Creative
Juan P
Excelente sonido a un muy buen precio. Como siempre la marca Creative nunca decepciona, solo hay que conectar el instalar los drivers que se descargan desde la página oficial. Recomiendo activar la opción SBX Pro, junto con ganancia alta de impedancia (requiere unos buenos audífonos) y por último desde el panel de control activar la opción 24 bits a 96khz.
Michel
The sound quality is superb...amazing for laptops and mini PCs...highlight quality
Anonlol
I was looking for a solution to my Realtek 4080 audio problems, mic gains were inaudible.
This works great with my apple earpods, mic gains are good. Even has a fine-tuned profile in the software from SoundBlaster's website.
Inlet Sound
I'm very impressed with this product as the sound is so much better than I expected!
And the fact I have had good luck with this brand over the years with PC speakers and such so I tried it.
I'm blown away how much better the sound is vs me using the old built in 3.5mm PC's audio out! Its a huge better sound improvement! I only need the audio out so I have not tried the microphone input but is nice to have if I ever need it.
I'm a pro sound tech on my day job and a audiophile at night so I know great sound! this is GREAT SOUND! Was plug -n-play no drivers or software needed and even though I did not buy this unit looking for great sound that is exactly what I now have ! Fantastic Great Sounding product thats priced right!
AreJayCee
Works well out of the box and provides the functionality and good sound that I would expect from a Creative product. However, the control panel software just won't work on modern versions of macOS. I tried several versions and all had issues with installation. When I was able to get past that, then the application simply won't launch.
Slobodan Ljubisic
Excellent little external sound card (DAC) for a desktop PC (or Mac). Much better sound than PC built in sound card and can work well with high impedance headphones.
Bruno Steinkönig
I bought it as an upgrade for my old computer with stock sound. It was quite inexpensive and I have over 3,400 complete operas many of which are 24bit 96KHz and higher. This offers a gigantic increase in sound quality. The downloadable software makes the set complete. My expensive digitized operas now sound more as they should and I could not be happier. Great job Sound Blaster! Update...I liked this so well that I bought a second one for my son's computer.
Prime Negotiator
I did not expect this sound card to make such a huge difference in my enjoyment of music from my laptop.
I have Bower & Wilkins M-1 speakers, powered by an external amp wired to my laptop dock. Never really optimized this setup because this is just my workstation. I remember having Sound Blaster cards in the 90s/00s, and although very few people buy sound cards today, I figured if I have B&W speakers, for $17, what the heck, let's just try it and return it if it sucks.
When I first plugged it in, there was notable improvement: bass a little less muddled and higher clarity on the high-end, but you'll have to play music loudly to hear it. I did expect the improvement to be higher, so I was a bit disappointed, but at $17, it was still worth keeping. After all, sound DACs are pretty simple chips these days, and even laptop docks will have what we considered high-end DACs decades ago.
But got bored and decided to install the drivers. Who installs drviers anyways, when it works out of the box? Anyway, I installed the Sound Blaster Play! 3 Control Panel (the official drivers), played with the settings, and WOW: ** My music came ALIVE. **
Turning it off and on, it's just such a dramatic improvement. This might be the biggest upgrade I've bought to my sound system. 100% recommend! I'm so glad I took this chance.
Mike
I get this error when I try to install on my one year old Macbook Pro. I did some quick searches and this seems to be a common problem. The software package on their website was released in 2017 - well before the ARM architecture on the Macs. I don't think this works on non-intel based Macs.
GrumpyGeek
So I wanted to be able to use a non USB gaming headset across several computers I switch between during the day using a USB KVM. This was cheap, a known brand with good reviews and works perfectly for the task I needed and sounds great as well. Switches between Windows, Mac and Linux with no issues, love it.
Hawaii Makai
I have a really nice amplified 2.1 speaker system on my desk.
Recently something has happened to my headphone jack, and I am getting terrible ground loop hum.
I have always wanted to try a DAC anyway, and I was resigned to spend $100+ on something from audioquest, but I saw this at less than 1/5 the price from a reputable brand, and decided to try it.
No driver needed,plugged into my USB hub, and instantly sound was MUCH better than anything I have ever heard out of my stock 3.5mm jack.
Extremely impressed. I shaped the sound to fit my likes with the program EQmac, and wow. The fidelity is great now.
One other great thing is that my MacBook is trultplugand play with just one cable, vs before when I had to plug in the headphone port.
5 stars. If you have a quality system you will hear a difference
TRUMP WON
I needed a way to connect my 3.5mm headphones and my 3.5mm microphone to a USB port so I could chat with my friends while gaming. This product was plug and play for me. It couldn't have been any easier. I have no issues with headphone output quality or microphone input quality.
Douglas D Manley
I bought this as a quick fix to workaround my motherboard's built-in inputs; for whatever reason, they were really noisy (I guess they weren't shielded well). Anyway, I plugged this into a USB port, plugged my microphone and headphone cables into it, and it's been working great with zero issues ever since.
cgheaven
It works with standard codex in your PC or other devices that can accept this USB HD audio... However this does come with supporting software to help you adjust the device for sound quality I've had one before from another very popular maker Electronics starts with an A and ends in drea... I've no problems with other Unit either accept it wore out over time of four years the Jack inputs just became loose so this is the next one I bought and I'm very pleased with it this is a real report from a real person it won't be money wasted
ValueRays
Works like a charm. I thought my Bose speakers died. A friend told me to try a USB port. Glad I did.
Jfrantz
I was having a lot of feed back from my computer..this did the trick almost non-existing
Reviewer
I’m using these little gems to supply different output/inputs to my Yamaha mixer from/to my pc. So far I’ve had absolutely no issues. It is plug-n-play. The only thing I have to do is go in, example discord, and assign the output to one of these. After this my audio goes to my mixer and I can control my audio volume using my mixer. These really help keeping different channels to specific programs. I also have one plugged into my ps4 so I can use my for mic game chat. I’ll soon order a couple more to fit a few more open channels.
Johnathon Johnson
I am doing a custom build, literally custom - I made the front panel out of oak with a Sedona red finish.
I was looking for a way of powering a front panel input / output set ...
So I decided that I would use the Sound Blaster play - connected directly to the USB 2.0 header using this ...
Then you just need to find a good set of cables such as these ...
So now, instead of utilizing a sound card - I still have that pci slot free and I have a good looking micro-atx machine with solid sound I was looking for.
I am content with my purchase of this item, some could say too content. Muhahahahaha.
Robert B. Vincelette Jr.
This is not up there with a DAC that costs thousands but it is the best for its size for listening on a PC. The photograph shows what kind of sound system would get 5 stars under my very strict scoring. Still I highly recommend this unit.
Andrew D
SO... my fancy THX DTS Dolby certified sound card that drove with my THX certified speakers went out without warning. As I plan to build a whole new system 6 months from now I didn't want to invest the money till I know what the new hardware would look like. So basically as a replacement till that times comes around i bought this. I choose this b/c it better hardware and specs than most of the other inexpensive usb sound cards out there and b/c of my history with creative products. Also I can use this to drive/amp my plug in headphones on my laptop and phone afterwards.
So lets just be honest @ 2 channels 24 bit 96hz does it sound as good my original sound card? No... But I didnt expect it to at this cost. Surprisingly for the price its truly a very good value. Nice clear highs, full mids, and deep bass. I am personally not experiencing any hiss, bleed over, distortion, or issues with the mic (software updates maybe?). It does just plug in and work on windows 10 pro. But I also agree with other reviews to first download the software and adjust to your preferences. And also agree the software interface could use some updates and simplifications. But i am very pleased overall with this product and especially at this price. Recommended!
