# Sound Blaster Z / Zx / ZxR Modded Driver for Windows 10



## Regeneration (Jun 28, 2020)

In Windows 10 build 1803, Microsoft made some kernel changes related to hardware timers that broke a lot of device drivers and caused high latency on many systems. Ever since then, Sound Blaster Z / Zx / ZxR series are plagued with issues such as audio stuttering, crackling, popping, and sudden channel swapping.

It's been 2 years and Creative Labs hasn't done enough to fix these issues. And therefore, the old house of ngohq.com is proud to introduce a modified driver based on the official software release from September 2019 and and unofficial driver release from May 2020. This release is intended to solve issues and will not bring any new features.

*Instructions:*
Temporarily disable driver signature enforcement (hold down the SHIFT key while you click on the Restart button in the start menu, select Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Startup Settings, press on the Restart button, wait for the Startup Settings screen to appear and then press on 7), extract the SFX anywhere you want, and then run setup.exe as administrator.

*Changes (v0.2):*
* Updated driver to version 6.0.102.62.

*Downloads:*
Sound Blaster Z / Zx Modded Driver for Windows 10 | Mirror #1 | Mirror #2
Sound Blaster ZxR Modded Driver for Windows 10 | Mirror #1 | Mirror #2

**Update**
There is a new driver on Creative Labs website for Sound Blaster Z published on November 6th, 2020.


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## silapakorn (Jul 2, 2020)

It said "Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system.", but windows still sees the soundcard in Device Manager. I'm using ZxR by the way.


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## Regeneration (Jul 2, 2020)

silapakorn said:


> It said "Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system.", but windows still sees the soundcard in Device Manager. I'm using ZxR by the way.



Did you use the link for ZxR?


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## silapakorn (Jul 3, 2020)

You meant the daughter card? No I install just one card.

I finally got the driver to install by following the trick mentioned on this thread. https://www.overclock.net/forum/18-...e-sound-blaster-z-zx-zxr-series-club-220.html

The soundcard is working fine now. Let's hope there's no more problem in the future.


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## Regeneration (Jul 3, 2020)

There are 2 links on the 1st post. One for Z / Zx, and another for ZxR.


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## silapakorn (Jul 3, 2020)

silapakorn said:


> The soundcard is working fine now. Let's hope there's no more problem in the future.



Scratch that, I turned off my PC and turned it on again few hours later, now the speakers produced hissing sound right from the start (even before entering windows), which is the problem that I have with the card before. When I clicked at SB Z series control panel icon in the tray this window showed up.






So I guess the modded driver couldn't permanently fix my problem. And yes, I used the ZXR link and it worked temporarily, until I restarted the computer.


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## Regeneration (Jul 4, 2020)

Looks like you have a driver mess. Try these steps:

1. Disable automatic driver update in Windows 10 by importing this registry and then reboot.
2. Uninstall all Creative Labs software from the control panel and then reboot.
3. Open the device manager and ensure there is nothing related to Sound Blaster in both "Sound, video, and game controllers" and "System devices". If you see anything, uninstall and check box to delete driver software... and then reboot.
4. Download Display Driver Uninstaller, extract and run it, in 'select device type' pick audio, set device to Sound Blaster, and then clean and restart.
5. Download this driver, reboot with driver signature enforcement temporarily disabled, and then install it.


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## silapakorn (Jul 5, 2020)

Thanks for the help but oddly the problem disappeared the next day without me doing anything. I guess it's because my card is rather old and it might be acting up occasionally.  Although I still have no way of dealing with it for good, I have prepared a workaround. Since my speakers have optical input I bought a new optic cable so I could just switch to mainboard's optical out anytime whenever the ZXR decided to stop working. It will suck a little but at least I still have a working sound, until I can afford a new external DAC.

ZXR will be the last soundcard I ever buy. Thanks for seven years of service.


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## munio1000 (Jul 10, 2020)

*@Regeneration*

Hello. New user of this forum here. Yesterday i've installed Sound Blaster Z on my ryzen 3600/x570 based PC, new card fresh out of box, and since first start i've problem with sound pops / dropping dts signal on optic output after 5-10miutes of playback.
Previously i've had Xfi Titanium PCIE on my system, so modded drivers are nothing new to me.

I gonna test yours modded drivers and give feedback.


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## INSTG8R (Jul 10, 2020)

munio1000 said:


> *@Regeneration*
> 
> Hello. New user of this forum here. Yesterday i've installed Sound Blaster Z on my ryzen 3600/x570 based PC, new card fresh out of box, and since first start i've problem with sound pops / dropping dts signal on optic output after 5-10miutes of playback.
> Previously i've had Xfi Titanium PCIE on my system, so modded drivers are nothing new to me.
> ...


Make sure Spread Spectrum isn’t on in the BIOS  That’s what fixed it for me.


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## munio1000 (Jul 10, 2020)

INSTG8R said:


> Make sure Spread Spectrum isn’t on in the BIOS  That’s what fixed it for me.


thanks, i'll try that before something else

so:

spread spectrum disabling did not do trick for me.

trying modded drivers right now
----------------------

already feelin better 
gonna test more and get back to you

my full specs:
r5 3600
msi x570 mpg gaming plus with newest bios v87 (agesa 1.0.0.2)
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 16GB 3000 CL15 2x8gigs runing at stock
msi 1660ti gamingx
sound blaster z OFC connected via optic to logitech z-5500

win10 pro 1909 compilation 18363.900

ok so after few reboots and 2h continous playback i can say - great succes! 
modded drivers solved all issues!

i was ready to return this card, but i'll test few more days. 
I dropped xfi titanium because of poor driver compatibility with w10, but new card have issues too. If you want good support - must use modded drivers. Sad but true.

