Soundblaster Z Card Question

[TechEnthusiast]

I know that a separate dedicated Dac would be best but for now I want to invest more into a top quality headphone. I am looking to add amplification though. I am wondering which output to run the amp on. The outputs on the card are 3 line outs, a headphone out, and digital out as well as a mic. Would the amp use the headphone one? It does have amplification not sure if that matters with a modern amp. Also when I do look for a Dac would I remove that card or use it's digital out. The motherboard has it's own digital out and it is an Asus H170 pro gaming board. Or would it be best to USB out to Dac?

Just trying to get my ducks in a row before purchasing. I'm thinking; headphone then amp then dac order, let me know if that is wise or not. In the meantime I think that the Z will suffice

 

[TechEnthusiast]

Also, what do you think of just getting a dac/amp combo for starters? Perhaps a Fiio K5, E10K, or ifi zen dac or a starter amp like the ifi ZenCan.

 

[Jimbob54]

Also, what do you think of just getting a dac/amp combo for starters? Perhaps a Fiio K5, E10K, or ifi zen dac or a starter amp like the ifi ZenCan.

Decide and buy your headphones. Depending on what you get influences what amp you need power wise- you may well not need anything if easy to drive and use the card HP output fine if easy to drive - worth testing that first.

Any DAC I would run straight from USB - take anything else out of the mix.

Im afraid I dont know which output you would use out of the card into an external amp- like out sounds most obvious but not something I have ever looked into.

If you want an amp- I wouldnt get any of the small DAC/amp combos- get a Topping L30 - it will drive pretty much anything from sensitive IEM to high impedance full size. Separate DAC later if you feel the need- the matching e30 the obvious choice.

 

[Doodski]

What model of Asus H170 motherboard do you have. There is the Pro model and the M model. The Pro having the superior Supreme FX audio solution. If you have the Pro model then I suggest you run the headphones from the motherboard until you decide you want a separate DAC and or amp.

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/H170-PRO-GAMING/

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H170M-PLUS/

 

[TechEnthusiast]

What model of Asus H170 motherboard do you have. There is the Pro model and the M model. The Pro having the superior Supreme FX audio solution. If you have the Pro model then I suggest you run the headphones from the motherboard until you decide you want a separate DAC and or amp.

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/H170-PRO-GAMING/

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H170M-PLUS/

Pro

 

[TechEnthusiast]

Decide and buy your headphones. Depending on what you get influences what amp you need power wise- you may well not need anything if easy to drive and use the card HP output fine if easy to drive - worth testing that first.

Any DAC I would run straight from USB - take anything else out of the mix.

Im afraid I dont know which output you would use out of the card into an external amp- like out sounds most obvious but not something I have ever looked into.

If you want an amp- I wouldnt get any of the small DAC/amp combos- get a Topping L30 - it will drive pretty much anything from sensitive IEM to high impedance full size. Separate DAC later if you feel the need- the matching e30 the obvious choice.

So is it preferred to use a USB over any digital type out?

 

[Doodski]

So is it preferred to use a USB over any digital type out?

I use a ASUS Z370-E with the Supreme FX sound solution and in the Sonic Studio advanced options there is the Device Manager. It has the equalizer there. The EQ is "apparently" effective on the coax and the fiber optic outputs but not the USB output from what I can see. I never used the coax or fiber optic output to test the EQ function. The EQ is a great feature to have. If the EQ does work on the digital outputs then those would be the preferred outputs.

 

[Jimbob54]

So is it preferred to use a USB over any digital type out?

It's a lot easier. You can get higher sample rates out of/into USB if that matters too.

 

[TechEnthusiast]

It's a lot easier. You can get higher sample rates out of/into USB if that matters too.

Did not know. Sorry just used to home theater set-ups more than this.

 

[TechEnthusiast]

I use a ASUS Z370-E with the Supreme FX sound solution and in the Sonic Studio advanced options there is the Device Manager. It has the equalizer there. The EQ is "apparently" effective on the coax and the fiber optic outputs but not the USB output from what I can see. I never used the coax or fiber optic output to test the EQ function. The EQ is a great feature to have. If the EQ does work on the digital outputs then those would be the preferred outputs.

That's kind of why I do like the Soundblaster Z card. It has an EQ. I now have tried the APO 1.21 EQ and like it as well. But he Z one is easier to get set. There is probably a learning curve with the APO one as it has almost too many options and tweaks.

 

[MikeFox]

Hello! Fellow Sound Blaster Z user here! From what I've gathered, the best quality output (?) is line-out, the headphone out is louder but I tend to find that the line-out sounds a little more pleasant to me.

It appears to be that some press material about the card back when it launched, suggests that the line-out is rated "116dB" at 24bit 192Khz, while the headphone out is rated at ">105dB" at 24bit 96Khz, found in techpowerup's review. (I cannot validate these claims myself nor find out what "above 105dB" means??)

There are some measurements that were posted on this same forum about it if you'd like to check them out:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nd-measurements-of-sound-blaster-z-card.9127/

The way I listen to music on my (admittedly very budget limited) system is with Foobar2000 > ASIO output SBZ > SBZ > line-out > Superlux HD668B. I have no experience with headphone amplification out of this port, however.

I'm very new to the scene as well but, I hope this helps at all!

 

[TechEnthusiast]

Hello! Fellow Sound Blaster Z user here! From what I've gathered, the best quality output (?) is line-out, the headphone out is louder but I tend to find that the line-out sounds a little more pleasant to me.

It appears to be that some press material about the card back when it launched, suggests that the line-out is rated "116dB" at 24bit 192Khz, while the headphone out is rated at ">105dB" at 24bit 96Khz, found in techpowerup's review. (I cannot validate these claims myself nor find out what "above 105dB" means??)

There are some measurements that were posted on this same forum about it if you'd like to check them out:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nd-measurements-of-sound-blaster-z-card.9127/

The way I listen to music on my (admittedly very budget limited) system is with Foobar2000 > ASIO output SBZ > SBZ > line-out > Superlux HD668B. I have no experience with headphone amplification out of this port, however.

I'm very new to the scene as well but, I hope this helps at all!

Thanks for the link. So the Z card is not bad as a Dac. I have switched it to the line-out port as the other way would be double-amping I guess, not sure how these headphone amps handle that side of things, however, I suspect that they should be able to handle that as they should be designed to handle portable devises such as phones. So I am still torn between getting a cheap amp/dac to start and get a feel or to use the Zcard with a better amp. Regardless, I have narrowed my headphone choices to either Hifiman Sundara/Deva or Sennheiser 660s/650