Same thing on the DX and other ASUS cards, they are used either for the routing of the amp or routing of inputs.

My DX clicks when I switch between front panel audio and Headphone and vice versa. I've always wondered what causes that.

Yours has 4 relays it seems :P

Yours has 4 relays it seems :P

I only have 1 and the clicking noise is definitely coming from that white box. Also it's a DGX, my bad. 🤓 [spoiler] http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/2554/u0lq.jpg [/spoiler]

Is the zxr worth it over a Titanium Fatal1ty XFI?. I have read that their software for virtual surround isn't as good as CMSS as far as positional accuracy goes. Actually I have read that in a few different places.

Is the zxr worth it over a Titanium Fatal1ty XFI?. I have read that their software for virtual surround isn't as good as CMSS as far as positional accuracy goes. Actually I have read that in a few different places.

I went from the X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro to the ZxR and for me it's a world of difference. The surround is way better and everything sounds much more alive. When it comes to turning a Headphone into surround the ZxR is really really good.

I went from the X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro to the ZxR and for me it's a world of difference. The surround is way better and everything sounds much more alive. When it comes to turning a Headphone into surround the ZxR is really really good.

I'm curious about their MB3 software. If you go to their site, it appears to be basically the same virtual surround features, SBX, scout..etc but is intended for those without high end cards. However I read Scout mode is a cheap gimmick. I'm curious if I could use the software and since I already have a high end XFI, if it wouldn't be the same or similar as having the Z card but I can't really seem to find any real info on such. I'm just looking to keep up with what modern games are doing since it seems no one is using EAX anymore and few to no audio hardware acceleration. So not sure if switching to a newer card would even really matter. Can't really justify $250 over a $180 card I currently have when it is already pretty impressive as far as positional sounds go. Most of what I have read mentions the new surround software doesn't have nearly as many options and I can't seem to find any evidence that the positional accuracy is the same or better than CMSS but plenty of forum posts from various forums seem to say contrary. What I would like to find is a good solid comparison of both cards in various new games. I found Daniel K's opinionon Recon3d for whatever it's worth. No Idea how similiar it is to the Z series thoughhttp://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=697046&page=2&p=532625&viewfull=1#post532625

Thanks to the user BF, I was able to see what the Recon3D is all about, just by analyzing the software and driver included in the Installation Disc. About the card itself: - Recon3D does have a DSP with pre-programmed functions for the THX TruStudio and CrystalVoice. About the Sound Core3D quad-core processor: - Not quad-core at all: even the original SB Live! could process as many sound effects at the same time. - Design is based around the CA0110 PCI Express HD Audio controller with an embedded DSP and integrated DAC. - EAX is software based, as it is supported through Host OpenAL. - Pre-programmed DSP with as many sound effects you could find on any car stereo or home theater. Pros - Less compatibility issues, as it basically uses simple codec drivers and all EAX gaming effects are processed in software by the system's CPU. - Dedicated Headphone amplifier. - THX TruStudio surround sound effects are better than Creative's CMSS3D. - Hardware accelerated THX TruStudio/CrystalVoice effects. - Microphone enhancements by CrystalVoice. Cons - Really overpriced, not justifiable for such cheap design. - Average sound quality, even worse than some motherboard integrated HD Audio codecs. - Limited to 5.1 speakers and 96kHz, questionable for a cutting edge sound card, even if a gaming only card. - Sound Core3D is just a simple pre-programmed DSP. - No HDMI connector. - No hardware EAX acceleration. - No THX speaker calibration. - No hardware MIDI synthesizer. - No ASIO. - Control panel written in Microsoft .NET, loads slowly and wastes 50MB of RAM when minimized to tray. - No WHQL drivers. - Questionable dedicated headphone amp, as the integrated DAC is of poor quality. The included drivers are not WHQL signed and worse, are from a debug version (just open the .sys driver and you'll see it). Did Creative improve the software/drivers? No, if it has less compatibility issues or does not have any at all, is because the drivers MUST be simple, as it is just an HD Audio driver, like I've said before. Then we have the Control Panel which uses a DLL to access the registers in the embedded DSP to enable and adjust the sound enhancements. Is this a revolutionary sound card? Not a all. THX TruStudio Surround is the only REALLY improved feature. CrystalVoice enhancements have been around for years, being the hardware implementation the only improvement. As Creative have just released X-Fi MB2 as a retail product, you should better buy this if you DO NOT have a Creative soundcard and want THX TruStudio and EAX5. Curiously, X-Fi MB2 does not work with Creative cards. X-Fi MB2 works with ANY soundcard or HD Audio codec, although it needs some tweking for the ASUS Xonar series. X-Fi Titanium Features you'll be missing: - Hardware accelerated EAX. - Fully programmable DSP in Audio Creation mode. - Hardware MIDI Synthesizer with SoundFont support. - Very good sound quality for Creative designs, premium/audiophile sound quality for Auzentech/Onkyo designs. - THX speaker calibration. - DTS Connect (DTS Interactive encoder/DTS Neo:PC) - HDMI connector for some models.

