[kiwikozo]

  It sounds like you loved the Sound blaster Z but didn't like the mic quality, did you disable the mic options in the panel or did you disable the mic boost which some times messes with the quality of your voice. I found with the omni that i had to disable The mic boost and other options before my voice came out clear, even when I had the omni on my desk away from my mouth, they was still able to hear me, but that was because I had the option on that allow you to talk softly and still be heard.  Also some of the voice changer options also can also cause issues too. Did you try another PCI-E socket? I have a friend which uses the Z as well and uses a mic and he doesn't have your issues as he turns off all of the voice effects and mic boost.
 
As I found the DG/DGX to have muddy bass which was also boomy. I would suggest you try the suggestions I mention before shipping the Z back again. Going external might solve your issues as I have had similar issues but reguards to noises in the audio which was gone when i switch to the omni. The major thing is the U7 has Dolby home theater V4 which is very poor software if your looking to use virtual headphone dsp. If you have no plans of ever using it, then that wont really matter.  But a Used omni that you linked is $49ish dollar's, The only thing with the omni is that it only supports 48khz and 96khz playback, meaning you might have to use a re-sample plugin if you use foobar 2k, tho you might not have to if you use the default Direct sound option in foobar.
 
Edit: the sound blaster omni is the replacement for the X-FI HD Usb which was on the market. the Omni just has a better headphone amp over the X-Fi HD/pro Usb.

Thank you, so, so much. You saved me a fair bit of hassle! What do you think about the X-Fi though?
 
And I won't be using surround, just using stereo headphones. The thing I'm worrying about is that the U7 comes with a basic control panel, and I think that my microphone might be really fuzzy? Or does this make no difference?
Will the U7 provide me with better sound for listening to music, videos etc with my M50s? I listen to FLAC music.
 
I did try to change some of the settings and I found that the acoustic eco cancellation causes some fuzzy-ness and the microphone boost is what is causing the static after I say each word.
 
However if I don't use Microphone boost it's so, so quiet and I can't be heard. The quality is fantastic but I can't be heard.
 
I also tried another Pcie slot and that changed nothing.
 
One strange thing is when I test my microphone in the Sound Blaster panel it is perfect, even when I use microphone boost. But when I record myself using the windows sound recorder or when I use programs like skype, teamspeak... it just turns crappy. 
 
I find it weird how I HAVE to have the noise cancellation on else all I hear is noise. And my headset comes with a noise cancelling mic.
 
Another thing I would like to add, I really don't care for any gaming features like scout mode and the likes. If I play fps games I'd rather just hear the regular sound. Same with any other game, no strange vitalization!

 

[genclaymore]

If you mean the X-FI HD Usb then there is no reason to grab it over the omni, as the omni is better then the X-FI HD Usb due to it having a better headphone amp.  Since you will not use any of the software features, then either one of the Asus U7 and omni will work and it just turn into getting the one thats the cheaper then the two or have the options that you need. Have you tried a different mic in-case its the sennheiser mic that gone bad, because if it is your headset mic then it wont matter any way which you use until the mic is fixed. But if it is the mic then that be a easy fix. Also did you raise the volume of the mic it self as it should have a separate volume in the mixer tab in the Z control panel, which is on 50% by default maxing that to 100% should fix your volume issues unless you already did that, Since that what I did on the omni, you could also give smart voice a try to see if that will work

 

[kiwikozo]

  If you mean the X-FI HD Usb then there is no reason to grab it over the omni, as the omni is better then the X-FI HD Usb due to it having a better headphone amp.  Since you will not use any of the software features, then either one of the Asus U7 and omni will work and it just turn into getting the one thats the cheaper then the two or have the options that you need. Have you tried a different mic in-case its the sennheiser mic that gone bad, because if it is your headset mic then it wont matter any way which you use until the mic is fixed. But if it is the mic then that be a easy fix. Also did you raise the volume of the mic it self as it should have a separate volume in the mixer tab in the Z control panel, which is on 50% by default maxing that to 100% should fix your volume issues unless you already did that, Since that what I did on the omni, you could also give smart voice a try to see if that will work

Thanks again for the prompt response.
 
You say the Onmi is better, but does it give me better sound through headphones even if I don't listen to music that loud? 
And Surely the sound quality don't match for both the omni and the U7? The U7 is also much newer and similarly priced?
 
I've tried the same headset/mic in my laptop which has a creative sound blaster sound card and it's perfect. I don't think the headset is the issue. With either of them I have to enable the noise reduction else I would get constant static.
 
