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Sound Blaster, eh? That name sort of rings a bell.

Subject: General Tech | April 23, 2013 - 06:02 PM |
Tagged: audio, Creative, Sound Blaster ZxR

Ah the good old days of soundcards and assigning specific IRQs to specific PCI slots; don't you miss them?  Onboard chipsets have come a long way from their roots, with full Dolby 5.1 sound and a minimal impact on CPU load available on almost every motherboard but there is still a market for soundcards, albeit a much reduced market.  Creative have not been releasing a lot of new Sound Blaster models recently, at least until very recently.  The Creative Sound Blaster ZxR is more than just a single card, you have a PCIe card as well as an optional daughterboard to provide optical out and a line in as well as a Audio Control Module which contains an array mic, volume control and both 3.5mm to 1/4″ inputs for a headset with microphone.  Is it $250 better than onboard audio?  Custom PC Review has the answers here.

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"That being said, today we’ll be reviewing the Creative Sound Blaster ZxR, which is the flagship soundcard in the Sound Blaster Z series of soundcards. Now a couple months ago, we reviewed the Sound Blaster Z, which is a fantastic soundcard that offered a good balance between sound quality and price, but it’s merely the entry level soundcard in the Sound Blaster Z..."

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Audio Corner

Source: Custom PC Review

No, Creative's new sound card does not go over 9000

Subject: General Tech | January 29, 2013 - 03:49 PM |
Tagged: Sound Blaster Z, Creative, audio

Why Creative chose the name Sound Blaster Z is unknown, but that is indeed the moniker attached to their new $120 PCIe sound card.  As you can see from the picture it is relatively small and will fit in many HTPC cases, plus it comes bundled with a microphone.  The software comes with quite a few options, from the Creative SBX "enhancements" to Scout mode which is designed to help gamers hear audio effects, you have a lot of control over playback and with Crystal Voice system you will get noise cancellation on the microphone.  TechPowerUp liked the features that this card offered but noticed that it came at a price, when running the driver takes up 80MB of RAM.

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"Creative's long awaited new line of sound cards is here. Today, we take a thorough look at the new entry-level model called "Sound Blaster Z". The sound card comes equipped with the new Sound Core processor and Creative even bundles it with a decent microphone."

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Audio Corner

Source: TechPowerUp

Now Intel owns 3DLabs and they may be making better mobiles with them

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | November 20, 2012 - 01:47 PM |
Tagged: Intel, Creative, SoC, ziilabs

Ziilabs might not be a name you recognize now, but it is one you were likely familiar with at one time.  That is the current name of 3DLabs which was purchased by Creative back in 2002 and is now responsible for SoC development at Creative, especially integrating the StemCell media processor into the ARM chips which make the basis of the mobile processors.  Intel paid $30 million for physical resources and assets along with $20 million for patents, giving them the ability to move from their current solution for Atom processors, PowerVR to the StemCell architecture.  Could it be possible that with a stronger Atom that Intel might be able to power more cell phones and take a larger share of that market as well?  Check out more at The Inquirer.

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"CHIPMAKER Intel will license patents from Ziilabs and purchase assets from the UK based chip designer.

Ziilabs is a UK based subsidiary of Creative Technology focusing on system on chip (SoC) designs for smartphones and tablets. While the firm has yet to register on the public conciousness, it clearly has been on Intel's radar for a while and announced a $50m asset sale and patent licensing deal."

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Tech Talk

Source: The Inquirer

Creative's new SoundCore3D chipset and Recon3D line analyzed

Subject: General Tech | May 7, 2012 - 01:05 PM |
Tagged: audio, Creative, Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty, SoundCore3D

The newest flagship card from Creative is the Fatal1ty branded Sound Blaster Recon3D PCIe 1x card, which is the first to feature their new SoundCore3D chipset which brings 192kHz sampling rates at 24-bit to SoundBlaster.  It comes with a microphone and like many of the high end cards on the market comes with a front panel which adds RCA stereo inputs jacks, DSP mode selection buttons, and analog volume and recording level knobs which can be pushed in flush with the face of the panel to both lock them and allow you to close the door on your case.  [H]ard|OCP tried out Rightmark Audio Analyzer as well as their own ears to try to gauge the quality of sound produced by this new SoundBlaster series, which you can read about right here.

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"Creative's latest Sound Blaster flagship sound card features its new SoundCore3D chipset along with a powerful headphone amplifier, a beam forming microphone, and the return of the company's popular front panel audio I/O bay. Is this card a worthy successor to its Audigy and X-Fi brethren?"

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Audio Corner

 

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Boost the audio performance of your laptop with Creative's new USB DAC

Subject: General Tech | September 27, 2011 - 02:31 PM |
Tagged: Creative, X-FI HD USB, usb audio, audio, digital audio converter

It has become commonplace to see USB headsets that can be plugged into any system and will work without drivers needing to be installed.  That has not been widely spread to actual soundcards yet but Creative is changing that with the release of the X-FI HD USB, which does need drivers but should happily function on any machine.  For under $100 you get a small box which acts as a headphone amplifier and mic receiver but can also take audio from almost any source to be recorded to your PC.  It is a really good deal for a Digital Audio Converter, especially for notebook users which is why [H]ard|OCP heartily recommends the device for those looking to easily boost their audio performance.

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"Creative's latest sound card is an external model that sports a USB interface and boasts high quality digital, analog, and dedicated headphone connectivity options. We tell you if this may be the audio upgrade that laptop users and those of you with no free expansion slots in your desktop PC have been looking for."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner

 

Source: [H]ard|OCP

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