Sound Blaster Z Driver issues.

[Forcefed]

Hello,

Ok so this issue has to be experienced by someone else...

Basically it must be a driver crash for the SBZ Cards and it causes a whole heap of problems for my PC. The problem is extremely random, and as you can see it's taking up nearly 50% of CPU usage. I can't play games without extreme FPS issues, etc, even ending the software and drivers and restarting them doesn't fix it, only a restart.

I've updated the drivers, even went back to older ones. This issue is really annoying. Creative Support seems to be oblivious of problems and I can't use their forums cause they are extremely negligent when accepting new forum users to allow them to post.

The card it's self doesn't seem defective, doesn't cause issues without the software installed. No audio distortions or malfunctions, just this...

My PC specs are:
Win 8 64 Bit
i7 2600k
Asrock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3
16GB Gskill Ripjaw
x2 GTX 570's
Sound Blaster Z

 

[gamerk316]

I haven't heard of driver issues for the new Z lineup, but that being said, it IS Creative we're talking about here. Can't say much at this point, since the Z lineup is still new.

 

[Jinxie617]

I have the Z series and it worked fine up until recently. The problem began after I had to replace my hard drive and re-install everything. Now, after playing a couple of songs or videos (doesn't seem to matter which) after just a few, then everything starts to sound like it's playing through water and sounds pretty messed up. I've installed updates, but nothing has fixed the issue.

I'm ready to uninstall it and do a complete re-install from scratch. Replacing my hard drive seems to have created a bunch of issues across the board with several drivers. Don't even want to get into what I had to do to get my video card driver to update and work.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is a Windows Ultimate issue - my old hard drive was 1Tb and new one is 3Tb and wouldn't work as full 3Tb, so had to configure it so Windows would run it (sees it as 2Tb) now.

So because I've had several driver issues, not sure this is specifically an issue with my creative Z series, so much as typical Microsoft BS! Any input (as long as it's productive) is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Jinxie617]

Problem solved! Nothing wrong with my sound card at all. Hubby configured it for 5 speakers and I was only using 2 + a sub-woofer. Since I have major sinus issues going on right now, hearing the music play nicely for a short time and then change to sounding like it was under water... was beginning to blame my sinuses and possibly losing my mind until my 21 yr old confirmed it wasn't in my head! lol Much relief to have great, clear, high quality sound back again. Just as I would expect from Creative!