THX TruStudio Pro has been one of the major features Creative’s been pushing onto their sound products lately and it’s actually something I found to be quite good.Īs you can see above, THX TruStudio Pro is actually a combination of a couple Creative sound processing technologies which you get to adjust. Above, we can see the first screen that pops up, the THX TruStudio Pro settings. This one is much simpler and more intuitive than the old one, but seems to have less options as well. Once the software is installed, you can fire up the control panel and one of the first things you’ll notice is that Creative has revamped the layout when compared to the older X-Fi control panel layout. The installation process felt very quick and lightweight, and the software installed without any issues. One of the first things you’ll realize about the software suite is that it’s suprisingly not as loaded with useless apps like it used to. The card has the ability to output 5.1 channel audio and has an optical input and output. Much better than blue or green.įinally, let’s move on to the business end of things. Otherwise, I’m definitely digging the black PCB. Seems like the PCB doesn’t even really need to be as big as it is. Here’s the brains of the Sound Blaster Recon 3D, that quad core Sound Core 3D processor.Īround the back, the card is quite empty as well. Yes, PCIe 1x cards will fit into PCIe 16x slots. The card does require a PCIe 1x or greater slot available, so make sure you’ve got one. It’s surprising how little is going on here. Doesn’t look like there’s much on this thing when compared to some of the older X-Fi cards.įront panel audio header right at the edge of the card is good. Here’s a quick look at the Recon 3D itself. All you get is the driver CD, a quick start guide, and a support guide. A Closer Look at the Recon 3D PCIeĬreative has included a very sparse amount of accessories with the Recon 3D PCIe. Honestly, if you’re still rocking XP though, it’s time to move on. Make sure you have it otherwise, the drivers aren’t going to install. Notice from the specifications that you will need Windows 7 in order to use this sound card. Available PCI Express ® (x1, x4 or x16) slot.Intel, AMD ® or 100% compatible motherboard.Intel ® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD ® equivalent processor, 2.2 GHz or faster.Line In / Microphone In: Shared 1/8″ mini jack.24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources (up to 96 kHz sample rate to analog outputs).24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs (up to 96 kHz sample rate).Well you’ve heard enough of the intro, and we’ve got a product to the test, so is the Recon 3D a worthy successor to the Creative name? Let’s find out! As the future Creative entry level gaming sound card, the Recon 3D incorporates Creative’s new Sound Core3D Quad-core Digital Signal Processor which features THX TruStudio Pro, CrystalVoice, 5.1 Surround Sound support, Dolby Digital Live encoding, and a “Scout Mode” that Creative claims will allow you to better hear your enemies giving you a tactical advantage on the battlefield. So, with great pleasure, today we are going to review the Creative Sound Blaster Recon 3D PCI-E soundcard. With previous greats such as the X-Fi line of sound cards, the company has time after time proven their expertise in this field. One of them, is Creative, and they’ve long been one of my favorites. When it comes to sound cards, there are really at most a couple companies that have survived in this game. Yes, it is true that on-board sound has come a long way from what it once was, and yes in this day and age the sound card really doesn’t do much gaming performance wise considering the power of today’s processors, but if you really want to experience true audio bliss in your music, games and movies, you’ll inevitably need a dedicated sound card. When building a rig, most builders optimize aspects of their PC such as the graphics, processing power, and storage space before sound.
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