Is This Sound Card Worth $350...!? Creative AE-9 Review

[@Excen_]

Im more impressed with your dota 2 gameplay than the sound blaster :D

[@xxdalionxx]

I can get a khadas tone board and a jds labs atom which performs better than that thing and grab a speaker amp with the money I saved.

[@hinchlikescake7592]

@@xxdalionxx I have this setup, its legit. It mean why bother with internal hardware and external route out when you can have a better hardware stack for less money. Creative and soundcards are so 1990's

[@xxdalionxx]

@Snn Krds I mean measurements don't lie they literally tell you want is cleaner with graphs and numbers look em up. Also diverting to name calling doesn't make your argument any better just invalidates it and makes you look worse.

[@neferiusnexus]

A very ethical, hype-free review. Thank you and you remain one of the very best tech reviewers out there :)

[@inachu]

Yeah no joke. Not talking about his dog or cat or ex wife or his hobby car sitting in the garage for the past 8 years. No sleepy voice and not whispering and great microphone.

[@Patrick73787]

I love my current Sound Blaster ZxR (flagship of the Z series) plugged next to my 2 RTX 2080s NVLinked. Amazing audio quality. I tweaked the SBX feature to 70% and it is much more impressive in person than through a KZbin video. Audio is as important as graphics. Thanks for covering this product. Sound Cards and multi-GPU are not dead in 2019.

[@Matpermad]

i'd love to see a comparison between the sound blaster evo zxr and the sound blaster ae-9 to see if the upgrade is worth it

[@Patrick73787]

@@Matpermad If I had to pick a new sound card today I would pick the Sound Blaster AE-7 as I have no use for the full features of the Breakout box of the AE-9. The software has been refreshed for the new cards and they support 32 bit audio. And some people prefer certain aspects of the AE-9 over the ZxR forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/sound-blaster-ae-9-hands-ons-vs-zxr.18861909/

[@Noyjitat]

Yeah im still using my zxr but I need to build a new pc in the coming months so Im thinking about buying this or another soundcard when that time comes rather than strip my current pc.

[@TheCrazyLaLo22]

@@Patrick73787 i just got the AE7 (coming from a Syba sonic 24 bit / 96 dac/amp) and i can tell you this... a love ALL OF THE FEATURES.. i dont need all of the extra perks on the AE9, so it was an easy choice...well not really i was really close to getting the NU audio by EVGA hahaha but nonetheless really satisfied with the AE-7

[@razgrizadler]

still on ZxR too. Sound Blaster forever!

[@whisp8]

The directional audio was WAY more precise with the SBX processing on. For an FPS game it's a must.

[@Psythik]

It was *really* bad in Apex, however. Proper directional audio should *NEVER* result in audio playing in one ear only. It completely ruins the immersion. To this day, I have *yet* to find a sound card that can do positional audio as good as my 14-year-old Asus Xonar does. Dolby Atmos is great for home theater, but it just isn't very good for headphones. The older Dolby Headphone system works much better IMO (Which is what the old Xonar cards use).

[@sylviojiotsop2976]

Try the 'scout mode' with an iem like sennheiser IE 40/100 pro. It's the best I know.

[@kenr.b.891]

They probably should have put the A to D converters for the input on the external box and shielded it better as well. The PCI e interface and the 32 bit output are impressive, but it looks like they missed the mark if you want to record into this soundcard. What good is a $350 sound card that is sub par when recording? Thanks for you honesty in this review.

[@johnw4067]

I have an AE-7. Paid just about $200 for it a year and a half ago. 90% of what they AE-9 offered spec wise at a more reasonable price. I have no regrets.

[@thestrangevanindastreet3514]

Thx ! Finally someone talks about the line in !!!!

[@Sergiocrivelin]

I'm still pretty satisfied with my X-Fi titanium pciex. Sounds great. 😊

[@AmateurTroll69]

One of the best sound cards ever made...

[@resColts]

The HD version or non HD? I owned the HD version did me good for good 7 years then I upgraded to ae-5 was well worth it would've got ae-7 or ae-9 if they were out though when I bought it it depends on what you use the sound card for, for me I was needing to power my beyer dynamic dt 990pro 250ohms headphones better and the ae-5 did that. If its the HD version its one really good card if its non HD its not good. The HD was high end card which has aged very well only none of the z, zx, or zxr were worth upgrading to ae-5 was first worth it.

[@Ziyoblader]

The onkyo pcie SE300 is a hidden Beast from Korea that uses the creative drivers from the titanium and sounds like a handcrafted instrument from The Sound Blaster gods but all jokes aside it truly is one of the best sound cards released the last 7 years it came out in 2013 but never reached to the Western consumers impaired with a Sennheiser 650 or 598se sound amazing and no hissing sound AKA electromagnetic interference from the motherboard as it has amazing shielding also it has a dac for every channel

[@Ozrico1o1]

Still have mine too. durn card inspired me to get an old powerhouse Yamaha receiver and big assed speakers to hook it up to.

