Creative SB X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro v3 Sound Blaster USB (External Sound Card with SBX and Windows 10 Support)

Bought the Omni after I was encountering issues with uneven volume, sound in ears being abit flat and issues with the onboard HD sound on the motherboard.I don't have a cheap rig, but I've never been one to get a soundcard installed seperate from the motherboard in a slot as not really needed it after onboard sound gradually started to become alot better over the years.I run a i7 gaming rig so generally can run most games, the issue I was having is the hyper X headset I have, the drivers sounded abit dull and not as good as they were at release. I figured this was related to the motherboard's onsound not being able to power the drivers in the earmuffs hard enough so I had a look around at a few options.Noting I have smaller motherboard and had just barely fitted in a MSI GTX 970 I didn't particularly want to add a soundcard into the mix and to get one which would preform without having issues with heat circulation and Magnetic interferace from other parts of the computer was proving differcult to say the least.A friend of mine posed the question, "why not try a external sound card?" So thought it over, looked through what was available in the higher quality brands and also reviews on youtube aswell as written on websites.Being a gamer I like to have good sound, but also being used to surrounded sound via software was another thing I wanted to retain as I had already tried a digital audio converter with AMP booster but it wasn't capable of transmitting the encoding.Now I looked at the xonar U7 and this one, they are basically the top of the range ones you can get without changing to a soundcard. Both had reasonable reviews however the latest customer reviews for the U7 was abit rough even on amazon's section so I looked into the Omni. Omni had certainly more reviews and more reviews by people who game frequently. So my choice was pretty much set with the Omni at that point.Upon delivery I set it up in probably around 10mins or so, this included finding the the software on the creative site as I never use software which has been put on the disc as its never uptodate. Installation really was a doddle, USB plug into the port and install the software, windows 7, which is what I use recognised it and sorted it out.Important point in regards to the Omni. Its a USB 2.0 device, I had plugged it into my USB 3.0 port and there was hanging and delay from the volume dial to reaction on screen and change in audio levels. Make sure you put it in a USB2.0 port to get maximum performance out of it.In regards to the Omni, is pretty small form for a device of its size no bigger than a razer diamonback gaming mouse in size. The power and data USB lead is also respectably long enough to cover from back of a tower unit and across a 3ft wide desk in my case and still have slack to play with. Some reviews commented on this was a negative as alot of reviews aim this at a laptop sound enhancing external card, quite frankly I think if your finding wire length as a negative you need to get some ruddy cable ties and man up.Also I wouldn't agree its just for laptop gamers. I'm using it on my tower unit due to space limitations and also to avoid magnetic interference from other devices. The other big bonus is if you SLI or crossfire you don't have to have a space for the soundcard because its outside! If your into streaming or youtube video production you might even have capture cards, normally you can't get capture cards, sound cards and graphics cards all in the same place but with the Omni it allows you to free up that space and it wouldn't be hard to fit two GTX 970s and two capture cards in with room to breath.What is the sound quality like from a gamer point of view?The sound quality is excellent! Seriously, its probably the clearest I've heard in a very long time and the big positive is its providing enough power to the amp to power my hyper X headset (the none USB ones). For FPS players you can configure the sound to your liking aswell as the software for the Omni is extremely robust, with adequate tweaking you will hear the footsteps of people from around corners and in general gaming sound will be really satsifying in the earholes.Its not just gaming it covers, it has Dolby Live for movies and you have your ability to adjust bars for music aswell, it also has the usual standard creative profiles for the different bar settings in the equalizer like previous creative products.On note on the microphone options, which I personally don't use, they have alot of useful settings to make you clearer over comms and reduce noise bleed and for amusement factor voice changer mods to.I've had the device for I think about a week and I'm quite frankly blown away at the better audio quality I'm experiencing now, things which were pretty much not even played prior with the onboard sound are now coming out with the Omni which is a real nice thing to have as in some games it adds even more immersion than previous.The Omni can support up to 150Ohms headphones so if you have a really uber pair of sennheisers or some top end headphones which use that power your going to be covered. Personally I intend to swap out my hyper X with some higher end headphones over the next few months since I now have the luxury to power them and also get excellent audio from them with the Omni.I would recommend this to gamers if your in the lookout for improving your gaming laptop sound or just don't have the space to have a big chunky dedicated soundcard in a tower or you have a setup inside which doesn't allow much else.For the asking price I'd say this is well worth it and you get clear, excellent quality sound through headphones or even external speakers if you use them. I have seen the common logitech 5.1 speaker set twinned with the Omni in quite a few reviews so if you do have them and are looking for a external card they will work well with it.That is all I can really say, happy with the purchase and what a difference in sound it has given for me, worth it for my situation.

This is a great little piece of kit. Don't get me wrong when i say little. I'm really referring to the price.Since this will probs be the latest review for this product i want to give as much detail as i can.Pros- Very user friendly. On current latest windows 10 updates. Is detected and recognised for what it is. Automatically installs latest firmware and drivers upon plugging into your usb port.- Now here's something they don't tell you. Even if you are running windows. you can still download the sound blaster omni control panel from their website. And also all firmware and drivers. I checked this out before making the purchase to make sure it would be suitable for my setup. I run an acer nitro 5. 10th gen hex core i7 gaming laptop that has NO DISK DRIVE. This is not a problem though. As mentioned all software on the disk is available for download from their website EVEN ON WINDOWS.- Once the software is downloaded from the creative website Or from the provided software installation disk your ready to seriously enhance your music, gaming, movie audio and VOIP apps (Discord, Skype, Teamspeak. you name it)Cons - It's not really a big issue. But There's a slight Hiss on the line when using voip apps. HOWEVER. I found that disabling the Equaliser resolves this.- None other yet!I will update this review if i come across any further issues.I hope this review is helpful to people. Great audio improvement for a reasonable price.

Great soundcard. I will list some pros and cons but wanted to say the card came well packaged and in its original packaging. The card works well and provides a much better user experience than my old built in sound card. It's a shame soind cards as a whole are kind of an afterthought for some board manufacturers.ProsThe card is super easy to install once you have the drivers and software.The sound quality is great, with options for different outputs and quality settings.5.1 surround via optical to a receiver, I have mine hooked upto a echo studio and music is crisp and games boom.Remote control was included and I did not know that, with a little option change it can now turn off the PC by pressing the power button on a RF remote, so that's a bonus.Easy to use and good software.ConsI have had to restart the card a couple of times but cannot source why this was needed, once turned off and right back on its been fine.The software (though good) is so hard to find on the creative website. Creative used to make this process a lot easier.The LED's on the device are not dimmable, not a huge issue but still.The box is a little light (weight) so it tends to move around easily. I have put some rubber feet on it to counter this.In short, it's a great card let down a little by hard to find software. Once that is installed though this really is worth a look if you require an external sound card for whatever reason.