[rudyae86]

I got it for 70 bucks at Amazon, via Circuit City in January I think of this year.

I might end up selling mine if the x7 lives up to its hype and its reasonably priced

 

[genclaymore]

  it's a pity Recon3D isn't available anymore at the same low good price :/

That tend to happens when they stop making them or the demand for them go down.

 

[ikjadoon]

Yeah, and check out what else is coming down the pipes... Expensive, but it does everything and then some more:
http://www.soundblaster.com/x7/

 
I heard about that one, too. It looks pretty sweet.
 
But, I don't have a portable DAC/AMP for my phone/car anyways, so I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone?

 

[rudyae86]

I heard about that one, too. It looks pretty sweet.

But, I don't have a portable DAC/AMP for my phone/car anyways, so I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone?

Wait, so how small is this X7?

 

[Evshrug]

I heard about that one, too. It looks pretty sweet.

But, I don't have a portable DAC/AMP for my phone/car anyways, so I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone?

Are you thinking of the portable Creative E models, like the E5? The X7 will need an AC outlet, so doable in a car but you'll need an inverter like a house power outlet, the E models would be better suited for car/portable use.

Wait, so how small is this X7?

Not pocket sized... Here it is next to a MacBook Air (small laptop, not sure if 11" or 13" screen)
Argh it's not letting me post a pic, but look at the website and the photos, it's a prism shaped box a bit over half the size of a laptop though relatively small for an integrated amplifier with passive speaker taps.

 

[wilflare]

I actually owned the Asus Essence STX before I switched over to the Audinst HUD-MX1...
so is the Sound Blaster Z actually comparable to the STX or am I kidding myself?
 
Would I need to pair an amp with the Sound Blaster Z to get better sound quality on my Philips Fidelio X1?
 
and more importantly, how should I go around controlling the volume on PC configurations.
So what, what I usually do is to set the volume to max in windows/PC and use the knob on my DAC and/or speakers to control (is this the right way)?
 
having said that, how would that apply for X1 + BoomPro Mic?
(1) How would I control chat + mic volume on the BoomPro Mic
(2) What should I set the inline volume control on the BoomPro Mic to be? (I was thinking of max, and let the Sound Blaster be the control)
 
is this recommended?

 

[RXShadow]

  I actually owned the Asus Essence STX before I switched over to the Audinst HUD-MX1...
so is the Sound Blaster Z actually comparable to the STX or am I kidding myself?
 
Would I need to pair an amp with the Sound Blaster Z to get better sound quality on my Philips Fidelio X1?
 
and more importantly, how should I go around controlling the volume on PC configurations.
So what, what I usually do is to set the volume to max in windows/PC and use the knob on my DAC and/or speakers to control (is this the right way)?
 
having said that, how would that apply for X1 + BoomPro Mic?
(1) How would I control chat + mic volume on the BoomPro Mic
(2) What should I set the inline volume control on the BoomPro Mic to be? (I was thinking of max, and let the Sound Blaster be the control)
 
is this recommended?

 
The STX has a better amp compared to the Z. However, the Z is more than enough to drive the Fidelio X1 as they're easy to drive. To be honest, you won't have any issues with any soundcard at all with the X1 in general. I have the Omni and found the amp to be more than capable, and I've been told it's very comprable to the amp in the Z.
 
Volume wise for your headphones, I personally like to keep everything on the program you're gonna use maxed (games, spotify, youtube, whatever) and adjust the volume on my soundblaster (Since I use the omni, I have the volume knob right next to me)
 
I can't speak really well for the mic, but if you're using the soundblaster, you can control line-in mic from the soundblaster settings. On the question on how to set up the volume, I have no idea what's the best course. I'm always a fan of having actual hardware control with me and use that as my adjustment, the rest usually keeps maxed, and I can safely say I'd probably apply that concept for mics if I do get one.

 

[wilflare]

ah thanks for the response.

so in terms of DAC, Z/ZX will be a good step down the STX right? (what about the ZXR and Audinst HUD-MX1)?

hmmm what do you mean by adjust volume in soundblaster? the soundblaster control panel? sigh the ACM would be useful as an external knon

btw since I'm using the Boompro, would I need the Y-Cable to split the sound and mic cables? or can the Sound Blaster Z automatically detect? It won't be able to adjust the mix/balance of game and chat right?

I'm entertaining the idea of using my Sound Blaster purely as a DSP. so is there any merit of getting a Schiit Stack? Or should I just get the Schiit Magni to use as Amp? how would the soundblaster connect to the Magni then? (I can't use headphone out as it would result in double-amping right?)

