Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest $150 spent on my desktop PC audio experience.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 6, 2018
Let me preface saying that I'm not a proper audiophile or a sound engineer in any aspect. I just like good sounding music, and can tell the difference between bland and exciting audio.
My first impressions of this were how nice the card looks in person. Usually cards look pretty minimalist with their PCB exposed, although there are a few that have nice aesthetics. This is the best IMO in that regard. The included equipment is fine, nothing special, and the drivers are automatically installed, with additional resources on their website. You will need to have the additional molex power cable available to plug in to this card to power it. The other connector is for RGB, which is optional and I currently am not using, but is great for those who like lighting up their build. The connections for the front audio connectors are fine, with one caveat (will mention below). The back connections are as expected and seem of high quality (won't break easily).
Once the card was set up, the use of the sound blaster connect 2 program was simple enough. One of my favorite features is the easy to use EQ. My current headphones are the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro, and they are slightly harsh on the high end. I used the EQ to adjust the top end -6db. Now they sound much smoother to me. On top of this, you can save multiple EQ settings for various setups or preferences. The sound blaster effects settings (e.g. surround simulation, crystalizer, bass, vocal and smart volume) all work very well and can be distinctly noticed moving the sliders from 0 to 100. They can individually be tuned and saved for multiple devices as well. One note, if you use the direct headphone or direct stereo output options in the program, the EQ and sound effect enhancements will be bypassed to send the highest quality, unfiltered sound to your device. This is generally for purists who want the best reproduction of recordings with high end equipment. Most people won't notice the difference on typical listening devices.
One of the other features that is marketed on this card is the discrete headphone amp, which is great for anyone who wants the features of the DAC/amp without having a separate device to configure on your desk. My headphones sound fine with normal phones powering them, but they never get that loud or dynamic in sound. Plugged into this card, they become incredibly dynamic and can be ear shattering loud while staying clear. The bass alone will rumble your head. However, I've found that there is a difference between the front panel connector (typical headphone port) and the rear headphone connector. They both sound great, but the rear connector is better shielded and ends up sounding cleaner (IMO) and louder. This could be because the headphone amp is cleaner coming from the rear connector, but this will require you to plug your cans to the back of your PC which is awkward.
My desktop speakers are the Klipsch 2.1 setup. They sound pretty good regardless of your PC's audio processing, but on this card, they sound A LOT better. I can now shake the whole room and the nearby rooms with this tiny setup. I was immediately impressed with the result from this, and I've been jamming all my previous tunes to them like it is the first time I've heard music. I imagine with better quality speakers and speaker amps, you can really push some quality sound, especially for the price of this card, which is much much lower than mid-tier and upper-tier DAC.
Some complications from the card:
-Switching audio outputs from the interface (i.e. switching from headphone to desktop speaker) during audio playback can cause audio to stop playing, and might require a restart of the audio source.
-I had issues with the rear input connector, although for my mic (antlion mod mic 5.0), I just use the front panel input which works just fine.
-The input audio is very low for me. I have the input gain maxed out, which makes it pick up my voice at a normal volume.
- The biggest issue: you will probably start spending more money on better speakers and headphones to really utilize what this card can do for your PC. But, that is what you wanted anyways... right?
Overall, this is a solid 4.5 with the few issues I have with it, but I bumped it to a 5 on here because it is certainly better than a 4. If you haven't dived into better audio processing, then this is a great start for the price. You will immediately know what you've been missing out on once you get everything set up.