I did try the volume settings but that didn't do anything, I need the Boost for it to be loud, else it's quiet even if I don't touch the smart volume. And if I use the boost there's this static/crackle after every word/pause.
 
Does the Omni have better sound quality than the sound blaster Z? And will they truly sound the same - the Omni / X-fi Pro / X-fi HD / U7 to me when I just use my M50s?
 
I won't ever use anything other than headphones, so I don't exactly need dolby surround since I will be sticking with Stereo, but if sound cards like the U7 give me improved sound quality in general.
 
Now I admit, I don't know an awful lot about sound cards, but I can hear differences quite well and I'm satisfied with my M50s with FLAC music files and Most recently the quality from the Sound Blaster Z. 

 

[genclaymore]

I have not heard the Z so i don't know how the omni compares to it, But I heard people say that it suppose to be a external Z. But I found the omni my self to sound very good when I plugged my headphones directly to it as I was trying it out. I would say the sound was Neutral or close to it, I don't know how to really explain it in detail. The only thing I can think of that you could do is to buy both the U7 and the omni and try them both out and keep the one you like. But the problem with that is it take time and money.Be warn the U7 uses the same control panel that the phoebus uses which is also used by the diamond XS71 card which is glitchy, also the USB switch on the underside of the U7 will need to be put on usb 2.0 other wise there will be issues.

 

[kiwikozo]

So let me just get this straight. The Omni is the successor of the X-Fi 5.1 Pro. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Surround-External/dp/B00FJMQ4C2/ ?
 
And the HD is - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-System-Preamp/dp/B00GMDWNJK/ ?
 
I'd rather stick with Creative than get the U7 from Asus but I'm unsure. Still have 3 days until I have to order.
 
It doesn't really matter to me out of the 4 which one, price-wise since they're so close. If one is the best even by the slightest I'd rather just get that.
 
Also like I said, the U7 is only £10 more than the Omni and the X-Fi pro, £10 more than that, but you stated that the sound quality will be very similar for stereo? 
 
Am I buying a sound card at the wrong time? It seems like we're in such a slow phase with Sound Cards, there haven't been any new ones recently apart from the U7.
 
I've tried fixing the problem with the Sound Blaster Z but no luck

 

[genclaymore]

  So let me just get this straight. The Omni is the successor of the X-Fi 5.1 Pro. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Surround-External/dp/B00FJMQ4C2/ ?
 
And the HD is - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-System-Preamp/dp/B00GMDWNJK/ ?
 
I'd rather stick with Creative than get the U7 from Asus but I'm unsure. Still have 3 days until I have to order.
 
It doesn't really matter to me out of the 4 which one, price-wise since they're so close. If one is the best even by the slightest I'd rather just get that.
 
Also like I said, the U7 is only £10 more than the Omni and the X-Fi pro, £10 more than that, but you stated that the sound quality will be very similar for stereo? 
 
Am I buying a sound card at the wrong time? It seems like we're in such a slow phase with Sound Cards, there haven't been any new ones recently apart from the U7.
 
I've tried fixing the problem with the Sound Blaster Z but no luck

Yea the Omni is the Successor to the X-FI 5.1 pro and X-FI 5.1 HD. They both are similar to each other, other then the omni having a stronger headphone amp then the two and a bit smaller. I would say get a used omni if it still on amazon. Since you mentioned that you rather stick with creative any way. As I have the omni my self and other then doing some settings, I didn't have any mic issues and i used the built in mic of the omni to talk.

 

[kiwikozo]

 
Yea the Omni is the Successor to the X-FI 5.1 pro and X-FI 5.1 HD. They both are similar to each other, other then the omni having a stronger headphone amp then the two and a bit smaller. I would say get a used omni if it still on amazon. Since you mentioned that you rather stick with creative any way. As I have the omni my self and other then doing some settings, I didn't have any mic issues and i used the built in mic of the omni to talk.

After spending literally 1 hour reading through threads about the U7, X-fi HD, Sound Blaster Z, Omni....
 
I've come to the conclusion that for stereo the Omni simply sounds better, especially for music since you get plenty of more tweaking options too. But in general music sounds better. And yes, the Omni is better than both of the other creative sound cards. The U7 has awful surround compared to the Omni so It's sort of a clear choice for me.
 
External seems like a much better choice since it gives me the volume control, frees up space in my PC (won't cause any chaos if I want to go SLI by blocking one of the fans). Off topic, but I can't wait for the GTX970/980 coming out in a couple of weeks. Announcement is on the 18th!
 
