Sound BlasterX G1

At the sale price, this is an absolutely amazing piece of technology. It simply works, does what it says, unlocks some basic audio tuning, and vastly outperforms the onboard audio on my outdated but not low-end motherboard.The dongle itself is constructed of the usual materials, only setting itself apart with the red "X" that lights up while plugged in. It is alarmingly light, but don't let it deter you from the quality of sound it outputs. I'm no audiophile; I'm sure this leaves something to be desired for the hardcore aficionados of sound, but even my average ears picked up the increase in richness, deeper lows and sharper highs.The accompanying software is bare but functional, my preference for software, and seems to work well. It even has a voice effects feature for your microphone that seems more of an afterthought than a genuine tool but the novelty is worth noting. The EQ works well and the different audio effects do impact the sound in noticeable ways. I am not keen on the virtual 5.1 or 7.1 sound features but I also do not have headphones that even pretend to offer surround features.Connecting to Discord my friends immediately noted how much better my voice sounded and I was also able to get more volume out of the headset itself on the call. Listening to music went from pleasent to engaging, both the increased volume and the broader range of sound brought more to my usual playlists. Gaming is improved too: things sound more genuine and details are preserved, worlds sound more alive and I can pick out audio queues much quicker. The scout mode that's advertised went untested for me, I couldn't get the hotkeys to work and I didn't like the sound of keeping it enabled, however it was functional in the tests I tried with it on. It feels more like a specifically tuned EQ setting more than anything.Overall, this is absolutely hands down a win for me, and I recommend it strongly to anyone looking for improved audio on any system. I'm sure you could pair a high end sound card with a quality amp and get some mind blowing sound, but for someone who just wants sounds to sound like they ought to, this is it, especially for the price.

I'm going to state why I was looking for a sound card in the first place. The onboard sound on my motherboard just isn't that great. The Realtek ACL892 is crap. The native drivers in Windows want to run in 7.1 surround, even when you have a 2-speaker headset plugged in. I had to force install the Realtek drivers ("Windows has detected your current driver may be a better match" my ass...) just to get it to work as plain 2-speaker and not try and do surround sound in games, just to have audio cut out.I play Day-Z with my friends. I also like to play first-person games like the new Wolfenstein series. The worse thing in the world is to turn, in-game, and have the sounds to your back/side just disappear entirely or end up as a flat, lifeless audio. So I was goign to get one of Creative's PCI-e cards to have better control over whether it is or is not surround and have a card that can actually handle it.That's when I came across this little beauty. It was a good chunk less than the cards, and when paired with the Sound Blaster H5 headset, enabled virtual 7.1 surround in a "made for each other" type mode. I can tell you it's made a huge difference. I was blown away the first time I opened up Day-Z. Even my friends said my voice is much clearer now, and man can I hear a difference now than before. I turned off the onboard sound, it's redundant at this point. I was skeptical at first, having had a USB audio device in the past, but man has this adaptor changed my mind. If you're considering this and are hesitating, just get it. You'll be happy you did.

I had my doubts about something so small being adequate for gaming. I decided to take the plunge because it was newer than any of the internal sound cards in its price range and great reviews. I am not disappointed. This along with my Superlux HD668b (recommend for anyone on a budget to look into the HD668b headphones) has given me the best directional sound of my life. I have been a pc gamer for 24 years. I have owned many sound cards and headphones in that time and this little thing crushed them all in the gaming department. It is also very good at music and movies. I had a little problem registering it online. I did live chat with them and they had it fixed in under 5 minutes. I love the software. It gives you very customizable sound settings. It will work with 3 poles "no mic" headphones without an adapter. for those who get static, (I did) I contacted support. They said to install X-Plus Configurator (unplug, install, replug) set to generic then change the sample rate in windows to 24/96. I did, problem solved on my 3 pole headphones. If that doesn't work for you remember if you are using headphones without a mic you are plugging 3 poles into a 4 pole jack. It might be the open mic pole giving you feedback. If you get a mic/headphone splitter and plug in a mic it could solve the problem. This is meant for mic/headphone combos with 4 poles, says so in the product description. I didn't take a star because they tell you to get a splitter if you're using 3 poles.Pros. Fantastic 7.1 headphone setting. Software. Customer support. Overall sound quality.Cons. One, four-pole jack.I recommend this if you are using 3 pole devices KingTop 3.5mm Combo Audio Adapter Cable for PS4,Xbox One S,Tablet,Mobile Phone,PC Gaming Headsets and New version Laptop

