A few days after they started working again, they died again and did not come back to life. So I sent them out for service. This time around, the good folks over at HiFi-Man decided to simply take care of it for me since I'd already had them replaced 9 months or so prior. All I had to do was...

Well, now they're working again. NOT COMPLAINING! But it's all a little fishy...

Grrr! I bought the first set used in October 2011. They worked great until July 2013. Then one driver cut out, just out of the blue. Fair enough, Hifi-Man took care of it. The whole thing cost about $130 with shipping because they were out of warranty. Now it's just happened again! That was 7 or...

It sounds to me like you are pretty sure the card isn't to your liking. If you have all the wacky enhancements turned off and the speakers are setup right and none of the speakers you have and are familiar with sound good with the new card, then I don't think there's much else to do. Maybe try...

You're giving us a lot to read and not much info. What speakers are you using? Which cards have you used with the same speakers? What aspect of the sound is not to your liking, the over all quality, or the DSP features? (SBX, crystalizer, etc.)   If you're using the card with the same set of...

I got the card yesterday and spent some time with Battlefield 4. So far so good. I'm still not sure if SBX is helping positional cues or not, but it does make the sound feel bigger and a little farther outside the phones, which is cool. BF4 has it's own confusing sound options, and I'm not sure...

Yes, CMSS-3D might be good for a competitive gamer who just wants to win.. But like I said before, surround sound in a can. They should trade mark the slogan.. Anyway, I placed the order with newegg this morning, maybe I'll have it by the end of the week.

  I could see that. Having listened to some recordings and watching several comparisons on youtube, the SBX sound isn't as "distant" as it is with Dolby Headphone. But the Dolby sounds off to me. So does Razer's app. I still think that the basic Realtek sound is the most natural and the...

Just listening to Dreyka's recordings now. The raw 5.1 audio seems both very small, but also, much more quiet a recording? That said the SBX seems quite impressive. Not at all like CMSS-3D's surround sound in a can.

Cool! So the question is then; How many of us audiophile gamers actually like SBX Surround? 

I saw that the basic Z OEM is on sale at newegg for $60 right now. Naturally, I came straight here. My one and only interest for this card would be using SBX Surround in games, with S/PDIF out to the rig in my signature.    Right now, I have an Auzentech Prelude 7.1 going completely to waste...

Interesting info. I did a few more rounds with CMSS-3D and EAX disabled, and that really helps. Without all the cheesy reverb, I can hear what's going on. Compair to using no DSP, the sound sort of seems larger and more open, and I could maybe hear someone coming from farther sway. In a game...

Respond to comments:   Evshrug,       I understood what Nameless said, but I had stated that I can't find any setting anywhere to output the stereo mix to digital without using What U Hear. Which is still true. It doesn't seem to be in any of Windows' or Creative's control panels. This maybe...

I remember back in the day, playing Quake 3 before and after installing a Terratec DMX 6-Fire that supported A3D. I was completely stunned by the positional audio! I could fire a rocket into a doorway and hit someone dead on at the exact moment they came into sight because I knew exactly where...

Ok. I've played a few games with my HE-5LE using CMSS-3D on headphone and What U Hear outputting to SPDIF. This sounds a lot better than the 590s, which really bring out the DSP's bright, thin sound signature. I have also gone back and played a few games without any DSP effects and just used...