Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card with High Performance Headphone Amp and Beam Forming Microphone

I don't review a lot of things that I purchase, but I felt that I had to give this item a shout out. I've been using on-board sound for the last 10 years or so (sad, right), but it seemed to be "OK" for my purposes. I play some games, I listen to some music, and I watch movies and such on my computer. For the most part, I couldn't complain about on-board sound because it did what I wanted it to do and satisfied my purposes. I remember when I was a child my dad had a gaming rig (this was back in the mid 90's, so we're talking a quote on quote "gaming rig") which came with an old school creative labs sound blaster card. Back then, the cards weren't near the technology level we are at now, but I clearly remember my dad saying sometimes how much he loved his sound card (which didn't make much sense to me at the time), so I decided to give it a shot.The original reason that I purchased this card was because I got a couple amazon gift cards for my birthday and decided that I would give it a shot, and partly because it seemed to me like my on-board sound was giving out, and I didn't want to pony up the cash for another motherboard and have to take everything out of the old one and put it into the new one. By giving out, I mean that it seemed like it was playing sounds quieter than it used to and there seemed to be some anomalies being introduced into the sound, such as some crackling and such. Not enough to cause worry, but a little annoying. For a bit of background info on my sound setup: using an Asus motherboard, although I got it probably 6 or 7 years ago, and I have a pair of decent quality turtle beach headphones.The first thing I noticed after getting it set up: massive increase in simple volume. You don't quite realize how important this is until you have all your volume sliders set to 100% and you're still wishing you could turn it up another 10%. Then, all of a sudden, you have to turn them down to 20% just so your ear drums aren't bursting in your headphones. A lot of people think volume is everything, but this is not so, especially with this card. Once I got the volume down to a tolerable level, I then noticed the depth of the sound that was now being pumped out by this card. Bass was much more bassy, and the highs were much more toned. Listening to some of the music I listen to and drawing comparisons from memory, I started to notice certain things that I never noticed before: some particular highs I probably had never heard before and the bass was so much more solid all the way around. Not to mention that the crackling and other assorted anomalies that seemed to be creeping into the on-board sound were no longer present.The only negative things that I can come up with is the fact that it doesn't work immediately with Windows 8.1 (which is what I have). This new feature in Win 8.1 that involves quick shut down prevents the system from recognizing that the card is in the PCIe slot, unless you turn off the quick shut down feature. The reason I'm still giving this card 5 stars is because it only took one simple google search to find out the reason and change that - the speed of shut down / start up has not changed one iota since doing that and now the card is recognized every time the computer turns on. Besides that, the packaging was slightly difficult to open up (it had twisty ties at 4 different places that were holding the card into the foam), but it was a simple thing to grab a pair of scissors to snip them. The other negative thing (and this isn't truly a negative) is that I don't use the attached microphone since the turtle beach headphones I have include a built-in microphone which is easier to use.On to pros and cons:PROS:- Giant increase in overall volume- Bass is much rounder, much more depth- Highs are beautiful and not toneless- Everything in between is great as well- For the price ($100 or so) the difference in quality is overwhelming- Simple to insert into the PCIe slot- Comes with its own software you can install on your system that lets you tweak the settings and modify the different levels. I use the "flat" default setting, and it's fantastic. I may tweak it a bit in the future, but for now, I enjoy the default setting.CONS:- Doesn't immediately work with Windows 8.1 until you change the quick shut down function- A tiny bit difficult to get out of the packagingI don't have a 5.1 setup at home to test how well it works with a surround speaker setup, but with a pair of decent headphones and stepping up from on-board sound, this is definitely a worthwhile purchase if sound quality is important to you. Just remember to turn your volume down low and move up from the bottom once you get it into your system!

