CREATIVE G6 7.1 HD Gaming DAC and External USB Sound Card with Xamp Headphone Amplifier for PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC
Level up your gaming experience with Sound BlasterX G6
*GameVoice Mix on PS5 requires an additional (not included) HDMI to Optical converter to access the feature.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super X-Fi | ✓ | x | x |
| Virtual 7.1 | ✓ | ✓ | x |
| GameVoice Mix | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Xamp Discrete Headphone Bi-amp | x | ✓ | x |
| Amp Specs | Up to 300Ω headphones | Low output impedance 1Ω, up to 600Ω headphones | Up to 300Ω headphones |
| Audio Quality | 120 dB DNR | 130 dB DNR | 100 dB DNR |
| DAC Specs | 24-bit / 192 kHz | 32-bit / 384 kHz | 24-bit / 96 kHz |
| Dolby Digital Decoding | ✓ | ✓ | x |
| SXFI BATTLE Mode | ✓ | x | x |
| Scout Mode (via PC and Mac) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Weight: | 144 g |
| Dimensions: | 11.1 x 2.4 x 7 cm; 144 Grams |
| Brand: | CREATIVE |
| Model: | 70SB177000000 |
| Colour: | 130 dB DNR at 32-bit / 384 kHz |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Creative |
| Colour: | 130 dB DNR at 32-bit / 384 kHz |
| Dimensions: | 11.1 x 2.4 x 7 cm; 144 Grams |
gute Soundkarte, die meine Kopfhrer sprbar nochmal auf ein neues Level gehoben haben.
Althought i higly recommand this sound card..i can not reccomand you using it with even with their most recent software suite.
It works at first..but its biggest issue to overflow driver memory.. after 2 hours of playing or doing anything at all requiring the software to interced..well..you will get a infamous bsod..always the same error..
However without the software. It works very well.
Tried this with SteelSeries Arctis 3. There is a noticeable difference as I used to set the volume to 100% and it was still not as high as I’d expect. Now I set the volume to 70% with normal gain and it’s a beast. If you put your hands on the headphone, you’ll notice that they are getting enough power when listening to some EDM tracks. It’s rumored that this can also drive 600 ohms, looking to try this with professional headphones like Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser.
Working great with PS5. Recommend getting an HDMI audio extractor that handles 4K@120hz to get the sound via SPDIF to get the full use. The Windows configurations software is easy to use. There are several options on the hardware itself. Take the time to get familiar with the settings so you can fine-tune your optimal gaming sound.
What I most love about this is that I don’t have to CONSTANTLY swap my audio device on my computer when I switch from speakers to headphones or vice versa.
Swapping audio devices can cause issues (like in games, sometimes the game needs a restart to recognize the new audio device).
Not with this. Since it counts the DAC as a single audio device, you can use the SoundBlaster control center to swap between speakers and headphones WITHOUT your computer thinking it’s a new device that it’s switching to, eliminating any issues that arise when swapping!
Seriously, I love this product.
Besonders erfreulich ist der Sound-Boost. Verglichen mit 2 anderen externen Soundkarten, die zuvor verwendet habe, ist hier die Lautstrke wirklich bemerkenswert. Der Ton lsst sich sowohl ber das Betriebssystem steuern, als auch direkt am Gert ber den Lautstrkeregler.
Sogar die Beleuchtung des Symbols lsst sich individualisieren, beispielsweise, dass das Licht je nach Soundausgabe angepasst ist, oder dass verschiedene Farben in Rotation eingeblendet werden.
Eine weitere wirklich coole Funktion ist, dass diese Soundkarte im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen einen eigenen Stereo-Mixer anbietet, sprich, den wiedergegebenen Ton als Mikrofon und somit Sound-Eingabe anbietet. Man kann also den Ton, den man gerade hrt, beispielsweise bei Discord-Sessions aufnehmen.
Soundprobleme gibt es keine. Ich hatte zunchst einige unregelmige Kratzer und Ruckler, doch es stellte sich schnell heraus, dass ein Windows-Update dies verursacht hatte. Nach der Neu-Installation / Aktualisierung der Grafiktreibers (ja, Grafiktreibers!) hat sich das Problem gelst (knnte vielleicht fr den einen oder anderen ein ntzlicher Hinweis sein).
Ich bin durchweg positiv beeindruckt von diesem Gert und vergebe volle 5 Sterne.
Le logiciel qui dconne presque tout le temps… Mais le produit est vraiment de qualit, c’est un avantange d’avoir un son pareil dans certains jeux (apex, cs:go) merci enf
Ca fait des mois que je voulais acheter une carte son et j’hsitais quoi prendre pour mon PC sur lequel j’utilise un Hyper X Cloud Alpha. J’ai choisis cette carte son externe car les caractristiques me semblaient trs bonnes et le rsultat est tout bonnement INCROYABLE!
Je recommande vivement toutes les personnes qui aiment le son de qualit, je ne pourrais jamais revenir en arrire et si j’avais su a avant je n’aurais jamais hsit tant cela vaut le coup! Une fois qu’on a entendu un son pareil on se dit que 120 ne reprsente rien pour cette qualit!!
L’esthtique est superbe et le programme est vraiment bon! Les suppressions de bruits etc sont super bien! On peut vraiment personnaliser normment de choses et les diffrences sont flagrantes, vraiment je recommande!
This thing is tiny btw, but it makes your ears believe it is the size of the computer you are plugging it into, and plugged straight into the electric grid. (I know, makes no sense) but I cannot describe fully how happy I am to have this DAC. I never give reviews btw, but spent so much time trying to figure out which one to buy and want to help those that are just as skeptical as I was.
Buy it, you will not regret it!
Really amazing piece of kit which I use with my DT 990 Pro 250ohm headphones and it powers them with such ease. The sound quality is super crisp with a good amount of editable bass. The only downside is the software which is a little finicky at times and took me a while to get used to. Overall, lovely AMP which I’m very happy with.
Brilliant product easy to set up excellent sound quality great for gaming
Just a follow up to all my questions . I bought this because my new headphones Pioneer DJ – HDJ-X7 Professional over-ear DJ Headphones blew my old Behringer external card. My main external card is the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD which is fantastic for music and runs great on my Windows 7 duo core laptop. As that is no longer and new Creative cards want Windows 10 they were no use . I plugged this into laptop and after 10 minutes drivers were installed, not used the downloadable software so can’t comment on that. With G6 just plugged into USB of laptop and headphones connected sound is immense. So just to let you all know G6 works on my old laptop with no fancy peripherals just plug in let laptop load drivers and done. So my old Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD cleans audio and sends to my Bose PA and the G6 is for my headphones to queue the music for playing. Only noticeable difference between them is G6 gets slightly warm. If it changes after a long night of djing will update.
I needed a volume boost as I stream Rocksmith which is not a loud app (ironically). The built in pc soundcard wasn’t loud enough so went for a powered usb soundcard. Creative were the brand to have back when you had to buy soundcards to pc so went for this. Works perfectly but I have to use the optical out from pc card to this else rocksmith won’t detect it ( a fault of the game not the soundcard, everything else works fine using the usb connection)
The previous version was good but Creative Labs have really got something to boast about here. The software has gone through a massive overhaul offering far greater user friendly functions than before and it’s much more stable.
A lot of reviews are for the previous model but I hope my review of the latest model will help you decide. Simply to say that this version hits all the targets the previous missed.
It’s a great for mobile devices, not just a gaming pc. All you need is a small powerbank to get it running, fits in the pocket, rucksack etc and because all the software is in the unit, you get truly great sound anywhere.
It is mainly designed to satisfy the true gamer on pc or game consoles where it really is a master of sound. So if your looking for a portable external sound card that is of great quality in both build and sound, this could be the one.
I used these with my Sennheiser HD650 and could tell a huge difference in sound quality, even on YT but remember that you need good headphones and also a good sound source to make full use of a DAC so if you have cheap headphones and you only listen to music on YT save your money.
Disclaimer: LEGGERE TUTTO
La scheda offre vantaggi in misura differente in base a come la si configura. Una volta provata su PS4, sono rimasto inizialmente deluso perch l’audio di base era migliore rispetto alla scout mode (o ai profili sbx per call of duty/FPS), il che rendeva le due opzioni pressoch inutili per giocare a questo tipo di giochi (che sono il motivo per cui ho comprato questo prodotto). La sbx non aggiungeva niente di speciale, mentre la scout mode era totalmente sbilanciata: rendeva l’audio pi “surround” ma allo stesso tempo con una equalizzazione pessima, i colpi del tuo fucile ti spaccavano i timpani e i passi erano s pi accentuati ma troppo sovrastati dagli altri suoni, tanto da far fatica a distinguerli. Questo indipendentemente dal tipo di equalizzazione utilizzata dalle impostazioni di CoD. Per uno che prima attaccava le cuffie al controller, pu comunque risultare ottimo, ma non per me che ero solito utilizzare la scheda audio esterna con funzione 7.1 virtuale data in dotazione con le cuffie HyperX Cloud 2.
LA SVOLTA
La svolta sull’efficacia della scout mode risultata modificando una impostazione audio della console. bastato spostare il tipo di codifica da “PCM lineare” a “bitstream dolby” (NON IL DTS) per far accendere la lucina centrale del dolby sulla scheda sound blaster. Il suono ora totalmente differente. Modalit scout bilanciatissima e precisissima, ad indicare che il problema era legato al tipo di codifica e non alla scheda in s. Ora sono totalmente soddisfatto, tutto perfettamente chiaro, i passi soprattutto. Sono perfettamente localizzabili e si sentono gi ad una discreta distanza, ben superiore rispetto all’audio PCM lineare. Raccomando di configurare la scheda tramite Sound blaster Command, app per PC che si scarica dal sito della sound blaster. Assolutamente ricordarsi di sostiruire il profilo stereo a quello surround 7.1 prima di utilizzarlo su console per beneficiare della spazialit sonora.
The G6 gives a huge amount of control over the mic input with extensive controls, effects, boosters,echo cancellation etc. It solved the problem immediately.
Knowing I had this, I also purchased a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-990 Edition 600 Ohm headphones; a pair of headphones known for providing excellent detail, clarity and wide soundstage, but being the 600 Ohm version, they are known to also be somewhat difficult to drive properly.
The G6 drives the 600 Ohm Beyerdynamics with no problems whatsoever.
When you install the software you get both Soundblaster Command and Soundblaster Connect.
Both are set to run upon system startup and they both do the exact same thing. – You only need one.
I slightly preferred the Connect interface so I stopped Command from running on startup, but your mileage may vary.
Build quality wise, the G6 is very slick. I really like the sci-fi styling, but some might find it a bit tacky. The outer case is actually a very high quality rigid plastic that is sprayed to look like metal. Metal might have helped offer improved RF noise insulation but hey-ho.
The power and interface to the PC all take the form of a Micro-USB connector. In what is now 2022, I don’t think this is ideal. USB-C offers much a higher bandwidth for data, is rated for a much higher power draw, and is better protected against system noise. This is a slightly older model external DAC/soundcard, but it’s hardly antique having been released at the end of 2018, so just over 3 years.