Thanks *@Regeneration* for very good job with drivers!   

Please do not stop supporting this pack, 2004 update is coming, new problems probably


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## Fonolax (Jul 16, 2020)

My man, thanks for this.  Didn't had too much of the cutoff problem  (buffer size) since 1 year ago, that i got the sound card. But this last 2 weeks it has been a living hell, on DTS, on DLive even on analog, every 15-20 minutes I had the big cutting/distortion sound problem .

Installed this great driver for my Sound Blaster Z and is all back to normal.  Thanks a lot. God bless you ! i Can finally rehearse drums peacefully


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## H4cziLLa (Jul 16, 2020)

Realtek DCH Modded Audio Driver for Windows 10/11 - Including Realtek USB Audio Devices
					

Last driver DCH DRIVER VERSION UPDATED 6.0.8975.1 win10 1903 Gygabyte B450M DS3H Realtek® ALC887 codec  all install and work fine, but i dont have realtek audio console or Realtek HD Audio Manager  so i cant change my speaker settings !, i rollback to old driver, please fix, I appreciate your...




					www.techpowerup.com


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## gen_angry (Jul 18, 2020)

Thanks for this. May give it a try at some point on my Z, it's sad that we have to resort to unsigned drivers to use a product that's still currently being sold as new.

Will report back here when I do


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## Eizen (Jul 20, 2020)

Hi @Regeneration is there anyway to use/modify this driver for sound blaster recon3d sb1350. I'm experiencing the same problems you describe occasionally and it's driving me insane. I've even disable the onboard sound codec on the bios but the issue still remains. I'm using windows 10 build 1909


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## RRO (Jul 21, 2020)

@silapakorn : Had the same prob and solved it via the dropdown button in the app


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## munio1000 (Jul 21, 2020)

hi,

so today ive tried 2004.
no luck
same sound drops even on modded drivers - no drivers reinstallation

got back to 1909
no problems, sound ok

weird stuff


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## Dephect (Jul 23, 2020)

Hi All, 

Unfortunately I am also experiencing the same issue with the Creative Sound Blaster Z sound card. I'm using Windows 10 version 2004. I have uninstalled driver using Revo Uninstaller and deleted driver via Windows Device Manager.

When trying to install Modded Driver for Windows 10 supplied by Regeneration I receive the following message....

*Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system. *

It really doesn't make sense that Creative are still selling these sound cards but do not provide an update driver for their customers to use!

Any help would be gratefully received.


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## RRO (Jul 23, 2020)

Dephect said:


> *Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system. *



Tried #16?


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## Dephect (Jul 23, 2020)

RRO said:


> Tried #16?


Sorry not sure what you mean?


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## RRO (Jul 23, 2020)

Eh, sorry, I think I misunderstood. You get the error right away when trying to install not after the installation? (compare #6)


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## Dephect (Jul 23, 2020)

RRO said:


> Eh, sorry, I think I misunderstood. You get the error right away when trying to install not after the installation? (compare #6)



After messing around for a while I managed to get the modded driver supplied by Regeneration to install but have the same issue as *silapakorn



*


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## RRO (Jul 23, 2020)

And do you have an down-arrow in the righttop corner like here shown?


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## Dephect (Jul 23, 2020)

RRO said:


> And do you have an down-arrow in the left top corner like here shown?
> 
> View attachment 163201


Yes, Audio Device Selection just give me another error. This is total madness we should not have to result to installing modded drivers.....come on Creative pull your finger out!


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## INSTG8R (Jul 23, 2020)

Dephect said:


> Yes, Audio Device Selection just give me another error. This is total madness we should not have to result to installing modded drivers.....come on Creative pull your finger out!


You disabled Driver Enforcement when you installed them? But yes sad we gotta jump through these hoops..


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## lexluthermiester (Jul 23, 2020)

FYI, DanielK has released some new drivers for the series of cards subject in this thread;





						New Sound Blaster Z, Zx and ZxR drivers
					

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.   Use it at your own risk.    Supports the Sound Blaster Z,  Sound...




					danielkawakami.blogspot.com


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## booceelee (Jul 24, 2020)

Thanks, @lexluthermiester

Tried daniel_k's pack and it works just fine.
It's been a while since he updated his blog.


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## lexluthermiester (Jul 24, 2020)

booceelee said:


> Thanks, @lexluthermiester
> 
> Tried daniel_k's pack and it works just fine.
> It's been a while since he updated his blog.


You're welcome. I'm glad he's still doing his thing! Was kinda hoping that he would give the PCI XFi's and Audigy's one last hurrah but alas... Maybe sometime soon?


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## puma99dk| (Jul 24, 2020)

I will try it on my Z card this weekend and see if it changes anyting.

I don't have any problems at the moment but always nice to get the driver updated


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## lexluthermiester (Jul 25, 2020)

puma99dk| said:


> I don't have any problems at the moment but always nice to get the driver updated


I would caution you, if you're not having any issues, keep what you have. The new versions only fix problems Microsoft created with updates to Windows 10, they otherwise don't bring anything new to the table.


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## INSTG8R (Jul 25, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> I would caution you, if you're not having any issues, keep what you have. The new versions only fix problems Microsoft created with updates to Windows 10, they otherwise don't bring anything new to the table.


Exactly I had absolutely ZERO issues with my ZX on my previous Intel setup, Bought a new AM4 rig last month and BANG I had all the problems reported by other users....


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## Fonolax (Jul 27, 2020)

I am still using windows10 1909 update, haven't updated anything.  The cutoff/distortion problem that is caused by buffer size, suddenly returned this weekend .  Did exactly all the steps for the installation, uninstall, DDU Creative drivers/stuff and disable Forced Signature .  Mostly I use DTS connect and only use headphones mode to rehearse drums.