[@PPRUVIAN]

Me too, I have the HD Titanium... I think is enought for good gaming, youtube, etc. If you had money, go for Burson Conductor 3X Reference for audiophile vinyl rips, 24 bit audio, etc.

[@anim3f4n88]

I wonder how this compares to EVGA Nu Audio sound card

[@MrSeifer159]

Same here :)

[@Umbator]

Exactly my thoughts

[@doodoobutter4406]

@Eevel Ewe what makes you believe so?

[@MrSeifer159]

@@TechSilver13 Tell us your experience with AE9 when you get it, please kind sir :)

[@skoopsro7656]

I have the z390dark with NU onboarding audio. And that's the best onboarding audio I've found so far. I cant speak for the dedicated NU sound card. But if it's like the onboarding audio it will be phenomenal. And I honestly haven't seen any major gripes with it.

[@MapleBalls]

Great Review Bud. Glad you did both input and output.

[@1.618_Murphy]

Why is this guy's subscribers and views so low? He explains better than most other techies!! Keep it up man, respect! 👍

[@thatkoalabear]

Happy Monday @Tech Yes City! Love your used parts content and deals hunt etc keep rocking my dude! Fantastic guy right here definitely worth subscribing to :)

[@DTXGaming]

For a good streaming setup, you can always go with one of Focusrite's audio interfaces (i.e. Scarlett Solo / 2i2) and they won't break the bank. If you want more versatility, there are really good audio mixers that will do an awesome job while allowing for more inputs than you'll probably need. Sound input was never Creative's strong point.

[@blakecasimir]

This is good advice. Those spending 100s on audio should steer clear of consumer sound cards. Buy some semi-pro level audio interfaces. Focusrite are good. Those with deeper pockets: go RME Babyface Pro and never need another audio interface again ever.

[@MrHamit64]

@@blakecasimir Ah wait so my Zoom H6 recorder whipps this things ass then? The H6 is a prosumerish recorder but it's also a 6 channal in 96 KHZ 24 bits interface for PC or Mac. But any who if something like this is way better then this thing I guess I'll just keep using it. Now the only reason I was looking into this card is cause Dell audio sucks cause of the effects on it and well you can't use the H6 as a stand alone recorder in interface mode. So you give up Pre-Record.

[@MikeleKonstantyFiedorowiczIV]

Those focusrites sound like 90$ creative card, those devices are just ok to listen section, no one give to them good dac its just ok, those devices are made for music editing, or a as a microphone amplifiers. Recommending focusrite on typical listener is just a waste of money.

[@HauntedCorpseGaming]

I'm still rocking a Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro with the breakout box on one of my desktop PCs here in 2019 and I bought it brand new the year it released. :D

[@oldaxehead655]

The Behringer B1 sounded amazing. I wouldn't say that's "Just good enough".

[@pappo666]

yeah it sounds Decent but for professional use which you kind of expect from this price point it is just good enough for the same price and even lower if you know what you looking for you can get a studio grade mixer and an external DAC with a lot better mic and audio quality and i think that's his point

[@MDKPopin]

@@pappo666 I stopped listening when he kept conflating line level inputs with mic level inputs and talking about +48v on the line-in.

[@file1man]

please show us your current sound setup- mixer, lapel mic, regular mike, what sound card or external sound card detail, with approximate costs for comparison

[@mikkelbayer4403]

Thanks for the review. Im not an audiophile but I'm using an Asus STX 2 with Burson v6 Vivid opamps and Sennheiser HD 579 and it is amazing. To those saying an external DAC will blow any internal audio out the water I don't get it. My friend is running a schiit DAC and HD 660s and sound is excellent but not as clean and immersive at high volume as mine. I also have an equalizer with Asus software I tune for games for extra bass and immersive effect. A flexibility my friend doesn't have. Also, external is just more cable clutter

[@zhv3062]

What I like about Tech YES versus Gamer Nexus, is that when you are going through the spec sheet and all the workings, You actually show the Text. Its easier to comprehend and understand what you are talking about. GN always talks as if you already know and have already read their article on the website. Yo I have other things I want to do after the video, I am not going to a webpage afterwards to re-read/listen to what you just said. Its a waste of time for a multi-tasker like me.

[@DueM]

good sound cards are worth the cash if you're a music lover and have the hardware downstream to match it, i use coax digital off the motherboard spdif header. go's straight into a dac/hp amp then out to a amplifier, the audio equipment is worth more than the pc by a few thousand dollars in my case. this unit is a nice simple source solution in my opinion has the flexibility to run out to powered monitors, be interesting to see a comparison against the asus essence if they're still available and evga's offering.

[@tony2roots]

Do you get any noise of the coax digital?

[@DueM]

@@tony2roots never had noise issues from coaxial from pc, the only thing that could be a pain is some dacs don't run well at higher resolutions than 96k/24 bit over spdif.

[@linchester8464]

How about a full list of the best audio cards for both input and output onboard in mobo and DAC

[@EndlessPlane]

I'll never forgive creative for killing Aureal's A3D. Real 3d positional audio has gone nowhere since the late 90's, instead we have stupid EAX reverb effects.