Sound quality is, frankly, awesome. I had come from a Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium, a very well regarded PCI-e card and the G6 blew the X-Fi out of the water; smashed it to smithereens. There is a depth and clarity to the sound that I never realised I was missing, both on headphones and speakers. For speakers I use a Yamaha AV amplifier and Bowers & Wilkins bookshelf speakers. The improvement was substantial.
Now, claims that this is a 7.1 (or 5.1) HD Gaming DAC are quite simply FALSE.
This is NOT 7.1, nor is it 5.1. This is a STEREO unit and it outputs stereo. ONLY. i.e. 2 channels.
It can make all the claims it wants about VIRTUAL 5.1 and 7.1 but it doesn’t change the fact that this is, at the end of the day, only capable of outputting STEREO (2 channel) sound, however much it uses software to process the sound to make a dubious simulation of a multi-channel setup.
This DOES NOT output decoded Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos or DTS. It does NOT provide a pass-through of any of theose to the S/PDIF optical output, either.
I wish I had realised this before I bought it, but would probably still buy it, knowing what I now know.
It seems that no USB soundcards and DACs outputs Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS or E-AC3. It offers no multi-channel audio outputs either, just stereo line out or optical. Again I reiterate, the only thing you will get out of this unit is STEREO. Two channels.
As a result I also have to use the Realtek Audio built into my motherboard with a S/PDIF optical connector going into a second optical digital input on my AV 5.1 amplifier and home theatre speaker system for when I wish to listen to Dolby Digital and DTS content, movies, TV shows, DVDs and Blu-rays etc. (My X-Fi Titanium got pulled out to put into another PC- I felt it would be just too confusing to have multiple Creative drivers).
I’d like to offer an opinion here when it comes to software:
I’m a retired programmer and PC Systems Engineer (and a hi-fi buff and amateur musician).
There are known issues with Creative and software. I’ve used Creative Labs hardware since the days of the original Soundblaster and things like the AWE 32. I’ve had about 8 different Creative soundcards over the years, and Creative software has always sucked, always offered more bloat than you really need, never works 100 per cent reliably, is always finnicky to set up, clumsy in operation and they always abandon their expensive products leaving users high and dry with a high quality piece of hardware and no driver support as soon as they possibly can. In my opinion, basically Creative have always taken a dilettante approach to supporting their hardware, They’ll be polite, but useless. Creative seem happy for their products to end up in landfill as soon as possible, as long as they can sucker you into buying their next one. To be fair, I DO usually just buy the next one as they have largely cornered the market and there are few alternatives.
Now. don’t get me wrong – Creative make some excellent hardware, and this is no exception, but the software to enable their excellent hardware usually falls short; they don’t fix bugs for ages, it at all, and if you were to Google, there are so very many, many Creative products that could work just fine today in modern systems, but don’t, because Creative refuse to update their drivers for what they have deemed to be end-of-life products, and refuse to allow anyone else to do it for them. (The Audigy 2 ZS, and X-Fi Titanium, for instance – a 3rd party software developer, Daniel_K, in his bedroom, produced a driver which he had butchered from drivers for other products and modified it to enable the card to work under Windows 10, until he received a Cease And Desist notice from Creative – it’s all there on the internet – you can Google it. Creative received a ton of abuse about their attitude and eventually they closed their customer support forum.).
Now back to the SoundblasterX G6:
The software (whichever one you pick) for G6 works ok.
It hasn’t let me down in the few months I’ve been using it, however you will see online, and demonstrations of the problem on YouTube, that there is an issue with the volume control in certain situations. It just doesn’t work. At all.
In the certain modes, the volume control does absolutely nothing.
I can live it with as, when I’m using speakers, I can use my amplifier volume control to determine the output level, and when using headphones I have to trying adjust the source (music or video player/game audio sound master) output level, or the main system audio control in Windows until I can find which one is actually doing anything. It’s clumsy, but it isn’t a deal-breaker.
The software supplied, whichever one you use, offers a number of processing modes to vary equalisation, virtual soundstage, has presets for different things (e.g. music, movies, action games, RP Games etc etc) or you can create your own.
It offfers a Direct Mode to output audio with zero effects processing, and also a S/PDIF optical output both with effects processing or Direct (no processing). It’s pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it.
Microphone input enables a substantial boost, should you need it, along with echo cancellation, voice profiles e.g. more bass, less bass, less treble, weird effects (robot, kid, demon, senior citizen, chipmunk, Scottish etc etc). That sort of thing. The mic processing has substantially improved the sound of my microphone and offered a much needed gain increase.
On the Back Panel the unit offers stereo analogue and stereo digital input and output. Headphones output and mic input are on the front, along with a volume control that mostly doesn’t work, but lights up to look pretty. There’s an illuminated RGB X on the top that has a couple of effects that you can set via the Windows software.
The side panel has a ‘scout’ mode button – designed to remove a lot of the bass and clean up the sound to improve directional audio (e.g. where the footsteps of people creeping up on you is coming from) for FPS games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Warzone etc. Not my thing, but it does work well.
The side panel includes a low and high gain button for the headphone output to swicth between low impedance (up to 32 ohm (?)) and high impedance – up to 600 ohm, headphones.
In High impedance mode, my hard-to-drive 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT-990 still go plenty loud – louder than I would ever need. Even my ancient Sennheiser HD-424 with their 2000 Ohm impedance work fine on this.
In summary – it’s great hardware, looks gorgeous (subjective, I know, but I like the styling), sounds awesome, whether you use the SBX sound processing (effects) or whether you chose the Direct Mode for critical listening to music through professional studio headphones.
I was staggered by how much of an improvement it made over an already very good internal sound card.
It doesn’t enable Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos or DTS to passthru the S/PDIF optical ouput. It doesn’t decode the same to multi-channel output either.
This is a STEREO device. A stereo-only device.
All talk about Virtual 5.1 and Virtual 7.1 is just talk. The important word is “Virtual” i.e. similar to, but not actual.
What it does do, it does very well, but it isn’t surround sound, it’s virtual or “pretend” surround sound.
I do recommend this product.
The audio quality is excellent and the technical specifications back up this fact for those who understand the technical specs, as I do. It drives high impedance headphones effortlessly and provides and excellent a detailed soundstage, and in Direct Mode, offers an essentially flat frequency response. It’s not quite up to the performance of audiophile headphone amplifiers costing multiple times its price tag, but it gives an excellent account of itself, even when using it to drive demanding and critical headphones for professional and arguably, even studio use.
I rate it 8.5/10.
Just be aware that Creative will probably abandon this product, software-wise in the very near future, if they haven’t already. Like the scorpion from the Aesop’s fable, it’s their nature. It’s what Creative do.
This thing powers my hd6xx, pc38x, gsp500 and they all sound amazing the fact that there’s a eq option and premade eq that I can use is amazing it gives plenty of volume and even supports Dolby via optical.
Was sceptical after a friend told me I got the wrong thing but this does a good job
Sound quality is great you can notice the difference. I have proffesional mic and the clarity went up a bit aswell. In films and gaming you cqn heqr thqt extra bass punch but also notice clarity in it. Live the slund effects aswell. Definitelly upgrade from basic motherboard sound.
Utilis sur une PS5 avec un casque MMX300 (V2) le rendu sonore est lui aussi excellent! Le “scout mode” est tres utile, l’audio 3D est toujours aussi prcis mais les bruits de pas (et rechargement des armes visiblement) sont plus amplifis
Mais il y a deux choses savoir : le cable USB fourni ne semble pa fonctionner (test sur tous les ports USB disponibles, visiblement un autre acheteur a eu le mme soucis : cf commentaires ci-dessous) et la mise sous tension le volume est au minimum (faut tourner la molette devant plusieurs tours!). Ces deux “problmes” peuvent laisser penser que a ne fonctionne pas lors du dballage!
J’ai reu ce matin un mail sur Amazon pour me signaler qu’une mise jour est disponible: j’espre qu’elle rglera le problme de son la mise sous tension (qui revient au minimum) et qu’elle donnera un intrt au bouton rond devant (servant normalement faire la balance entre le son de la party et du jeu).
Content de mon achat, aucun regret : indispensable pour profiter pleinement d’un casque gaming sur console.
Utilis sans avoir t mis jour ni rgl depuis le logiciel (commander), cela devrait tre encore mieux aprs! Je teste a ce soir!
I tested it with 6 different set of IEMs & headphones ranging from $300 to $2000. It didn’t make a whole lot of difference for easy to drive, closed-back headphones or sensitive IEMs, but for something like the Sennheiser HD800s, the G6 changed everything.
A wider soundstage, positional accuracy & clarity of the audio… it will definitely give you advantage over other setups. I was skeptical about its advertised gamer-focused features, but it def works.
The virtual surround mode works ok (up to 32bit 96khz – “better quality” than just using Dolby Access which only outputs 16bit 44khz, but surround effect works on Dolby better for the contents that were specifically designed for Dolby) and the ‘direct mode’ produces clean (unprocessed) stereo up to 32bit 384khz.
Initially, I didn’t believe in the product before so I returned it, but now I can see why someone would want a product like this. I surely wouldn’t get this unless you plan on using it for games. There are other products that you could get for that. However, if you are a gamer, this is one of the better value gamer feature packed DAC/AMP combo out there for the price.
—————-
Update after trying it out for a few weeks:
1. When switching audio modes (stereo to surround or vice versa) or audio quality, both the audio & video start playing in much lower speed. I had it happen on both my desktop & laptop, so it’s definitely the software (Sound Blaster Command) issue.
2. Tested it with PS5 in case anyone would be interested in using it with the PS5 like I was. It won’t work some magic and let you hear things you couldn’t hear. BUT it works. It lets you control the volume with more ease (the knob on the G6 vs browsing through the menu to change it), and it undeniably sounds a lot better than the 3.5mm aux jack on the controllers.
* My PS5 didn’t recognize the G6 when plugged into the front USB ports. When I used the rear USB port, it worked without any issue. Took a good ~10 sec or so after plugging it to the PS5 to detect the G6.
I have been using Creative for years, they’re amazing, this product is great, drivers can get annoying on som all windows versions from 7-10. It sometimes asks you to update to a driver that doesn’t exist, it was just an empty .exe. It has been resolved but there are more issues with bad drivers causing the device to malfunction and even some instances disappear, I can’t verify and tell you the root cause but all in all it’s worth getting, luckily it comes with a backdating option if you google how to do it. Oh works great with PS4 and Xbox and App TV.
Branch sur le port USB d’un PC.
La qualit sonore est de haut niveau, j’coute de la musique sur PC partir d’un DAC Asus Essence STX II et des enceintes Edifier, parfois remplaces en test par un couple ampli et enceintes hifi, des ACL (hps EMS Fertin).
Le DAC tient la route (il n’est pas du tout typ hyper analytique, comme j’ai pu parfois le lire et l’entendre).
L’ampli casque est trs bon, avec une sonorit trs quilibre, dtaille et dpourvue d’agressivit dans l’aigu. Le grave est profond et expressif. Aucun bruit parasite, aucun souffle. Du coup, l’coute est magnifique sur un AKG K512, un Beyer DT880, un Shure Aonic50, et mme un Sennheiser HD650 haute impdance… Il faut juste un adaptateur mini-jack vers jack.
