We purchased the Sound Blaster Z so that our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and review it. Read on for our full product review.
Do you NEED a sound card? — Creative Sound Blaster Z SE
The Sound Blaster Z is the entry-level card in the Z-series sound card lineup. For about a hundred bucks, Creative Labs delivers good, if not exceptional, audio, 5.1 surround sound support, a great microphone, and a comprehensive EQ solution that will suit gamers, moviegoers, and tinkerers. There are better audio solutions out there for the price, but they don’t come with as many features as the Sound Blaster Z.
The Sound Blaster Z is sleek and slim. On the outside, the Z card sports a heavy, red metal casing that protects the PCB from electrical interference. On the inside, the Sound Blaster Z relies on a Sound Core 3D chipset, a MAX97220A 125-milliwatt headphone amplifier IC, and high-quality Nichicon capacitors. It delivers an SNR of 116 dB, which is a lower noise interference rating than most budget motherboards. The card offers ASIO support, 24-bit 192kHz stereo direct audio, and 5.1 surround support.
Unfortunately, Sound Blaster doesn’t provide a frequency response for the card (humans typically hear sounds between 20 and 20,000Hz). The main channels are a microphone input, a headphone output, 3 line-level speaker outputs, and an optical SPDIF input and output. All aux connections are 3.5mm. The card connects to your motherboard via any available PCIe slot of any size. The included beamforming mic is small and has a clip so it can be attached to the top of monitors. It’s a nice touch from Creative Labs, and it’s completely plug and play. The card isn’t anything spectacular, but it looks and feels nice and does the job.
