Creative Sound Blaster new series Z, Zx & ZxR

[razorpakk]

Oh I don't mind losing the SBX features, I've never used them!

 

[bcschmerker4]

  I recently contact Creative for a problem of these products about the amplification gain setting not present.
And Creative confirm it ! In the Z and ZX is not possible set the amplification gain for the headphone, then the card give always permanent 600 ohm !!! and Creative recommends to decreasing the volume from Windows.
 
 
The questions are :

1 ) This situation still can give some problems so ? 
2 ) If i plug a traditional headphone with 30-32 ohm the sound can be distorted or tampered than its original sound ?

Sakes alive, does Creative Technology expect us to use the Pioneer® SE-700, or perhaps the TakeT® H2/TR2 kit, with the SB1500, SB1502 and/or SB1506?  I haven't had a chance to run my medium-Z auditions, as of 5 January 2015.

 

[stalleyy]

Hi, I have the sound blaster z card. I use headphones and when i select stereo direct i get no sound. Is stereo direct for speakers only?
thanks

 

[anthonyl]

Took the Sound Blaster Zx back and got a full refund.. My Titanium Fatal1ty Pro sounds so much better than the Zx....so much better.

 

[Evshrug]

I recently contact Creative for a problem of these products about the amplification gain setting not present.
And Creative confirm it ! In the Z and ZX is not possible set the amplification gain for the headphone, then the card give always permanent 600 ohm !!! and Creative recommends to decreasing the volume from Windows.


[COLOR=333333]The questions are :[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333][COLOR=FF0000]1 )[/COLOR][/COLOR][COLOR=333333] This situation still can give some problems so ? [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333][COLOR=FF0000]2 )[/COLOR] If i plug a traditional headphone with 30-32 ohm the sound can be [/COLOR]distorted or tampered than its original sound ?

The 600 ohm setting means the GAIN is always the same (pretty high gain), not that the OUTPUT IMPEDANCE is that high. I think you mixed together those specifications by mistake.

High gain means the volume will be quite loud, I have my windows set for 24-bit/196kHz audio and then the volume dialed down to like 20-28% and it sounds fine.

Now, the Z and Zx have like 22* ohms output impedance... That's completely separate from what you asked creative. That output impedance makes bass levels higher in some headphones, possibly high enough to cause distortion, but not all headphones react the same. You should hear no effect if the headphones have a flat/mostly flat impedance response curve (see headroom or InnerFidelity for charts), your headphone is a planar magnetic type, or if your headphone has about 8x the impedance (~150 ohms or higher, close to 150 ohms will have minimal effect). Sometimes the effect is mild and people like it, people have used headphones plugged into home theater receivers for years and many of those have quite high output impedances.

Creative's newer top-of-the-line X7 has about a 2 Ohm output impedance, which is great for almost any headphone without dampening so much that the headphone sounds thin.

 

[paulguru]

The 600 ohm setting means the GAIN is always the same (pretty high gain), not that the OUTPUT IMPEDANCE is that high. I think you mixed together those specifications by mistake.

High gain means the volume will be quite loud, I have my windows set for 24-bit/196kHz audio and then the volume dialed down to like 20-28% and it sounds fine.

Now, the Z and Zx have like 10 or 14 ohms output impedance... That's completely separate from what you asked creative. That output impedance makes bass levels higher in some headphones, possibly high enough to cause distortion, but not all headphones react the same. You should hear no effect if the headphones have a flat/mostly flat impedance response curve (see headroom or InnerFidelity for charts) or if your headphone has about 8x the impedance (~80 ohms or higher, close to 80 ohms will have minimal effect). Sometimes the effect is mild and people like it.

Creative's newer top-of-the-line X7 has about a 2 Ohm output impedance, which is great for almost any headphone without dampening so much that the headphone sounds thin.

Z and Zx result have 22ohm in output
not 10-14

 

[Evshrug]

Z and Zx result have 22ohm in output
not 10-14

Okay, so substitute that info, and pretty much all the rest of my post still stands. Thanks for the accurate info.

