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Creative Sound Blaster new series Z, Zx & ZxR
Mar 22, 2015 at 6:07 PM Post #2,746 of 3,462
Sound Blaster Omni = Sound Blaster Z
 
Recon3D is below them.
 
Both Omni and the Z can send SBX through optical out. If you plan on getting a seperated DAC and AMP, get a DAC with Opt. In. Many have reported to work well.
 
Mar 23, 2015 at 3:20 PM Post #2,747 of 3,462
rudyae86 said:
Sound Blaster Omni = Sound Blaster Z

Recon3D is below them.

Both Omni and the Z can send SBX through optical out. If you plan on getting a seperated DAC and AMP, get a DAC with Opt. In. Many have reported to work well.
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AFAIK Omni uses Sound Core3D's DAC (they claim 100dB SNR) in other words it's equal to Recon3D (they claim 102dB for Recon3D). It's not equal to Z DAC wise.
 
Mar 23, 2015 at 7:51 PM Post #2,748 of 3,462
anarion said:
AFAIK Omni uses Sound Core3D's DAC (they claim 100dB SNR) in other words it's equal to Recon3D (they claim 102dB for Recon3D). It's not equal to Z DAC wise.
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Numbers dont always specify or mean that they are alike. I have read somewhere that the Recon3D is inferior to the SB Z and Omni.
 
Plus I think the Omni has a better Amp compared to the Recon3D.
 
Can someone else verify some of this info?
 
Mar 23, 2015 at 10:27 PM Post #2,749 of 3,462
anarion said:
I guess it's basically external Recon3D so the DAC is nothing special.
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I had both at the same time (and an SB Z for a little while), the Omni was much closer to the Z and clearly better than the Recon3D USB, plus the Omni has more output options (so, if you wanted, you could output to an external DAC + Amp solution, which I did for awhile with a Bifrost Uber and a tube amp). Stillhart had both an optical Modi and an Omni, side by side they performed very close, and had to spend like double the Omni's cost (or more?) on a different DAC to hear a noticable improvement.
 
Mar 25, 2015 at 2:27 AM Post #2,751 of 3,462
You should try it yourself, higher % means more sounds will be mixed into 2 channels it can be messy, also result depend on game. I personally use 30% for BF4
 
Mar 25, 2015 at 9:59 AM Post #2,752 of 3,462
cheeno50 said:
  Hey guys, what is the sweet spot for SBX Studio  Surround % setting? I hear some say 67% and some 33%. Is there anything wrong with going 25?
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depends on your ears, I use two different settings for FPS and 3rd person Games. I use 40% for FPS and 67% for 3rd person but like it was already mention different games react differently with the settings.
 
Mar 27, 2015 at 2:02 AM Post #2,753 of 3,462
smily_headphones1.gif

 
Mar 27, 2015 at 9:47 PM Post #2,755 of 3,462
Since I only listen to two-channel lossless/hi-rez music files, I much prefer the sound with SBX completely disabled. Gamers and those watching video with surround sound may report a different audio experience.
 
In fact, when I installed mine out of the box all SBX settings were enabled by default. I thought the sound was horribly distorted, until I located the SBX button and turned it off. After that, musical bliss for me. LOL.
 
Mar 27, 2015 at 10:22 PM Post #2,756 of 3,462
It wasn't distorted to me. But the sbx studio would emphasize sounds that should have been in the background (especially surround feature) . This would would make most of my music very fatiguing.
 
It made my movies sound weird too.
 
 
basically, with sbx off everything sounds way more natural and real 
 
Mar 28, 2015 at 1:40 AM Post #2,757 of 3,462
Hey guys,
 
Planning on buying either a Z or ZxR since i wanna use this for gaming.
Im currently using fidelio X1s and a x-fi xtremegamer.
Which of the 2 would your recommend? Would the ZxR be overkill for these "midfi" headphones?
 
cheers!
 
Mar 28, 2015 at 2:35 AM Post #2,758 of 3,462
sabaw said:
  Hey guys,
 
Planning on buying either a Z or ZxR since i wanna use this for gaming.
Im currently using fidelio X1s and a x-fi xtremegamer.
Which of the 2 would your recommend? Would the ZxR be overkill for these "midfi" headphones?
 
cheers!
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X1 very well rated headphones, and will definately benefit from ZxR. In case you will use it only for gaming Z would be fine, ZxR gives more for music lovers.
 
Mar 28, 2015 at 2:46 AM Post #2,759 of 3,462
honestly, the SB Z and ZxR have an output impedance of about 10ohm which will result in a sound signature change, especially for the X1 that has that good nice low end. Im still a noob at this but alot of people do let you know about this sort of thing in which the SBZ and ZxR are good with higher impedance headphone and its the opposite with lower impedance headphones.
 
Research more buddy. Its not just about the 600ohm amp that it has but also about the amount of current it gives as well.
 
Mar 28, 2015 at 3:05 AM Post #2,760 of 3,462
rudyae86 said:
  honestly, the SB Z and ZxR have an output impedance of about 10ohm which will result in a sound signature change, especially for the X1 that has that good nice low end. Im still a noob at this but alot of people do let you know about this sort of thing in which the SBZ and ZxR are good with higher impedance headphone and its the opposite with lower impedance headphones.
 
Research more buddy. Its not just about the 600ohm amp that it has but also about the amount of current it gives as well.
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Good point here, never thought of this because it not a big deal for 250Ohm.
 
X1 is only 30 Ohm, and 1/8 rule says: 
 
("THE 1/8th RULE: To minimize all three of the above problems, it’s only necessary to keep the output impedance less than 1/8th the headphone impedance. Or, put another way, just divide the headphone impedance by 8 to get the maximum output impedance without potential audible degradation.")
 
So if keep it simple as that you better look for other option amping your X1 as Z is 22 and ZxR has 10 ohms.
 
UPD: On the other hand i used ZxR with 42 Ohm ATH-A900x, not very long but while using them i didn't noticed any signature problems like "boominess"... Of course i'am a very very noob in head-fi.. but in this case they didn't sounded "wrong" to my ears.
 
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