Creative Sound Blaster ZxR Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅03-06-13
Packaging & First Look


Packaging front

The packaging is similar in design to other Z-Series sound cards albeit being larger. There are windows showing off the ZxR inside as well as the ACM included. On the left hand face you can find a window showing all the I/O ports of the ZxR and the DBPRO daughter board.


Multilingual information found on the back

On the rear we can find more information about the product in various languages.


A neat selection of accessories

Included in the accessories we can find a driver CD with installation instructions, the DBPRO connection cable, RCA to female 3.5mm jack, male 3.5mm jack to RCA splitter as well as an included optical cable. It is pretty convenient to find such an inclusive array of cable adaptors which allows a good range of versatility out the box.


The Audio Control Module (ACM)

The ACM is far better built than what one may judge by looking at it. It is sturdy, heavy and good quality. The braided cable looks great and the two quarter inch jacks are actually adaptors which can be removed to reveal 3.5mm jacks underneath. Built in is a dual-array, noise canceling, beamforming microphone. A mouthful to say but at least it will be able to capture you saying it. It has a smooth gliding volume dial and two pairs of jacks for 6.3mm (quarter inch) heaphone/ mic and 3.5mm headphone/mic.


The Main Body of the ZxR

The Creative Sound Blaster ZxR has a full length, black faceplate with a hole cut out to show off the Sound Core3D. Strangely they opted not to cover the hole with acrylic like on the other Z-Series sound cards, this may be to save a little on cost, or to allow some air flow. The faceplate has an attractive geometric decoration in the form of a trail of red coloured hexagons.


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