Question Does it make sense to change Creative Inspire 5.1 Digital 5700 for Sound Blaster Katana V2 or Sound Blaster Katana V2X?

[Swiftbasic1978]

Hello,

Pls advice does it make sense to change my very old...Creative Inspire 5.1 Digital 5700 for Sound Blaster Katana V2 or Sound Blaster Katana V2X?
Now I have 5 small speakers. If I will upgrade would have 1 large soundbar. Would it be upgrade or downgrade?

I run Sound Blaster Z as a sound car. My Creative Inspire 5.1 Digital 5700 is almost 25 years old.
Few questions - Sound Blaster Katana V2 can provide 5.1 sound?
Why just only few sets of 5.1 speakers for PC are available on the market LAST YEARS? Do I need 5.1 sound in games?
Sound System I need for games...pls advice

 

[delaro]

5.1 Speaker setups on PC are not popular... they never were popular.

Does a Sound Blaster Katana V2 do 5.1? Kinda yes, it's an emulation using creative's own SXFI, unfortunately, it doesn't work with everything and sometimes it makes things worse. Music for instance doesn't always do it justice.

Can you hook this up to a 25-year-old soundcard and expect a great experience? Yes and no, all the pretty bells and whistles of that card will need to be disabled which means it makes it even with just about any onboard made in the last 9 years when connected to a product that uses SXFI.

Do you NEED 5.1 for games? No, most games don't implement it well, and over-emulation will make things far worse.

 

[Swiftbasic1978]

Thanks for the info. Few comments below.
Does a Sound Blaster Katana V2 do 5.1? Kinda yes, it's an emulation using creative's own SXFI, unfortunately, it doesn't work with everything and sometimes it makes things worse. Music for instance doesn't always do it justice. I buy it for games


Can you hook this up to a 25-year-old soundcard and expect a great experience?
I have Sound Blaster Z Card. It’s not 25 years old!!!I have written that my Creative speakers are almost 25 years old.
Yes and no, all the pretty bells and whistles of that card will need to be disabled which means it makes it even with just about any onboard made in the last 9 years when connected to a product that uses SXFI.

Do you NEED 5.1 for games? No, most games don't implement it well, and over-emulation will make things far worse.

 

[delaro]

Can you hook this up to a 25-year-old soundcard and expect a great experience?
I have Sound Blaster Z Card. It’s not 25 years old!!!I have written that my Creative speakers are almost 25 years old.

What can I say lack of attention to detail 🤷‍♂️

The katana's are a good overall improvement in sound quality over the 5700's and you have full EAX support from your soundcard so if you can get the placement right on the soundbar everything should improve even the surround sound to a degree.

 

[Swiftbasic1978]

Thank a lot!