J’ai pu relier les enceintes Edifier via un cble optique (livr), et le rsultat est sensiblement comparable l’coute partir de la carte son Asus, mais trs suprieur l’coute via la carte son intgre au PC. C’est mme le jour et la nuit.
A noter que le rglage de volume n’agit pas sur le volume des enceintes dans cette configuration. Il est donc seulement affect la sortie casque et se rvle silencieux et prcis.
La carte est reconnue dans Foobar (l’affectation est manuelle, ce qui implique de modifier chaque changement d’utilisation, car, cerise sur le gteau : les deux cartes-son fonctionnent en parallle sous Windows 10, on peut donc choisir d’couter une source sur les enceintes, une autre sur le casque).
Aucun driver n’est utile, mais pour le fun, j’ai install ceux fournis par Creative (en tlchargement). Sans doute un plus pour un gamer car plusieurs configurations sont proposes en fonction des jeux. Les mises jour firmware passent aussi par l’application. Il semble que cela apporte une solution au rveil de la carte aprs une mise en veille, de mon ct, elle est branche sur un hub, et je dois la dbrancher et rebrancher aprs un arrt du PC. on verra si une connexion directe sur la carte mre rsout le problme. Les drivers fournis par Creative ne sont pas les derniers, on peut aller les chercher sur un site comme “touslesdrivers.com”… Ils permettent d’optimiser les pilotes pour windows et font apparaitre une fentre avec la pochette du disque en coute et le niveau sonore lorsqu’on modifie le volume.
Un produit trs musical et bien conu. Chaudement recommand.
Je n’ai pas test les gadgets ni le jeu – priorit la musique. Et elle est bien l
Paired with a good set of headphones this thing sounds awesome. The 7.1 surround is very impressive in games. If you’re a gamer who like a bit of music then you cannot go wrong with this purchase.
So for PS5 owners this does work and works well.
You have two approaches, one simple and one not so simple.
The easiest is to connect to the USB on the PS5. Note, use the rear USB ports on the PS5 as the front will not work for some reason.
You can then use headphones via the G6 and get the benefit of the PS5 headphone 3d. Or turn that off and use the surround sound on the G6.
The second and more complex is to use a HDMI splitter with optical out. Power this from the PS5 but then power the G6 externally (this avoids interference). You then get Dolby via the G6 (you do not via USB) but not the Sony 3d but as the G6 has its own surround sound this maybe has the edge on sound. No doubt in future updates Sony will give 3d via HDMI as well. You do need the adapter and extra HDMI for this so maybe too many cables for some.
However with a bit of playing around both work well and I recommend the G6 for the PS5.
One additional point is that surround sound headphones are just normal headphones as the processing is done in the DAC unit therefore this does give you the opportunity to use much better than normal headphones. I use Sennheiser HD800 as they are nice and light and they sound great. Of course they are wired but this is the price for this way of listening.
Questo era l’ultima spiaggia per provare ad avere un audio paragonabile al pc fisso che ha una soundblaster dedicata che ne sa tanto. Devo usare il portatile come desktop replacement quindi deve eguagliare il fisso come audio o non lo voglio.
Allora, rispetto al play3 un altro mondo senza dubbio e annienta l’audio integrato del portatile CON LE CUFFIE.
Ho provato con cuffie ad alta impedenza e con auricolari in ear sony medio gamma. In entrambi i casi un altro mondo rispetto all’integrata e pareggia la dedicata desktop o ci va abbastanza vicino da non farmela rimpiangere, anche a fronte dei driver molto pi moderni di questo G6.
Quindi se la recensione si fermasse qui, 6 stelle, nonostante il prezzo mi paia molto molto salato, ma al mondo d’oggi ok ascoltare musica a 12 khz con gli ufo sotto e la gente si emoziona, quindi va bene cos.
Con un sistema 2.1 serio collegato in line out la questione si complica. Ci ho messo molto tempo per configurare tutto per avere un audio buono, il subwoofer pareva usato male e poco, il fisso in confronto lo fa volare.
Dopo un’ora di test ho proprio capito, questo aggeggino non ha potenza sufficiente. Fa tanto volume, ma ha poco potere per fare precisione, la differenza con la scheda dedicata pci-e e sistema 2.1 diventa sostanziosa.
Se non avete una scheda audio dedicata e non potete fare a-b testing molto difficile arrivare a questa conclusione, ma ora sono in forte dramma perch palesemente inferiore nonostante con cuffie e auricolari se la cavi benissimo, come gi scritto. Temo far il reso, ma significa che entro i 150 euro non esiste nulla che possa trasformare un portatile in un ottimo sistema audio, il che mi perplime tantissimo (e mi sconcerta).
60 euro li vale tutti, 150 molto molto molto dura mentalmente.
Ripeto, se non avete una scheda dedicata, consideratelo un buon acquisto, ma solo perch “non avete idea” di com’ un sistema di alta fascia.
UPDATE 10 giorni dopo:
revisiono alzando da 3 a 4 stelle, limito a 4 perch il prodotto da capire come si usa e non scontato e perch costa troppo secondo me. Ho comprato anche un Creative X4 e questo superiore, soprattutto lato driver (aiutoo x4 orrido).
Ora vi svelo come si usa correttamente il G6 con 2.1.
Installate Commander, accendete subito l’equalizzatore e abbassate la preamplificazione a -12.
Lo scopo avere il volume di windows/DAC sempre intorno al 80% e non toccarlo pi. Da qui, dopo aver abbassato la preamplificazione avrete margine per cui giocare realmente con l’equalizzatore sui bassi che FINALMENTE prenderanno vita!! Io ho un logitech Z337 con amplificatore dedicato quindi occhio potreste avere risultati diversi, ma cos funziona. Se non vi basta ancora installate Equalizer APO e piantate la preamplificazione ancora pi bassa e aggiungete un layer di equalizzazione aggiuntiva. Vi assicuro che i bassi prima o poi escono anche a volumi bassi e sono di buona qualit.
Da rompiscatole audio, al momento sono contento, speravo che l’x4 fosse migliore, ma si sente abbastanza facilmente la differenza. 4 stelle, consigliato specialmente per i desktop replacement.
The G6 will not compete in sonic quality against audiophile DACs and headphone amplifiers such as the Schiit Bifrost and and Asgard which I own. The Command software – and all previous iterations of Sound Blaster software – is buggy and may require computer skills at times. The G6 is made from plastic and may not endure light abuse.
All of the reviews that complain about those issues are correct and valid.
The point that seems to be missed is this box can process sound in ways that audiophile equipment can only dream of. The effects that can be applied are well thought out and useful – such as the surround sound, dialog for movies, crystalizer, and a graphic equalizer to tailor sound for different headphones. Beyond that are controls for how the music is digitally filtered and sampled. On top of all of that is Dolby and 5.1 and 7.1 sound processing.
Does the Fulla do that?
No audiophile equipment that I know of – at any price – performs this level of digital sound processing. The goal of audiophile boxes is digital sound purity – but what you are then given is one control – volume.
The G6 has so many controls that it is very possible to make the music sound bad. The G6 is great for those who want to tinker with sound. If plug and play sound is what you want then get a Fulla.
Of course if you want the best of both worlds you can take the optical out of the G6 and put it into your Modi, Bifrost, DacMagic whatever.
Personally that is too much gear to bother with for casual listening and watching movies as the sound output of the G6 headphone port is very good.
Only complaint is that often when turning my PC on there’s a 50/50 chance on whether it gets picked up or not, if it doesn’t then I have to unplug it and plug it back in again. It’s lit up to show that it has power but just doesn’t show in Windows.
Powers my DT 990s well but the program also crashes a decent amount and requires me to end the process in task manager or even a hard restart of my PC. Ive encountered the issue predominantly with programs such as a discord though so you might not encounter the same issues.
According to the website of the company its from they updated it to the command software so may get i
Well not much to say. I wasn’t convinced to buy this particular model and probably for pure PC usage I would still recommend internal model. However if you like to have great sound on a PC and something else like console then this is great choice. Pair it with good headphones or speakers and you will be very surprised how good sound and music can play.
This DAC is geared towards gaming but it great for general use as well. I was just looking for a decent usb sound card to add to my USB switch that transfers my peripherals between my work and home computer. Obviously this is extremely cheap in comparison to true audiophile equipment but I was not looking to spend that much. This one had stellar youtube and online reviews for the price point and is considered a jack of all trades, not necessarily the best at all or any particular area but a really great value overall and punches well above it price point. I wasn’t getting this to drive better headphones or any particular feature set it had. Just all the reviews for the sound cards under a $100 weren’t convincing they were that great (such as the sound blasterx G5) and I wasn’t sure what all I wanted to use this for so I decided to spend the extra $40 to upgrade to this model. I needed this to primarily drive my desk speakers and then an additional port to drive my 4-pole headset (believe it or not but a 4-pole 3.5mm port on a sound card is not too common even though most headphones come this way). The one thing that would have been nice on this unit is if it had a physical button to toggle between the line out on the back and the headset port on the front. Essentially I have to unplug one of the ports to get the audio to transfer to the other port but thats a miner issue. I was honestly impressed how much louder and how much clearer (especially back ground audio in songs) or better the audio sounded from this card compared to my PC or Mac’s onboard solution. It even conditions the microphone. I called a few colleague’s over slack and discord to test the difference between the computers built in port and this sound card. It was night and day, everyone I talked to said the audio was much clearer, quality was better, no hiss in the background or static in my voice. This solved problems that I wasn’t even thinking about. I thought it was just because it was a $30 headset is why the microphone was just passable for use but apparently a sound card can take that cheap headset and make it sound decent. I am not saying this is going to make the $10-20 microphone beat a $120 Mic but it can definitely get it half way there. For general use I use direct mode for the sound card to just condition the audio coming from the source with no filters but when I play first person shooters I enable Scout mode which really help isolate in game movement sounds and bring them to the forefront, dampening other sounds and background audio. It works springily well. Obviously I am not an expert on this kind of gear but I noticed a pretty drastic difference in my Mic and audio performance playing with the settings and feel the $140 was well worth it.
However, if you’re using a Ryzen processor with PCIe 4.0 enabled, it will fudge up your USB connections, and since the sound blaster receive power from the USB connection itself, it keeps cutting off the sound until you disconnect the wire and connect it again.
This got VERY ANNOYING and at first I thought it was a fault of the soundblaster. However after getting a replacement I was getting the same issues. So I tried to find out what had changed recently, until I remembered that I activated PCIe 4.0 in the BIOS as my new GPU supported it.
So in order to “fix” this problem, I simply reverted back to PCIe 3.0.
Obviously, that’s not a problem of this product itself, but I thought I’d mention it at the very least in case someone else was having the same issues.
Otherwise I am very much enjoying using this thing.
Great for gaming or just in general. Surprising power for a micro USB powered device.
Je l’ai donc test sur Xbox one, PS4 et PC.
On peut voir ds le dballage que la qualit est soign et que la surface anti drapante au dessous ainsi que si son poids permet d’viter qu’il subisse la rsistance des cbles.