System setup (keep in mind I'm using high end setup):Denon AVR 3D receiverKlipsch 5.1 Quintet Speker systemSoundBlaster ZWindows 8 Professional16hih DDR3AMD 8120 8 core processorSamsung SSD 830 256HBGigabyte 990FXA UD3Geforce 660 TiVizio 3D LED 42" TVCorsair TX850W Power supplyAs a an avid audiophile user myself I love details and clarity. I usually upgrade every 2 years but after owning a X-Fi Titanium fatality I couldn't find a reason to upgrade since the sound quality was top notch in my opinion. I saw the recon3D came out and passed it on by as it didn't appear by reviews nor users seemed to be really happy about it. I figured I would be with the X-Fi for some time. I was mistaken as after seeing the features of the SoundBlaster Z and the price point I couldn't refuse. But my expectation were low.I couldn't be more wrong. I have it paired up with a 5.1 Klipsh Quintet system and a newer Denon AVR 3D receiver. With this setup and the much improved signal to noise ration rated at 116db it was more than noticeable with my setup of the vastly improved quality of the SoundBlaster Z. When I hear the audio come through using the DTS and Dolby Digital through the optical link my mouth hit the floor. INCREDIBLE! I heard sounds that I thought the X-Fi put through clearly and the Z just blew it out of the water. The clarity, the range certainly paired up with my Denon and Klipsch speakers is getting the full benefits of it all now. My system was held back by the X-Fi inferior processing and quality.Your going to hear that there isn't much improvement over X-Fi and that's ridiculous as the reviewers obviously didn't test it on a high fidelity setup where your going to more than notice it. The Dolby Digital EX and DTS Neo sounds awesome.Gaming has been taking into a new dimension. The scout mode is flawless. With my Chimera 5.1 5.8ghz Razer headset I can hear exactly where the steps and shots are coming from. Up, down, right or left I can respond much faster using the scout mode and it's vibrant and clear. Furthermore,comparing this to the onboard audio just isn't even a comparison. Gigabyte touts nice audio from the Azalia but the SoundBlaster just puts it to complete shame. The difference is so astounding you'll see just how much junk the motherboard maker puts on the motherboard. It's painful now to listen to the onboard audio. If you think the onboard audio is good enough think again. Creative claims its 33 times better. After you hear it you'll agree with that statement.Another aspect is the beam forming microphone. Finally, out goes the mono microphone and it's so small and with the design on it easily fits on top of my 42" LED 3D TV. It's an incredible microphone as I'm 10 feet away from the TV and in a normal voice it picks me up and my friends through chat can hear me just fine. I also have a Windtunnel fan in my room that really makes a lot of noise. They can't hear it! I'm impressed as I would always have turned off the fan as it introduced noise. Furthermore, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking 12 Premium and that accuracy rate is definitely improved on the Z. At 10 feet away from the mic I can speak normal and it never misses a word and auto corrections significantly reduced. Again, the soundblaster Z shines through here.And as a final note this was used on windows 8 pro. And as some of you may find out the Dolby Digital Live and DTS Neo doesn't work with the X-fI drivers from Creative any longer. This issue is now functional as the drivers included off the disc work right out of the box. And that brings up another nice point. Creative has unbloated the software. It's not so bloated that it bogs your system resources down and takes a long time to install. It's apparent to me they designed this card from the bottom up. So far all the featuers work. I've used the EQ and it's nice, scout mode, special effects. And saving the custom profiles work just fine. I haven't experienced any crashing on Windows 8 at all and the drivers and software seem fairly stable. The receiver picks up the Dolby and the DTS and instantly switches mode without a hitch. It's rock solid and not bloated and much more simplified interface than in the past. My favorite feature is the switch to go from headphone to my speakers instantly. That was a well needed feature.My favorite thing about the Z? Everything. It surpassed my expectations as I didn't exptect much over my X-fi Titanium and I wouldn't dare send this back after hearing it I just can't give it up. It was a worthy upgrade over my X-Fi Titanium Fatality. The Dolby Digital Live and DTS Neo work flawlessly through the optical connected to my Denon receiver and Chimeria 5.1 headset. What an amazing audio and gaming experience. Just incredible.....just keep in mind without a setup like mine with higher quality receiver and speakers you won't hear the full benefit. But the SoundBlaster Z left with me a smile on my face and now I feel like Im getting the money I paid into this high end sound system. It was the sound card as the bottle neck the whole time and the Z just fixed that. Impressive. Creative deserves the highest marks for this card and for those with similar setups I urge you that you won't be unhappy with the upgrade coming from an X-Fi. The reviewers said it wouldn't be much difference. They didn't test it on a higher end system. They couldn't be more wrong about it get it and find out for yourself. I'll put my reputation on the line in this review that you won't be sorry you did or you'll ding me for if the review helped you or not.Go for it you'll hear it don't take my word for it. Your going to love what you hear. Just amazing!