Just ordered a Sound Blaster Z

anthonyg45157 · Apr 30, 2014

From what I've gathered this is a pretty decent sound card... The biggest plus was I only paid 70 bucks for it. Retail version. The speakers I'm using are Pioneer sp-bs22-lr powered my the small but trusty lepai mini amp.

I'm expecting to hear a pretty decent difference when comparing this to my realtek on board audio that came with my gigabyte, z77 ud3h.

Anyone have aanything positive to say about this sound card?

Edit:wanted to add I only paid 70 $for this card. Using Amazon warehouse deals!

kyij · Apr 30, 2014

I do not have anything, but am curious to know if you hear much difference.

The only benifit (the whole point) is just to eliminate the resonance of other frequneces from the parts of the motherboard. But I have never bought a sound controller as nice as that, so it would be nice to hear :rofl:

EarthDog · Apr 30, 2014

With a decent set of speakers, you should hear some difference, sure.

anthonyg45157 · Apr 30, 2014

EarthDog said:
With a decent set of speakers, you should hear some difference, sure.

From what I understand the pioneers I bought are pretty decent entry level speakers..Most people compare them to much more expensive speakers such as wharfedales..

Edit: (Had to add this it made me laugh

) "These Pioneers, designed by Andrew Jones, are not your mom's (or your dad's) Pioneers. Their looks may be plain, but their sound is remarkable. They very easily hold their own against much more expensive speakers, the Wharfedales included."

I'll let you guys know if I can tell a difference and how much of a differenc. I'll also take pictures..gonna be a tight fit with my 780 lightning

NiHaoMike · May 1, 2014

If you're using good speakers, you'll probably be using a digital amplifier as well, in which case you won't get any improvement. The exceptions are those using tube amps or other high end legacy equipment.

sobe · May 1, 2014

Tube amps are what it's all about. WooAudio!

But as far as the SBZ, it works decent as an entry level card, and if my choices were the Z or Zx, I would definitely pick up the Z. You should note a cleaner sound, but aside from that...

EarthDog · May 1, 2014

NiHaoMike said:
If you're using good speakers, you'll probably be using a digital amplifier as well, in which case you won't get any improvement. The exceptions are those using tube amps or other high end legacy equipment.

Mike mike mike...there are noticeable improvements to be had via digital or analog amplification my man...come on now.

anthonyg45157 · May 1, 2014

EarthDog said:
Mike mike mike...there are noticeable improvements to be had via digital or analog amplification my man...come on now.

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not... I'm pretty sure I will get a pretty noticeable difference between this card and on board realtek . Realtek audio seems to be pretty cheap solution to computer audio...

EarthDog · May 1, 2014

The modern Realtek solutions are actually decent. Not sure how much of a difference, but some should certainly be heard with decent speakers/cans.

NiHaoMike · May 1, 2014

EarthDog said:
there are noticeable improvements to be had via digital or analog amplification my man...come on now.

A digital amplifier accepts digital input, which is just data. Onboard works every bit as well for that.

\dev\goat · May 1, 2014

NiHaoMike said:
A digital amplifier accepts digital input, which is just data. Onboard works every bit as well for that.

+1

Don't buy a soundcard unless you're running analog audio out to your amplifier.

:beer:

EarthDog · May 1, 2014

Let me clarify...

The amount of things that can be heard (# of voices/concurrent voices) will improve what is heard. I think you both are talking s/n ratio and things of the like, while I was talking about what can actually be heard.

Better?

anthonyg45157 · May 1, 2014

\dev\goat said:
+1

Don't buy a soundcard unless you're running analog audio out to your amplifier.

I have an external dac as well, is this what you mean??

NiHaoMike · May 1, 2014

Modern CPUs have so much processing power that an audio coprocessor really won't do much for performance. (The reason many mobile SoCs have them is to reduce power consumption.) Nowadays, software audio rendering is as good as hardware audio rendering.

In summary, rather than buy a sound card for its audio processor, buy a better CPU instead. What can be worth it is if you're buying the sound card as a DAC/amp for headphones or for recording audio. Some advocate buying an external DAC/amp unit instead, which might be a better fit for some users.

\dev\goat · May 1, 2014

anthonyg45157 said:
I have an external dac as well, is this what you mean??

If you were previously running from the 3.5mm audio jack on your motherboard---> lepai amp ---> speakers, then you should hear a big difference in sound quality. The DAC on the soundblaster should be far superior to your integrated motherboard audio.

If you were previously running digital audio to your external DAC----> lepai ---> speakers, then I doubt you'll hear much/any improvement in your sound quality.

anthonyg45157 · May 1, 2014

\dev\goat said:
If you were previously running from the 3.5mm audio jack on your motherboard---> lepai amp ---> speakers, then you should hear a big difference in sound quality. The DAC on the soundblaster should be far superior to your integrated motherboard audio.

If you were previously running digital audio to your external DAC----> lepai ---> speakers, then I doubt you'll hear much/any improvement in your sound quality.

Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to hear.. props!

anthonyg45157 · May 2, 2014

Sound card has arrived, after work I will get to play around with it ... long day of hard work ahead of me

anthonyg45157 · May 2, 2014

Pictures!

And it has nichicon capacitors!

From what I understand these are superior to most other caps for audio.

Gonna put it through the paces tomorrow!

... sure is pretty

kyij · May 2, 2014

No House on a Friday night? Party pooper.. :rain:

wingman99 · May 3, 2014

Don't all speakers have a digital amplifier nowadays?

Just ordered a Sound Blaster Z

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