Any advice ?


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## lexluthermiester (Jul 28, 2020)

Fonolax said:


> I am still using windows10 1909 update, haven't updated anything.  The cutoff/distortion problem that is caused by buffer size, suddenly returned this weekend .  Did exactly all the steps for the installation, uninstall, DDU Creative drivers/stuff and disable Forced Signature .  Mostly I use DTS connect and only use headphones mode to rehearse drums.
> 
> Any advice ?


Have you tried both these new modded drivers and DanielK's set? If not, give his a try.


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## Fonolax (Jul 28, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> Have you tried both these new modded drivers and DanielK's set? If not, give his a try.


Yes, i am testing the non beta version, same problem  , will test the beta version tomorrow. thanks for the heads up


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## lexluthermiester (Jul 28, 2020)

Fonolax said:


> Yes, i am testing the non beta version, same problem  , will test the beta version tomorrow. thanks for the heads up


No I meant DanialK's reworked versions of the drivers, found here;





						New Sound Blaster Z, Zx and ZxR drivers
					

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.   Use it at your own risk.    Supports the Sound Blaster Z,  Sound...




					danielkawakami.blogspot.com


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## Fonolax (Jul 28, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> No I meant DanialK's reworked versions of the drivers, found here;
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's exactly what i was talking about


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## Dephect (Jul 28, 2020)

INSTG8R said:


> You disabled Driver Enforcement when you installed them? But yes sad we gotta jump through these hoops..


Yes I did.


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## lexluthermiester (Aug 10, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> Was kinda hoping that he would give the PCI XFi's and Audigy's one last hurrah but alas... Maybe sometime soon?


Folks, as if he heard the request, on August 2nd it would seem DanielK has grated the wish for new driver sets for X-Fi and Audigy cards that seems to solve the latest issues introduced by Windows 10 updates!





						Daniel_K's Official Blog
					

Modified drivers for Creative soundcards




					danielkawakami.blogspot.com
				




Thank You DanielK! You're a total bad-ass!!


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## Ferrum Master (Aug 10, 2020)

As for insider guys, I can tell that Microsoft removed nlsdl.dll library and depreciated it. You have to manually copy back from the last working build. Without that dll creative control panel does not work and you cannot control anything on the Z series card.

It is the usual Cat and Mouse play there.


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## Mariocorn (Aug 14, 2020)

Hi @Regeneration. So I have done everything right according to your tutorial. But during driver installation  (Soundblaster Z) it gives me "Insert Sound Blaster Z-Series disk to CD-ROM and click OK". No matter which source I use to insert "Sound Blaster Z-Series.msi" it does not work.
When I cancel the installation I've got sound but on device list it shows "High Definition Audio Device". No Creative folders are installed. No extra software. Nothing.
I'm on Windows 10 Pro 2004
Any ideas how to fix it ? Or how to install modded drivers?


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## lexluthermiester (Aug 14, 2020)

Mariocorn said:


> Hi @Regeneration. So I have done everything right according to your tutorial. But during driver installation  (Soundblaster Z) it gives me "Insert Sound Blaster Z-Series disk to CD-ROM and click OK". No matter which source I use to insert "Sound Blaster Z-Series.msi" it does not work.
> When I cancel the installation I've got sound but on device list it shows "High Definition Audio Device". No Creative folders are installed. No extra software. Nothing.
> I'm on Windows 10 Pro 2004
> Any ideas how to fix it ? Or how to install modded drivers?
> ...


Are you running the .msi file directly or are you running the setup.exe(which unpacks the msi file)? If you are trying to run the msi file directly, that is your problem. Run the setup.exe to install the drivers & software.

BTW, Welcome to TPU!


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## Mariocorn (Aug 14, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> Are you running the .msi file directly or are you running the setup.exe(which unpacks the msi file)? If you are trying to run the msi file directly, that is your problem. Run the setup.exe to install the drivers & software.
> 
> BTW, Welcome to TPU!



I ran setup.exe as admin. I tried every solution from this forum and from other ones too. Everytime it ends with this error. I wonder how does it work as High definition Audio if I removed all audio drivers before installing modded ones.  Somehow card works with drivers taken out of nowhere, because I blocked windows from updating audio drivers.
I was on modded drivers before i decided to update Windows.  I wonder if they would work if I revert Win 10 from 2004 version back to 1909.


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## lexluthermiester (Aug 14, 2020)

Mariocorn said:


> I ran setup.exe as admin. I tried every solution from this forum and from other ones too. Everytime it ends with this error. I wonder how does it work as High definition Audio if I removed all audio drivers before installing modded ones.  Somehow card works with drivers taken out of nowhere, because I blocked windows from updating audio drivers.


Ok, that's weird then. This could be yet another example of Microsoft's latest humbuggery.


Mariocorn said:


> I was on modded drivers before i decided to update Windows. I wonder if they would work if I revert Win 10 from 2004 version back to 1909.


My guess is a strong yes. Might be worth a try.


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## LUKASart (Aug 27, 2020)

Hi,
Installation of the modified driver in the 2004 release requires disabling the digital signature verification of the driver 
After disabling the verification, the installation was successful and I have been enjoying crystal clear and undisturbed sound for 9 hours.
I hope this trick will help you too 








						How to Disable Driver Signature Verification on 64-Bit Windows 8 or 10 (So That You Can Install Unsigned Drivers)
					

64-bit versions of Windows 10 and 8 include a “driver signature enforcement” feature. They’ll only load drivers that have been signed by Microsoft. To install less-than-official drivers, old unsigned drivers, or drivers you’re developing yourself, you’ll need to disable driver signature enforcement.




					www.howtogeek.com


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## MekiFoxx (Sep 13, 2020)

Hello hello! I'm in need of some insight on a problem I've been facing with my Z after a recent Windows Update that happened a few days ago. 

