CreativeSound Blaster X4 External USB DAC Amp with Super X-Fi, 7.1 Surround, Optical I/O, Mic/Headset/Line-in - For PC and Mac

This has pretty mind-blowing audio when you set it up properly.At first, I didn't think very much of it at all and even considered returning it until I started playing with the dials and buttonsHere's my pros/cons:+ Likely the best sound delivery alteration implementation I've experienced yet+ All *hardware* aspects feel extremely premium- Does take some tweaking/getting used to- Many features are not intuitive; you're going to have to fully read the manual and keep it around for reference for a while.-For whatever reason when I got it, I fully expected the LED ring to indicate the volume level in some way such as dimming as volume goes lower or turning them off around the ring as the volume gets lower. It does not. I know that was not an advertised feature in any capacity but to me it would just make sense that it should/would. Seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to just "feel right/satisfying" to have that physical indication of what you're doing on the unit itself at a glance- The apps (yes multiple) suck. There's really no excuse as to why you should have to use Location Data to connect to the unit -- Yes I know you use it for this reason or that reason (likely something to do with low power bluetooth connectivity). I don't care. I never have my location on unless I especially need it to preserve battery life and further, it's aggravating that the entire suite of apps is not compiled into a single one; that's multiple apps for both PC and the Mobile versions. People shouldn't have to have multiple apps/programs to control a single device- I'd very very much like to have some basic passthrough capabilities through the Bluetooth, such as being able to connect the x4 to bluetooth speakers so they can benefit from it using the app as a control to do so. To my knowledge, that is not possible.- Would very much like the microphone output and headphone output on the back or either side of the device instead of the front. Would also be okay with a set on each side of the device. It would be far more flattering on my desk than having my microphone input on the frontOverall, despite criticisms, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. I am more than willing to trade ascetics for functionality, and I'm more than willing to spend the time to get the software side doing what I want and boy does the Soundblaster x4 ever deliver function. If I were to upgrade to the x5 down the line though, Creative will have to have a very compelling new feature set, or they'd have to remedy most if not all my cons above

Built a new PC using ASUS Crosshair X870E Hero and with most higher end boards don't have 5.1 sound audio jacks. I figured I would just use optical S/PDIF out port and use the setting stereo x2, which in short front and rear channels would be combined as one so I would have 2 left and 2 right speakers playing stereo sound and loose center channel. Sound was not bad and still sounded great for gaming. After a couple days I missed having 5.1 sound since it sounded so much better having sound played through all the channels. An internal soundcard was not an option since I would lose PCIE lanes from GPU. So looked at external DAC amp and Creative Sound Blaster X4 saved the day. I have Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 5.1 speaker system that are over 25 years old. The X4 brought life back into 5.1 sound just like I had. I did not even use the app and with Windows 11 setup for sound setup was easy and sound was great. To avoid clutter on the desk having two sound controls decks I put the X4 in a desk drawer using the desk hole meant for running cables. After about a week I eventually did download the app to use the features offered but just stayed with 6 channel direct since it all I ever used and sounds the best. The X4 added another 5 years to my old 5.1 sound. Eventually I will need to figure something out for 5.1 sound. Most likely will need a receiver and 5.1 speakers setup for PC in the future. Hopefully Creative Sound continues to offer product like the X4 or newer models since it is just a great option for audio for PC.

Creative's SB products have tended to be decent hardware-wise but overpriced and have a multitude of driver and software issues over the years.This seems to break that trend! Sort've. Yeah its going to cost more than those Chinese DAC's but vs anything from a reputable company its actually not priced badly while fairly well made. Sound quality is a noticeable step up from motherboard audio, even vs good motherboard based audio (I have a Aorus X670E Master that has a decent built in audio set up), right off the bat.Driver stability was always a huge issue for SB stuff (years ago, WinXP era I think, Microsoft actually tracked back most of their BSOD's to sound card drivers!!) and that seems to no longer be a issue now. I've had 0 crashes and all my old games now have their EAX capabilities working properly again and sound quite good!Where they fumble the ball is with their new SuperFi software features. Its supposed to be able to simulate HRTF when working properly. And who knows maybe it does! But I don't know if it does since I didn't bother with their irritating set up, log in, and EULA nonsense associated with it. I have no idea why they made it all so complicated and difficult to use!I've been building PC's and troubleshooting them for years so if I'm having trouble making their process work then you know others are having the same issues.The "scout mode" will work without signing up for anything but isn't worth using IMO (distorts lots of background sound to make footsteps louder) and feels cheaty so I don't use it.One issue I did have with this DAC is that I had to switch around several USB ports to get it to work. I don't know why this is a issue exactly but supposedly some ports on the mobo just won't deliver enough power to make the DAC work and you have to randomly plug the unit in to them until you find one that works. Once it does get working you're fine though and I haven't had to mess with it since the initial set up.I have a pretty modern mobo (Aorus Master X670E) with lots of higher power USB A and C ports so if my mobo had this issue I'm sure its a fairly common one.Anyways if you're looking for a fairly good USB DAC/soundcard combo that didn't cost too much, was well made, and still supported older games sound features properly this thing is pretty good.