Des les premires cessions de jeu on observe une diffrence de qualit sonore : le son est mieux dtaill et je l’ai test avec un Epos GSP 602 puis le casque Sony PS4 gold en filaire. On s’en rend compte surtout lors de phase de jeu “intense” o se mlange explosions, vhicules, tirs,… Au lieu du brouhaha habituelle chaque son semble indpendant et clair.
Par contre sur console vous devez investir dans des adaptateurs (sur Xbox pour brancher le micro sur la manette et le son sur le DAC sinon pas de conversation possible) et de rallonge (car les cbles de casque font en gnral entre 1m et 1.5m) mais de bonne qualit sinon parasites garantie.
Gros point noir donc dj sur les cbles acheter en plus, mais galement sur les rglages.
En effet sur PC tout est rglable, galiseurs micro mode SBX… Mais pas pour les consoles. J’ai bien russi rgler les galiseurs en le branchant sur console juste aprs le rglage sur PC mais au final j’ai du faire un reset du DAC car il a fini par planter.
Donc du que tout le marketing soit fait sur le cross plateforme du DAC alors qui n’est que rellement pleinement utilisable que sur PC.
Pour le scout mode, je l’ai trouv inutile, le son augmente quand vous courez seul donc on entend que nos pas, lors de phases de tirs il diminue donc pendant quelques secondes vous ratez un ennemis qui arrive dans votre dos et quand il est tout prs de vous et que le son n’est pas diminu, vous avez l’impression qu’il court autour de vous, sans savoir si il est devant derrire au dessus ou en dessous. Sur PC le scout mode se dsactive avec une touche raccourci au choix, pratique mais je prfre un galiseur bien rgl que s’activer le scout mode
Point positif, crative nous prvient aprs achat de la ncessit d’effectuer une mise jour du DAC, le service client aprs vente est comptent.
En Bref pour console, acheter si vraiment vous avez dj du bon matriel et que vous cherchez une amlioration pour votre casque favoris mais ne l’acheter pas seulement pour le scout mode vous serez du. Dommage que le ct cross plateforme ne soit pas plus pouss
Moved to an external sound card as the drivers on my internal card on my rig’s motherboard were preventing Secure Boot from running on later versions of Windows 10. Originally installed with the Creative Command application for Windows so I could update the device firmware as well as make use of the sound controls, however, there is a lot of popping noises that come at irregular intervals. Uninstalling the Command application has resolved, but it is slightly irritating that Creative haven’t managed to get this right…
Sound quality with some DT990 headphones is decent though!
At some point will probably try the Fiio K5 Pro as an alternative when it is in stock in the UK again, as I suspect that would be a superior product.
Other than a issue I’m sure that could get fixed for my headset mic that I dont use anyway this has been an amazing audio experience and would recommend to any gamer that wants to step up there audio game
TL;DR: Wenn man mit der Soundkarte ein wenig herumexperimentiert hat, macht die Soundkarte aus jeder Soundquelle aus Sch*** wortwrtlich Gold!
Das Gert wird ber den USB-Verbindung am PC ber eine der beiden Apps (ich benutze Sound Blaster Command) eingerichtet. Ausgabegerte werden ber den Klinke/Line-In-Anschluss oder (wenn diese es untersttzen) am USB-Anschluss angeschlossen. Im Falle vom PC (und laut Anleitung auch bei der Switch), wre der USB-Anschluss dann Ton- und Stromzufuhr in einem.
Meine Empfehlung: Nach Einrichtung des Gertes am PC (durch Auswhlen bzw. Erstellen der SBX- und Equalizer-Profile) die Karte ber den Klinkenanschluss an die gewnschte Soundquelle anschlieen und den USB-Anschluss nur zur Stromversorgung durch ein externes Netzteil (z.B. ber einen handelsblichen USB-Charger) nutzen. Das ermglicht den An- und Umschluss verschiedener Quellen an das Gert. Gert mit USB am PC anschlieen und mit Klinke an andere Gerte fhrt zu statischen Geruschen.
Die Konfiguration ist jedoch sehr umstndlich, da man die Karte nur einrichten kann, wenn diese per USB am PC angeschlossen ist. Ich musste fr die Nutzung an der Nintendo Switch fr das beste Ergebnis also mehrfach die Gerte umstecken und “blind” probieren, bis ich das gewnschte Ergebnis hatte. Aber wer sich diese Mhe einmal gemacht hat kann anschlieend von einer sehr verbesserten und den eigenen Wnschen angepassten Tonqualitt profitieren.
Ein weiterer wichtiger Tipp: Virtual Surround (egal ob 5.1 oder 7.1) zum Musikhren ausschalten, wenn die Musik nicht speziell fr Surroundsound gemacht ist (Die meiste Musik wird nur in Stereo gemixt). Denn wenn ddie Quelle keinen Raumklang ausgibt, kann die Karte auch keinen Raumklang fr Stereogerte sinnvoll emulieren. Das hat in meinem Fall zu verzerrtem blechernen Klang gefhrt, da die Karte trotzdem versucht, die drei toten Audiokanle fr Stereokopfhrer zu virtualisieren.
Das erklrt nmlich einen ganzen Haufen der schlechten Rezensionen.
Wer versucht, aus Stereoquellen Heimkinosound herauszuholen, sollte es lieber mit Magie versuchen. 😉
Fr Audioquellen, die Raumklangdaten enthalten z.B. bei Filmen und Spielen, die 5.1 Surround untersttzen) ist es jedoch einen Versuch wert (hab dies bisher nicht ausprobieren knnen). Aber allein in Stereo ist der Unterschied wie Tag und Nacht!
SBX ist bei mir dauerhaft an. Ich nutze den Scout-Modus nicht, daher kann ich zu diesen nicht viel sagen. Der Direct-Mode ist ein nettes Feature, falls man mal eine Situation hat, in der SBX und Equalizer eher hinderlich sind.
Wie sich das Gert bei Mikrofoninput verhlt, dazu hab ich leider ebenfalls keine Ahnung. Ich hab es hauptschlich zur Verbesserung des Sound an meinem PC und der Switch geholt und bin mit dem Ergebnis fr diese Verwendung voll zufrieden, auch wenn ich etwas gebraucht hatte, bis ich zum besten Ergebnis gekommen bin.
Mein Wunsch fr ein Nachfolgegert: Den USB-Anschluss nicht als Sound-Input, sondern nur zur Stromversorgung und zur Einrichtung nutzen und elektisch davon entkoppelt die Tonquelle ber einen Anschluss der Wahl (Klinke/Line In, zustzlicher USB-Anschluss, etc) ermglichen. Das wrde die Gerte aber vermutlich wesentlich teurer machen.
Auerdem wre es eine gute Idee, wenn die Karte erkennen knnte, wenn die Quelle nur Stereosound enthlt und dann entsprechend automatisch nur Stereo ausgibt. (Ein Hinweis in der Anleitung wre auch schon hilfreich).
Primarily used for FPS games using scout mode. Plenty of power to run 250ohm DT 880 Pro headphones. I use the optical cable to the Ps4 pro and its powered by a dedicated pc that only runs the g6 and plays music. No delay in sound minimal changes needed once set up pretty much a plug and play.
Love the fact it came with loaded sound options for certain games and sounds grea
First thing to point out is this doesn’t play with xbox party chat, but as single player or non chat – the sound is tuned so much better. Footsteps are more audible for instance, and directional sound is amplified – whilst General noise is dialled down. Hard to explain without hearing yourself. Of course the other benefit is you can use xbox headset on pc, as the unit has the 3 step phono plug, instead of needing an adapter or headset that uses stereo and mic plugs.
It’s a nice soundcard. I was initially off put by the plasticy feel and lights but it definitely does the job. Delivers great quality sound to my Sennheisers. Easy to connect to my PC and Tablet.
Best with surround and effects off, but a solid and easy to use dac amp to boost and clean up signal. Battlefield 5 sounds immense with an Audio Technica headset!
This is probably one of very few things Creative has done well in the past years. It does it’s job and is an OK amplifier. If you just want an amplifier however, you’re better off just getting a good preamp for same amount of cash. I took one star away because it can drive 300 Ohm impedance headphones at best (and you need to switch gain to high), advertised 600 Omh cans would be too quite. On high gain it can get hot so make sure you don’t cover it (you shouldn’t anyway).
I picked up a G6 to replace my failed Behringer mixer – as i’m no longer streaming I was happy with not needing multiple sources any more. I wanted something to power some bigger open backed headphones – AKG K7XX’s etc – without breaking the bank. The competition was the FiiO K5 Pro and GSX1000 and I think for the money they’d all do a great job. What made me pick the G6 was the combination of price (109.99 with an offered voucher) and the mic input.
I’m now using the amp with K7XX’s and some KS10 Pro IEM’s, with a V-Moda BoomPro mic for gaming. Sound quality is fantastic, adds loads of separation and widens the soundstage nicely and the included software has made the mic crystal clear with noise filtering effects. Some fun features like a voice changer that I won’t use though.
The unit also has a line out that i’m using to drive some Edifier bookshelf speakers. Changing between headset and speakers is one click in the software and it’s great having everything controlled from one little unit.
I dig it and would definitely recommend especially for the discounted price
I brought for my son as he has beyerdynamic 990 and they needed an amp. No complaints so far and he loves the scout mode when he plays COD etc.
When I upgraded to a Micro-ATX tower a few years ago, I realized a little too late that given the expansion slot limits I’d have to settle for not installing a sound card. Was never quite happy with my game audio after that since my old SoundBlaster Z had an integrated headphone amp. This little beauty is exactly what I was missing and returns the ability to really drive the headsets I have, and the audio just feels “cleaner” overall. Playing Doom Eternal or Halo:MCC will really thud with each shot compared to the onboard. I honestly don’t go beyond 30-35% on the volume level given the amount of sound being put out.
Minor complaints, I cant seem to get the “What You Hear” device to enable so I can mirror sound back through a different device. Also, I regularly swap between sound outputs in the Win10 task bar. Restarting without having it being selected means the G6 won’t be recognized on my next startup and has to be unplugged and replugged in to detect. The software hasn’t been intrusive for me, but I don’t fiddle excessively with it.
SBX gives a nice soundstage compared to the base output, and I haven’t gotten to use Scout Mode as I don’t play anything super competitively anymore to need to hear each footstep.
The unit is slightly larger than a deck of cards, and fairly light given the plastic shell. The light on the volume knob is appreciated for gaming in the dark, and there is a LED with a fair amount of RGB settings for a small peripheral if that’s something you are into. Comes with a 3 Foot USB Cable which for my setup wasn’t sufficient and had to go digging for a longer run, worth keeping in mind for your positioning.
Amazingly, this device right out of the box and after making all wire connections and software downloads (Firmware + Driver) results in much higher, better and deeper audio quality. It is that obvious that when I started hearing my very first music video on everything adjusted by default and absolutely no changes or adjustments, I was like, WoooW. I couldn’t even believe the sound in coming out of my PC. The very same music that I listened on and on in the past, now had a much higher audio spectrum and it was completely obvious.