[@madman6648]

it was not creative ho kild it but microsoft. thay disabled the direct acsses to aodiostrems in windows xp

[@GAMMAXII]

@@madman6648 *Vista

[@EndlessPlane]

@@madman6648 creative bought up all of Aureal's intellectual property when they declared bankruptcy. Creative never implemented any of their tech. Aureal went bankrupt due to creative suing them for patent infringement. Aureal counter sued, and won. But the legal costs sunk the company. Fuck creative.

[@EndlessPlane]

@rk 4391 very cool. I think we will end up with 3D audio as a side effect of a move to ray/path tracing. Not soon enough sadly. Playing Thief with a Vortex card back in 1998 blew my mind, and hasn't been eclipsed in the following two decades. Sad.

[@churblefurbles]

You don't have to, creatives business shrunk down so much its incredible. That being said some of their stuff is still decent, and there aren't that many options these days regardless. I've stopped caring about surround sound type stuff in general.

[@bhblueberry]

I remember having SoundBlaster X-Fi for PCI-E and Behringer B1. The case with it was very similar. The output sound was amazing, I was impressed by what the 24bit crystalizer was doing. Problems started when I was trying to record anything. It was very frustrating to set everything up. With X-fi, there was no pre-amp for the condenser microphones with Phantom. I was using Art Tube MP (lamp pre-amp). It was very difficult to set good input signal even tough this P-A could give about 70dB boost. Now as I've watched this material, I can see that this process is pretty simple. Really, you are complaining about bad input, but in my opinion they've made a huge progress from what it was. I wonder only why there's such a big difference with the microphones. Maybe there are some custom settings for noise reduction? I mean - this hiss, the second mic is giving - it is very simple to remove it so maybe you should dig more in the settings. Have you tried to reboot the card after using one microphone, before using another? Sometimes the problem may be that the calculations from first mic are used for the second or something..

[@mindblockandroid]

Hello Brian, did you try the card with a proper 5.1 setup by any chance? Any Thoughts on that?

[@jackparsons6091]

I was looking for the same thing. I thought more people were using 5.1 surround systems. Plus no Dolby Atmos?

[@mindblockandroid]

@@jackparsons6091 Unfortunately, it seems it is just a few of us that don´t mind cable routing... Headphones are ok... but a proper surround setup sounds phenomenal.

[@martine-e-dee]

You are very much right! The input is the troubled part of this card. I own an AE-9; tried it with gamer headset's mic, with an XLR 48V phantom power mic, and I also tried the line-in. I got some noise and inconvenience on all three, and I can't help the feeling that I shouldn't have to keep boosting the mics (including the XLR 48V thing) to get great sound for the price.

[@ponchantos]

Hey guys. I was about to buy this ae9 After listening to this video, I'm having doubts. What do you guys recommend. I have fairly decent quality studio focal monitors which is great. So with the out put I think I'll be fine. But I do flight simulator and I'll need a decent not necessarily great microphone for the input. And I'm trying to figure out what would be an alternative soundboard. Do I have to go to professional studio gear or is this enough. Thanks guys and great review 👍🏻

[@jeffclark5206]

Did you test a prototype or final consumer version? They made a significant change to the final card.

[@Dennzer1]

good question

[@resColts]

Thanks for review couple questions/suggestions. Do you go over the CLEANLINE TECHNOLOGY did I miss it? its only available on ae-9 not ae-7. How does the LED work? How does it compare to ae-5 and ae-7? Do you have reviews of those cards? BTW CSGO and other shooters Try 67% surround, 67% crystalizer, 20% bass(depends on shooter some benefit some don't), SVM 67% or SVM Night mode. For EQ you want neutral EQ for your headphones. Surround should always be 67% regardless of game and for speakers/headphones as this will give you virtual surround effect giving you proper directional hearing. The other settings crystalizer, svm, bass can be changed/toggled off depending on the game. I am looking at getting ae-7 or ae-9 after upgrading from XFi Titanium HD to AE-5 before these ae-7/ae-9 came out I'm having trouble finding anything about the headphone amp differences between these 3 cards are they all the same? Used to be able to find out like titanium hd used burr brown, while sound blaster z used c media, while zxr used burr brown. Now creative used discrete x amp and no information I can find on the differences.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

My question is does this AE-9, work under a Mac OS X environment? Other then that this seems like a great device for me at this time. Thank you for reviewing this device Bryan. (:

[@techyescity]

Not sure how it works or if it works on MAC OS (not a mac user sorry :(.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

Tech YES City Did some research and saw that they’re no drivers for this device. Oh well, a Windows 10 machine will do. (:

[@goblinphreak2132]

the point of SBX is to put surround sound virtualization if the game doesn't have it built in. cs:go and overwatch have 3d surround modes for headphones built in. for games that dont have it like apex legends or pubg, you can turn SBX on for surround sound processing to give you a slight advantage for hearing where something comes from i have the ZXR, and i will be upgrading to this 350 dollar sound card. also note you can swap opamps for your own flavor....

