[iGrenade]

 
Hey @Mad Lust Envy,

sorry for your experience with the Sound Blaster X7. That is definitely not the intended behavior of the X7 and like what @earfonia mentioned, it might just be a faulty unit. Could you PM me with your order details and I will arrange for a replacement as soon as we can.

Thanks,
Lucas

I already got a replacement unit and the crackles/pops remain. There's no doubt it has something to do with how Windows handles USB audio and the X7's drivers. I've emailed your support department and after multiple replies, the issue remains unsolved. I've managed to isolate the issue to Windows only. I get no pops when using the Bluetooth streaming function or when I'm on my connected PS3 (optical in). Given how apparent this issue is among X7 owners (according to this thread and a google search), it's very likely to be a software-related issue, not hardware. Returning the unit for a replacement would just be a waste of time.
 
I get no such problem with the O2/ODAC, another USB audio device.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yup, I'm not gonna go through the RMA process unless I'm getting a refund, because it's evident that these issues are pretty widespread. I can't be without an amp/dac while I wait for another faulty until to arrive. It's problematic and aggravating, but it's all I have.

I'm not saying the unit's by themselves are faulty, but likely the combination of the unit, software, and how they interact with our systems.

The auto switching, the auto-sleep, all the automatic settings need to be able to be turned off, for one. That is just something that needs to happen. Stat. I have a feeling this is one aspect of the X7 that just causes more problems than benefits.

 

[arcwindz]

I am just wondering, is there any other dac/amp that supports aptx bluetooth, rca output and digital input out there other than this?
I would take x7 anytime, alas, it's really hard to get this here.

 

[Yethal]

I am just wondering, is there any other dac/amp that supports aptx bluetooth, rca output and digital input out there other than this?
I would take x7 anytime, alas, it's really hard to get this here.

Sound Blaster E5

 

[arcwindz]

Sound Blaster E5

Just as hard to find as x7

 

[missalaire]

Massdrop has the Creative Sound Blaster X7 Limited Edition for $399.99 + shipping at the lowest price point.
 
https://www1.massdrop.com/buy/creative-sound-blaster-x7-amp-dac-combo?mode=guest_open

 

[bombadilio]

I am so dissatisfied with this device, I paid $500 and have had 0 help from Creative. I wrote them in how in windows X7 I cannot control the volume at all. I explained how my setup is:
 
Bose Cinemate 130 connected via optical to the Unit then USB to the computer:

 Thank you for your response.

With regard to your email, SPDIF out or Toslink "optical cable" can only support two channel uncompressed PCM or encoded 5.1 audio (depending on the source and output set in playback application that supports optical out (eg: 5.1 DVD with AC3 5.1 played in PowerDVD with Optical Out set in its speaker settings). There is no decoding support on the SB X7 as such decoding handled by your Bose Cinemate 130 Via Optical to the X7 LE. Therefore, the volume control is hancled by the application (e.g. Power DVD).

For other enquiries, please send us an email via our Support website.

For our continuous improvement in Creative products / services, we would like to invite you to take part in our 3 minute Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Please click here -> http://survey.support.creative.com/OpenSurvey/wel.asp?Lang=1&Email=dpoverlord@gmail.com&KanaID=5677427

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to get back to us.

Regards,

Chris
Creative Worldwide Customer Response

Worldwide Customer Support: http://support.creative.com
Creative Forums: http://forums.creative.com

 

This is my 6th email to them, did they even read what I wrote?
 
I replied with:

 Did you read my past emails? I can get volume to work, I just cannot control it. The only solution I have found is this in windows 7 X64   
Sound Device Manager settings show:
Speakers
2- Sound Blaster X7
 
SPDIF OUT   (app is set to Direct Mode (SPDIF-In)
2- Sound Blaster X7
 
When I set speakers to default device and disable SPDIF OUT I get sound but cannot control the volume from the Soundblaster control (this makes 0 sense)
 
If I enable SPDIF Out, disable speakers, or disable both. I can control the volume in windows, however, the app says it has no connection. If I Enable both and set SPDIF OUT as Default Device or Communication Device, it plays sounds but again enhancements or anythign through the app plays through speakers and not SPDIF OUT making it useless again. The reason is that it re-routes the sound enhancements to the speaker option. 
 
