@AntonsHardware]

It does use the Realtek ALC S1200A which isn't a bad codec at all! There could be some EMI, that the Z doesn't suffer from that much.

[@cristianoideyama]

@@AntonsHardware actually my z suffer from EMI from my Rtx 3060 ti under load...

[@AntonsHardware]

I'm pretty sure that is because of the fans spinning. The Z does have EMI shielding, but it seems that it doesn't do it's job in your case. EMI is one of the reasons external sound cards are made. The EMI in a case has increased a lot in the last decade.

[@cristianoideyama]

@@AntonsHardware need to go an external DAC to avoid this... For now, i keep using the onboard realtek alc1200a...

[@islamsuperchannel]

the best sound card !

[@AntonsHardware]

It is! :D

[@Eduardsax]

Hello Anton, how do you do? I am the happy ZxR soundcard owner. I could get a better performance installing additional HD drivers that override the MS Windows sound API and using the latest driver and new Soundblaster Command. Apart from that, what´s your media player of choice? I used foobar, but got anoyed. I tested Audirvana, but as I had no budget to buy it, I ended using PotPlayer. How about you? Could you make a video about it?

[@AntonsHardware]

Hi Joao! My player of choice is foobar, just because all the different settings. But as you get annoyed as well. Now I'm sort of looking for something else. But haven't done research on that yet.

[@andcravo]

Massa! Finalmente um BR!

[@SurgemanX]

Great review of this card as always!I just picked this card up about a month ago from a Goodwill for $40 U.S.,and it was in a AE-9 box? 😂They always say another man's trash is anothers man's treasure!🤣

[@AntonsHardware]

Just imagine getting an AE9 for $40! Now that would have been cool! The ZxR is still an excellent card! And thanks for your comment!

[@markallen2536]

Why does Goodwill have all these cards? I just bought one from Goodwill in Racine, WI through EBay for $80. It's still as new but just open box. I use mine on my music streamer and it sounds great.

[@SurgemanX]

@@markallen2536 The age of course is most of the reason.I got another Recon3D last week along with a GTX1060 6gb for like 50 bucks?I haven't did any testing just yet on either but I assume they work?

[@1Nyour3RAIN]

If you search for a card with an optical in and output, you can choose between Soundblaster Z, ZxR and AE9. Have the EVGA 2 optical connections?

[@IronMikeMetaldetecting]

whooohoowww! A new video. Hey, you got a haircut.

[@AntonsHardware]

Yes I did! :D

[@b18spoon]

Is it possible to add missing bass with eq? I found this card for $50 used market locally. But I can get a new ASUS Sonar AE for $60. I will use it for gaming so bass is important for my racing simulator and explosions/gun fire in FPS games.

[@AntonsHardware]

Yes you can! And ¤50 is very cheap! I got my second hand for about €90 if I remember correctly.

[@thedynamicd85]

@@AntonsHardware are you implying that there's missing bass under 40hz?

[@ThunderKat]

Volume control alone is a bit of a waste unless you have profiles bottoms to swap on the fly... Most keyboard even the small ones have multimedia keys so having and extra one just add less space on the desk. I love my new headset because doesn't even have an external volume control, add more comfort around it and one less points of failure to worry about. When it comes to microphone I don't believe in anything after seen so many reviews on cheap ones, better to buy a condenser one. Fun fact my sound card output equalizer also affect my USB microphone input when recording, weird stuff. Make me wonder about SmartEQ...Is a lovely feature my motherboard soundcard has and this old card doesn't seem to provide it. My cheap headset wouldn't sound any good if it wasn't thanks to this feature that arrange the frequency gain on the sides without any distortion.

[@AntonsHardware]

SmartEQ seems like a really cool function!

[@ThunderKat]

@@AntonsHardware Still a mystery what it does to make the headphone sound so good, but is like a must have for me since out of the box my K92 doesn't sound right. Brings sound closer to my ear and reduce the plastic eco. Everything that felt off was completely remove and fix like if it was magic. I imagine more expensive headphones doesn't have this issue and the reason why the K92 where to cheap to acquire. If I didn't had this feature to correct them I would probably go back to the Logitech headset, despite been design to brake apart they never fail any reviewers to say they actually sound weird or bad at all. Once again the difference is like day and night when comparing to my old G231, not as comfortable but they provide amazing bass and clarity to any type of music and even more to action movies, with a more cinematic sound than I ever experience before.

[@ThunderKat]

Imagine having a 200db capable soundcard and the moment you push the volume your headset dies.

[@AntonsHardware]

Hahaha I hope that won't happen with my Beyerdynamic!

[@alibabaalibaba3192]

asus Stx Vs Zxr ?? Which Best ?

[@AntonsHardware]

If I had to choose I'd go for the ZxR!

[@raymondhachmishvili2483]

have both the AE9pe, ZXR and used to have the ASUS STX II the ZXR is a class of its own. with the right opamps...nothing can beat it. stock buffers opamps suck(LME49710)...replace them with philips\signetics 5534AN and you'll notice immediate difference.. anton, the frequency reponse is dependable on what opamps are in use...each have their own character can you please retest rightmark analyzer with NE5534AN\AP in the buffers of the ZXR?

[@AntonsHardware]

I see that you have found this video! I'm planning on getting other op-amps, but I don't have any experience with those yet! But your idea is great! Love it!

