Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Fx V2 Upgradable Hi-res PCI-e Sound Card with 5.1 Discrete and Virtual Surround, Scout Mode, SmartComms Kit for PC

Decades ago, I fell in love with Sound Blaster. I dug out my old Logitech computer sound system and wanted to use the full 5.1 set up. On board sound cards can't do that. When I started my search, I found SB is still making affordable cards. I only needed the 5.1 config and SFF size and for the price, it can't be beat! The card is excellent. The software for it is great and very easy to use. You can set up different listening profiles with the virtual EQ or use the presets.Absolutely recommend!

Bought this for my new Windows 11 PC. Popped it into my MSI PRO X870-P WIFI motherboard and it worked perfect right out of the box. I did NOT install any Creative software/drivers. This is used primarily for plugging my headphones into, and it works perfect. Sound quality in windows settings is 32bit 192000 Hz for headphones, and 2 channels 24bit 192000 Hz for my microphone. Headphones I use are the Sennheiser PC38X Gaming Headset, and with this sound card, they sound great in games and really good for listening to music.

Was skeptical when I installed it given how tiny the card was. Yes, I've owned Audigy, Xonar and other Core3D cards before switching to on-board and those were all much larger than this one. I wasn't keen on an add-on audio card since the previous one blocked the airflow of my 3080 graphics card. This one has a super small profile so it works a charm.I decided to buy this since the on-board audio (line-out) and DP audio passthrough via the monitor left me with very low volume output and muffled speech. I use a Logitech Z623 2.1 speaker kit. Pleasantly surprised at how this sounds despite the Realtek chip. Driver support and new updates on Windows 11 for this card are the other reasons I picked it. I certainly wasn't disappointed and the audio plays crystal clear. It could be a bit better for gaming though and I guess that's where the higher end cards come in handy. However, for my main use, which is to watch videos and light gaming (always single-player), this is just perfect. Highly recommended!

I had trouble with a previous SB card not working properly on the latest builds of Windows 10, so I chose the "V2" because it is the newest SB Audigy FX card, released in late 2021. My old SB card wouldn't show up in windows after a reboot, and I had no sound at all. After installing this card and starting my PC, I immediately had sound - even without installing the creative driver and software suite! So that was a good start.Then I downloaded the latest Audigy FX V2 software ("Creative App")from the website, installed, and rebooted. after launching the program, it prompted for a driver update (another good sign), and a few seconds later, The control panel was populated with all of the card's features. the Creative App for this card is similar to the SBX interface that is on the soundblaster Z and other higher end cards. From what I gather, the actual effects chip on this cars is the same as on their other high-end cards, but uses a Realtek DAC instead of a more expensive unit found on the other cards. But the Realtek DAC is still better than the onboard Realtek chip that came on my motherboard, so that is a plus.This card's sound is quite punchy, full, and definitely a lot louder than the onboard audio that came on my Asus motherboard. After customizing the surround sound, crystalizer, bass, and EQ settings in the App, it sounds magnitudes better than it did before. I am very happy with this card, especially considering the price.My only gripe is that you get separate settings for the desktop speakers and your headphones (which is great), but when you switch from your speakers to your headphones, the software does not switch profiles to match. you have to manually open the software, and switch it to headphone. I wish it would look at whichever device was being used, and automatically switch the profile. but otherwise, a great card.

Replaced a 12 year old Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card with this because drivers are no longer supported. This card has superior sound than that old card at about half the price. The software comes with a simple, yet precise equalizer that lets you tweak the sound to your liking. You'll definitely notice an upgrade if you're only using integrated audio!

The Creative App lacks the ability to control the lower end. I'm not sure why many programmers for Audio software often leave out the control for frequencies below 60hz. I get that some people are not able to pick up lower frequencies below 60hz, as most people do not have speakers like a decent subwoofer to hear those lower notes. And that some people may damage their speakers by boosting where their speakers aren't designed to handle. But for people that do, that control would be great. I have a 12" subwoofer vented 1.6 cbft enclosure, that has a port tuned to 24hz so, it's more designed for sound quality. Having some control over those lower notes would help tremendously.. So, it's my fault for not checking or researching fully before buying. I was buying in a pinch. Needed something for my PC, my mainboard audio wasn't sounding great, and the software for it was garbage. Audio would randomly distort.... Which brings me to my next issue...Even with this Sound card, the audio also distorts when the volume slider is at 100% it didn't help the issue I was having with my Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING II mother board. The only way to remedy was to have the volume at around 60% to 70% where it's a good balance. I have it at 66% I'm not sure why i'm having this distorting issue, maybe it's my MB, because my last build didn't have this problem. Then again, I had a different MB, and a different Sound card that uses an old PCI slot that does not exist on my new MB.. The design of the Creative App is nice, I find most the settings gimmicky. But a clean design.