Well, I have had already activated Dolby Atom on my PC and I knew how to adjust the settings to this new commer and what I am using as a motherboard is a MSI Tomahawk which presents Realtek sound card which I never had any problem with. With this DAC, since you can have a direct connection by using the included fiber optic digital output, you get not only much better audio quality but you can have all available types of adjustments open including (stereo, 5.1, 7.1). This thing can get very very loud. As loud as what it can really heart your hearing but by default everything is set on about 35 percent to avoid this from happening, so be carefull.
At the present time, there is something that I am not quite sure about so I can not really say if there is any cons with the device and that is the description outcome for 32bit/384KHz. If I go with that range, I am losing the Dolby Atoms capability. In fact, anything over 16bit will automatically cancels the Dolby Atoms and I am not sure if this is a restriction with Windows 10 or the one with Dolby Atoms or something else. However, for those who don’t care about Dolby Atoms, you can set it on 32bit/384KHz with no problem.
Overall, it looks like the dream has come through and the audio quality has just got a massive upgrade all across the platform.
The only question left here, should you buy it for yourself? Please do your own research and see if it worths the total costs for what you are doing.
For the Switch, it’s a huge upgrade in terms of sound quality. Sound is much more immersive, with good detail and separation. The DSP effects work well and it is more than capable of driving higher end headphones (HD 650). I haven’t tried optical out, but line out plays nicely with my speakers (MR1 mk2).
Compared to the Cyrus Soundkey I also tried with my Switch, sound is slightly less separated, but the G6 doesn’t suffer from the Soundkey’s hyper-treble. More importantly, it has none of the Soundkey’s compatiblity issues (which had frequent dropouts and distortion). Compared to the Soundblaster G3, it’s as compatible but sounds much better (the G3’s sound isn’t a significant upgrade from on-board sound).
I tested it briefly with my desktop and have mixed feelings. It’s definitely a good upgrade from onboard sound, and has some nice gaming-centric features. You really need to disable all DSP effects if you’re using it for music or movies, and even the limits because quite obvious playing a high quality source. Compared to my Chord Mojo, instruments lacked separation, sound stage was cramped and detail was generally lacking.
So there you have it. Great upgrade for the Switch and a solid upgrade fron on-board sound in Windows. I wouldn’t say it punches above its weight, as it really doesn’t hold a candle to the likes of the Chord Mojo or M-dac Mini, but it’s good value for money nevertheless.
Il G6 un amplificatore e scheda audio esterna. L’ho attaccato con l’USB al mio PC, che ha avviato l’installazione del nuovo componente. Una volta riconosciuto, ho fatto subito la prova con Spotify con un brano degli Alice in Chains e sono rimasto colpito dal livello altissimo di volume e per il fatto che la qualit sia rimasta la stessa e non ne abbia risentito, poi altra cosa importante che ho impostato il low gain e il volume gi altissimo cos, infatti non lo tengo mai al massimo perch troppo alto, bens il cursore del volume sta sempre su 20/30% adesso. Proprio quello che volevo! Ora posso pilotare bene le mie cuffione e godermele come si deve.
Le ho provate con Call of Duty: Modern Warfare e qu ho toppato: ho lasciato il volume generale del gioco a 100, gi nel men di selezione percepivo tutto bello alto, poi quando ho iniziato la partita sentivo praticamente ogni cosa (ho attivato sul Sound BlasterX G6 la Scout Mode che mi permette di sentire la posizione esatta dei nemici, ovviamente), ma appena ho visto un nemico ed ho sparato mi ha preso letteralmente un accidente per quanto fosse alto il volume degli spari, come se non bastasse mi esplosa anche una granata a pochi metri da me e da l sono andato subito ad abbassare il volume generale di gioco finendo per impostarlo a 20 (pensate un po’).
Le esplosioni e gli spari sono molto pi realistici adesso, quindi badate bene che con questa scheda audio il suono non viene livellato, bens le esplosioni, come tali, le percepirete il triplo pi forte degli altri suoni, cos come gli spari del vostro fucile, col cecchino per esempio avvertirete una stoccata bella forte con annesso riverbero, il risultato molto molto diverso da prima e sono proprio contento. Immersivit 100%, bisogna soltanto stare attenti al livello di volume ecco, tutto qu, infatti il primo giorno di utilizzo mi sono beccato un mal di testa ma bisogna solo abituarsi.
Unica pecca il programma dedicato; non sono riuscito a far rilevare il dispositivo neanche staccandolo e riattaccandolo, riavviando il PC, niente proprio. Ci ho rinunciato ed ho disinstallato il programma, tanto va bene anche cos perch avevo bisogno dell’amplificazione audio, poi la scout mode la si pu attivare direttamente dal dispositivo.
IMPORTANTE: per l’effetto surround 7.1 e impostazioni microfono ecc. vi consiglio Nahimic 3.0, migliora di molto il suono e sentirete l’audio in maniera spaziale.
Altra cosa, ho notato che se faccio le registrazioni con Nvidia Experience l’audio del file video si sente spezzettato: dopo un po’ di tempo ho capito che un problema del programma stesso, consiglio di registrare con OBS Studio.
CONCLUSIONI
La sinergia tra MMX 300 2a gen / Sound BlasterX G6 / Nahimic 3.0 porta l’audio ad un livello mai visto.
Se state cercando un dispositivo che amplifichi l’audio delle vostre cuffie e ne massimizzi anche l’immersione, acquistate come me Sound BlasterX G6, sarete inarrivabili!
Overall a great product for both console and pc users. Really loud and responsive on all platforms which is great and the UI on pc is really simple and easy to use. Before buying this product i had the logitech g560 gaming speakers and in terms of sound and usability the sound blaster is far superior to them in terms of sound and connectivity great product very happy 🙂
after 2 years my sound blaster sadly stopped working I can say however it was a great card it did have some sound popping from time to time but simply reconnecting the device seemed to work and despite comments for this product it does work with Xbox series x though not directly I connected it from my pc to my monitor which seemed to create a passthrough to Xbox (somehow?) it does run hot after extended use however I was using it as a sound device for all my consoles and my pc so it was on pretty much all day every day but still a great card the software is kinda weird to use it has presets and equalizers which all seemed quite unnecessary
in summary a great card r.i.p Soundblaster u will be missed until I buy a new one 🙁
Overall a great product for both console and pc users. Really loud and responsive on all platforms which is great and the UI on pc is really simple and easy to use. Before buying this product i had the logitech g560 gaming speakers and in terms of sound and usability the sound blaster is far superior to them in terms of sound and connectivity great product very happy 🙂
Great gaming dac let down by really poor manufacturing, by that I mean the black centre portion of the device physically lifts when the device gets hot. I’ve had to glue this myself and unfortunately got some of the glue on the grey portion and now it’s kinda ruined aesthetic wise. I’d had the unit 2 hours by the time this fault appeared.
does exactly what it says good quality piece of ki
5 stars. Can’t fault it. Works brilliantly with my dt990 pro’s
I’m not a gamer, so won’t even pretend to know or understand what this piece of equipment does. Bought it as a gift for my husband and he’s really happy with i
Great peice of kit that works with my laptop..PS4.. Ipad and mobile phone. Ultra HD music sounds amazing through this amp and Sennhiser headphones. Onto the only negative…I can’t use voice chat with this amp when its plugged into Xbox one X…as it’s via optical connection only hence only 4 stars. That aside really good peice of kit.
Une fois reu et test… mais quelle dception!!!
Comment peut-on dire que ce casque est “prcis” alors qu’il ne sonne pas bien du tout (mon Logitech tait largement meilleur avec moins de rglages paramtrer).
Qu’attendons nous rellement d’un casque Gaming ? tout simplement que le son soit bon au point de distinguer si mon ennemi (dans FORTNITE par exemple) vient d’en haut, d’en bas, qu’il soit gauche, droite, devant ou derrire.
Bref… grosse deception de l’Arctis Pro Wireless, je le renvois, a ne vaut pas son prix et archi-mauvais!!!
Du coup, en regardant diffrents sites, je tombe sur cette carte son de Creative, je me dis: “au point ou j’en suis, je n’ai plus rien perdre”.
Et bien voil, la solution tait ici depuis le dbut. J’arrive ENFIN discerner avec une prcision chirurgicale d’ou vient mes ennemis. Mme si mon Logitech g933 est sans fil, et bien de l’utiliser en filaire avec cette carte son… a change tout!
BONUS: J’ai galement le BeyerDynamics Dt 990 Pro (en 250 Ohms) car je suis compositeur de musique et je me dis: “tiens je vais l’essayer avec la carte son”…. alors L… c’est le bouquet, le son est DIVIN, ABSOLU, le rve de l’audio gaming, la parfaite recette et le parfait mlange pour arriver au son ULTIME avec la meilleure qualit qui soit!
Arrtez TOUT, achetez sans hsiter cette merveille, ce bijou qui vous donnera le meilleur des atouts et en plus on peut le payer en 4 fois sans frais… MERCI AMAZON!
De plus, le Scoot Mode, que dire… c’est PARFAIT.
Merci CREATIVE !!!
Pros:
-Sets up instantly and works well without software, which is only for extra effects and EQ. However, this is not always the case.
-Connect software comes with quite a few features, including voice improvements in the event you have a garbage mic.
-Buttons to compress the audio (Scout mode), turn off audio effects, and control L/H gain.
-Logo looks cool when it lights up with the music.
-Plenty of power for any headphones, although it does not work well for the more sensitive IEMs. Does a great job of breathing fresh air into older or cheaper headphones.
Cons:
-This worked wonderfully with my desktop computer. But when I brought it to my laptop, I never got it to work. I’m tech savvy, so believe me when I say I tried EVERYTHING. Reinstalling & updating drivers, downloading the necessary drivers direct from the website, doing everything possible in the device manager… This is a modern PC purchased in the last two years with USB 3.0 and C…and nothing. I was massively disappointed, and this was the main reason I returned it.
-The noise floor is far too noticeable, especially for IEMs. I spent hours trying to find a way to reduce it, but no dice. I can hear the hissing for every song no matter the quality, the source, etc.
-May be difficult to find a comfortable place for it on your desk, if you like the have the volume knob close by, as the connecting cord will not play nice with your mouse and keyboard.
-The volume knob seems poorly designed. It is recessed into the faceplant, making it somewhat frustrating to turn, and it spins indefinitely, so you cannot keep it at a set volume for later on.
-Music profiles are not very straightforward or intuitive to use, and it sometimes seems unclear which profile you are using.
For most people, especially someone who has never owned an amp before, this will do wonderfully, although I wouldn’t recommend paying $130 for it. Beware that it may not be compatible for unknown reasons with your Windows PC. I would recommend this more for gamers, but for people who do not experience issues with the noise floor it’s a great audiophile amp.
PROS: Easy to use. Good for headphones with many different settings like EQ and other extra features. Versatile that you can use on PCs and the major consoles like PS4, Switch and Xbox.
CONS: The various features are marketed as giving you an edge while gaming, but for me it doesn’t do much. Software has a slight learning curve. Does not have a battery thus not portable like other DACs/AMPs. Has separate volume settings for in game sounds and voice chat but it’s controlled via the software.