A good example is playing sound then going to the app and hitting the test play button when you make a change, it plays that sound through Speakers. How do you get SPDIF Out to work within Speakers so you can control volume within windows?
 
It seems to mix up which should be the go to setting in windowss. If both are disabled I get sound, but I cannot control the app. I can set SPDIF out as the default communication device but then certain sounds like Soundblaster control revert to speakers. However, I can control the volume settings via windows.
 
This should not be an issue as I have a creative omni that works without a problem.
 
Please fix this I paid $500 for a piece of equipment that should be functional. I should not have to log into the app through my phoen to make this work. ON my phone it works with the speaker with 0 issues. My only issue is in Windows

 

Anyone get this to work via optical or should I just use regular Speaker wire to my speakers vs Optical?

 

[Yethal]

  I am so dissatisfied with this device, I paid $500 and have had 0 help from Creative. I wrote them in how in windows X7 I cannot control the volume at all. I explained how my setup is:
 
Bose Cinemate 130 connected via optical to the Unit then USB to the computer:
 

This is my 6th email to them, did they even read what I wrote?
 
I replied with:  

Anyone get this to work via optical or should I just use regular Speaker wire to my speakers vs Optical?

Actually the answer they gave You was spot-on. Basically: Optical out on the X7 can run in two modes, either as a USB-S/PDIF converter or Optical passthrough. X7 does not interfere with the signal in any of these cases therefore volume is to be controlled either via the source (media player on the pc) or on the receiving device (Bose speakers in Your case), but not by the X7 itself.

 

[Evshrug]

Agreed, volume either at the source or the amp (in the above use case, the X7 is just acting as a passthrough, maybe a processor).

Basically, it was a case where they read the email and decided to explain WHY, but the answer to your question was at the end of the email (volume controlled by your app, PowerDVD, or in the analogue domain by your speaker amp).

 

[Andi-C]

Anyone on windows 10 using the 8.1 driver ? The X7 is the only driver that hasn't been updated on my rig !

 

[93732]

For those of you using an HD800 with the X7, do you have it set for "Normal gain" or "High gain"?
 
The HD800 is rated as a 300 ohm headphone and the Creative X7 app states that one should use "Normal Gain" for 32/300 ohm headphones.  However, I keep reading that the HD800 can swing up to as high as 1000 ohm.

 

[conquerator2]

  For those of you using an HD800 with the X7, do you have it set for "Normal gain" or "High gain"?
 
The HD800 is rated as a 300 ohm headphone and the Creative X7 app states that one should use "Normal Gain" for 32/300 ohm headphones.  However, I keep reading that the HD800 can swing up to as high as 1000 ohm.

Go high gain. It WILL NOT damage any of your headphones IF you keep the volume down. Just go to the lowest volume and gradually work your way up. If you don't like it, switch to normal gain 

 

 

[93732]

  Go high gain. It WILL NOT damage any of your headphones IF you keep the volume down. Just go to the lowest volume and gradually work your way up. If you don't like it, switch to normal gain 

 

 
 
Thank you conquerator2, I was too worried about damaging my HD800.  Will try high gain as you say, starting with very low volume.

 

[conquerator2]

   
 
Thank you conquerator2, I was too worried about damaging my HD800.  Will try high gain as you say, starting with very low volume.

Yup. You can start from 0 ideally 

 

[Instinct]

Anyone know if the x7 is always defaulted to a specific volume setting when the computer boots up? Can we change the default volume of the x7? I want to bootup my computer and not have to touch the x7's volume knob or window's volume, or any volume settings at all. Will the X7 let me do this?