[@thiagoasenha]

hey... I play a lot of pubg and cs: go, i'm from brazil and i looked a lot reviews of soundblaster ae-5 VS Schiit modi 3 / Magni3 .. Finally, what would be best for this games games? Sb ae-9 or Schiit kit?

[@goblinphreak2132]

@@thiagoasenha the external dac/amp combo is only going to do left/right with no virtualization. cs:go does have its own software based 3d surround virtualization, so you could use the schiit combo... however in other games that don't have it built in, you will be stuck with typical left and right channels only, no surround virtualization

[@techjunkienerd578]

Nice review. I used to have Soundblaster AE-5 in my computer. Hardware was good but the software was so buggy and most of the software features were unusable. EQ didnt work most of the time, drivers crashing and getting no sound out, only reboot was the fix for no sound problems. Tried multiple windows re-installs and driver versions with no effect. Now i use proper DAC/AMP on the desk, connected to the pc with USB and "It just works". Also use Rode Podcaster usb microphone for voice communication.

[@kaiserped]

I'm still happy with my Sound Blaster ZXR but I have to admit that the sound morphing feature in AE-9 is really cool.

[@goblinphreak2132]

you can morph your mic input with the zxr too..... rofl the main difference between zxr and ae-9 is hardware. the ae-9 is superior.

[@medeirosdez]

Hey, nice video! There's one issue, though. You should have set Windows to 7.1 audio channels layout in old Control Panel, under Sound options. After doing that, making sure to use "Headphones" on the Sound Blaster settings, you should have enabled SBX Surround. What that does is virtualize those 7.1 channels and create the positional audio effect that people are starting to talk about again on the upcoming PlayStation 5. This feature has existed on Creative cards since the old Audigies and I've always used it for gaming. Greetings from Brazil!

[@Staycalm2010]

Great video. I forgot SoundBlaster existed. I would be interested to know if the output signal experienced any interference from other internal components. The main reason I switched to external DACs is because when in games and also when scrolling up down web pages I could he this high pitched buzz. It's not noticeable at first, but when you do it is really annoying.

[@RESURRECT2]

This or ZXr for: 1) Overall quality 2) Headphones (connection via cable - but here we have got another cable to this docking station? Won't this lower audio quality?) 3) SPDIF optical cable connection (Crystalizer or other on card audio improvements) ???

[@OllieVK]

Any chance of doing the AE-7 also?

[@S7E7V7E7N]

I second that

[@ad2wan]

@@S7E7V7E7N me 3rd

[@jujubee672]

AE-7 is $150USD cheaper and gives you Linux support to boot. It's a better buy with similar features and quality. I chose the AE-7 and am using it right now. I do not have the +48 mic voltage, but I do not need it either.

[@240mains]

good review . mic question . i have heard stories about Dynamic diaphram ( Speaker mics ) . Reducing mic gain prevents other musicans from being Picked Up , in each persons mic . But then , everyone needs to Eat the Mic , and be very close to their mic , as the gain is set low . The another benifet is lower electircal noise , as the gain has been reduced . Does the AE-9 mic inputs ( Both inputs ) perform with acceptable low noise when using a Dynamic mic , as described above ?

[@franklinreinoza]

Hello, very good video. One question..: How do you compare the sound quality of this card with the one integrated in the motherboard? A friend told me that it is almost the same and there is almost no difference? and the price is not justified. I can't believe it but I don't know anyone who has it. I hope you can tell me about your experience. Greetings

[@drunkrdm]

? the molex connector on a ae-5 isn't for the sound at all, it's for the lighting. i don't even have mine plugged in.

[@Raziel_SSJ]

Same here. No needs of these fancy features.

[@Jac70]

I'm still running a Titanium Xfi, have had no reason to upgrade it. Which is odd because Creative are kicking out some really good products recently. I got a pair of Outlier One wireless earbuds which were great. Now running a pair of Outlier Airs which IMO are the best option for true wireless at the moment. I want a soundcard with built in Bluetooth 5, integrated SuperXfi and enough outputs to run a proper Atmos setup.

[@DeltaComp]

I bought the AE-5 earlier this year after my ZXR went out. I’m curious if it’s worthwhile to upgrade to the AE-9, especially if you own the HD800.

[@Hyde-Jahf]

Having recently done a lot of comparison of the GSX1000, MH752, Windows Spatial and Dolby Access ... this seemed to do a better job on spatials than the others. Agreed that it was more use in Apex and CSGO. Enough to justify the cost difference? No. But very good and worthwhile if you're buying it for something else and want to know it will do good in games.

[@jasonmcfarland4644]

Whst sound card do you recommend ? I saw one from evga for a similar price? Possibly do a top4 x570 built in sound options compared to your favorite aswell ?

[@churblefurbles]

Depends what you use it for, I like the soundblasterx e5 because of the apt-x support.