It can drive hd 600's which are 300 ohm loud enough as stated. I don't think I could blow my head off, but 20-30 windows volume is comfortable generally and 40 for most digital music would damage your hearing if you listened long enough, this is with all software settings turned off. All I really wanted from this was clean amplified sound for my headphones and this does that and more for a low price.The software effects really aren't for music except for maybe the bass boost and of course the EQ. For gaming and watching tv/movies I use the surround slider and 7.1 virtualization, these sound like they do the same thing but really they're quite different. Virtualization makes it feel less like you're wearing headphones, it's not immediately very noticeable and it's hard to describe. The surround setting basically amplifies background noise which might not sound so great but it actually does sound great, it makes everything sound more like what you would hear if you were actually there. There's also the scout setting which makes footsteps louder, I don't play any multiplayer fps games but I'm sure it works well.Unfortunately these features aren't available on the ps4 so this thing probably won't be a huge improvement over plugging into the controller unless you want amplified sound. When using hd 600's the sound is completely clean, but when I plugged in my vsd5s earphones there was some hiss, not very loud, but noticeable. I'm not sure if any lower impedance headphone will have this problem but you might get some slight hiss depending on what you plug in.The possibility of having hiss is the only reason I took one star off, but it's hard not to recommend this otherwise.

Plugs in, is self- contained, and requires no additional drivers! This thing is GREAT! The sound quality is there, it's just not as loud as you may be used to. (Direct comparison - plugged my headphones into it as opposed to the laptop output, and it volume level is definitely less.) But it works!!!My audio output port finally cracked (I'm told that's common in MSi Gaming laptops) and they want me to send it to them for repair. Since I use that same laptop for work, that wasn't going to fly - so Sound Blaster X G1 was the perfect answer! I still plug in the headphones, just in a different location - and the sound quality (highs AND lows) is top quality! Since I write music on this machine from time to time, sound quality is extremely important! It's not as loud, but the quality is still there - and that's everything!Wonderful device - easy to use and a perfect replacement for a faulty audio jack, if it comes down to that.

You don't buy this hoping it's the best sound device you've ever heard. You buy this device because you need a usb dongle that can act as a headset adapter for teleconferencing (VOIP), listening to music, videos, etc. The audio software only works for windows, since it's a gaming dongle. It's pretty good. But I'm most impressed with it just dang works on all the platforms I've found a use for it on. The chip they use in this thing is well supported on all platforms right out of the box. The audio is sufficient to where I'm not complaining 1 bit. It gets the job done. It has support for the 4-pole headsets. The quality of the dongle is pretty good. I've broken a a few of the cheaper plastic non-wired variety which split the headphone + mic ports, and the casing always breaks open. They also usually have hissing noises. This case has already taken some beating and I would buy another one in a second if this breaks. It's just so handy with laptops on various platforms.

Some people talked about the hiss on this device but there were some comments that appeared to indicate that it was a settings issue so I took a chance. I should not have done so. The hiss will drive you nuts. I tried all of the "fixes" I could find on the web and then I contacted support. They gave me a number of other things to try (and thoroughly messed up my sound settings in the process) but the problem persisted. In the end, they asked me to send them information about my PC so they could find the root cause. The problem is that I also tried this on my laptop with the same results. This device just isn't worth it.One thing to note is that the hiss does not appear until you ask for sound. So if your PC is not actively producing sound, the hiss will turn off (abruptly). Once you play a sound, though, it will come right back. If you hit the mute button, the hiss will go away. One way to test that the hiss is still there (if you can't tell because you play loud sounds) is to play music or a YouTube video and then pause it. The hiss will continue for anywhere from 2 seconds to 15 and then it will shut off.Just to be clear on my setup and what I tried, I am running the latest version of Windows 10 on a custom machine. I plugged the dongle into a USB extension and also directly onto the motherboard. I am using Bose QC25 headphones with the 4-pole cord (the dongle takes/requires a 4-pole cord). I tried my Samsung laptop (running the latest version of Windows 10) as well. I tried a 3-pole adapter. I tried turning off the mic in Windows (in case it feeds back even though the setting to listen to the mic is disabled). I tried Sound Blaster's configuration applications (both of them). I tried setting the adapter to generic (instead of a game mode) and changing the Windows sound settings to 24/96. I reset everything to the defaults using their software. I reduced the volume everywhere (volume level did not affect hiss unless the sound was muted). Once I am done with this review, I will be returning this item.

