Creative Sound Blaster X3

[Inle]

The Creative Sound Blaster X3 is an excellent USB sound card. It offers great audio quality for both input and output, and is quite affordable, at $120. It's a pleasure to use for music, movies, and games alike, and you can even connect it to the PS4 or Nintendo Switch.

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[nikoya]

Great review !
Thank you.

 

[Cheeseball]

Question: Do you NEED the Sound Blaster software installed? Or could you just rely on the stock USB Audio Class 2 drivers that are built-in to the OS?

 

[djisas]

The big question is: But can it run Crysis?

Ah sorry, that was the wrong one, actually i have had my eye on this since it launched, would it be better than an old X-fi fatality, those are some of the last good 7.1 cards.
I would rather have my sound card internal and with a nice front bay, that's a thing of the past though...
I need a solid 7.1 output, along with a very solid DAC, onboard audio is just garbage...

 

[silapakorn]

'Good PC software driver' I'll have to put a pin on that, seeing how Creative pretty much abandons driver update for SB ZXR, their old flagship soundcard that has issues with Windows10 for years.

 

[Cheeseball]

'Good PC software driver' I'll have to put a pin on that, seeing how Creative pretty much abandons driver update for SB ZXR, their old flagship soundcard that has issues with Windows10 for years.

Yup. This is why I'm curious if its possible to use the device without having to install any of the Creative-made software. It probably will work since it works on consoles without installing anything else (which most likely means that it does follow the USB Audio Class 2 standard), just you won't be able to use the special equalizer or Super X-Fi thing it comes with.

 

[ZolaIII]

Creative again made the bad design decisions along with another product with sealed destiny to be unsuccessful! Why? Because SBX G6 is much better product with much better modern DAC & performance that can be found this day's for just a little more money. G6 deserves recommendations if you really need "Gaming futures" & mic line in as drivers are quirky. The cheap Chinese DAC's such as Meizu Pro or TempoTec Sonata HD Pro which can be found for under 40$ run around G3 in circles regarding performance if you nead just a headaphone output for regular ones up to 80 Ohm's.

 

[TiN]

No teardown?

 

[tripleclicker]

No teardown?

Yes! It's just $120. Tear it down, tear it down, TEAR IT DOWN...

I wanna see what's inside too!

 

[Anymal]

Pictures and NO disassembly.

 

[er557]

Since I recently got the sbx g5 for a server board that has no audio, It would be interesting to see a comparison between this and the sbx g5 and sbx g6 devices

 

[Dammeron]

Pity the front headphone output isn't jack 6,3mm.

 

[djisas]

Creative again made the bad design decisions along with another product with sealed destiny to be unsuccessful! Why? Because SBX G6 is much better product with much better modern DAC & performance that can be found this day's for just a little more money. G6 deserves recommendations if you really need "Gaming futures" & mic line in as drivers are quirky. The cheap Chinese DAC's such as Meizu Pro or TempoTec Sonata HD Pro which can be found for under 40$ run around G3 in circles regarding performance if you nead just a headaphone output for regular ones up to 80 Ohm's.

Will the "better" SBX G6" work with my speakers?
Nope, that's why this is a better product, it has 7.1 analog output something missing from high end sound cards, if i need this, pretty sure there is a market for it...
To me this product is a compromise, only alternative is a used 7.1 sound card, it's a good enough product at an excellent price point.
I would have bought this in a blink of an eye if i was sure enough it would be as good as my old sound card...

 

[Bee9]

And I’m here looking at my schiit stack asking do we really need another sound card. I gave up on Creative thanks to their driver.

 

[ZolaIII]

Will the "better" SBX G6" work with my speakers?
Nope, that's why this is a better product, it has 7.1 analog output something missing from high end sound cards, if i need this, pretty sure there is a market for it...
To me this product is a compromise, only alternative is a used 7.1 sound card, it's a good enough product at an excellent price point.
I would have bought this in a blink of an eye if i was sure enough it would be as good as my old sound card...

I am non rumbling nonsense you know...
G6 is perfectly capable feading a power amp, stereo of course. Much better performance most definitely!

Review and Measurements of Sound BlasterX G6

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sound BlasterX G6. I purchased it last month for USD $150 from Amazon including shipping. Typical of PC audio connectivity devices, the Sound BlasterX G6 is a combo device which includes an audio DAC, ADC, and headphone amplifier. This being...

www.audiosciencereview.com

If you really want/need a 7.1 output you can get a Sound BlasterX AE-5 for around - 130$ it would still perform considerably better.

Review and Measurements of Sound BlasterX AE-5

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Creative Las Sound BlasterX AE-5 internal PCI sound card/interface. It is on kind loan from a member. The AE-5 costs US $149 including Prime shipping on Amazon. Given the 6 channel output, line/microphone in, and headphone out, that is quite a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Neither is a top of the pop's but definitely more than capable. Creative drivers & cut offs will regardless give you a headache as always. There are far better standalone DAC/Amp's desktop/portable for the price anyhow depending what you need.

