Creative Formally Launches the Sound Blaster AE-7 and AE-9 Audiophile Sound Cards

[lexluthermiester]

Try again Creative come back with a E-MU audio interface with a modern twist on the 1212M or don't bother.

Before offering critique on the technical capabilities of the current chip used for audio processing, maybe you should do some research...

I want them 1/4 jacks the output gotta be THICC like the rack gear.

Buy a $4 adapter.

 

[Sir Alex Ice]

Opinion.

Patently false on both points.
First point, you clearly didn't go looking;

Creative Worldwide Support > Sound Blaster Audigy

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

support.creative.com

Second point, the Windows 7 drivers work in Windows 10.

See above... And if you don't like Creatives drivers for some reason, try DanielK's very excellent custom drivers here;

SB Audigy Series Support Pack 6.2

This software/driver pack is unofficial, not supported by Creative Labs. Use it at your own risk. Supports any model of the following...

danielkawakami.blogspot.com

However, it should be noted that most of the Audigy series of cards are more than 15 years old. Complaining about driver support for such an old series of cards is silly and you should feel lucky they still do.


See above. How we doing on that point?

1st, I looked quite a lot when 7 and 10 came out, with no luck. Fyi I used to re-sell Creative products and got contacts with their EU team, they could not help.

2nd, it is Creative's job to support their products, especially considering they have not launched anything really new in 20 years. Not my job to try and make work their Windows 7 in Windows 10 - which by the way only worked when you upgraded to 10 from 7 and the drivers where inherited by the new OS. Simply the fact that DanielK's drivers exist proves that Creative does a very poor job to support its products.

3rd, I suppose you would be totally OK if for instance your car's manufacturer stopped offering spare parts. Or maybe you could find only new gasoline / petrol that would not be compatible with your engine.

 

[lexluthermiester]

1st, I looked quite a lot when 7 and 10 came out, with no luck. Fyi I used to re-sell Creative products and got contacts with their EU team, they could not help.

Ok, that's very easy, when 7 came out the Vista drivers worked flawlessly. When 10 came out, the 7 drivers worked(and still do) perfectly. So yeah there's that.

2nd, it is Creative's job to support their products, especially considering they have not launched anything really new in 20 years.

Either you're trolling or you haven't been paying attention. Regardless, you're wrong.

Not my job to try and make work their Windows 7 in Windows 10 - which by the way only worked when you upgraded to 10 from 7 and the drivers where inherited by the new OS.

Not really a difficult task. Run driver setup, let it finish. Taa daa!

Simply the fact that DanielK's drivers exist proves that Creative does a very poor job to support its products.

Like anything that gets modded, the reasons are usually because someone wanted to customize what they're modding. In DanielK's case, he wanted to work new driver features into older drivers for older cards. The quality of the drivers was not in question.

3rd, I suppose you would be totally OK if for instance your car's manufacturer stopped offering spare parts. Or maybe you could find only new gasoline / petrol that would not be compatible with your engine.

Comparing the automotive industry to the PC industry is simply not a good comparison as there are completely different dynamics involved. However, no I don't expect Honda to offer support on my son's '93 Acura Legend without them charging for it, which they do. I'm sure if you offered to contract Creative to adapt and update older drivers for specifically for Windows 10 they would likely happily say yes for say $150k. So have at it.

EDIT: All this does not imply that I don't care. I would love to see them update their driver sets for older cards to work on the latest version of Windows 10. They're under no obligation to, but It would be very cool if they did.

 

[Octopuss]

Especially with 1903, aren't Win7 drivers a recipe for disaster? I don't know much, but something extremely serious was changed, so I'd assume no older drivers would work at all.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Especially with 1903, aren't Win7 drivers a recipe for disaster? I don't know much, but something extremely serious was changed, so I'd assume no older drivers would work at all.

Recently tested them because that concern came up, no problems were encountered. They still work.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Anyplace we can find some quality reviews and specially comparison tests with X-Fi Titanium or similar, when using analogs 7.1 or 5.1 ?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Anyplace we can find some quality reviews and specially comparison tests with X-Fi Titanium or similar, when using analogs 7.1 or 5.1 ?

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD review

The SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD. This card has many aspects in common with existing X-FI designs and a few new features and modifications to appeal to the newer crop of demanding soundcards enthusiasts.

www.guru3d.com

 

[Prima.Vera]

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD review

The SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD. This card has many aspects in common with existing X-FI designs and a few new features and modifications to appeal to the newer crop of demanding soundcards enthusiasts.

www.guru3d.com

Thanks. But I meant for Sound Blaster AE-7

 

[lexluthermiester]

Thanks. But I meant for Sound Blaster AE-7

Sorry man, you did say X-fi Titanium... LOL!

 

[Apocalypsee]

Well he probably meant this new card compared to X-Fi Titanium. Why don't TPU request a review sample to test them? Would love to read about them especially circuit board analysis which a lot of reviews don't do.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Thanks. But I meant for Sound Blaster AE-7

There is one I've seen for AE-9 and much of what was done in testing applies to the AE-7;

He's not happy with the input side and focused his complaints there, whereas I couldn't care less. Even for streamers, it's not the big deal he made it out to be. The output is far more important and was impeccable in that area.

 

[Apocalypsee]

There is one I've seen for AE-9 much of what was done in testing applies to the AE-7;

He's not happy with the input side and focused his complaints there, whereas I couldn't care less. Even for streamers, it's not the big deal he made it out to be. The output is far more important and was impeccable in that area.

I watched tech yes city but I won't trust him reviewing soundcards. His channel is good if you hunting second hand market stuff. Agreed with you, streamers don't give two bit about soundcard and input quality (stereo crosstalk, THD and whatnot), as long as they have decent mic it would be good enough. Its going to get compressed anyway for streaming so I don't know what the fuss about.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I watched tech yes city but I won't trust him reviewing soundcards. His channel is good if you hunting second hand market stuff. Agreed with you, streamers don't give two bit about soundcard and input quality (stereo crosstalk, THD and whatnot), as long as they have decent mic it would be good enough. Its going to get compressed anyway for streaming so I don't know what the fuss about.

Exactly. I can't think of anyone who is going to nitpick about absolute perfect mic quality. The sound output is the vastly more important aspect. TYC's testing methodology was as good as one can get without proper, professional testing equipment. I personally think anyone who buys the AE-9 is going to be well pleased with what they get. Same with the AE-7.