After a bit of research into DACs and AMPS for my headphones, I settled on this. I wanted something that could power and my headphones for music and gaming. I bounce between AKG K7XX Red and Audio Technica ATH-AD900X. The Sound BlasterX G6 does a decent job in reproducing sound. It’s a USB based connection. I travel a ton for work so I mainly game on my laptop. It’s easy to set up in Windows with plug and play and the software install is a breeze.
Has plenty of juice to power to drive higher end headphones. For music this is a really good device. You can set individual EQ settings for all different types of music. Plenty of customization and tweaking with Creative’s software. They have also many preset profiles if you just want to set it to something and not worry about it.
When it comes to gaming it’s a bit of a mixed bag. For single player games I think it’s great. Makes the environment more immersive, music sound better etc etc. However for competitive FPS games where you rely on sounds to locate a enemy, having the different affects turned on in my opinion makes it worse. It sounds artificial and fake, the bass gets extra punchy, foot steps are muddled, even with the “scout mode” turned on. I also wished you could control in game sound and voice chat via the hardware controls like Steelseries gaming DAC. Honestly I think it’s just better to have the extra features disabled for competitive FPS games.
I think it’s a good DAC at a decent price for music and single player type games, however, if all you play are competitive FPS type games like CS or Overwatch, you may be better off looking for something less pricey.
Works amazingly with a decent pair of headphones! Did particularly wanna pay quute this much tho
Where do I start, this thing is a piece of junk and it will most likely be returned. The sound is a touch better than my onboard audio card when it works. I do video editing and use studio-grade headphones. I thought if I could replace the Sony ES receiver from my desk that powers the headphones then that would be a plus. At first, it was going great, I set it up and it sounded good and had the power to drive my high ohm headphones. Then I went to work on videos. In Resolve 16 Studio it disconnects about every 3-5 minutes, I am not kidding. I then tried AVID, the same thing happens. I loaded up my audio editing program and the same thing. Seems they should emphasize these are for gaming only although I read that this too happens to gammers.
I looked at firmware, its updated, looked at the USB controller, changed it to another, the same thing happens.
The only other option is to use an optical interface and see if that fixes it but I already do that with my Sony ES receiver and truthfully its not worth the 130 plus dollar price tag when it completely fails at its only job in life.
I really wanted to like this thing, I really did.
—————- UPDATE —————-
First off, I upgraded the rating stars to reflect my findings and workaround.
I decided to install this on my Dell Precision 7510. It is on my desk as a second computer for tasks including lite video editing if my main system is busy rendering large projects. I mostly did this to see if it was a hardware conflict that was causing the disconnect.
Seems that the Creative Lab unit doesn’t like high I/O devices. When my Areca RAID controller is accessing lots of data, like when editing, that is when the G6 disconnects. It also does this when it accesses my onboard NVMe drives so I know it is not a driver issue with my Areca controller. It seems when there is high throughput it likes to disconnect.
On my Dell Precision laptop, it seems to handle it much better when accessing its NVMe drive or its SSD drives. I have since placed my main desktop on the optical in and am using the laptop through the USB. Overall I am much happier with this setup and if I have to use my laptop elsewhere I have a powered USB that I can use to power the G6. It is not my first choice but it is working in this configuration so I will keep it. I am still using my Sony ES receiver as the sound quality is much higher from the amp, granted the Sony is the value of 20 or so of these so there is that. It also powers my studio speakers at my desk too. I’ve decided I am happy with the device and will keep it. It’s nice to hear both computers on the same input on the receiver, I sued to have them on different inputs and now I can hear both and they both sound great now.
I do hope that Creative fixes the issue, I’d prefer this powered from my main system than my laptop.
It wasn’t until recent I decided to focus on the smaller things in life… Well I have no idea where I am going with the beginning statement so let me just get to it.
I was in the market for a decent set of headphones as my HDJ’s finally caved in after 6 years of use. I landed on a set which was advertised to essentially give me the same feedback but better build quality (still questioning as I am in the process of return). Only to realize that while the headset was working, it just didnt give me that oomph I was looking for and the clarity. I figured, these reviews can’t be real. I then looked into EQ settings and stumbled upon sound cards.
The G6 had raving reviews and I myself was a very big Creative fan owning their 5.1 surround desktop speaker set about 8 years back. I decided for the price it couldn’t hurt and boy I wish I did this sooner!
The sound clarity is crisp, but only if you want it to be! (does that make sense?) The adjust ability of the parameters is almost infinite giving you the sound you want our of…. well almost any decent headphones! With the switchability of low gain to high, and the SBX properties and Scout??? this is just an all in one package!
My bass head heavy music never sounded so deep and wet, yet my gaming experience on scout mode was just amazing as I felt like they were right next to me (referring to footsteps from distances away). Scout mode does take a little bit of getting used to as per my experience last night (first 2 hours of running) and it’s just an amazing tool to give you that much more of an advantage in FPS / PVP gaming. You truly do know where your opponents are and this literally gives you the edge in almost every circumstances.
You can balance our your high’s and lows with a very user friendly software downloaded via Blasterx/support website. Make sure to update your driver as per other reviews mentioned, I did not want to have a bad experience as a first time external sound card user. I can’t attest to it’s longevity as I have only used it for a few ours so far however this sound card really promises and delivers.
I wish this came with a little pouch for us Laptop gamer’s as I pack away everything every time I play sealing my investment but that’s just being nit picky like the guy who says this product contains lead…. (yeah I am putting you on blast, the computer / phone you just used to write your review contains the same if not more amount of harmful properties).
Portability is an A+
Ease of use A+
Sound Quality A+
Device manager / Software A+
Build Quality (if it was cased in some type of metal would have been A+) … A- (feels empty)
Overall A+ and super satisfied!
Sadly lacking mic use on Xbox one x good sound quality but they need to come up with something so you can use a mic for game chat.
What can I say other than what a fantastic DAC. brought my music to life listening through a set of beyerdynamics DT700 pro 250 ohms. and as for gaming WOW same headphones crystal clear sound can detect which direction the foot steps are coming from can even hear other players reloading can’t recommend this highly enought I’m buying another one for my Xbox one x
Turn off all the bells and whistles in the accompanying software and you have a good replacement for the standard audio chip on a PCs motherboard.
I use the G6 on my desktop PC, mainly for gaming, and i love the sound effects. Movies and music sound has improved drastically. I am using Sennheiser HD 700 headphones.
Sounds great, plug into the USB port and install the software. Great for music too.
Really makes my AKG k712 headset come alive. The programme is really useful with all the adjustments. Such a tiny little box that does so much compared to my onboard asus amp and dac. I plug my speaker in via optical and that gives it all the enhancements aswell.
Fantastic piece of kit.
Breathes new life in to your games. Quite easy to set up but I do agree that the cables could be longer. If, like me, you want to game quietly without having to let people hear your sound, then this will be for you. However, because the next gen consoles are coming soon, I’m not sure if anyone would want to invest. Unless, Creative come out with something new.
Der Unterschied zwischen Onboard Sound (MSI 470x Gaming Pro, G3-605 und einem Medion Laptop) und der G6 ist gigantisch. Viele meinen, dass der Onboard Sound heutzutage gut ist, aber ich stimme nicht mehr zu. Onboard kommt einfach berhaupt nicht an die G6 ran.
Ich habe noch nie vorher eine Soundkarte, DAC, AMP oder hnliches, sodass dies mein erstes Produkt in dieser Kategorie ist. Ich habe stundenlang einfach nur Musik gehrt als meine G6 ankam. Ich war berrascht um wie viel besser meine MDR-1A klingen. Ich habe es einem Freund empfohlen, sodass er es einmal probehrte und die G6 dann sofort kaufte. Dieses Erlebnis will man nicht mehr aufgeben, wenn man es einmal gehrt hat. Jeder der keinen Unterschied feststellen kann, sollte zum Ohrenarzt oder seine 2 Inears ausstecken. Ich habe die MDR-1A, MDR-1R und die HD 400s getestet und es klang alles besser. Mein persnlicher Favorit war dabei die MDR-1A. Dies betreibte ich ohne jegliche Soundeffekte und lieferte fr mich einen perfekten Klang.
Ich persnlich bin mit dem “Direkt” Modus (in Kombination mit der MDR-1A) sehr zufrieden. Damit wird der Sound direkt ohne jegliche Soundeffekte ausgegeben. Man kann zwar etwas rumspielen mit den ganzen Features, aber ich wollte primr die 32bit Qualitt und die sehr angepriesene Surround Simulation. Meine Erwartungen wurden dabei weit bertroffen, sodass ich jedem die G6 ans Herz legen kann. Fr 110 Euro ist dieser Sound ein totales Schnppchen.
Kleines Achtung: Bei der ersten Inbetriebnahme sind irgendwelche Soundeffekte an. Am Anfang war ich verwirrt, aber dann hab ich alles eingestellt und war beeindruckt.
Pros:
+ Sehr klarer Sound. Alles klingt sehr viel detaillierter. Egal ob Youtube oder FLAC, auf dem G6 klingt alles besser im Vergleich zu Onboard Sound.
+ Kein Hintergrundrauschen. Mein Audioport am Gehuse (vom 470x PC) ist dauernd am rauschen, aber mit dem G6 kann ich nichts schlechtes feststellen.
+ Sehr gute 7.1 Surround Simulation. Ich bevorzuge sogar nun die 7.1 Simulation ber Stereo. Ich habe schon einiges mit Surround rumgespielt. Windows Sonic, Dolby DTS und Dolby Access sind Mll im Vergleich. Ich habe die 3 aber nur (frher einmal) auf Onboard getestet, vielleicht knnen die mehr. Soundblaster erschafft einen natrlich klingenden Surround Sound und dies ist sehr beeindruckend. Ich bin in keiner Dose und fhle kein verzerrtes Audio. Es klingt alles sehr angenehm und erweitert gefhlt etwas den Raum um mich herum. Die MDR-1A sind relativ nah klingende Kopfhrer, aber mit dem G6 entfalten Sie (im 7.1 Modus) ein ganz neues Potential im vergleich zu Stereo.
+ Kann ohne Probleme sehr sehr laut werden, ohne dass sich das Klangbild ndert.
+ Wurde sofort erkannt und funktionierte auf Windows 10. Die Software auf dem G6 war schon auf dem aktuellstem Stand, sodass nur noch Soundblaster Connect installiert werden musste fr weitere Anpassungen. Kann auch ohne Software funktionieren, aber das volle Potential wird erst mit Software ausgeschpft.
+ Lautstrkeregler ndert den Lautstrkewert in Windows. Somit ist die Lautstrke immer in Windows sichtbar.
+ Einige beschwerten sich sogar ber eine berdimensionierte Gre. Wollt ihr es in die Hosentasche stecken? Es ist sehr klein und verbraucht nicht viel Platz. Ich finde es sogar relativ klein und kompakt.
