I use an older Recon3D PCIe which has worked fine for many years. The Recon3D is now at "end of life". I'm still able to find the driver at Creative and I'm wondering what I could upgrade to. When I go to the Creative support page I no longer see internal cards as an option to choose from in the product selection. Is Creative moving away from making internal sound cards for PCs?
 
I found the Sound Blaster Z listed when searching the Sound Blaster address. It's now marked down and I would be interested in picking it up if I had confidence this product won't become "end of life" soon also.
 
 

KenMcC
seems to me that the internal Audio chip puts out great sound.  You don't need a complete board when internal firmware on modern motherboards  does the same thing.  just my opinion.   Yes I am still using a P55 but, I have purchased all new EVGA stuff that has arrived and I am reading up on how to install Win 10 and Office 2016. 

My onboard sound seems just fine to me..but I don't do sound/music creation or editing..
 

Nothing wrong with using older PCI-E sound card, long as it has all the features and windows drivers you need.
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the reply's. The way I currently use my Recon3D is running an optical cord to my Yamaha receiver. I have a nice 5:1 surround system in my computer room and the only time I wear gaming headphones is when I've played online games, like Left 4 Dead, and I also need to talk. I currently have the Corsair H2100 wireless USB headset, so I don't need a great soundcard for headphones.
 
What got me interested in thinking about my soundcard was that I started having problems with switching "Playback Modes" in Windows > Sound. I've been trying to record Minecraft using Shadowplay. The mike on the Corsair headphone really sucks, the volume is way to low with no way to control it in their software. So I tried hooking up my inexpensive but nice Azden shotgun mic to the sound card, but it never recorded my voice even though I had selected Recon3D in "Recording" > Windows > Sound.
 
So anyway, I thought that the software for my Recon3D was getting old and maybe the software for newer models might be better.

rjohnson11
Creative ticked a lot of people off with providing new drivers for the last few generation operating systems at a snail's pace. A lot of people moved to other sound card providers.

Thanks rjohnson11, good to see you're still active.

007vsMagua

rjohnson11
Creative ticked a lot of people off with providing new drivers for the last few generation operating systems at a snail's pace. A lot of people moved to other sound card providers.

Thanks rjohnson11, good to see you're still active.

Hes always active on here, just check Computer industry news section.
 
After the creative audigy ZS line, people kept saying creative drivers were junk.  I replaced my old creative audigy ZS platinum with HT Omega Claro+ (PCI slot).  Not sure which sound card i will go with on my next build.
 

WackyWRZ
I've heard really good things about the Strix cards and the software that comes with them.  The sonic radar stuff looks pretty interesting too.

Most of that bundled asus software is pretty buggy. I have played with most of it on a z97 m7hero I had and none of it really worked 100% of the time. Most of it got uninstalled after a couple days. 
 
Also, some peeps consider sonic radar cheating. just mention it in a comp CSGO match and listen to the rage that ensues. Even though half the people playing are probably using it or something similar. HAHA
 
 
my vote goes for just plain good quality sound. I use a Mayflower objective 2 DAC/AMP with some good quality headphones or monitors. It doesnt really get any better. Most of that software surround stuff sucks too. 

no need to replace it if it still works, hell I still use an Audigy 2 ZS, why because it still works great and sounds awesome

ragevirusqq

WackyWRZ
I've heard really good things about the Strix cards and the software that comes with them.  The sonic radar stuff looks pretty interesting too.

Most of that bundled asus software is pretty buggy. I have played with most of it on a z97 m7hero I had and none of it really worked 100% of the time. Most of it got uninstalled after a couple days. 
 
Also, some peeps consider sonic radar cheating. just mention it in a comp CSGO match and listen to the rage that ensues. Even though half the people playing are probably using it or something similar. HAHA
 
 
my vote goes for just plain good quality sound. I use a Mayflower objective 2 DAC/AMP with some good quality headphones or monitors. It doesnt really get any better. Most of that software surround stuff sucks too. 

On-board sound doesn't have the power to drive a decent pair of headphones IMO.
 
I am currently testing the differences between a Sound Blaster Zx and Asus Strix Raid DLX. the Asus card sounds pretty dam good and the software seems great but the sonic radar is just gimmicky, I never look at it when playing otherwise I am dead and isn't that accurate either, can't believe ppl think it is cheating. The aesthetics of the card sucks, black grey and orange. That odd owls eye faces the bottom and in the back near the PCI-e and has an orange LED. The Shield is stops about 3/4 down the card and you can see light blue CAPS plus the 6-pin power connector. Overall, think Asus needs to go back to the drawing board with card.
 
The Sound Blaster has a quality feel about it, nice aluminum shield but it is red and it has BRIGHT red leds that clashed with my white theme build. I was however, able to remove the red leds and solder in some white ones and use the shield from my X-fi Titanium Fatal1ty pro.... Looks great. Sound quality is good as well.  

I eventually got my Recon3D working good again. I had to uninstall and reinstall the driver and control panel software about a half dozen times. The problem I had was that the software was not installing the Dolby Digital Live Pack and so no option for Cinematic. Eventually it took and I was able to select the Dolby Encoder. The other problem I was having was being able to switch playback devices in the Windows Sound Control Panel. Switching from my USB wireless Corsair Headset to Recon3d Speakers was just not working. What I eventually stumbled upon was that the Recon3D SPDIF-Out needs to set to "Ready". Now I know how to move between the two devices. All is good.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
 
 

Has anyone ever noticed that after Creative comes out with a new sound card
they will shortly after stop support for the previous product.
No improving the drivers or fixing compatibility problems. They just stop.
So you'll buy the new one. Right?