CreativeSound Blaster Recon3D THX PCIE Sound Card SB1350

Let me start off by saying I am no audiophile but just someone who really loves their PC gaming (Mainly CSGO). After spending a good chunk of change on some Audio-Technica ATH-AD900X's and a Antlion Audio ModMic to step my gaming and positional audio up to the next level, the next move was to upgrade from my mobo's onboard sound (Realtek ALC892) to some sort of upgraded audio hardware. I did some homework and found myself trying to choose between a sound card or a external DAC. In the end I decided I have enough clutter on my desk and would prefer a card that I could put in my case and out of sight. I had my eye on a few different models but with so many mixed reviews out there it was hard to tell who was right and who was wrong. In the end I came across this and with the majority of reviews being so positive I decided to pull the trigger and order it.-------------------------------------------INSTALLATIONSure it's pretty dated (originally released in 2011 I believe) but so far it has worked flawlessly. Simply plugged it in and it was instantly detected and installed on Windows 7. Next ran my driver updating software to get it to it's most current (and mostly likely last ever) software updates which are dated 11/17/2014 for the SB Recon3D PCIe and the other 11/17/2014 for the Sound Blaster Audio Controller. Afterwards it was a simple matter of going into the audio devices and setting the SB Recon3D PCIe as the Default device and disabling the other devices (onboard sound) so there would be no conflicts. Doing this for the microphone as well.Next, in the SB software it was as simple as setting the Speakers/Headphones tab to Headphones and plugging my headphone jack into the headphone audio outlet (right next to the microphone jack and not the Green jack unless you want to use speakers). In CSGO I'm a fan of standard Stereo settings rather than 5.1 surround sound because it just doesn't work that well in Counter Strike. From there I instantly noticed the upgrade in performance. Sounds were amplified and what was once nearly maxed out volume levels have now been lowered to usually the mid 20% range. Sounds are crisp and positional audio is easier to pinpoint on the sound stage. So those features alone were worth it to me.-------------------------------------------ABOUT THE SOFTWARE (SBX Pro Studio)Now the software comes with a couple of other fun features you can play around with. Features that allow you to adjust the level of things you want like Surround sound, Crystalizer (enhances music and movies to make them sound "livelier"), Bass, Smart Volume, Dialog Plus (no idea what that is).For the microphone is has the CRYSTALVOICE tab which allows you to adjust mic volume, mic boost. As well as smart volume, noise reduction, acoustic echo cancellation and focus. One of the more fun parts in this section is the FX feature which is basically a voice changer for those who like to mess around with that stuff for fun."Scout Mode" - This was an interesting setting which is supposed to be directed at FPS players. The description we're given is "THIS PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS YOU TO HEAR YOUR ENEMIES FROM FURTHER AWAY, GIVING YOU A DISTINCT TACTICAL ADVANTAGE IN COMBAT." Once enabled I will admit it did exactly what it said and I was able to hear certain sounds like footsteps from further away with ease but this setting basically overrides everything. It uses the Smart Volume, 5.1 surround sound and the Smart Volume for the mic. which meant it would quiet my teammates talking, quiet gunshots that one would want to hear for position and once again surround sound which I just don't like. So in the end I don't use it.Lastly with the final update they did include a couple did profiles you can use depending on the game type your playing. Otherwise you can make a custom one fine tuned to your liking.---------------------------------------------CONCLUSIONOverall I'm satisfied and at the same time a little disappointed. It works great and it's nice that it has it's own CPU to take some stress off my main CPU while I'm running my games. I'm disappointed that it is essentially dated hardware that hasn't seen a driver update in over 3 years and probably never will again. Still a tad on the spendy side as well ($80) even though it's 5 years old but I feel it was worth it. If you're a FPS player or a PC gamer in general then I would definitely throw this in the ring for sound upgrade options.

I was eager and excited to try this sound card out since I got the Edifier S730, a pricey but pretty darn good sounding audio system, and I do like a fair amount of bass in my music. So I hook it up to my mobo install the software, drivers all the typical goodies. I boot up and play a couple songs specifically bass tests and instantly I heard a difference in the bass. It felt chopped and rough just not good. Compared to my onboard audio the bass was smooth and even. I tried messing with the settings but I realized when I plugged in my gaming headphones in the dedicated port the same exact sound issue, the highs and mids sounded GREAT! but the lows were a complete failure. Sent it back and I am perfectly content with my onboard audio. I still don't know if it was defective or not but never again, maybe I have to spend well over a 100$ for a good boost in sound quality? maybe my expectations were too high but as a gamer I was disappointed overall

I finally got tired of the hissing and crackling of my onboard audio from my motherboard.This is what I was looking for in a new sound card in order of priority.1. Clean sound with my headphones. i.e. no hissing or other PC-related background noise.2. Latest 3d positioning technology to work with my latest games.3. Updatability and future support.4. PCI-e 1x form factor. My regular PCI slots are all filled up.At first I was really tempted to get either an X-FI or Xonar for $10 cheaper. But then I read how old these cards are and I began to realize that support for these cards will wane more quickly over time. That's just the way the software business works. Since these cards are new, I figure that Creative might have a chance to develop more stable software for their latest card.After using this card for a few days, here are my pros and cons...Pros- Very simple to install. The BIGGEST caveat is that you should disable your onboard audio in the bios before getting started or weird configuration glitches will occur (no crashes though, thank goodness).- Sound is very clean with my headphones except in certain odd configs (see cons). When I use the dedicated headphone output, default control panel settings are fine. I ended up disabling TruStudio Pro because I generally don't like to post-process my audio (it's just a personal preference).- CrystalVoice is hilarious and awesome. The gender voice-change made my friend think that I was hitting on him. Great for MMORPGs or FPS games.- 3d positioning works. It's nice.- No conflicts out of the box. That's a big plus. I've had older Creative cards and there was always something that caused me annoying problems.Cons- It's new. So it's a bit pricey. To be expected, though.- When you enable DolbyLive in Cinematics, I could hear hissing in my headphones. I don't use DolbyLive anyways and it probably doesn't even make sense to do so with headphones. So it's not a deal breaker.- When listening to audio via Firefox, if you switch from one audio output to another, you lose your audio until you restart Firefox. Again, this is a weird bug that I don't care too much about. (Firefox saves practically all your browsing sessions). It might not even happen with other browsers.- Lack of good packaged software. Comes with WaveStudio, Alchemy, Music Server (i.e. glorified media player) and some trial Creative product that I removed immediately. There are a lot of better free alternatives. I wish there was a 3d sound demo to "excite" you about the 3d capabilities of the card.If you're upgrading from onboard audio to a dedicated card, it's worth it to get this card just for the cleaner sound. If you already have a sound card like an X-Fi or Xonar and you have no annoying problems with it, I really doubt that you're going to notice any difference in sound quality by getting this card; maybe better driver support in the future.