Best regards.

 

[FranciscoCL]

If you really want/need a 7.1 output you can get a Sound BlasterX AE-5 for around - 130$ it would still perform considerably better.

Review and Measurements of Sound BlasterX AE-5

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Creative Las Sound BlasterX AE-5 internal PCI sound card/interface. It is on kind loan from a member. The AE-5 costs US $149 including Prime shipping on Amazon. Given the 6 channel output, line/microphone in, and headphone out, that is quite a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Neither is a top of the pop's but definitely more than capable. Creative drivers & cut offs will regardless give you a headache as always. There are far better standalone DAC/Amp's desktop/portable for the price anyhow depending what you need.

Best regards.

The Sound BlasterX AE-5 only has 5.1 analog output.

 

[NOWHEARTHIS]

Sad the neither the author of the review nor Creative identify the actual DAC chip used in the device. That's an essential bit of information that would reveal much about the product. Reviewer should have cracked open the device and revealed what is inside. Just as TPU identifies the capacitors used in power supplies, they should reveal the important components in any device they review.

 

[Inle]

Regarding the teardown: unfortunately it is not possible to get the PCB out of the case without breaking the device. It seems to be glued to it. Furthest you can get is to see the nearly completely empty bottom side of the PCB.

This is the best look of the internals I could find: https://fccid.io/2AJIV-SB1810/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photo-4402885

Sadly, too low res to be able to figure out which DAC chip is used. However it's far more important how the chip was implemented into the system - how the product sounds as a whole. I'm sure I'm not the only one who ran into high-quality DAC chips in products that ended up not sounding very good at all and/or sounding worse than devices with technically lesser DACs.

 

[Anymal]

Inle, would it be suitable for HyperX Revolver?

 

[er557]

why wouldn't it?

 

[Inle]

Absolutely.

 

[Chrispy_]

Oh wow, this might actually do what I've kludged myself, but all in one package and without a lot of work every time I change motherboard, or USB driver, or bi-annual Windows "update" automatic reinstall.

I'm using the following convoluted chain to get room-calibrated audio from studio monitors. Nothing is super high-end but this is all audiophile gear at 5x the cost (or more) of consumer PC audio:

Equaliser APO custom profile recorded from a studio-borrowed omni-mic and calibrated using RoomEQWizard​

|​

Custom Cambridge Audio Class-2 USB 2.0 driver for the DAC​

|​

Cambridge DACMagic 1st Gen ('Plus' internals, but no volume knob)​

|​

JBL Nanopatch inline-XLR volume control​

|​

Presonus Eris E8 studio monitors on 3D-printed stands in fixed positions relative to the walls to match the room calibration.​

I'm seeing this Sound Blaster do the job of the first four items in that chain, and seemingly to a high enough standard that I will still be bottlenecked by my studio monitors.

So yay? I guess I'll find out when I order one

Edit:
I've just listened to those microphone samples and the mic input here is significantly cleaner than motherboard input I'm using. Even with boost, actually.

 

[Anymal]

Absolutely.

Would I gain something? Now I plug to 3.5mm in laptop or stationary, both integrated, later is b450 tomahawk max.

 

[NRANM]

I actually have a bit of a story with this card. The short version: the card exhibited a random pop/crack/glitch during playback. The replacement was the same. With the help of Creative support, I narrowed it down to a driver problem, as it disappeared after I installed the generic Windows Audio Class 2.0 driver. With it, the card worked only in stereo mode, even though 5.1 appeared in the configuration window. Both cards exhibited the same issue on both of my computers, which are completely different hardware-wise, and have few programs that overlap. I provided Creative with detailed logs upon request, but was later informed that no fix was forthcoming.

 

[Inle]

Would I gain something? Now I plug to 3.5mm in laptop or stationary, both integrated, later is b450 tomahawk max.

You'd get more power, much more features, a cleaner microphone input and better sound quality overall. Plus, if at some point you decide to treat yourself with a pair of hi-fi headphones, you won't have to upgrade your sound card. I had a great time listening to some very good hi-fi headphones on the Sound Blaster X3 (a complete list is available in the review).

I actually have a bit of a story with this card. The short version: the card exhibited a random pop/crack/glitch during playback. The replacement was the same. With the help of Creative support, I narrowed it down to a driver problem, as it disappeared after I installed the generic Windows Audio Class 2.0 driver. With it, the card worked only in stereo mode, even though 5.1 appeared in the configuration window. Both cards exhibited the same issue on both of my computers, which are completely different hardware-wise, and have few programs that overlap. I provided Creative with detailed logs upon request, but was later informed that no fix was forthcoming.

Do you still have it on you? During my time with the card (around two months) they released two firmware upgrades and several driver updates. Perhaps that would resolve your issue. I have to say I didn't run into anything of the sort with my sample, it performed flawlessly.