[@raymondhachmishvili2483]

@@AntonsHardware www.head-fi.org/threads/sb-ae-9-vs-x7-and-pci-e-vs-usb-in-general.942722/ See my post,ever thought about posting your videos on head-fi.org?

[@AntonsHardware]

Now that is cool! Thank you and a very good review!

[@Patrick73787]

As a ZxR owner I thought using the Crystalizer feature (at 70% in my case) was enough to get the best audio details I could get out of this card. So, am I missing something?

[@raymondhachmishvili2483]

@@Patrick73787 I've turned off all SBX features, listening only via stereo direct

[@luciobazzani855]

I have this sound card on my pc and I was wondering if it has enough power to run a pair of Beyerdynamic 770 pro 250 ohm or if I better buy the 80 ohm version

[@AntonsHardware]

I'd go for the 80, because you can use it on other systems. I haven't heard a really big difference between the 80 and 250 ohm versions. The ZxR does support headphones upto 600 ohms!

[@luciobazzani855]

@@AntonsHardware thanks for the advice 😊

[@ssaha7747]

Sir, In between ZxR Vs AE9 Which is better??

[@AntonsHardware]

The AE9 is far better! Get that one!

[@mrtwinky2007]

I love you sound card reviews, but I really believe you should play around with the surround and crystaliser and EQ, The EQ should be configured differently if you change headsets and speakers because one setting won't work for different outputs. I have Logitech Z906 5.1 speakers and my EQ settings ar e Level 4 31 = +6db 62 = +8db 125 = +5db 500 = +9db 1k = +4db 2k = 8db 4k = +10db 8k = +7db 16k = +9db and once you have a EQ setup in soundblaster command\pro studio you shouldn't set one up in any other software Your really not giving yourself the experience the sound cards have to offer if you don't use any of their selling features. If you have the X-Fi you should go into sound properties from control panel and increase the bass slider slightly in a + direction and the same with Treble but a little above whatever you set the bass to with your output source (speakers or headset) thankfully creative brought this back in SoundBlaster Command because if you don't understand which frequence do what for your sound you can at least just use the Bass and Treble sliders that where removed with the Recon3D and Z series until creative released the Command software.

[@napalmarsch]

does this soundcard support eax?

[@AntonsHardware]

It has Alchemy which sort of restores EAX in Windows 10. But since Windows 10 killed off the use of EAX, I'm not really sure. Don't have any experience with EAX recently!

[@yoster77]

Pfft I love the sound changer! What are you smoking lol

[@AntonsHardware]

Hahaha, Well I am Dutch...

[@josephlai99]

I won't buy any soundblaster hardware again due to driver support issue, even this flag ship card, they stop support after 2020...... no driver update since 2020...... it have many compatibility issue.....

[@rygar74nl]

So you really like big knobs?

[@blue5had0w]

who doesn't enjoy a big knob every once in awhile!?

[@BrianDickens4]

That's my actual previous soundcard he reviewed here, as he got it from me :P Concerning big knobs... I can attest to the fact that the successor I bought, a Sound Blaster AE-9PE, does in fact also have a big knob. Yay! :)

[@AntonsHardware]

I'm still jealous of your card Brain! If you want to get rid of it, please let me know! :D

[@samimurtomaki5534]

I do not understand when people hate additional thins they does not personally use, like if you dont use the parcel hook of your swiss army knife, it does not make that tool any worse than older models that had nothing on the opposite side of the scissors. Coplainin about something that is useful for somebody else, with more intelligent use of imagination is good for what? Do you want that someone with influence does manipulate companies to remove features that you are using from your next driver updates, jus because they don't have any use for them, and they think those are stypid, and that's because the whole product is worse or bad.

[@2012ANONYMOUSA]

EVERY ONE CAN ANSWER THIS - THNX IN ADVANCE SEEMS LIKE YOU LIKE SOUND CARDS- DO YOU EVEN HAVE A HOME THEATER? IF SO HOW DOES THIS SOUND CARD OR ANY OTHER SOUND CARD -' SOUND' - WITH A HOME STEREO COMPARED TO ONBOARD SOUND??? I HAVE A YAHAMA STEREO 7.1 ALL KLISPCH SPEAKERS NOT REALLY INTO GAMING LATELY ...

[@AntonsHardware]

No shouting needed :D No, I do have a home theather setup, but I don't use it that much. And since my focus is more towards gaming, I don't want to use that setup.

[@2012ANONYMOUSA]

@@AntonsHardware so i`m guessing you don't know ? or is the sound wayyy better hooked up to a stereo system as compared to onboard pc sound. Thanks

[@AntonsHardware]

A dedicated sound card does have benefits over an onboard "sound card". The dedicated sound card generally has higher bitrates and sampling frequency. This will make the audio generated to be more precise. Also, a dedicated sound card generally has the channel paths seperated, so there will be less stereo crosstalk. An onboard "sound card" will suffer more from emi and power jitter. And there is a long list of benefits of a dedicated sound card over an onboard solution. A good stereo system, will also have these benefits, with the addition of a good amplifier. The differences aren't that big, but if you're a sound lover, a sound card is a must. You will hear the difference. But for most people an onboard solution is more than adequate and won't hear the difference or don't care. Because you have a Yamaha amplifier and Klipsh speakers, I'm guessing you love sound, give a good sound card a go! :D

[@2012ANONYMOUSA]

@@AntonsHardware THANK YOU!