Cons:
– Jedes mal wenn ich Neustarte wird der “Direkt” Modus ausgeschaltet. Zwar ist er in Soundblaster Connect ausgewhlt nach dem es im Autostart gestartet ist, aber er ist aus und der Scout-Modus blinkt nicht mehr. Einmal zu “Audio Effekte” und wieder zurck zu “Direkt” behebt das Problem und der Scout-Modus blinkt wieder. (Ein Anzeichen fr aktivierten “Direkt” Modus. Das Blinken kann auch glaub ich ausgeschaltet werden, wenn es stren sollte.)
– 32bit 384khz geht nur mit Stereo, aber dies produziert bei mir keinen Sound. Nur die Testsounds gehen. Ich dachte am Anfang, dass Stereo kaputt ist. Ich glaube es liegt an foobar2000 und MPC-HC, denn diese wollen keinen Sound mehr wiedergeben. Bei mir funktionierte aber 32bit 192khz in Kombination mit foobar2000 und MPC-HC. 7.1 hat zwar “nur” 32bit 96khz, dies ist aber meiner Meinung nach auch sehr gut und funktionierte auch auf Anhieb.
Ich war mir sehr unsicher beim Kauf, aber ich habe es nicht bereut. Ich kann damit Lieder neu erleben und Spiele auf einem neuem Level genieen. In meinen Augen ist die G6 ein sehr gutes Produkt. Danke Soundblaster.
Updates: Ich habe die G6 mit den Sony Z7 getestet und ich bevorzuge eher 5.1 bzw. Stereo. Ich glaube es kommt ganz auf den Kopfhrer an und ist persnliche Geschmackssache. Ich testete mit den Z7 auerdem diverse Effekte und den EQ. Die Z7 bentigen dies auch meiner Meinung nach und das Ergebnis finde ich relativ gut.
Auerdem funktioniert Stereo mit 384khz problemlos, wenn man passende Programme verwendet. Z.B. funktioniert HQPlayer 4 ohne Probleme.
La garanta ha respondido correctamente, eficaces y rpidos, me han mandado una unidad de sustitucin completamente nueva, en ese sentido muy satisfecho., Se trata de un buen producto, y no hay demasiadas alternativas, ninguna que haga lo que esta me permite hacer.
La utilizo como amp/dac normal para auriculares desde diversas fuentes, hasta 300 Ohm funciona perfectamente, no he llegado a probar auriculares de mayor impedancia, aunque creative asegura que llega a mover auriculares de 600, no aporta datos tcnicos, me sorprendera que desempease un buen trabajo a ese nivel, pronto saldr de dudas. Solo por eso ya estara justificando su precio, pero es que como tarjeta para gaming funciona muy bien, mltiples opciones, y configuraciones, tambin se puede conectar a un proyector, tv o similar y aprovechar la des codificacin de dolby digital, no es algo determinante en un producto de este tipo, pero no esta dems. Pero ofrece algo que para mi ha sido la clave para decidirme por ella y que se vuelva imprescindible, y es que es capaz de guardar un preset en la memoria, en mi caso solo una ecualizacon, y permite activarla o desactivarla independientemente de la fuente que se utilice, no importa si estamos en el sobremesa con drivers y dems instalados, o si estamos conectados a un reproductor android o incluso la entrada analgica de lnea, funciona, sin necesidad de un ordenador por medio, y eso para el uso que yo le doy es clave.
La nica pega es la calidad de construccin, es de plstico y el potenciometro se siente, frgil, y muy blando, no me parece un tacto a la altura de todo lo que ofrece, tiene detalles que estn bien, como la base de goma, pero en general es mejorable.
Por mi parte, la recomiendo sin duda.
Got this paired with a 250 ohm beyerdynamic dt990 pro. Soundqaulty is crisp with not to.much or too little bass. Though I’m still fine tuning it for the best audio for me.
Bought because it can be used on PC. Ps4. Xbox one. And switch though sadly. The party chat function doesnt work on the switch or xbox one.. which is odd because in theory it is connected to the xbox exactly the same way as the astro mix amp I wanted to replace.
For more than 15 years I use Sound Blaster products, but this one is one of the best, sound is great, amp does its job.. sound clarity and quality is amazing, and you can always hook it up to multiple devices.. highly recommended
I use the G6 to drive a set of Beyer Dynamic DT1990 Pro’s, something it does brilliantly.
The sound quality is excellent, use direct mode for music and scout mode for gaming.
A great dac / amp, very versatile and great value given its quality and feature set.
This product is amazing. I bought it because sound levels on the phone are always so low when listening to music and with this i can be on my phone and connect via bluetooth to the sound blaster meaning i can move my phone around without the audio cable. Shod have bought it sooner!
Gaming with the Scout mode turned on is a whole new experience, you hear sounds that you didn’t notice before.
The device itself is plastic although it looks metallic. It runs warm but not what I would describe as hot. The downloadable software is clunky and could do with a complete re write, although it does do the job required.
The G6 come with a USB cable and optical cable
Overall I think the device is really good and well worth the money, apart from the software the only thing that would make it perfect is an on/off switch. Unplugging the USB to turn it off, seems to let it down a bit.
Bought this to use on my ps4 pro only to then find out that the mic imput is terrible, sounds really low while talking
Excellent amplifier! Sound Blaster was always one of the top brands in computer music industry. I have combined it with Sennheiser 660s headphones and I can tell you it works like magic! Sound is crystal clear and you have use boost functions build in that Sound Blaster Amp!
I use this with a pair of Sennheiser headphones.
The stereo sound quality is superb & I am very happy with the audio experience.
Side Note: My TV also has HDMI out for an AV receiver but my setup is not on that level as I mainly listen with headphones, and found that Bluetooth just doesn’t quite give the clarity (maybe my earphones).
The reason for only 4 stars is that there are no options in the settings for things like:-
(1). A power button and an auto power off – A nice feature would be if device does not receive a signal through the optical input / USB input for a set amount of time (such as 2 hours) it would turn off, and subsequently to turn on when a button is pressed. Currently I am looking at purchasing a USB hub which has independent power buttons so that I do not have to keep plugging in / removing the USB cable.
(2). A setting to select that the light does not come on when only having power from the USB for optical input (PC setup option would be fine). NB: Currently the light does go off when I power up my PC.
(3). A cycling action between Audio, Movie and Game when pressing the EAX button when using optical input only.
Out of all of these if (2) can be added into the next firmware pack I will be very happy 🙂 !!
dai tempi di ps3 che vedo Creative, creare prodotti specifici per i videogiocatori, perfetti per le loro esigenze tecniche ma economici e di piccole dimensioni.
Noto a distanza di tempo che l’approccio non affatto cambiato, questo DAC reincarna perfettamente tutti questi punti chiave:
1) ho scelto questo prodotto per sfruttare appieno le mie cuffie sony wh-h800 che non saranno il top ma hanno caratteristiche tecniche non di poco conto, devo dire che la qualit veramente alta tanto che riesco a sentire cose che prima erano appena percettibili; inoltre sfruttarlo su pc in modalit diretta/ASIO veramente una goduria, idem su console sfruttando molto bene la qualit del dolby.
2) Come dicevo le dimensioni sono veramente compatte, il prodotto molto leggero e sotto presenta una zona gommata antiscivolo, inoltre ha tutti i comandi fisici che servono proprio sulla scocca, il pomello del volume se pigito attiva e disattiva il muto, o ancora il tasto scout se tenuto pigiato per qualche secondo attiva la modalit diretta, sembrano sciocchezze ma con 3 tasti e uno switch si fa tutto.
3) in fatto di prezzo non si pu certo dire che sia economico per le tasche di un giocatore ma questi dispositivi raggiungono prezzi anche molto pi elevati e alla fine pi un’impressione della cifra intera, dopotutto con due giochi si spende la stessa cifra.
Direi che questi sono gli aspetti che pi mi hanno colpito ma ci sarebbe molto di cui parlare, dalla semplicit di istallazione, l’ottima virtualizzazione del 5.1/7.1 fino alla completezza del software che si pu scaricare per windows.
La potenza poi impressionante, con il selettore si pu adeguare in base al tipo di cuffia ma gestisce tranquillamente dai banalissimi auricolari (sconsigliabile ovvio, sarebbe come farsi una ferrari con le ruote di una bicicletta, non te lo godi pi di tanto XD) fino a cuffie decisamente pi impegnative della mia.
Insomma ormai pi di una settimana che lo uso, mi ci trovo benissimo e mi reputo decisamente soddisfatto (come se non si fosse gi capito abbastanza XD), per attenzione, vedere me o altri utenti contenti non vuol dire che sia necessariamente buono per tutti, dovete sempre considerare bene le vostre necessit specifiche e capire se pu andar bene come compromesso. 😉
The sound quality is excellent. Personally, I’ve turned off all the bells and whistles (SBX mode, Scout mode) and tried to go for direct mode, as they don’t add to the experience much for me on high quality headphones. Listening to music, I get really clear sound, and it is able to deliver bass to my headphones properly (usually where most built in headphone amplifiers fall down, in my experience). When gaming, it’s easy to hear the position of sounds – there’s no distracting distortion or fuzzyness. On a PS4 (using optical input), and setting up Dolby 5.1 codec,virtulised surround works well and the quality is excellent (just with SBX and Scout turned off!). Though I did encounter a lot more noise than on a PC (maybe my USB power supply is to blame).
I mention this first as sound quality is, for me, the most important part of the product and what I paid the premium for. However, there’s one drawback – the Sound Blaster Connect software, the drivers for Windows, and the firmware for the device itself. They’re pretty dreadful, I’m afraid!
On many occasions, the volume knob on the hardware just stops working. I noted, if you turn the knob *too fast* it skips rotary encoder steps and so actually changes the volume more *slowly* the *faster* you turn it – the encoder isn’t being polled quickly enough (this could be fixed with a firmware update). Sometimes, if you’re changing settings like the sample rate, it’ll just plain stop working entirely and you’ll have to reboot your PC before it’ll come good again. Sometimes the External Mic input will work fine, but the Headphone output won’t. Sometimes the reverse. Mic Monitoring has too much latency to leave enabled. If you unplug the hardware and plug it back in later, you might encounter various glitches (like the volume knob no longer working, or the mic monitoring no longer working).
I really hope that over time the software will be improved, as it’s a very capable bit of hardware which is being let down by the software!
Nice bit of kit, sounds great, I’m usure about the surround. Initially set the OS to output to optical and surround wasn’t working, now have it outputting sound via USB and I’m fairly sure the surround is working. The USB cable that came in the box worked to power the unit but not have it recognized in the OS, as soon as I switched the cables with another one I had, the G6 was recognized right away. It’s poor form that the USB cable is faulty. The application feels a little tatty and disorganized, it’s also losing my settings every time I turn off the PC. It’s more of a 3.5 than a four but I bought for surround in games and that does actually seem to work quite nicely now after poking around with it so 4 I guess.
The g6 is a worthy upgrade from the g5.
I use this to drive my DT 880 pro 250ohm.