I so wish my 15 year old SoundBlaster Live! still worked 🙁 I remember it blowing my mind

I so wish my 15 year old SoundBlaster Live! still worked 🙁 I remember it blowing my mind

Sound Blaster pro was my first pc soundcard, it still sounded a fair bit worse than my Amiga. Then I got a Gravis Ultrasound, that card was so ahead of its time. I ended up using the Sound Blaster pro solely for its game port. Good days.

Half the time I boot my computer my ZXR fails to be detected. I have to tinker with the card in order to make it work and even then it fails sometimes. I tried switching slots, tightening, etc. What's weird is that once it boots it's fine, i never have any problems and the card sounds excellent. Guess I'll have to test how good Creative's support is.

One thing I do not like about my soundcard is that it plays speakers and headphones at the same time, no separate volume controller or way to use just either of those without unplugging. No clicking noise, but that would not bother me much... 🙁

One thing I do not like about my soundcard is that it plays speakers and headphones at the same time, no separate volume controller or way to use just either of those without unplugging. No clicking noise, but that would not bother me much... 🙁

I have that problem, if I have my volume up through my speakers I can hear it coming from my headphones as well. I don't unplug each time I jus turn the system volume to about 25% and speakers up so headphones are silent

I have that problem, if I have my volume up through my speakers I can hear it coming from my headphones as well. I don't unplug each time I jus turn the system volume to about 25% and speakers up so headphones are silent

I have USB soundcard (Roland Quad-Capture or UA-55, both names are used). One volume setting from system (PC), one volume knob at that Roland. I have volume control on both speakers which I have set to max as I use that soundcard to control the volume. Just want to have separate volume for headphones or button to enable/disable those. Meh.

I'm curious about their MB3 software. If you go to their site, it appears to be basically the same virtual surround features, SBX, scout..etc but is intended for those without high end cards. However I read Scout mode is a cheap gimmick. I'm curious if I could use the software and since I already have a high end XFI, if it wouldn't be the same or similar as having the Z card but I can't really seem to find any real info on such. I'm just looking to keep up with what modern games are doing since it seems no one is using EAX anymore and few to no audio hardware acceleration. So not sure if switching to a newer card would even really matter. Can't really justify $250 over a $180 card I currently have when it is already pretty impressive as far as positional sounds go. Most of what I have read mentions the new surround software doesn't have nearly as many options and I can't seem to find any evidence that the positional accuracy is the same or better than CMSS but plenty of forum posts from various forums seem to say contrary. What I would like to find is a good solid comparison of both cards in various new games. I found Daniel K's opinionon Recon3d for whatever it's worth. No Idea how similiar it is to the Z series thoughhttp://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=697046&page=2&p=532625&viewfull=1#post532625

Yeah after reading your post I was surprised to find the X-Fi MB3 software for sale here. http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-MB3/M/B00CWMCJAS.htm People have been running cracked versions of MB2 on Realtek chips for a long time however I am not sure it was 100% functional. The price of the software is $29.99 for that you could buy an Asus Xonar DG. No software is going to get rid of the interference I hear on my current Realtek chip from the other motherboard components but I am pretty sure the Xonar would and probably sounds better.