First impressions: 5/5 starsIt works great and the audio is clean, no hissing, even with older headphones with no mic. I was really looking forward to this. Running on Windows 10, it worked out of the package. I plugged it in, plugged in my headphones and no hissing. Again: No hissing. They apparently fixed that with their July 2017 patch. On all of my headphones, old and new, mic and no mic, they all work well...Until I try recording.Sub-Studio Recording at professional-grade equipment price: -1 starSo, when it said "24-bit/96kHz" audio in the description, I expected to have "24-bit/96kHz" audio both ways. Unfortunately it's only referring to output. Input (microphone) is limited to 2-channel, 16-bit, 44kHz (DVD quality). Admittedly, it's a respectable input--that it has two channels already is a sigh of relief (that would have been a deal breaker), but at its native price point, it should have studio-level recording quality.Lacks basic customization features seen in any rag-tag $10-20 USB sound card: -1 starThe other weird thing is, literally every single on-board or USB audio device allows you to specifically pick and choose which enhancements to enable (echo cancel, noise suppression, etc.). This card just has an "Enable audio enhancements" checkbox in the control panel, it doesn't tell you what you're enabling or disabling.Unclear descriptions, unclear specs, suspicious downloads: -1 starSo, the product description didn't mention its sub-studio input and that's understandable. What isn't understandable is will Creative support's driver and "X-Plus" package downloads actually do more for performance (like they claim to) or are they just redundant with the Windows driver while adding minimal functionality to audio for a few popular games at the cost of installing stat-ware on your computer? The descriptions are severely hyped-up with advertising language and there's no screenshots or anything concrete to go off of. Going to have to pass.At least I can use my next-door USB slot: +1 starIt's odd that most of the other USB audio devices don't have a small cord, rather they seem to prefer having an extra wide device that blocks adjacent USB ports. Never mind that I want to access all my USB ports, for something that will get pulled and jerked on, it is absolutely a necessity to have a cord. Great job!Summary: 3/5 starsGreat output and I would have happily paid them double if it was clear that it would fulfill my secondary need, good studio-quality recording, but none of their devices list their recording qualities--despite it being a basic spec of what a sound card does. I can still find uses for this one, but it's just disappointing that one of the oldest veterans in the game can't even get an XP-era control panel menu right. Good thing it was "on sale".

La compré para mi Huawei P30 Lite aunque no es oficialmente soportado. Al principio el sonido se escuchaba más bajo que la del mismo teléfono, pero cuando la usé con la app Neutrón music player, lo que descubrí fue asombroso, no tan sólo se escuchaba mejor, sino que el volumen aumentó muchísimo, tanto que lo tenía en los valores mínimos, cosa que con los DAC no pasaba.Estoy muy contento y la recomiendo en Android no para las funciones de audio básicas, sino para escuchar música con apps que controlan el DAC por USB como HIBY, Neutrón music player , USB Audio Player o el Onkyo HD.

Everything OK!

Honestly, i couldn't be more suprised for the price, great sound quality and it fixed my low volume microphone (Realtek ALC4080). Drivers automatically installed on windows 10.

Ho deciso di acquistare questa scheda USB per migliorare l'audio del mio PC accoppiandola a delle cuffie della Audio-Technica.Mi ha permesso di ottenere un ottima virtualizzazione 7.1 con la possibilità di gestire molti parametri come l'intensità dell'audio spaziale, i bassi, la possibilità di dare priorità alle "voci" ecc.La consiglio a chi non ha pretese esagerate ma vuole un buon comparto audio.

It can produce better surround compared to dts x and dolby atmos, try using the following settings:-surround - 40crystalizer - 20bass - 50virtual heapdhone 5.1 surroundworks fine on console and pc, you should notice the difference while switching to dolby atmos or dts x immediately, just remember to set it back to 5.1 when switch back to this from dolby atmos or dts x cause those to sets the audio to stereo instead of 5.1 or 7.1compared to G6 model, you have better options for settings on console with g6 overall plus you get dolby digital from games if you use the optical input method in G6 and this model do not have optical in option so no dolby digital here but you can still get dolby digital 5.1 due to virtual surround, download a dd 5.1 audio demo file and test it with this. The main benefit of G6 over this is overall higher volume potential but this also has high gain option and audio is clean in this as well. G6 can be used for optical out to 5.1 speakers but if you have 5.1 speakers with dd you do not need G6 in the first place. Well worth buying. The cheaper model also has surround but lacks 5.1 or 7.1 virtual surrond options.