For some context, unfortunately, I think Forza Horizon 4 dislikes the software Creative shipped with the Z series, and as such, it fails to open very frequently, so I am forced to run my computer without the suite. All is fine and good with this, I didn't notice any big changes from the official install to the Drivers automatically fetched by Windows, however, after said update, it feels like the sound clips? Particularly in the bass tones. I've had a look around and didn't seem to get anywhere with this, so I wonder if this Windows thing could be the problem? It sounds like a pop, almost like mechanical noise from a speaker popping or something but, I've tried on both my HD 668Bs and my Logitech X530 speakers, both have the same problem even after messing with sample rate and turning off "enhancements". Windows Sonic is also set to off.

Any help on this would be appreciated, I've been chasing ghosts for the past few days and I can't seem to think of anything but that "Windows Update" that happened. This update also broke my sound output on the first restart, I had to restart to be able to have sound again.

Technical details if it helps at all
Driver version: 6.0.102.56
Driver date: 8/13/2019
Provider: CREATIVE

Thank you!


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## FreedomEclipse (Sep 13, 2020)

@MekiFoxx 

Hit Win+R and type in services.msc and look for all the creative stuff to make sure they are set to autostart or delayed start.

Alternatively, I do think there is a newer creative driver for your card available. I would give that a try


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## MekiFoxx (Sep 14, 2020)

FreedomEclipse said:


> @MekiFoxx
> 
> Hit Win+R and type in services.msc and look for all the creative stuff to make sure they are set to autostart or delayed start.
> 
> Alternatively, I do think there is a newer creative driver for your card available. I would give that a try



Thank you! I didn't get to give this a try and, the notification for this reply was buried in my email, sorry!

However, I have found the solution to my problem. For some odd reason? Either because of the Windows Update or a driver update? Sound Blaster's software enabled "SBX studio" even though I didn't have the SBX sound panel installed? Very bizarre. 

I came to this conclusion by using line-in and a program called Visual Analyzer, I ran various tests on the output of my SB Z and indeed there was distortion in the bass tones, tried installing the modded drivers on the post (which worked first try, wonderfully, thank you so much!) and that did not solve my problem, however I went looking through the control panel to try Stereo Direct mode, and noticed SBX enhancements were on, I was thinking I made a goof with the tests after installing the modded driver, so I ran the test again as a sanity check, and what do you know, the bass distortion was gone and so were the weird frequency responses causing other types of audio clipping at the high end. I wish I could make this up!

I'm not sure if this is the place to post about this but, I figured I might as well follow up with a fix in case anyone runs into this very bizarre and unique situation.

Thank you for the help anyways, I'm very pleased and happy to hear there is a community still behind this product!


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## xrror (Sep 21, 2020)

First, thanks @Regeneration for a fresh thread on the SB-Z family on win10 driver madness issue. And @lexluthermiester for spotting the DanielK update.


Spoiler: DanielK is awesome



Side note - seriously if you haven't heard of DanielK, they are one of those people who should have been hired by a audio card company years ago and given their own friggin' BRAND cause they're cursed with a passion for brutalizing audio drivers and the ever broken Windows audio subsystem to do amazing things - and ironically with win10 amazing things includes *working as intended*. You know it's a "passion" 'cause Creative even SUED him (stupidly) and he quit and swore off driver modding... sure Creative eventually dropped the suit but - it really did put the coals to DanK for something he did as a hobby and nobody would have blamed him for disappearing forever. But yet DanK came back like a few (!) years later modding Asus Zonar drivers. And then even more amazingly out of the blue there were some patches for Creative cards. Like after the PTSD from Creative threatening his very livehood before I really do think it's an obsession for him and we're lucky to have peeps like DanielK.



So I'm posting because I'm in the position of wanting to "upgrade" from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 with this system that has a SoundBlaster Zx in it. Mostly since I anticipate wanting DX12 support in CyberPunk 2077 for raytracing support.

What might be unique and/or interesting or useful for the thread though is... this system is a Ryzen 3800x running on an AsRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 - using zeffy's wufuc utility to ignore the win8.1 blacklist so I still get windows updates.

Basically I'm running win 8.1 on hardware that under win10 is known to be a complete clusterf* for the SoundBlasterZ family.
And guess what - it has worked perfectly fine over multiple BIOS/uefi updates on this x570 board too.

That's somewhat damning since that kinda proves that there's no issue with the fundemental hardware, it's a win10 jacking around with timers, extended ticks, and being mobile first problem.

Anyways, on the assumption that this is not a common config people run, are there any utils and/or metrics I can run that might be of use for people in trying to triage problems?


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## stinger608 (Sep 22, 2020)

I know since I downloaded and installed the Daniel K driver and reg fix I haven't had any issues!!!!!!!


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 22, 2020)

xrror said:


> Mostly since I anticipate wanting DX12 support in CyberPunk 2077 for raytracing support.


That game is going to have RT support for Win7/8/8.1 users. No need to "upgrade" just for that..


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## xrror (Sep 22, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> That game is going to have RT support for Win7/8/8.1 users. No need to "upgrade" just for that..


... ohhh??? I guess I just assumed that was going to be some DirectX12 Ultimate feature or something.

That.... would make me extremely happy. I'm no Win10 hater per-say, but I deal with enough win10 "os as a service" BS at work everyday that coming home to a machine that ISN'T required every 6 months to re-install it's core OS and whine that I'm still a local user account (you're not on a Microsoft Account? how DARE you) is sadly refreshing.