Sound is quality second to none at this price and you’ll be paying a lot more for anything as good.
i use this for headphones only and the difference to onboard was crazy good, SBX mode is amazing
virtual surround is as good as always (not worth having)
i have a 62 omh pair of headphones, however my onboard is the supreme chip so should be one of the best onboard and supports upto 600omh headphones but this is night and day, i really dont think my headphones were at 25% of the quality that im getting now
highly recommend if you have high omh headphones
It’s got great sound, pretty nice virtual surround and works with consoles too.
Sadly plastic so not as well built as it looks
Software is a bit rubbish too, no. Hot keys for different games etc.
If you just want a dac for listening to music though, look elsewhere as alternatives are cheaper and just as good. Get this if it’s for gaming and you want microphone input.
The plug and play in Windows 10 is not as straight forward as it is for most of devices. In my case I had to go to “Safe mode” to be able to install the driver (as the interactive window to confirm that the publisher is trustworthy did not appear, like it did on Windows 7). After this initial struggle I have to admit that this sound card is worth every penny.
Performs amazing in games as well as for music and movies. Tons of configurations and what was most important in my case, very good headphones amp.
Because is external I can easily swap it between PC’s and enjoy quality sound on every device.
If you think that your build in sound card is very good and sounds perfectly fine, because manufacturer of mother board told you that. Get this card, descent headset (more than 20-20kHz) and you will change your mind. Even if you are not audiophile.
This little thing the size of a desk of cards, plugs in with a USB cable. and absolutely blows my on Board Audio out of the Water. Not only that, but my Head phones all three Pairs of them Sound AMAZING now, and My speakers, its like they are brand new, and so powerful.
It Improved Steel Series Arctis 7’s, Turtle Beach Elite Atlas’s (using 3.5mm) by a really surprising amount. I used to have to turn my headphones to about volume 50-60 on most games and Music, now I cant turn it past 22-24, IT IS way to loud now. The headphones can handle it, but my ears can’t take more volume than this. It is Amazing.
I now get crystal Clear 32-bit 96khz Spoken Dialog, Amazing 7.1 Surround (yes 32-bit 96khz even in Surround) and Perfect Stereo 2 channel in 32-bit 384khz Audio for Even more Crystal Clear perfect audio (of course this depends on your source… but honestly this DAC makes everything sound better than it did before.
It also made my Klipsch 2.1 BT Desktop Speakers Thump hard as hell. I had to turn my bass down on my speakers as they now are much louder than ever before.
Listening to music with this is a whole new experience, and seriously if you thought your headphones were nice before you have a whole new world of music to listen to again.
The EQ Settings are excellent, and varied, From Dance to RnB to Classical and Acoustic and they have many presets for so many games. ( I honestly thought geeze there are too many almost). If you don’t want to use their presets, no problem create your own.
You can tailor your Sound to Direct, 2 channel, 5.1, 7.1 Virtual , and even change the type of speakers you are using which affects the frequency response allowances in the Equalizers. You can choose Headphones, Desktop, Bookshelf, Towers, you name it, all of which change your sound, or go full custom with the EQ.
One thing I love about this is that your Keyboard volume and mute controls still work like you’d expect, even though you have controls right on the DAC itself for volume and Surround etc. I have the Logitech G910 Keyboard, and it works flawlessly with this DAC for Adjusting volume ever so slightly, Muting completely. The reason I bring this up is because I had a Pair of 2018 Arctis Pro’s + Game DAC and it took all controls away from Windows. and it sucked having to reach over and adjust the Knob constantly, also the Arctic pros Software Sucks too, no where near as many features. and no discernible sound difference from the Arctis 7’s I already own (which are a really good Headset too).
The installation of this DAC is literally a breeze, Download the Software, The Driver, AND the latest 2018 Firmware update for Windows 10.. and you are Golden.. Trust me.. this is very easy to setup and configure.
One Extremely Important thing to note about this DAC, it has no Battery, it is not Portable in the sense that you can use it to amplify headphones on the go etc, (this is a Good thing because Batteries die) It must always be plugged into a USB port or a USB to wall outlet Adapter to provide power.
The build quality appears to be Excellent and I almost wonder if Creative Labs didn’t shoot themselves in the foot by releasing this over top of their X7 External Unit, which is only 24bit/192khz. I totally understand the different use scenarios of the two, but for the Sound quality and the compact size of this thing, at less than half the price of the X7 many PC Audiophiles will not make the jump to the bulky big block, even if they want to Hook up Larger Speakers, or Headphones. This Begs the question… When will Creative release the X8 or X9.. with 32-bit 384khz High Fidelity Certified Audio? Count me in.
Closing Pros:
-Extremely Compact
-Extremely Excellent Sound Quality 32-bit 384 Khz in 2 channel and 32-bit 96khz in 7.1
-Amazingly Easy Setup
-Excellent Windows 10 Drivers that just work ( Yes Really) (REMEMBER THE FIRMWARE UPDATE)
-Connections allow for Headphone and MIC Connections in the Front, and your Desktop Speakers in Back. ( yes at the same time.)
-Excellent Presets and Equalizer customization, for a ton of games..(You’ll see)
-Excellent Software
-Really Good Virtual Surround
-ON DAC controls for Volume, Surround, Gain, and Scout Mode
-Worth every penny of the 150.00 price tag, (I would’ve paid more honestly)
-RGB!!! Mine is set to RED… just Solid Red.. the way things outta be.
-Minimal desk Space consumption ( if that’s a thing for you.. it could be a thing.. just saying)
-Flawless for both Games and Music
-Makes Your Headphones Scream and your Speakers Thump.. All for 150.00
Hope you guys Love this thing as much as I do!!
I bought this to pair it with my new headphones (AKG712pro). Best purchase I made recently. The AMP is easy to use and the software works as expected. I do want to see more game profiles implemented (Escape from Tarkov) for example. Other than that I think it’s worth the price.
P.S. Will update after few months.
Alors certes ce genre de solution s’est amlior depuis des annes, mais malgr le “SupremeFX Nahimic” (bas sur la puce RealTek S1220 ), j’ai trs vite senti la diffrence avec une carte ddie. Sans compter le support plus qu’hasardeux de Realtek depuis Windows 10 et la transition des drivers HDA vers UAD assez catastrophique de la part de ce dernier ainsi qu’ASUS.
Je suis donc parti en qute d’une remplaante ma SB Z mais le march semble un peu stagner sur ce point depuis des annes si bien que cette carte se retrouve toujours conseille de nos jours. Et puis je suis tomb sur ce DAC externe, qui reprend les fonctionnalits – et plus – de ma SB Z, est externe donc, et compatible aussi avec les consoles.
Creative a une mauvaise image cause de ses drivers et sa suite logicielle mais j’ai toujours t chanceux de ce ct l et a ne pouvait pas tre pire qu’avec RealTek/Asus/Nahimic/A-Volute/SonicStudio…j’ai donc craqu.
Et j’ai bien fais ! Trs facile d’installation : on branche l’USB et a marche, de base. Pour profiter des options avances, un petit tour sur le site de Creative pour tlcharger la suite Sound Blaster Connect 2 (qui remplace donc la suite Sound Blaster Pro de la SB Z). Cette dernire se charge de mettre jour les drivers et le firmware du boitier (j’ai d’ailleurs lu plus bas que certains se plaignent d’un “clic” redondant, j’ai vu dans les notes de mise jour que a a t corrig et a semble tre le cas car je n’en ai jamais eu).
L’interface est videmment plus moderne mais j’y ai retrouv toutes les options d’avant (fonctions SBX, Scout, Equalizer, Voix, direct). La gestion des profils est plus intuitive et simple d’utilisation.
Niveau qualit sonore, c’est du tout bon et mme mieux que ma SB Z. Le son est vraiment plus dtaill, c’est vraiment flagrant dans les jeux notamment PUBG (en utilisant le profile “pubg” par dfaut dispo dans le logiciel). C’est peut-tre en grande partie d aussi au systme d’amplification Xamp qui gre les 2 canaux indpendamment au lieu d’envoyer un simple flux. Que ce soit en stro ou en 5.1 virtualis, chaque son est dfini et j’entend avec prcision les pas (ainsi que leurs provenances) des ennemies.
La qualit est aussi au rendez-vous en visionnant des films ou en coutant de la musique. A savoir que je n’utilise qu’un casque (Sennheiser Game One puis rcemment son descendant, le GSP 500), pas d’enceinte.
En bref, un DAC parfait pour du gaming et du multimdia en gnral.
-I bought this product for music Production and Gaming
-This is the first time I buy a Blaster or any other product from Creative
-This is the first time I buy a Soundcard that doesn’t come with my mother board
-I’m moving to 32bit from 16bit
After researching for quite a while, I found out that most 32bit soundcards cost around 250$-400$ and are NOT portable.
Since I move a lot between PCs and also use Nintendo Switch, I thought it may worth a try.
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Product Look:
-The device itself looks very good, it has a smart button layout and is not heavy as it may look
-It has lights around buttons so you’re able to know which mode is on when it’s dark
-The RGB logo in the middle is very cool and has options for color, cycling speed and more through the “Sound Blaster Connect 2” software on their site
-It has a nice light around the “volume wheel” but unfortunately you cannot change it’s color apart from white/red
-The top surface is pretty reflective so it looks very nice around Leds/Lamps (see in pictures)
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Softwares:
-There’s a Driver, Firmware Update and “Sound Blaster Connect 2” you have to download manually from their site.
It can get annoying to re-download it on multiple PCs but it goes pretty fast.
-Inside the software you can switch between various sound settings modes that are made for specific usage
There are modes for: Gaming, Music, Movie, FPS and famous sound-sensitive games like:
CS:GO, Fortnite, COD, Overwatch, Rocket League and Dota 2
-There are also “Voice Morphing’ options that are disturbingly realistic
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Sound:
-It amplifies sound VERY potently, to a point I can use my headphones like Speakers (DT 990 PRO)
-It allows you to hear a TON of detail you never heard without it, the music I produced before using it sounds 5x deeper and detailed now, to a point it’s boosting the confidence I have about the quality of my stuff.
-I feel like I can now master my tracks and harmony to a greater depth, I love the level of sensitivity it gives me to play around with.
-It also decreases potently the delay between pressing my midi keyboard to hearing the result, even with multiple heavy samples (Make sure that you choose “Creative Sound Blaster Asio Device” as a sound device inside your DAW)
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Cons:
-The main material looks metallic but isn’t
-The device CAN get pretty hot after few hours of usage
-The bottom of the device feels fragile and weak if you apply even minimal force on it
-There is no physical Off/On “Power button” anywhere on the card, means I cannot instantly hear my stuff without enhancements
-There is no option to change the adjustment wheel’s color/color intensity (as far as I know)
-The USB it comes with is way too short for a “portable” card
-VERY VERY small letters on the Warranty information that come’s inside the box
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Tips:
*You should use a longer Mini-USB
*You WILL need to re-adjust to some of your games, this card gives you depth and intensity you never played with before
*You should find the right software/mixer settings that will fit your game-play and headphones
*You need to Manually change the Hz/Bit Value to 32bit Studio Quality on your PC’s Sound Device options
*Some games/applications doesn’t support 32bit, in these cases you will need to go down to 24bit 44.1hz .
(Examples I know of: Osu!, League of Legends, Borderlands The Pre-Sequel)