Creative managed to create a solid sound card that sounds great across the board. While it does not have an immediate wow factor, it is a solid performer and the bundle is perfect for most at-home gamers. Scout Mode is a bit odd sounding, but its integrated 11-band equalizer works well, which makes tweaking the sound card around specific titles easy. The sound card is capable of driving even high-end headphones to good results, but you can, of course, get better performance with more elaborate designs, yet the Sound Blaster Z drives them well enough, which is impressive for a $99 sound card.

Overall, the new Sound Blaster Z offers very good value to a gamer that wants a decent upgrade over on-board sound cards. The included microphone is nice as well and definitely adds a great deal of value for anyone gaming with headphones.