And the constant f*ckery with audio drivers of course. And scanners. And DCH driver enforcement (seriously just so you can force the stupid App Store version?) etc...

back in the win7 days I'd NEVER have thought I would come to appreciate win8.1 (with classic shell) as the last bastion before the whole software as a service hell. I guess I could run some hacked up version of windows server after that but ugh.... I'm going to take a long look at ReactOS and linux + WINE in 2023. But who am I kidding - it will be whatever OS that can run Steam games, with available video drivers for recent cards (FU Nvidia) all without crapping the bed running Rosetta@Home in the background under BOINC. And sadly that will probably still be exclusively whatever Windows flavor is still offered.

end rant ;op

So off topic, so the only reason I originally bought the Zx was after my X-Fi PCI literally died (which WTH how does a PCI card just die?) was that I stupidly assumed that as a Creative card it would still support the 'old SoundFont Bank Manager so I could still jam out to MIDI AWE32 style. This being after the SBLive! that worked really well for me... ironically the AWE32 still works, where's that ISA to USB adapter when you need it lol.


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 22, 2020)

xrror said:


> (which WTH how does a PCI card just die?)


I had an Audigy die on me. Turned out to be the caps. Replaced them and the card came back to life. You might want to look into that if you still have the card.


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## RiPe (Oct 6, 2020)

Hello, I have a question ... the soundblaster AE 5 PLUS has support for Dolby and DTS, but the AE 5 Normal card does not have support for these technologies.
The SoundBlaster Command program shows support for AE 5 Plus only, but not for AE 5 Normal.
So is it possible to have a modified program that releases or unlocks Dolby and DTS for the AE 5 Normal card ??????

One idea would be to copy the installed files from the sound blaster command from someone who has AE 5 PLUS and then run the program in AE 5 Normal to see if the "encoder" option appears.


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## lexluthermiester (Oct 6, 2020)

RiPe said:


> So is it possible to have a modified program that releases or unlocks Dolby and DTS for the AE 5 Normal card ??????


It is entirely possible that the AE-5 does not have the hardware to output Dolby or DTS at all. The AE-5Plus is a new hardware revision. So modding the software would likely do nothing but break copyright law. Sorry to be a party pooper...

Welcome to TPU though!


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## Zulith (Oct 24, 2020)

Thanks for the useful thread. I've been having clipping sounds/brief distortion when using headphones on my ZxR setup. I'm on Win 10 64bit 20H2 right now, but the problem started with a prior update (like many of you, i'm sure) Out of desperation, I've tried Daniel_K's updated drivers. While I had to jump through some additional hoops to get the CINEMATIC tab of my Pro Studio Control Panel (a problem I've ran into in the past, you have to completely remove registry entries to Dolby and DTS packs to get them to properly install again, and no DDU does not remove this for you), the driver works well. Sadly it did not fix the issue for me. I'm not sure but it's possible that it's happening LESS, but that could just be placebo. Has anyone done extensive testing with any of these unofficial drivers when using both A) headphones in the ZxR's headphone jack and B) an audio source plugged into the optical audio in jack (in my case, a TV for PS4 and soon PS5 play -- and i've tried multiple optical cords including brand new ones), It would be incredibly helpful if anyone found a way to eliminate the issue.

So yeah just to reiterate, I'm not having any sound chirping/clicking/distortion/whatever other issues when using my speakers -- for me it's just the headphones.

FWIW I tried the July 2020 driver pack on the blog, not the newer Aug ones which are Beta so i'm hesitant to go through the entire process again unless others have had better success with them.

Anyway, I guess i'm going to have to break down and get a newer sound card at some point because with my setup I really need an optical input solution and not a lot of soundcards have that feature anymore.


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## lexluthermiester (Oct 24, 2020)

Zulith said:


> not the newer Aug ones which are Beta so i'm hesitant to go through the entire process again unless others have had better success with them.


Actually they are working, give them a try.

And Welcome to TPU!


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## InfamousByte2 (Nov 12, 2020)

I have tried everything. Device is recognized some times and some is not. Maybe on startup or maybe on the 10th restart. its random. I have tried every driver available. What else can I do ?


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## lexluthermiester (Nov 12, 2020)

InfamousByte2 said:


> I have tried everything. Device is recognized some times and some is not. Maybe on startup or maybe on the 10th restart. its random. I have tried every driver available. What else can I do ?


A little more detail is needed. What model card do you have? What version of Windows are you running?


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## wiggum123 (Nov 13, 2020)

0/
New here but thought I would wade in with my experience with this. Bought a new Soundblaster Z for the DTS/Dolby stuff via the digital optical to my old surround sound. Have a Win10 PC on 2004 release and was having real issues with the card sometimes not showing up in device manager and getting the No compatible hardware error. I have to say I haven't had the latency issues described here but maybe I haven't been using it for long enough. 

Reading around I tried a load but the thing that currently seems to be working for me utilises local group policy to prevent windows updating the drivers. Mine has been stable through a few reboots now. 

*Requirements *- The card must be in a functioning state for this to work - I ended up moving it to a new PCI slot as it seems to work the first time, its subsequent reboots etc where it breaks. 


Once the card is functioning head to device manager and find the card. Mine seems to have 2 entries, one is "Sound Blaster Audio Controller" and the other (which is the one that often disappears) is "Sound Blaster Z", open up the properties > Details and select Hardware IDs
Open up gpedit.msc and head to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions and find "Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device instance IDs"
Enable the policy and press the Show button, enter in the Hardware IDs from device manager, I had 6 in total, 2 from one card and 4 from another.
Make sure the "also apply to matching devices that are already installed" is unchecked. If you check this you will essentially disable the current working drivers. 
Press OK and you're done.


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## InfamousByte2 (Nov 13, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> A little more detail is needed. What model card do you have? What version of Windows are you running?



