Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest internal sound card available today...period.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 22, 2016
I am definitely sold on this card over the Creative Sound Blaster ZxR (my previous card). Here are a couple Pros and Cons:
Pro:
- Overall sound quality is superb, best sounding card I've owned. I paired this with a nice set of Harmon Kardon Sound Sticks and PSB M4U2 Headphones - both sound wonderful with a rich soundstage.
- Sound is "crisper" versus the ZxR which always had overwhelming bass. Midrange frequencies are considerably better with this card.
- Build quality is top-notch.
- The volume control knob is software based and controls the Windows volume, not a physical attenuator that adds distortion like the ZxR.
- Clicking the volume knob flips speaker/headphone outputs - which is awesome (the ZxR requires you to open the software to flip it - also, the software remembers the last volume setting for both speaker and headphone, so when you flip from one to the other, you don't blow your ears out accidentally).
- Software package is minimalist, yet powerful. I like that you can dictate bit-rate and dynamic range on the fly.
- POWER! I can see why they added a dedicated PCIe power connector - the amps on this card can power a bus.
- Software virtual surround adds some noticeable "depth" to the sound stage. I wouldn't call it "surround" per se (I haven't tried any gaming with my stereo headphones) but it gives a more open presence to the sound that is pleasing to my ears.
- Great alternative to the ZxR for audiophiles. The sound quality is at least on par if not superior. May just come down to personal preference...if you prefer tons of bass, go with the ZxR. If you want an overall flat response with very clear mids and highs, go with this card.
- I also paired it with an external vacuum tube amp (Schitt Vali) - the card supports it just fine. The improvement in sound quality is much less (if any - it's more preference at this point) than the jump when pairing the Vali with the ZxR. Overall, I'm very happy with this card.
Cons:
- No optical/RCA input (what can I say, that was a nice-to-have with the ZxR).
- The cable connector to the volume control is a 2" hard molded plastic piece that sticks out really far. This detracts from what looks like a sleek box in the pictures. It would have been nice if the cable could have been more easily concealed. That said though, the cable is very heavy braid and feels well built.
- The lighting on the card is cool, but completely useless. Don't misunderstand, I love lighting - I have a window case with some awesome lighting effects. But the LED is a bit underpowered (so it doesn't "pop"), it's also not addressable (You can't turn it on/off). Finally, it's tucked away near the PCIe connector on the shielded side of the card - meaning anyone with a tower case (which most gamers have and is obviously about 95% of the card's target audience) is most likely not going to be able to see it! Also, if you have a discrete GPU, it'll completely block it. Cool idea - poor implementation. It would have been better to put LED's behind the words on the side of the card like most GPUs are doing now. Also not addressable RGB, and in today's gaming market for glass-case PC's, addressable RGB is king.
- The card connections are not color coated, so you have to shine a flashlight or look at the manual to identify connections. On-top of that, the provided microphone/headphone/box cord for the control module have colored connector, but the manual doesn't say which is which, and neither does the connector. I guessed green was headphone, red was microphone and black was the control cable - guess I got it right because it all works.
I debated whether to give it 4 stars or 5 stars. If I could give it 4.5 I would, as the Cons are very minor nuisances and collectively not worth knocking a whole star off over when the performance of the card is stellar.