[@Patrick73787]

I recommend the one I'm using, The Sound Blaster ZxR. Very well reviewed. You won't get 32 bit audio but it does very well up to 24 bit.

[@mrlithium69]

This review re-confirmed why I'm subscribed to you. It was excellent. I've watched it twice already. Any other youtuber would have missed these glaring bugs, and you tell it like it is. I also can't help wondering if the stylistic triangle of shielding missing directly over the pedestrian 2x 5534 2x 2114 op-amps is why its extra-noisy. Its also a bit unusual they're using a HDMI port detachable jack inside the addon box. This seems suspect. Also for the record, despite any Windows driver issues (like with 5.1 surround/DTS, game modes, BSODs etc), I do like Creative for the ASIO driver support, for low-latency input to Ableton (and re-output to OBS) etc and multiple-client at the same time support. If theres one thing you overlooked its a deeper dive into these aspects of the drivers, beyond the Soundblaster Command program. Theres a lot to go over on this product, but this helped me a lot.

[@techyescity]

Thanks, glad you appreciated it. As for the deep-dive stuff like that it would be another world for me, perhaps when I get some time I could research and learn how to do it.

[@Ozrico1o1]

The popular supposition is that shielding helps with noise generated by fans & hdd's etc in a box. I don't think this has been true for decades. I think most of the interference was from budget power supplies. Shielding is on the cards because that questionable old supposition was such a popularly held belief, that it was wise to start putting them on for that reason alone.

[@Schakwar]

Would you recommend this for gaming / music / movies without looking at the line in point? Or rather pick something else for that money? I actually have the SoundblasterX G5 but I am looking for something better when it comes to software / surround sound.

[@techyescity]

Surround sound, depends what you like there, I have a denon old school 5.1 receiver with some onkyo speakers, and a yahama active sub, and it has 5 channel stereo mode which I love for PC use, as most content is not mastered for 5.1. So it blasts music so good and games really well. I just run the optical out from my PC to that receiver and it does the rest. And outside of that I just have an 'cakewalk' by roland audio interface, which will do everything better than this sound card can for both headphones and condenser mic. Hope this helps.

[@Schakwar]

@@techyescity I have MMY 300 headphones for gaming and Teufel E450 for music and movies and it’s really nice. 5.1 for gaming (yeah it’s no real 5.1 I know) but I don’t like stereo gaming since the locating and sounds are not that good to me.

[@Xaltar_]

At that price point I would much prefer to buy something like a Scarlett Solo and a decent sound card with built in headphone amp. For a streamer that would give you low latency input with all the benefit of high quality components, no signal noise and damn near professional recording quality. Honestly, a streamer doesn't really need high end output, so long as your stream has the quality, it isn't as crucial that you can hear it outside of getting the levels right.

[@larrygall5831]

I don't doubt you know what you're doing.. but did you have another input active? Basically a MOBO input or another DAC? That's what it sounds like when I forget to turn one off.

[@wingchunlhk9082]

compared between AE-9 or Topping dx7s. which one do you choice? I prefer Topping dx7s - 100% confidence

[@sonicsuper4945]

Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 or X7? What shoud i buy? got active speakers, headphones and ps4.

[@Lukeschedel]

Damn Bryan, You really know your shit when it comes to audio.

[@ShortHandedNow]

"Software can be fixed later"... This is Creative were talking about here. Buggy software and horrible drivers are part of the experience! (Coming from a 2+ decade Creative customer). They haven't even updated the AE-5 drivers in over a year.

[@maj113]

Haha so true im still rocking sb live!

[@goblinphreak2132]

ive yet to have any issues with my zxr and ive had it since it originally launched. no driver issues, no hardware issues. however, the quality, not as great as my old HT Omega Claro Halo+, but sadly new ryzen motherboards, at least in the high end, no longer have pci slots.... only pci-e.... so I had to buy the zxr even though specs wise, it was a downgrade. now with the new ae-9, its even better than the HT Omega Claro Halo+.... so its win win for me to buy one.

[@ahha6304]

Yeah me too, and then I switched to Xonar AE and every problem gone, with more sound channel to enjoy

[@Makoholic11]

I wonder how this competes vs a nice 200 Dollar Amp and DAC. As there are quite a few nice options for around this price.

[@cabronesse386]

I wonder how is the music listening on different scenarios, stereo performance, music surround, not to forget the movie experience. I understand this is the content creator point of view, there's so much about inputs performance, but we as common audiences expect more about our daily dose of music experience.

[@rangefreewords]

I think all your mic audio should be done with the Behringer B-1 with the AE9. Voicemorph is difficult to understand your tech jargan. Initially, I was just seeking solid I/O bay drive slot style audio control module that utilized a fiberoptic to pcie card inside my pc with a 6pin psu for it as well. Most of the time I might sit back and play games or movies from my 75" tv and need great quality dB with a 6ft audio cable.