Well I have a Soud Blaster Z on Windows 10 latest update now, I have also tried returning to previous updates. Also tried every possible driver here or official. Its simes like the card is not recognized as a hardware sometimes. I say this because it does not matter what setup I have, some times it is recognized some times not. Lately in Windows I might need 10 restarts, its random. I have the same problem one Ubuntu 20.04 but not so often. I wonder if its a faulty card, but it was working perfectly for 3-4 months. Is there a way to check the hardware on Windows ? In Linux there is a way to check all PCIE devices. If you asked I tried every thing on this threat. They all worked at some point but then they didn't.

For example: $ lspci

...
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GP106 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
03:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM2142 USB 3.1 Host Controller
0a:00.0 Audio device: Creative Labs Sound Core3D [Sound Blaster Recon3D / Z-Series] (rev 01)   <---------------------

Although card is not recognized on Linux ether. 

What else can I try ?


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## lexluthermiester (Nov 14, 2020)

InfamousByte2 said:


> What else can I try ?


Have you tried Windows 7 on a spare drive(if you have one)? If the card works in Windows 7, then your Windows 10 Install might be borked up in some way and you'll need to do a fresh install.


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## InfamousByte2 (Nov 17, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> Have you tried Windows 7 on a spare drive(if you have one)? If the card works in Windows 7, then your Windows 10 Install might be borked up in some way and you'll need to do a fresh install.


*That's not an options for me now. I verified that the PCIE Controller recognizes my card even when the driver does not work.*


Multimedia controllerCreative LabsSound Core3D [Sound Blaster Recon3D / Z-Series]SB1570 SB Audigy FxAudio device1102:0012 1102:0010
*
In one time that the drivers worked I exported the Device manager event which is this:*

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP/Configuration
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP
Date:          17/11/2020 6:22:11 μμ
Event ID:      430
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:     
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      DESKTOP-B49NO88
Description:
Device HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1102&DEV_0011&SUBSYS_11020023&REV_1009\5&d8cb7a&1&0101 requires further installation.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP" Guid="{9c205a39-1250-487d-abd7-e831c6290539}" />
    <EventID>430</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2020-11-17T16:22:11.2871778Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1445</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="11544" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP/Configuration</Channel>
    <Computer>DESKTOP-B49NO88</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="DeviceInstanceId">HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&amp;VEN_1102&amp;DEV_0011&amp;SUBSYS_11020023&amp;REV_1009\5&amp;d8cb7a&amp;1&amp;0101</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>
*
Can I get anything from that ? Is there a way to force that event or the proper driver ?*


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## lexluthermiester (Nov 17, 2020)

Can you show pictures of the card so we can see the labels and part number?


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## InfamousByte2 (Nov 18, 2020)

Is these OK ?


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## lexluthermiester (Nov 19, 2020)

InfamousByte2 said:


> Is these OK ?


Yuppers, that helped.

First, uninstall all audio drivers and apps relating to your SBZ. Then try these drivers;





						New Sound Blaster Z, Zx and ZxR drivers
					

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.   Use it at your own risk.    Supports the Sound Blaster Z,  Sound...




					danielkawakami.blogspot.com
				




And if those don't fix your issue, uninstall them and try these;





						Beta test drivers for Sound Blaster Z, Zx, ZxR and Recon3D PCIe
					

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs.   Use it at your own risk.    Supports Sound Blaster Z,  Sound Bla...




					danielkawakami.blogspot.com
				




Your problem should be gone with one of those as long as your Windows installation isn't borked. However as recent updates have proven problematic you may be forced to do a fresh install of Windows to fix the issue.


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## piajartist (Nov 22, 2020)

Im having similar issues with Soundblaster Z card not being recognized during installation process.  Error Message: Setup is unable to detect a supported product on your system.  Any Ideas?  I turned off driver signature enforcement but keep hitting a wall once I try and run setup as admin.  Its curious, because Device Manager shows my audio card controller  connected and working properly.  What helped other users get past this setup hurdle?


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## lexluthermiester (Nov 22, 2020)

piajartist said:


> Im having similar issues with Soundblaster Z card not being recognized during installation process.


You are either not trying the correct driver pack or you have damaged hardware. Have you used the card model number to identify the card( example SBXXXX )? Have you tried a different slot?


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## InfamousByte2 (Dec 1, 2020)

I've tried the following driver without going back to a previous Windows 10 update and it seems to be working properly so far, despite the fact that when I had no driver installed and tried to install this one it failed for 4-5 times because it didn't recognize any device during installation and exited.

*Beta test drivers for Sound Blaster Z, Zx, ZxR and Recon3D PCIe                      *


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## InfamousByte2 (Dec 9, 2020)

Now it stopped working properly again. I had a crush during work for unknown reasons and from then in every startup the card is not recognized. I am desperated again


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## Regeneration (Dec 13, 2020)

You people should know that Creative Labs recently released a new drivers for Sound Blaster Z series:

ZxR
https://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=100335

Z / Zx
https://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=100336


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## lexluthermiester (Dec 13, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> You people should know that Creative Labs recently released a new drivers for Sound Blaster Z series:
> 
> ZxR
> https://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=100335
> ...


Very cool!

@InfamousByte2 Try these! Might solve your problem!


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## InfamousByte2 (Dec 29, 2020)

Finally I send my card back to the shop to be checked. They said that its probably an issue with the particular part and it will be replaced. I get back to you with news from the replacement card


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## paul79 (Mar 13, 2021)

I have the exact same problem. Sometimes SoundBlaster Z is detected (Windows 10, latest drives, latest everything), sometimes not. Most of the times its not detected. Incredibly frustrating.

