Of course I would not use surround for music. In that case, that would be really horrible.   However, I still do not like it in games, I tried in Battlefield 1. Not sure what you mean by "properly set up" since there is no manual how to properly set it up, but I tried to have it on stereo and...

Is it still worth to buy these, or is there a better buy at this point?

X7 is awesome. However, I find every single virtual surround extremely horrible and I don't understand how can anyone use it.

    Don't forget to report your experience with another OPAMPS in X7.

I would say it may not be the drivers, but the device itself could be faulty. I have none of those issues running Windows 10.

Well maybe not, but I don't have any idea how to go around and find out if it's really an issue and if it is, how to exactly solve it.

What do you mean by "not grounded properly"? It's in a damn electric socket with ground pin. And yes, the case is metal.

Well, that is the thing. I cannot really say that I did not have noise issue with SB Z. First, maybe there was, but I really did not test it out properly and second, I do not remember at all.   The noise on ZxR was especially pronounced when GPU was working, it was literally connected to the...

    Now, let me tell you, how it went with me and how it ended up: First, I bought Sound Blaster Z, the cheapest, bulk version without EMI shield. It was kinda nice, but not that much satisfying as I expected, also, I wanted the external module control. So I went and bought Sound Blaster...

I guess not, but would there be any improvement, if I connected my headphones or active speakers with this Burson Cable+ to my Creative X7 DAC/Amp (X7 is connected via USB to my PC and via optical to my PS4)?

I have my PC and PS4 connected to X7 altogether.   PC is connected via USB, PS4 via optical in. Output to speaker system is via two RCA's on the back of X7, headphones connected from the front in headphone output.   Everything works perfectly, even Dolby decoding (Dolby icon on the front of...

Thanks to one amazing fellow head-fi-er, I bought SHP9500 from him today. I just need for it to arrive. Can't wait.

Yethal:   I have no issue with X7 or E5 drivers.

Guys, what would be a great alternative (around 100USD) to SHP9500? I can't get them (for reasonable price anyway) here where I live.

Nice. I'm glad I bought X7 for even less though, it cost me 250USD with two year warranty.