[@adventureridergirl]

I have the Sound Blaster AE-5 (basically the gaming version of this card) and I really like it. It's between $125 and $150 in the US and doesn't seem to sacrifice a whole lot compared to the AE-9. Unless you need those specific features of the AE-9 I think the AE-5 is an excellent option (assuming you're not happy with your motherboard's audio solution).

[@MrHamit64]

What's the sound of the AE 5 like compaired to the 9 though? Again sorry if you haven't heard the AE 9. I'm not happy with my mother board. Dell adds too many gimics. The only motherboard today I loved was that of the MSI Trident. Does the AE 9 blow even that away?

[@midnightblue3285]

Is it support thx ?

[@hamitcampos4989]

@@midnightblue3285 Forgive if it's the other person you're asking about the card and not me about my speakers. But now you brig this up yes my Klipsch ProMedia speakers are THX. This is something I forgot to ask about whilst nurding out. Is something like the AE7 or AE9 here in this vid perhaps way over kill for $129 ProMedia speakers? Yes I'd like the AE7 at the least cause ya know DSD and all the audio file stuff. Same for AE 9. But perhaps those are way overboard for my speakers. I know they are money wize. But sound? Klipsch has no dirrect way to get them to ask them dirrectly.

[@midnightblue3285]

@@hamitcampos4989 I haven't heard that name of that speakers before now I know thanks, Do you suggest that speaker or I'm thinking to buy logitech THX series.. Actually I was ask the are the card is support the THX ? not the speakers because it is says its support DTS but I can't see the THX

[@MrHamit64]

@@midnightblue3285 Ah you were asking about the card then. Well All having the THX logo means is that the device in question meets THX's theatrical loudness and audio correctness standards. The speakers I have do. So yeah I guess if you want THX sound the ProMedia THX set is a way to go. Na but I also brought them up cause incase anyone else sees this thread I wander if as they are $130 speakers if 220 or 350 is way over kill amount of money to spend to well run said 130$ speakers.

[@kurupsuresh8463]

Hi, Is it Dolby Atmos and DTS X enabled? I have a request, Can you do a video on how to connect 7.1.4 speakers out and amplifier to the high end sound card installed PC. Which is the best Dolby Atmos and DTS X surround sound card in the market? Please reply.

[@samhain4399]

Not worth $350, unless you just have to have it yesterday, regardless of price. I used the Creative Upgrade program last month, knocking 15% off a "sale-price" of $299. I'd been waiting for the right time to nab the AE-9 and that was it. Got to keep my previous card, selling it and another promo unopened/ unused ZxR making my AE-9, $0 and money in the pocket for a mic purchase. Was it an upgrade over the ZxR? Simply put, my floors and subs seem to think so!

[@ranbymonkeys2384]

I can make this a easy decision for you. I spent $200 on a Sound Blaster Titanium HD. A year later Windows came out with Windows 10. Creative didn't feel like making a driver for it, that's right! It turned out to be a good thing I got the Asus STX ii and it blows the Sound Blaster cards out of the water. Works perfect on Linux also. Go with ASUS, you won't regret it.

[@hotstuff1003]

OMG you created another account, how sad. The Asus STX ii is outdated old junk with a inferior DAC than the AE-9 . The STX ii is a piece of shit. It lost every showdown against the ZXR and the AE-9 sounds much better than the ZXR. Deal with it.

[@ClipsForGames]

14:00 You're going on and on about the line in but yet you could just use the line in on the back of the card where it will sound alot better not on the control panel duh, wow. And also what noise are you talking about? If you mean the fan noise from your case that is not the sound cards fault that is your's.

[@s3er0i9ng]

I think for sound Schiit Audio is the way to go around that price. Also you don’t have to deal with broken software. Have had issues with Creative sound card drivers in the past.

[@iiiiii7680]

I'd love to see a video on HOW to benchmark audio in full detail

[@Pathos312]

New sub, cool shit. Thank you for sharing!

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

One big question i must ask... I use Creative primarily because of the excellent backwards compatibility for legacy games via the likes of ALchemy on modern operating systems. Does the AE-9 support this? Does it also work in Windows 10 1903?

[@ployth9000]

so if you had to compare it to the creative soundblaster X7 how would it be Tech yes city ?

[@12bigredd]

Messing with the Little Folk....your a brave man :) if your milk goes sour in the fridge well.... :) i mean it is not as if you've never been told about them in Australia :) Moonlight BBQ should fix it:)

[@nikolaosmitsou85]

you deserve my respect because of the amazing channel and because you picked Silencer (i am a silencer spammer)

[@smamas114]

The good question is is it worth it if you don't have high end speakers? ..........i think if i use it with my logitech z906 speaks probably will not sound better only if i use it with krk rokit speakers witch are studio speakers

[@josemelendez5998]

any big difference between this one one than ZxR?

[@Trifler500]

Nice video Brian, but I think a review of a product such as this has to include testing with surround sound speakers, in addition to the headphone testing. I think most audiophiles would be using speakers.

[@churblefurbles]

Too many variables with speakers.