Buying a "soundblaster" since its an ancient product, then in 2021 it can even be detected in Windows...


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 14, 2021)

paul79 said:


> I have the exact same problem. Sometimes SoundBlaster Z is detected (Windows 10, latest drives, latest everything), sometimes not. Most of the times its not detected. Incredibly frustrating.
> 
> Buying a "soundblaster" since its an ancient product, then in 2021 it can even be detected in Windows...



It is a hardware or BIOS problem. Boot up linux and see for yourself, do not blame drivers here.


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## xrror (Mar 17, 2021)

So I just completely blundered into a potential test case for SBz going nuts in Win10, at least on Ryzen x570 - but I'll need help with narrowing down what to measure and things like drivers if there is interest.

the tl;dr is, I've been lucky so far that I hadn't had issues running my SBz on win8 before. I upgraded to 10 and everything still worked. Last week I decided to play with FCLK and memory speeds. If I set 3800mem/1900FCLK everything fine. 3866/1933FCK ...  all my stress tests pass, but I suddenly every issue everyone has ever had with SBz happens. Front/Back channel swaps, loss of bit sync, crackling/bitnuke noise requiring restart.

I back one to 3800/1900 and everything fine.

So the obvious answer is duh, 3866 not stable - but it passed everything else. I wonder if it's something else like latency goes nuts or something (or the WHEA error or USB corruption issue?) but I don't know what utils to use to test?

Again this is a quick feeler for if there is interest to keep probing / what utils to use to probe with.


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## mixel (Apr 6, 2021)

wiggum123 said:


> Reading around I tried a load but the thing that currently seems to be working for me utilises local group policy to prevent windows updating the drivers. Mine has been stable through a few reboots now.
> 
> *Requirements *- The card must be in a functioning state for this to work - I ended up moving it to a new PCI slot as it seems to work the first time, its subsequent reboots etc where it breaks.
> .....


Just want to say that.. Anyone sleeping on this particular post.. This is IT for me, _seemingly_. Survived multiple reboots, shutdowns etc. I wasn't able to get my (new) SBz to stick around after reboots at all.. Possibly because of my weird multi screen, *many* sound output setup shunting everything around and causing it to rethink its addresses or something, I don't know? I can't even begin to understand how or why its behaved this way..

Im on an ASUS Strix B550-F.. Running the latest official drivers. It just would not stay visible! Now it does. I'll come report back if it breaks again, I guess. I bet some future windows update kills it again but at least I know what to fix if it does? Thankyou @wiggum123 !


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## Borberad (Nov 8, 2021)

@Regeneration THAAAAAAAAANK YOU SOOOOOO MOUCH!!!

I had my Sound Blaster Z six month and thought maybe its borken. Had that channel swapping realy hard. Now i have such a great unbelievable and amazing sound in games. Just register to tell you that. Thanks!!!!


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## emanresu (Nov 13, 2021)

Does the DTS/Dolby decoding work?


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## jesusmp (Feb 3, 2022)

lexluthermiester said:


> Yuppers, that helped.
> 
> First, uninstall all audio drivers and apps relating to your SBZ. Then try these drivers;
> 
> ...


Hi!, do you have the latest available? the links don't work.

Maybe a mirror?

Thanks!!


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 3, 2022)

jesusmp said:


> Hi!, do you have the latest available? the links don't work.
> 
> Maybe a mirror?
> 
> Thanks!!


Just tried the download links on DanielK's blog site and they worked perfectly. Both the X-Fi and Audigy packs worked. Maybe you have browser addon/plugin issues?


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## jesusmp (Feb 3, 2022)

lexluthermiester said:


> Just tried the download links on DanielK's blog site and they worked perfectly. Both the X-Fi and Audigy packs worked. Maybe you have browser addon/plugin issues?


But none is for sb Z really?


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 3, 2022)

jesusmp said:


> But none is for sb Z really?


Not sure what happened to the SBZ drivers. Creative might have made him take them down.


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## INSTG8R (Feb 3, 2022)

jesusmp said:


> But none is for sb Z really?


I’m actually just using the latest creative driver for my ZX without issue. Not actually needed Daniels “help” for awhile. But it does appear he’s removed his Z line drivers.


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 3, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> I’m actually just using the latest creative driver for my ZX without issue. Not actually needed Daniels “help” for awhile. But it does appear he’s removed his Z line drivers.


That friggin sucks


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## INSTG8R (Feb 3, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> That friggin sucks


Really only the older cards actually needed “help” Daniel is done so what’s there is what’s there. He did try very hard to help with the “AMD issue” but I’ve said it over and over….Just turn off Spread Spectrum and all the issues go away. Had the issues, swore a lot and nearly tossed it, made the connection, disabled it, never had an issue since. Ancient useless feature that has no practical usage to a home user. I wonder if extreme OC”ers are aware of its effect and how it may or may not effect stability…
Fine to have the feature available but being on by Default it should NOT be…this is a prime example for why….



xrror said:


> So I just completely blundered into a potential test case for SBz going nuts in Win10, at least on Ryzen x570 - but I'll need help with narrowing down what to measure and things like drivers if there is interest.
> 
> the tl;dr is, I've been lucky so far that I hadn't had issues running my SBz on win8 before. I upgraded to 10 and everything still worked. Last week I decided to play with FCLK and memory speeds. If I set 3800mem/1900FCLK everything fine. 3866/1933FCK ...  all my stress tests pass, but I suddenly every issue everyone has ever had with SBz happens. Front/Back channel swaps, loss of bit sync, crackling/bitnuke noise requiring restart.
> 
> ...


