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Sound Blaster Z SE
High-performance PCI-e Gaming and Entertainment Sound Card and DAC
Features
Overview
The Sound Blaster Z SE is the Special Edition of the best-selling OG, Sound Blaster Z, and comes with updated features designed for effortless audio enjoyment! Not only does it feature the same high-quality audio specifications that have made its predecessor a long-time best-selling model, it has also been further boosted with gaming acoustic profiles and microphone EQ presets, all aimed to enhance your gaming and entertainment needs.
For Games:
Get started instantly with our Gaming Profiles that have been optimized for the hottest games like PUBG and Fortnite, or tweak the EQ settings further to make the profile truly yours.
For Voice Chat
Choose from our list of pre-tuned Microphone EQs that compensates for your preferred headset's built-in mic so you sound more natural and clearer while communicating.
It's all meticulously engineered so you can get to the fun part right away!
Audio
Pristine Audio Clarity
Don't let your PC's onboard audio dilute your audio enjoyment! With a signal-to-noise (SNR) of 116 dB that is 35.4 times better than your default audio, Sound Blaster Z SE delivers pristine audio clarity that is nothing short of impressive. It is also capable of delivering pure and unprocessed audio via Stereo Direct at an amazing bit rate of up to 24-bit / 192 kHz for high-definition audio quality.
Sound Core3D™ Audio Processor
The multi-core Sound Core3D™ audio processor is designed to deliver high-quality, pristine audio without overstressing your primary CPU.
This improves your overall PC performance, resulting in drastically superior audio and voice quality, and contributes to an overall enhanced acoustics performance.
Advanced Entertainment Audio
With Sound Blaster Z SE's gold-plated connectors, speaker optimization technology, and digital content encoding capability, you can be assured of only the best digital audio possible. Plus, the sound card supports Audio Stream Input / Output (ASIO) to provide you with low-latency and high-fidelity audio, even for your recordings!
Bring Out the Best in Your Gaming Headset
Complementing your gaming headset with a high-performance headphone amplifier brings out the best of the headset, and helps it maximize its performance. Our Sound Blaster Z SE comes featured with a headphone amplifier that easily drives studio-grade headphones of up to 600Ω.
For the end users, this means that you can bring out the best in your gaming headset, for the ultimate headphones experience.
Pre-tuned Headphones EQ Presets
On top of that, we have also expanded the list of headphones profiles to include the latest models like the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, Corsair HS50, and Philips Fidelio X2HR, guaranteeing you the best optimized listening experience with the Sound Blaster Z SE. There's certainly no fuss at all; just pristine, high-quality, and immersive headphones audio experience.
Gaming
Sound Blaster's SBX Gaming Profiles
That feeling when you've just gotten your hands on a new game and you can't wait to start? We know it too. With our updated SBX Gaming Profiles for hot game titles such as Apex Legends, Fortnite, Overwatch, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the gaming profiles are in-house tuned and optimized to sound the best for each of the specific titles by our dedicated gamers (we mean software developers).
Instead of having to create such profiles from scratch, you can simply select the respective game from our software's menu, and get started right away. If you want to customize it further, you can also do so to make the profile truly yours!
Surround
Stay Focused with Immersive Surround
Especially during boss fights, surround sound plays an essential role in keeping you focused while enhancing the overall gaming experience. Whether you are outputting to headphones or speakers, the Sound Blaster Z SE is able to take stereo or multi-stream sources and transform them into immersive, theatrical audio.
Besides our Sound Blaster's Surround Virtualization audio technology, the Sound Blaster Z SE supports 5.1 discrete channels on speakers and up to 7.1 virtual surround on headphones. You can even switch between headphones and your speakers for those times you want to pump the bass, or go stealthier with your headphones, via the Sound Blaster Command software.
There's also Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect Encoding for even more delivery options to your external audio devices.
Communications
Be Heard Clearly Without Fuss
Having the right strategy is only half the battle won. If you want to emerge victorious with your team, effective and clear communications are essential too. The Sound Blaster Z SE comes with an array of communication technologies aimed at improving your in-game voice chat with your team! Does your voice command often sound too “bassy” or “thin”?
Now, with a list of our Microphone Equalizer presets, you can improve your communications quality, and be heard clearly by your teammates without having to spend extra money on another external device, or having to manage the rigorous mic settings by yourself. Available via the Sound Blaster Command software, the Microphone EQ compensates for your headset's built-in mic, whether it is to reduce the harshness of your tonality, sound more natural and richer, or to increase the mids for vocal clarity.
In addition, our CrystalVoice technology from the software suite also aids in removing echoes, ambient noises, and picks up your voice from within a zone (Voice Focus) to maintain and enhance your voice level, whether you are near or away from the microphone-perfect for games and even video conferences while working from home for better communications.
Software
Sound Blaster Command Software
We've updated the software suite for Sound Blaster Z SE so that you can enjoy our latest audio technologies! Access the full suite of Sound Blaster's industry-leading audio processing technologies including 7.1 Surround for an incredible immersion, Crystallizer that helps improve the dynamic range of audio, or Bass that provides bigger punch on the low end. All enhancements are fully customizable from the Sound Blaster Command software suite on PC.
A Closer Look
Specifications
-
Audio Technology
- Sound Core3D
-
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
- 116 dB
-
Platform
- PC - PCI-e x1
-
Connectivity Options (Main)
- Speaker Out:
3 x 3.5 mm jacks (Front, Rear, C/Sub)
Optical Out:
1 x TOSLINK
Optical In:
1 x TOSLINK
Headphone:
1 x Amplified 3.5 mm jack
Line / Mic In:
1 x 3.5 mm jack
-
Max Channel Output
- 5.1 Channels, 7.1 Virtual
-
Supported Operating Systems
- Windows® 8, Windows® 10, Windows® 11
-
Audio Fidelity
- Up to 24-bit / 192 kHz
-
ASIO
- ASIO 2.0
System Requirements
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD® equivalent processor, 2.2GHz or faster recommended
- Intel, AMD, or 100% compatible motherboard
- Microsoft® Windows® 11; Windows® 10 (32 / 64-bit); Windows® 8 (32 / 64-bit); Windows® 7 (32 / 64-bit)
- 1 GB RAM
- >600 MB of free hard disk space
- Available PCI Express® (x1, x4, or x16) slot
Package Contents
- 1 x Sound Blaster Z Sound Card
- Quick Start Leaflet
- Warranty Leaflet
Warranty
1-year Limited Hardware Warranty
California Residents
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Lead, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.
To meet the requirements of Proposition 65, it is our responsibility to notify consumers in the State of California that they can be exposed to chemicals that are known to cause cancer and/or reproductive toxicity. It does not mean that the product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.