[@Avean]

I am using the Sound Blaster G6 right now powering my HD700 from Sennheiser. Am i missing out on sound quality? I mean if this product is not up to standards, how about the very little brother G6? :p

[@BranZHamZ]

Being as I am a gamer as well as a musician, I really hope you either have or will do more reviews of soundcards. P.S. LMAO during the voice fx, I'd get this just for those 🤣

[@techyescity]

Thanks man, yeah I wouldn't mind taking a look at some of the other options out there. I think people are requesting the nu audio from EVGA quite a bit so will reach out to them. Though it's a little weird for me personally as I don't consider myself an audiophile, but over the years just learnt to test the stuff for the people that want the numbers - and I quite enjoy doing all the testing... maybe I am a testingaudiophile? :P

[@BranZHamZ]

@@techyescity if it helps, I use studio headphones, Shure SRH840, when working on music and even gaming solo in big world games like Horizon Zero Dawn, so including studio headphones into the equation might bring up good questions for even more test results. Like, "Do I need an audio card to fully benefit from more expensive headphones?" But as always, Im enjoying the content 👌

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

I think for your opponents in APEX Legends, your annhilation sounded really good to them.

[@techyescity]

You think they had SBX on?

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

@@techyescity Probz, theyz defs not usin the mic though.

[@V4zz33]

How does this compares to the ASUS Xonar STX2? My issue is that a big chunk of that $350 went for that extra gadget instead of the whole card to sound even better.

[@Zefram0911]

ngl, for a flagship product at a flagship price... that's pretty disappointing that it wasn't perfect. Great review though, Brian. I've been waiting for this one since CES.

[@jipitou9972]

I think I'm gonna buy this to use with my Apple Earpods

[@mcman4079]

is the x3 as good? and what is this super-xfi? does this one have that? i have a titanium HD i like it but its getting old, why does the game demos sound awful compared to what i use atm is it the way its uploaded

[@levinste2750]

Could you please do me a favor? Go to the software settings, Playback, and selects headphones, and from there, to the cog wheel, and tell me if you see / have, the HEADPHONE GAIN ( Ohm, etc etc ) Thank you

[@shreddherring]

I'd be really interested to see a comparison between this and the soundblaster ZXR. I'm currently using a ZXR with my own choice of op amps, primarily for listening to music/films/games, never do any recording, and would love to know if this is worth upgrading to. Also dont want to go for an external usb solution if an internal solution is available. One drawback with the ZXR is that its a significant reason for me to stay on windows 7 as there are pops and skips etc when using it in windows 10, and with W7 support coming to an end shortly, maybe the ae9 could be my answer?

[@hotstuff1003]

The AE-9 is way better than the ZXR. Even the AE-5 sounds better than a stock ZXR. The AE-9 has a better SABRE dac than the AE-5 (both dacs are superior than the ZXR's) and the AE-9 has op amps like the ZXR, so it can be upgraded. Why ask when you can see the specs on paper that the AE-9 is way better than the ZXR. A stock ZXR sounds no better than the ZR. I owned a ZXR and upgraded to a AE-5 and the AE-5 sounds way better, but I never upgraded my ZXR... but you can also upgrade the AE-9, so it will be better for sure.

[@shreddherring]

Because specs on paper dont provide me with a real life experience to judge things by, and I dont know of anywhere I could go to try before I buy

[@pixels303at-odysee9]

There can be an appreciation for audio and circuit board design. Most people do not understand either. I have always been a fan of the company. Even their older stuff still works great. It is the standard on pc's

[@SanderSander88]

creative sb x-fi fatal1ty still rocking this beauty hahah from 2006 xD. in a new build, but thats going to be the last one.

[@blueeyednick]

When you buy a sound card but forget that you only have 350$ for a build

[@xuansonhapo1234]

sad story

[@НиколаГеоргиев-ш2б]

Perhaps, that's the reason why my X-Fi Titanium PCI card has been collecting dust in my old Pentium 4 build for ages :(

[@Raziel_SSJ]

I'm curious to see your bulid... not even a decent laptop for this price. Dude, when you buy this you also have an headphone of the same price or much more so....

[@AlexanderXtcSlayin]

Is that including the sound card? 😂

[@levinste2750]

Is it worth the upgrade from X7 to AE-9? I'm using only headphones ( Beyerdynamic T5 3rd generation ) Thank you

[@TommyDDDWut]

if you have the extra money i would say yeah with the sound ectra its better the imput is still pretty bad they kinda fixed it with some driver updates but its still there.

[@funkytown5254]

Sound Blaster AE-9 VS EVGA NU Audio Pro 7.1 ??? WHICH BETTER ?

[@numinous123]

I've had so many issues with this soundcard. While it sounds great (while it worked), the trouble wasn't worth the 350 dollars. I got a cheaper IFI Dac V2, that sounds better, it's less hassle, and give a better sound boost. Yes, the settings aren't as refined, but it works great and is more reliable, even if it's really only good for headphone listening (which is what I use it for).

[@panzerd18]

When will the AE-7 come out and its price point?