LOL should have went back a page because there is a prime example…


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## eidairaman1 (Feb 3, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> Really only the older cards actually needed “help” Daniel is done so what’s there is what’s there. He did try very hard to help with the “AMD issue” but I’ve said it over and over….Just turn off Spread Spectrum and all the issues go away. Had the issues, swore a lot and nearly tossed it, made the connection, disabled it, never had an issue since. Ancient useless feature that has no practical usage to a home user. I wonder if extreme OC”ers are aware of its effect and how it may or may not effect stability…
> Fine to have the feature available but being on by Default it should NOT be…this is a prime example for why….
> 
> 
> LOL should have went back a page because there is a prime example…


Spread spectrum is for emi anyway and if a systm is properly grounded to the case emi should not be a problem, plus spread spectrum fuggs up Overclocking. I noticed most mobos today don't have the setting any more so we can dissable it...


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## Regeneration (Feb 4, 2022)

jesusmp said:


> Hi!, do you have the latest available? the links don't work.
> 
> Maybe a mirror?
> 
> Thanks!!


There are better drivers on Creative's website and Microsoft Update Catalog. Version 6.0.102.75 that is suitable to be used with Sound Blaster Command.

There is a new product out (Sound Blaster Z SE) that made the company extend their support for the entire lineup.

The easy way is just to install this:






						Creative Worldwide Support >
					

Welcome to Creative Worldwide Support. Get technical help for your Creative products through Knowledgebase Solutions, firmware updates, driver downloads and more.



					support.creative.com
				




And then scan for updates for both applications and device from the settings tab.


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## lexluthermiester (Feb 4, 2022)

Regeneration said:


> And then scan for updates for both applications and device from the settings tab.


Not everyone trusts microsoft's update because it often screws things up and many people would prefer to get drivers from a better source. Creative direct would be great, but DanielK was an excellent source for the older cards which still work fine but weren't being supported by Creative any longer.


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## INSTG8R (Feb 4, 2022)

eidairaman1 said:


> Spread spectrum is for emi anyway and if a systm is properly grounded to the case emi should not be a problem, plus spread spectrum fuggs up Overclocking. I noticed most mobos today don't have the setting any more so we can dissable it...


Yeah it’s intent was really for multiple PC environments like offices for example. But because it just makes your clocks “float/modulate” sound cards DO NOT like that…they need a locked frequency to function properly.


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## xrror (Feb 7, 2022)

INSTG8R said:


> Fine to have the feature available but being on by Default it should NOT be…this is a prime example for why….


Just for the record spread spectrum was disabled - old habit for me from back in the day when that +/- 1mhz BCK was like +/- 40mhz of flux after the mult and enough to crash the rig.

Good to know though about spread spectrum messing with audio cards. I mean it makes sense and I would never have caught it, but it does make me wonder if that's what's going on with some other boards I have that let you set BCLK but don't reliably "latch" it (you can set it in firmware but it's hit or miss if it actually honors it - wonder if spread spectrum is actually still on when it doesn't?).

Back to the specific x570 system with the SBz, I think in just won't run >1900 FCLK correctly. Also obviously since it was win8.1 on unsupported platform at the time, you can take the guess it's not exactly pristine windows install either ... (originally win7 64bit on socket 754(!) to core 2, 1366 rig, then Ryzen [wufuc is awesome [windows update force update check]) then win10).


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## INSTG8R (Feb 7, 2022)

xrror said:


> Just for the record spread spectrum was disabled - old habit for me from back in the day when that +/- 1mhz BCK was like +/- 40mhz of flux after the mult and enough to crash the rig.
> 
> Good to know though about spread spectrum messing with audio cards. I mean it makes sense and I would never have caught it, but it does make me wonder if that's what's going on with some other boards I have that let you set BCLK but don't reliably "latch" it (you can set it in firmware but it's hit or miss if it actually honors it - wonder if spread spectrum is actually still on when it doesn't?).
> 
> Back to the specific x570 system with the SBz, I think in just won't run >1900 FCLK correctly. Also obviously since it was win8.1 on unsupported platform at the time, you can take the guess it's not exactly pristine windows install either ... (originally win7 64bit on socket 754(!) to core 2, 1366 rig, then Ryzen [wufuc is awesome [windows update force update check]) then win10).


I’m running 1800nFCLK no issue the sound card has never had an issue  again. I actually argued at length  with AMD staff about the justification of it being  on by default I mean Google will show you one result about it from 1991…i mean it literally clicked when I wa# just falling asleep because I’ knew I’d seen the setting and just glossed$ over it. I mean you’ll be hard pressed to find the setting on an Intel Board and it certainly wouldn’t be on I’f you did.


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## Robert84MK (Apr 18, 2022)

New driver 6.0.102.78 for Sound Blaster Z is in Sound Blaster Command.


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## lexluthermiester (Apr 18, 2022)

Robert84MK said:


> New driver 6.0.102.78 for Sound Blaster Z is in Sound Blaster Command.


Welcome to TPU!


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## emanresu (Apr 27, 2022)

1) If you need X-Fi Auzentech HomeTheatre HD - X-Fi Titanium PCIe - X-Fi Fatal1ty or alike working on Windows 10 or 11 (newest ed.) I can help you.

2) Old removed drivers and webpages can be accessed sometimes thru 





						Wayback Machine
					






					web.archive.org
				



Pick a site and a date which is marked BLUE - and enter the archived version. If there's a download link in there, then press that.
If you get an error, try to switch the old date in the URL to * instead, and Web Archive will pick a date which was archived for said link, if there is any. Happy Huntin'.


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## munio1000 (Jan 2, 2023)

SBZ_CD_L13_1_01_12_W10
					

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.



					www.mediafire.com
				




link for Z series DanielK modded drivers win10.
Works, i've downloaded file today. 

Its no reupload, its original DanielK upload. 

Have fun.


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