I'm just totally struggling to see the difference between the Omni vs Sound Blaster Z! Will try to do some more research but I'm pretty much ready to get the Omni. Thanks for your help, I was looking at the X-fi HD / U7 before. Luckily I didn't make that mistake!
 
It's strange how they are so similarly priced, and Amazon made them all available at around the same time so it's hard to see which one is newer. To be honest the Omni doesn't look all that great (Red isn't exactly my thing, but it matches my mobo so hoorah). The Mic might come in handy, not sure. If I find anything about the Omni Vs Sound Blaster Z then I will let you know! And I'll let you know which one I end up getting / my thoughts.

 

[genclaymore]

  After spending literally 1 hour reading through threads about the U7, X-fi HD, Sound Blaster Z, Omni....
 
I've come to the conclusion that for stereo the Omni simply sounds better, especially for music since you get plenty of more tweaking options too. But in general music sounds better. And yes, the Omni is better than both of the other creative sound cards. The U7 has awful surround compared to the Omni so It's sort of a clear choice for me.
 
External seems like a much better choice since it gives me the volume control, frees up space in my PC (won't cause any chaos if I want to go SLI by blocking one of the fans). Off topic, but I can't wait for the GTX970/980 coming out in a couple of weeks. Announcement is on the 18th!
 
I'm just totally struggling to see the difference between the Omni vs Sound Blaster Z! Will try to do some more research but I'm pretty much ready to get the Omni. Thanks for your help, I was looking at the X-fi HD / U7 before. Luckily I didn't make that mistake!
 
It's strange how they are so similarly priced, and Amazon made them all available at around the same time so it's hard to see which one is newer. To be honest the Omni doesn't look all that great (Red isn't exactly my thing, but it matches my mobo so hoorah). The Mic might come in handy, not sure. If I find anything about the Omni Vs Sound Blaster Z then I will let you know! And I'll let you know which one I end up getting / my thoughts.

You could always print the omni or use a bunch of color tape.

 

[kiwikozo]

 
You could always print the omni or use a bunch of color tape.

I guess, however there isn't too much red.
I did more research and it seems that it has excellent sound quality, and performs just like the Sound Blaster Z. 
 
 
I'll be very happy if my mic issues are resolved when It comes. And I'll purchase one / it will come maybe this weekend / early next week.

 

[Evshrug]

I had the Z, later on picked up the Omni when it came out because it was also Mac compatible and more convenient to get at the ports and controls. I honestly couldn't hear a difference, both were quite good and clean-sounding. The Z was in it's return period and the Omni was cheaper, so I went with the Omni.

For looks, it's a small black thing with a few red accents, and red LEDs that aren't too hard to completely forget about when the computer is in use (since they "point" up).

 

[x7007]

A little question, using the DT990 600 ohm , I find myself hard to hear any positioning using SBX.
 
Is it because DT990 soundstage ?  Any recommendation for headphones with same quality but very good with SBX surround ?
 
I remember using the SteelSeries 5vChv2 with XFI Xtreme set to 5.1 , and I really like the surround it gave, but moving on the Studio grade headphones it's impossible to use 5.1 headphones, need to make stereo to 5.1.     

 

[genclaymore]

Do you have SBX set up correctly, meaning do you have windows audio panel settings set to 5.1 as well in games, do you have the creative audio panel set to headphone's if you don't do this then SBX wont sound right and also are you using SBX at atleast 67%.

 

[x7007]

  Do you have SBX set up correctly, meaning do you have windows audio panel settings set to 5.1 as well in games, do you have the creative audio panel set to headphone's if you don't do this then SBX wont sound right and also are you using SBX at atleast 67%.

yes, windows set 5.1 and games ( If they have this option ) and SBX is at 67%, those things are the norm default.
 
For example, the SBX control panel video test, do you hear the surround really clear or it just mix up and hardly heard ? cause I could barely hear difference in the SBX test.

 

[genclaymore]

  yes, windows set 5.1 and games ( If they have this option ) and SBX is at 67%, those things are the norm default.
 
For example, the SBX control panel video test, do you hear the surround really clear or it just mix up and hardly heard ? cause I could barely hear difference in the SBX test.

The test I didn't hear it but in games I did.

 

[benbenkr]

Don't use the built-in test on the SBX control panel, it's useless. It's just a .wmv file encoded in stereo, so even if you have windows/control panel set to 5.1 and SBX surround turned on, you're basically upmixing the stereo into 5.1. That's not correct.
 
Test SBX surround in games instead.