 

[paulguru]

Okay, so substitute that info, and pretty much all the rest of my post still stands. Thanks for the accurate info.

this means that SBZ is a false good sound card

 

[Evshrug]

this means that SBZ is a false good sound card

-_-
I mean, I wouldn't use an SBZ with an IEM, but it sounded great with my AKG's, "problem" solved. Lower output impedance on the sound card would be nice, but I think it's more relevant to find out if a headphone has an uneven impedance response... Saying a stereotype like "the SBZ is a bad sound card" is like a stereotype saying "French people smell bad," it's just ignorant thinking and not true in every case.

 

[paulguru]

-_-
I mean, I wouldn't use an SBZ with an IEM, but it sounded great with my AKG's, "problem" solved. Lower output impedance on the sound card would be nice, but I think it's more relevant to find out if a headphone has an uneven impedance response... Saying a stereotype like "the SBZ is a bad sound card" is like a stereotype saying "French people smell bad," it's just ignorant thinking and not true in every case.

ok but an hifi products is done for high fidelity sound, if you give and incorrect source the targets of this products are gone.
I dont remember if you or another users here say me that an high output impedance alters the bass and mid-bass, then lose the original sound of headphone, right ?  
around 70-80% of the headphone in the markets have low impedance, means SB-Z is not perfect for these.
 
AKG are excellent studio monitors, if you change the sound, will no longer be precise.

 

[Evshrug]

If a headphone's impedance response is non-linear, and the headphone has it's own impedance less than about 8x the amp's output impedance (in this case the SB Z), then the original sound of the headphone is altered with boosted and looser bass (and sometimes "looser" treble too).

AKGs are indeed great studio monitors, but also the 700 series (K701, Q701, K712, and I think the K601 and K612 too) are examples of a headphone with a quite linear impedance response, so even though they have 62 ohms impedance they will have only a negligible change in their sound based alone on the output impedance of an amp.

From headroom' build-a-graph page, a word on impedance:

Impedance
The sum of both resistive and reactive impeding forces of a load. Headphone impedance commonly changes with frequency, and would become somewhat inductive or capacitive at different frequencies.

Examples:

The red line, a Sennheiser HD650, IS susceptible to being changed if it doesn't have the 8x impedance dampening... See the peaks and dips?
The other headphones are pretty popular, AKG Q701, Beyerdynamic DT880 (32 Ohm version), even the more "pop" VMODA M100. Flat impedance responses like these would work well with the SBZ. Headroom and InnerFidelity are great resources for this info. Now, a headphone that needs 8x impedance dampening is more common, BUT You might be surprised by how many headphones wouldn't have much affect from the output impedance of an amp.

 

[paulguru]

tank you so much for explain

 

[anthonyl]

I can only speak from my own experience with a Zx and AKG 612 Pro's.
 
The Zx did not drive my AKG's very well at all. In fact the Zx didn't sound good AT ALL when compared to my Titanium Fatal1ty Pro.
 
I kept my Titanium and purchased a cheapish headphone amp and boy what a difference that made. I will now be looking at beter amps / dac combos to enhance the experience even more.

 

[Evshrug]

I can only speak from my own experience with a Zx and AKG 612 Pro's.

Right, your experience with a sample size unit of one, and your choice to return that unit instead of working with tech support to determine if your Zx unit was defective or if there was a computer software issue at play.

Your experience is completely valid and indeed dedicated amps will be a step-up in performance (I often use an external amp, too!), just keep in mind that your experience wasn't typical when you make suggestions to others. Defective units and software problems happen, to say that result will happen for everyone is inaccurate, especially since I already pointed out that my experience was a counter-example. To continue spreading around a wrong assumption in light of counter-examples and suggestions to help would be ...

 

[anthonyl]

I wasn't making suggestions to others...i was only pointing out the experience I had.
 
As far as "working with tech support" ..your joking right. Have you been to the Creative "tech support forum"? People have been waiting months for replies to questions.
 
I had a small window of opportunity to return the card and get a full refund or alternatively hope and pray that Creative tech support get back to me within the year to resolve my problem... I chose wisely.