 

[genclaymore]

The STX has a stronger headphone amp then the Z/ZX, the Z uses the same headphone amp that is on the recon3D. The ZXR shares the same headphone amp as the STX, but if you need a headphone amp you might as well go external and use Razer surround software for Virutal headphones dsp. The ACM supposedly messes with the quality of the sound from what people been saying. You would use the line out of the sound blaster Z and not the headphone out, with a 3.5 to RCA cable. The magni is a good choice so is the vali. The Aune T1 would only benefit you if you was using the USB input, as the tube is not used when you plug into it using RCA. But some people do use What U hear in the windows control panel on the Z to route the audio directly to the external dac amp USB connection to do it using the device usb connection virtually. Which I have done which does also works.

 

[FangJoker]

ah thanks for the response.

so in terms of DAC, Z/ZX will be a good step down the STX right? (what about the ZXR and Audinst HUD-MX1)?

hmmm what do you mean by adjust volume in soundblaster? the soundblaster control panel? sigh the ACM would be useful as an external knon

btw since I'm using the Boompro, would I need the Y-Cable to split the sound and mic cables? or can the Sound Blaster Z automatically detect? It won't be able to adjust the mix/balance of game and chat right?

I'm entertaining the idea of using my Sound Blaster purely as a DSP. so is there any merit of getting a Schiit Stack? Or should I just get the Schiit Magni to use as Amp? how would the soundblaster connect to the Magni then? (I can't use headphone out as it would result in double-amping right?)

 
You would need the modi as well to use the usb input  then connect the modi to the magni.  I prefer this type of solution best over a soundcard.  I have the asus stx and audio gd nfb 11.32 and mostly use the usb input of the nfb 11.32.  But I can also use the spdif output from  the stx to connect to the nfb 11.32 if I want to use the dolby and virtual surround stuff.

 

[Fegefeuer]

The future is bright 

 
http://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-connect-2014
 

People locate objects in the world using cues that arise from the interaction of sound with the scene, combined with the body of the listener (HRTFs) and head tracking. A great audio engine for VR has to reproduce these cues to fully convince the human perceptual system.

As part of our audio initiative, we’ve licensed RealSpace3D’s audio technology, a software stack developed over 10 years based on technology from the University of Maryland. RealSpace3D’s tech enables high-fidelity VR audio with a combination of HRTF spatialization and integrated reverberation algorithms.

 

 
 
http://realspace3daudio.com/
 

 

[Ari33]

ah thanks for the response.

so in terms of DAC, Z/ZX will be a good step down the STX right?

 
Yes, I briefly owned the Z which was supposed to be an upgrade to my old Audigy 2ZS  (connected to a stereo amp using phonos) I was quite shocked to find that I much prefered the smoothness of the Audigy 2ZS to the harsh, grainy and very digital sounding Z and promptly sent the Z straight back. I now own the Xonar ST (PCI version of the STX) with an OPA627 opamp upgrade...  its certainly light years ahead of the Z for music and I rate it easily as my best value audio buy period.

 

[wilflare]

Yes, I briefly owned the Z which was supposed to be an upgrade to my old Audigy 2ZS  (connected to a stereo amp using phonos) I was quite shocked to find that I much prefered the smoothness of the Audigy 2ZS to the harsh, grainy and very digital sounding Z and promptly sent the Z straight back. I now own the Xonar ST (PCI version of the STX) with an OPA627 opamp upgrade...  its certainly light years ahead of the Z for music and I rate it easily as my best value audio buy period.

sigh. haha I'm kinda regretting my Sound Blaster ZX now.

would sending the ZX via optical out to Schiit Stack offer sound better than the STX? (while allowing me to keep virtual surround?)

sigh. maybe I should have gone back to my STX (but I got the SBZX mainly for gaming)

 

[Ari33]

would sending the ZX via optical out to Schiit Stack offer sound better than the STX? (while allowing me to keep virtual surround?)

 
Yep, using optical out obviously bypasses the ZX's DAC and keeps Virtual surround. I don't have a Schitt Stack to be able to say for sure if it would be better than an STX but yeah it should be up there or there abouts I'd think.

 

[wilflare]

   
Yep, using optical out obviously bypasses the ZX's DAC and keeps Virtual surround. I don't have a Schitt Stack to be able to say for sure if it would be better than an STX but yeah it should be up there or there abouts I'd think.

 
thanks. man. this sound business is expensive stuff -looks at wallet and weeps-