[germanium]

   
 
I used to own the Sound Blaster Z sound card and it stated that in order to use the Headphone Amp I had to plug in my headphones directly into the sound card. Not in the front of the PC headphone connection.

I am pretty sure that the headphone amp for Zx is built into the Sound Card and not the ACM which is why people are having this change in sound and power. It's the same amp as the Z version so I wouldn't be surprised.
 
I purchased the ZxR recently and it states in the manual that the ACM is where the amp is located. It is also a different amp vs the Z/Zx. So you have to connect the AMC to the sound card and plug in your headphones directly into the ACM. That should help.

The ZXR headphone amp is not in the ACM. The ACM is just a passive device with a passive volume control. The ZXR headphone amp is on the main card & is a Texas Instruments chip that was originally designed for DSL line use & modified to drive headphones. It is a current feedback design giving it huge bandwidth of over 10MHz. Creative's implementation results in a rather high output impedance of 40 ohms. Typical designs using this chip have an output impedance of just 10 ohms which is the recommended output impedance specified by Texas Instruments.

 

[CyberAthlete]

Straight from the manual:
 
Connecting Audio Control Module
The Sound Blaster ZxR comes with an external ACM that incorporates a 600 ohm headphone amplifier,
built-in microphone array and mic/headphone I/O connections and a volume control knob.
 
 
So the manual is incorrect then?

 

[germanium]

Who ever wrote the manual is wrong. The headphone amp is the large chip close to outside edge of the card itself. It has the numbers 120A2 on it. Can't read the prefix from the picture I have but here is the link to the post with a picture of it.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/705284/lightbox/post/10467931/id/1086849
 
Yes that is my mod thread so I do know.

 

[sabaw]

Hey guys would it be worth it to shell about 300 bucks on a z and a magni modi stack or just get a sound blaster zxr? I've decided to stretch the budget but in still on the fence if it's worth spending 120 more for the schiit stack. Would the quality be a lot better? Again about 90 percent games 5 movies 5 music.

Thanks again!

 

[NoOneLt]

   
 
I used to own the Sound Blaster Z sound card and it stated that in order to use the Headphone Amp I had to plug in my headphones directly into the sound card. Not in the front of the PC headphone connection.

I am pretty sure that the headphone amp for Zx is built into the Sound Card and not the ACM which is why people are having this change in sound and power. It's the same amp as the Z version so I wouldn't be surprised.
 
I purchased the ZxR recently and it states in the manual that the ACM is where the amp is located. It is also a different amp vs the Z/Zx. So you have to connect the AMC to the sound card and plug in your headphones directly into the ACM. That should help.

Amp located directly on ZxR and closer to the amp you connect better quality you have.

 

[DrunkenTiger]

  hey guys is it just me or does this sound card sound much better with sbx studio disabled all together?  I swear its way more natural and alive without the studio.
 
creative zxr*

Holy **** I just disabled it and music sounds insanely different, much more forward O.O and more bass? like I feel more physical **** going on near my ears on my Sennheiser G4ME ZEROs
Music does sound "cleaner/smoother" with it on 67% though, sounds like it pulls back the music a tad and cleans it up, obviously that's not necessarily good if it's mucking with the sound.
Can't decide what I prefer, my Sennheisers are super analytical, good for gaming, so listening w/o the SBX def lets me hear pretty much every sound in the track haha hmmm...
...why is audio so conflicting :\

 

[ezone2kil]

Yeah with my omni feeding my DAC and amp whenever I turn on the Pro Studio features my HD800 gets better bass but loses a lot of soundstage width..now I just turn it on for gaming and off for music.

 

[paulguru]

 
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.

 

  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

Excuse me but what happen increasing the % of SBK Pro ?
I thinked its have any side effects.
 
Compared with BF4 internal surroud feature is better ? 
Better BF4 with its internal surroud or BF4 setted in stereo + SBX enable ?

 

[NoOneLt]

   
Excuse me but what happen increasing the % of SBK Pro ?
I thinked its have any side effects.
 
Compared with BF4 internal surroud feature is better ? 
Better BF4 with its internal surroud or BF4 setted in stereo + SBX enable ?

With the larger % it tries to push more sounds from 5.1 to 2, it actually gives you simple visualization in the SBX studio what it is doing.
 
It is all matter of preference and trials and fails... ATM i use SBX off  and BF4 set to Speaker type - headphones and Configuration - surround, i believe it turns on BF4 "internal surround".
 
To use with SBX you should set BF to home theater + surround and then do all settings in SBX.
 
Then just compare what sounds most precise and best to your ears.. It is different to everyone and also depends on your gear.

 

[paulguru]

u use internal BF4 surround  + SBX together ?
 
i thinked sbk should be used with internal game audio setted to stereo, its not so ?

 

[paulguru]

  With the larger % it tries to push more sounds from 5.1 to 2, it actually gives you simple visualization in the SBX studio what it is doing.
 
It is all matter of preference and trials and fails... ATM i use SBX off  and BF4 set to Speaker type - headphones and Configuration - surround, i believe it turns on BF4 "internal surround".
 
To use with SBX you should set BF to home theater + surround and then do all settings in SBX.
 
Then just compare what sounds most precise and best to your ears.. It is different to everyone and also depends on your gear.

Sorry i dont understand this part.
 
With BF4 what are u using ?
What you means with "ATM" ?

 

[NoOneLt]

  Sorry i dont understand this part.
 
With BF4 what are u using ?
What you means with "ATM" ?

ATM means "At the moment"
 
Is i wrote i use SBX surround off and BF4 internal surround on, as i understand it is turned one when in-game settings is:
Speaker type - headphones
Configuration - surround
Then BF tries to playback surround in stereo mode.
 
And to use SBX instead of internal surround it should be:
Speaker type - home theater
Configuration - surround
Then BF4 try to output 5.1 and SBX downmix to 2.0
 
At least i believe it is working like this, maybe i'am wrong.

 

[paulguru]

So to enable SBX is sufficient set "home theater" in game options and automatically run ?
Ok but between the two configuration what have the clearest surround effect ?
 
i thinked SBX can be enable only if you check the feature in Creative Menù.

 

[NoOneLt]

FULLY EDITED:
 
If my findings is right then to use native BF4 surround:
Speaker type - headphones or any other as it seems only an EQ option
Configuration - stereo
SBX surround Off in Creative CPanel
 
 
To use SBX surround:
Speaker type - home theater or any other (i prefer home theater with SBX)
Configuration - surround
SBX surround On in Creative CPanel
 
You will have to decide yourself what sounds best.. 
 
But i can be totally wrong as i never googled how exactly BF4 manages multichannel sound.. Only thing i know for sure is if game audio engine supports true 5.1 then SBX surround takes it and dowmixes to 2 channels to sound as virtual surround in your headphone or stereo speakers. That is what it is meant for.
 
Sorry for so many "maybe" i hope someone can put their experience here.

 

[paulguru]

OMG
 
i expected a noticeable difference between SBX and in-gameSurround