[SOLVED] Is the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi sb0880 still a good sound card ?

[ziad ahmed]

Iam asking if the (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi sb0880 ) is at least a better sound card than the built-in dac in the Mobos
i have a MSI board which is the B460m mortar and i don't use the built-in sound DAC on it and got a better sound experience with my
XPG EMIX H30 headphones with it's DAC which is Solox F30
iam asking if i can have a better experience with creative card which is offered to me with a very reasonable price , it will cost me around 7 US Dollars only
and does it support windows 10 or 11.
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note : iam from Egypt and we don't have stores sell such a high-end sound cards .
and it's not easy to get a good sound cards in the stores 😢

 

[kerberos_20]

that sound card is in EOL (end of life support), last drivers from 2019
so win11 compatibility not guaranteed

but if you have DAC in headphones, you dont really need any soundcard at all

 

[InvalidError]

As kerb pointed out, sound cards are irrelevant if you are using headphones that use USB (digital) input.

If the headphones have standard analog inputs, you can just try it out for yourself and see if it sounds any better to you.

I haven't bothered with sound cards since my Core 2 - most HD Audio chips sound heaps better than AC97 did on my P4.

 

[ziad ahmed]

my headphone is not usb but it's connected with usb DAC but it's 3.5mm
my question is , can i have a better audio quality if i get this card ??

 

[TommyTwoTone66]

my headphone is not usb but it's connected with usb DAC but it's 3.5mm
my question is , can i have a better audio quality if i get this card ??

Yes. 100%. It will sound a lot better than your USB DAC.
2019 drivers are not an issue and the card still works in Win11

 

[InvalidError]

I would say you'd have to compare output specs between the DAC and sound card, though your headphone+DAC combo has essentially no specs on the DAC, which is odd even for garbage-tier audio gear, so the X-Fi is probably better.

 

[Karadjgne]

It's a sound card. It was built for frequency manipulation. The software for it can and does do a lot more than the basic setups used by mobo vendors. It has considerably more functionality than most standard 5 port mobo audio, so things like surround sound, the different versions of Dolby etc will be much better supported.

However, using headphones negates much of that, even the best headphones are nothing much more than stereo, with simulated surround and use small drivers that cannot get a good seperation of frequency.

So on the one hand, it's a lot more usable for some, on the other, your equipment can be the limiting factor. It may or may not 'sound' better, depending on what's stuck on your ears.

 

[InvalidError]

However, using headphones negates much of that, even the best headphones are nothing much more than stereo, with simulated surround and use small drivers that cannot get a good seperation of frequency.

Unless you grow a third ear, all sound is ultimately stereo. You can get perfectly fine surround sound on stereo headphones, the delays and loudness from source to ear just need to be calibrated for your specific head, ears and earphones. Surround with a truckload of speakers is just a one-size-kinda-fits-all approach.

 

[Karadjgne]

Surround with a truckload of speakers is just a one-size-kinda-fits-all approach.

ROFL 😂.

Yes, you only have 2 ears, so all sound is stereo by default. Side to side differentials in source are easy to accommodate for, simulated motion by simply adjusting amplitude per side. It's the front to back motion that's difficult to accomplish, extremely difficult with simpler stereo headphones using single drivers. I've heard of some headphones using 5 or 7 drivers to get seperation of source, as close to surround as a headphone can get, but with 7 drivers, they'd be tiny by default, so I can't see them handling power very well, or have good bass response. Good for gaming, lousy for music.

 

[InvalidError]

Yes, you only have 2 ears, so all sound is stereo by default. Side to side differentials in source are easy to accommodate for, simulated motion by simply adjusting amplitude per side. It's the front to back motion that's difficult to accomplish, extremely difficult with simpler stereo headphones using single drivers.

Have you listened to the "barber shop" positional audio demo? Modelling-based spatial audio can be surprisingly good even for a generic baked-in rendering.

 

[Karadjgne]

Hmm, no I haven't. Sat in a Circuit City sound room once, the video was setup to look like I was sitting on a runway. 747 barreling down the blacktop getting louder by the second, nose up, takeoff in front of me, went overhead with a crescendo of volume, then slowly disappeared behind me. Absolutely stunning amount of surround sound, totally felt like I was sitting on the runway, minus the windage.

It's not just the sound entering your ear canal. Your ears can tell (generally) direction of source by where on the cup the vibrations hit. It's how you can tell front from rear, the differences in pressure/amplitude. Works like depth perception for all intents and purposes. That's very hard to simulate with a single driver sitting right on top of your ear, you don't get the spatial acuity.

Multi driver headphones do it best. They use stereo sideways, so the drivers towards the front are higher amplitude for frontal sound, or the drivers towards the rear of the cup are higher in amplitude for ppl walking up on you. They use your ear and the differential in sound pressure per driver to simulate surround.

That, combined with a sound card and the right settings can accentuate rear noises, like sneaking footsteps, while lowering frontal noise. You'd always hear the Terrorist before he can stab you in the back in CSGO...

The simulated surround in my Arctis 7's isn't bad, actually quite decent for gaming, but when I want to really enjoy the music, all that gets turned off, full stereo for me. The Dolby kinda sucks for bass response and the harmonics from the surround just muddy the tone.