TheDeeGee:

Still waiting for a Sound Blaster ZXR successor without the need for a box on my desk.

ah ! actually running a Zxr for my headphones output (deejaying sometimes) and yeah I would love to have an external solution but a real one, a powered one because I tried many usb-powered ones and as soon as you raise the volume the sound completely distorts all low frequ disappear replaced by screeching highs edit : I also have a Creative Sound BlasterX G6 and the sound once tweaked is great but...same thing you turn up the volume the kicks go down and you ears start bleeding especially a problem on my old techno house vinyls who had way stronger kicks and mids, it's obvious how more...."warm" ? they sound when you follow by a modern fully digital produced track, modern tracks are better defined clearer more balanced but it's like you turned the mid-lows way down I use APO equalizer too lol I was forced to when on a motherboard MSI replaced the equalized by a dragon logo...so useful....kept it after that I made a custom equ curve for my KRK Rokit RP5 G4 (they need a boost around 4k) also had to use a Behringer HD400 noise killer because 300w+ gpus radiate insane noise, a lot of cable and all but I spent my 1st day with them listening to music for 8hrs straight, such an upgrade compared to "gaming speakers" I had a "5/5 stars reviews" 2.1 setup let me tell you it was sh.. compared to studio monitors wouldn't have wasted 10 years of my ears if computer hw websites and shops actually listed those but no they often only show up if you look for pro audio

creative external DAC/AMPs are toys for those like wasting money.. the few good onese or those that were sold for the real value amount of money get discontinued quickly by the company (looks like they hate producing good stuff or good price:quality ratio stuff)... so if you really goona go with a creative just buy a pci-e card with some sort of extra emi shield.. even an old x-fi titanium (non-hd) works far better under gpu load than current high end tier motherboard integrated audio.. PS: if you need an EQ for your speakers and you cannot take measurements of your room, at least you can try the anechoic data EQ.. may still need to manual adjustments, not only for your room but also sometimes the adjustemens may ignore popping issues, especially on small studio monitors when you rise too much the subs https://github.com/pierreaubert/spinorama

Alessio1989:

creative external DAC/AMPs are toys for those like wasting money.. the few good onese or those that were sold for the real value amount of money get discontinued quickly by the company (looks like they hate producing good stuff or good price:quality ratio stuff)... so if you really goona go with a creative just buy a pci-e card with some sort of extra emi shield.. even an old x-fi titanium (non-hd) works far better under gpu load than current high end tier motherboard integrated audio.. PS: if you need an EQ for your speakers and you cannot take measurements of your room, at least you can try the anechoic data EQ.. may still need to manual adjustments, not only for your room but also sometimes the adjustemens may ignore popping issues, especially on small studio monitors when you rise too much the subs https://github.com/pierreaubert/spinorama

This is not true, some of the Creative external DAC/amps are very good, for instance the SoundblasterX G6 that I have, and it was measured here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-sound-blasterx-g6.7016/ It measures well from a sound quality/audiophile perspective, plus you also have the gaming features like Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound, which I find extremely useful as well as atmosphere enhancing in fps online multiplayer gaming.