[@rushnerd]

Still using the Asus Essence with a molex connector for power, $99. Thing is a beast of a headphone amp and does wonders for my two monitors.

[@cordes85]

I went the other route, id like to know if it elimates in computer hiss or vibrations, because i have a Focusrite 6i6 gen 3, and use it to power KRK Monitors, and an XLR mic, with connect my Beyerdynamic 1990Pro 250 ohms headphones. So wonder if this is a better hook up.

[@CamelShrimp]

So do you not aim when you're playing shooting games?

[@bighousemusic628]

Can i use this with my ad/da converter for my studio?

[@fucheduck]

would be nice if it had environmental effects in the voice recorder settings. for example using it for doing an audio drama with outdoor backdrops or underground backdrops. the morphing is okay but what about making one sound in a different environment. not just how you sound AS something else but how you sound IN another environment not your own! I want it all! I would like to see how it works in Kingdom Come Deliverance since that game is one of few that use EAX. I understand it has an onboard audio accelerator so your CPU isn't lagged in such games. but voice recording for audio production is much more interesting to me.! I don't use headphones. I don't understand why so many people like headphones. I would much prefer 7.1 output to a speaker set.

[@Raziel_SSJ]

Pretty good feature request. This definitely could be interesting. But since effects are hardware based, not sure this is possible in the state.

[@fucheduck]

@@Raziel_SSJ I noticed in the circuit layout there is a dual "quad core" I am guessing only the AE-9 has that And AE-7 doesn't. I am confused by why the AE-7 uses "having audio acceleration" as one of its selling points. I wonder why is there something I missed? is it an enhanced CPU? All high end SB cards have used it for many years. I am guessing this has no significance in games frame rate as you didn't really go into much detail about it. Only the Effects which are hardly noticeable on speakers. The first mic you used was the Behinger, is that a uni-directoional? Unidirectional aren't supposed to pick up anything except what is directly in front of them. would you recommend uni or omni for voice overs like narration?

[@Raziel_SSJ]

@@fucheduck This is a little "CPU" since 3D spacialisation and other effects are calculated by the card itself and not your CPU (sound card VS in game effects) and every SB cards (even low end I think) have this sort of "CPU". On the other side, the AE-5 card (that I own) costs me a bit more CPU power than my onboard sound card. So I don't really understand people claiming that dedicated sound card will alleviate CPU (VS onboard one) since it's not. But this is maybe due to the app that I suspect to be pretty bad designed.

[@wolandphotography]

better than STX ii? i dont know which to buy

[@XyzBoBzAU]

I've got an Audient ID14, Beyerdynamic DT770's and a Rode NT1A... works a treat ;)

[@Raivo_K]

My experience with Creative has been that they produce top notch hardware (at least when it comes to sound cards) but seriosly underperform in the software department. Currently using Sound Blaster Z card. To give you an example - they failed to code their uninstaller registry entries properly so every time i tried to uninstall the drivers it failed. I had to go and edit those registry entries myself before i could uninstall the drivers. Plus i always felt that Alchemy and EAX were not working properly in older games that supported it. For example the first Far Cry.

[@Patrick73787]

I have the ZxR, I love the SBX feature.

[@Jing_Photography]

Can you compare with AE-5?

[@kalumander]

MAybe the noise problem comes from connecting the AE9 to 3$ RCA cable?

[@sonsofmatriarchy5552]

Old school Creative fanboy here...

[@guyincognito566]

I see you are a man of culture as well.

[@Rem_NL]

loved them in the 90s now i won't touch them with a long stick, man i grew to hate this company

[@liquidone2908]

Same here, I bought the AE-5 and it is lit. 5.1 top end DAC sounds purrfect then you have the direct stereo which is even better if you're happy with losing 3.1 channels.. just don't plug in the LED lighting, it creates noise on the card, CT were silly to include LED on a soundcard..

[@dvazquez2016]

7.1 headset audio? Can you wirelessly hear yourself through headset?

[@lashyndragon]

Kinda hoping sound cards make a comeback. I'm still rocking a ZxR. Not quite on par with an external dac/amp, but the mic input and convenience is nice

[@nperry77]

Wondering if I can use this to make my computer an AV processor. Along with black magic HDMI capture card.

[@Ripperley]

Would be interested to hear what you think about the (somewhat) more recent AE-9PE "playback edition" that seems to have mostly replaced this? The same soundcard for output but with the inputs removed and the price cut down to match

[@photonboy999]

Auzentech X-Fi Forte here... my sound card was awesome then Microsoft updated Windows (Vista?) and it stopped working. BUT... a guy called "DanielK" repackaged the drivers and it worked 100% again... then a couple months ago Microsoft did some update and killed support for my card again. I can get basic, analog audio out of the card but none of the Creative software works. Thanks... my USB DAC in the Audioengine speakers however sounds almost exactly the same to me so I wonder how much different a super high-end audio card would sound. Sounds like really diminishing returns if you have a good USB DAC and good speakers/headphones already (note USB audio contains its own DAC so the sound card or onboard sound isn't used at all).