I recently upgraded to the SoundBlaster Z after returning the Recon 3D (did not care for it) and so far am very pleased with it. I bought this card to drive my Sennheiser HD650 headphones which the internal amp does a good job. Before these two cards I owned X-Fi Titanium HD (great card and installed in another system), Fatality X-Fi Platinum, SoundBlaster Live, Diamond Monster Sound and a few others that I cant remember right now.

Same problem

Half the time I boot my computer my ZXR fails to be detected. I have to tinker with the card in order to make it work and even then it fails sometimes. I tried switching slots, tightening, etc. What's weird is that once it boots it's fine, i never have any problems and the card sounds excellent. Guess I'll have to test how good Creative's support is.

Hi, i'm having the same problem with you, did they give you a working solution?

Since Microsoft removed hardware accelleration of sound in windows many of these soundcards is kinda obsolete. I have a X-Fi card myself and only reason I'm still using it with a newer machine is it still sounds better than 99% of the onboard sound of various MB's. The big problem with Creative is their drivers. Creative have never been good at making drivers, or they just don't give a rats ass. :bang: If you have ever used a SB card for making music, AWE32/AWE64, SB Live.. etc. try remember for how long creative was shipping Asio 1.0 drivers with humongeous latency and for just as long they promised Asio 2.0 support was just around the ben. :bang::bang: Drivers is still the problem because the support of Older X-Fi cards is lagging with both Win 7 and especially Win 8. Many of the old settings and apps for XP is not running or have quite some compatibility issues in Win 8. Try figuring out what your need is before buying: 1. There is no point in buying a sound card for gaming, unless you absolutely want the better sound quality from an add-on card with better DA converters and better analog opamps. You gain no faster gaming or whatever since every DSP today is processed in your CPU no matter what. 2. If you produce music as either a hobyist or on semi pro level, you have tons of better cards that have better quality and better features towards multichannel harddisk recording and sound processing than Creative will ever have. And these cards can be purchased from entry level at around half the price of this card and upwards several thousend $$, depending on how much demand and money you have. 3. If its Sourround sound for your Media center or other sound setup you need , You are better off with the Older X-Fi cards with breakout box for Music Entertaining. These cards have a decent sound Quality, but driver support may again be a problem if you run Win 7 or later. Good luck choosing a Soundcard :3eyes:

I have a X-Fi card myself and only reason I'm still using it with a newer machine is it still sounds better than 99% of the onboard sound of various MB's.

In fact that's the whole point of dedicated sound cards, offering better sound quality over the onboard offerings. IMHO the most important aspect of owning a dedicated sound card.

In fact that's the whole point of dedicated sound cards, offering better sound quality over the onboard offerings. IMHO the most important aspect of owning a dedicated sound card.

Pretty much this. That guys entire post was obsolete. The main reason 95% of people buy them (and have done for some time) is for improved sound quality.

Op-amps vs. channels Hi, Can you please help me understand which op-amp drives which channel on the ZXR card? I am planning to do op-amp replacement and I saw in the review that there were replaceable DIP8 op-amps (2x LME49710 (single) & 2x NJM2114 (dual)) Which channels are driven by these? Would replacing the NJMs by MUSES02s make a huge difference? Thank you in advance

Hi, Can you please help me understand which op-amp drives which channel on the ZXR card? I am planning to do op-amp replacement and I saw in the review that there were replaceable DIP8 op-amps (2x LME49710 (single) & 2x NJM2114 (dual)) Which channels are driven by these? Would replacing the NJMs by MUSES02s make a huge difference? Thank you in advance

I would ask Robscix, he is the man to ask about this.