I bought the Sound Blaster X4 external "sound card" for two reasons.
1-I because it was necessary for better sound using a mini-micro PC in a small chassis not big enough for typical sound cards.
2-Because I wanted the flexibility of an external device that would serve at least a 5:1 speaker system.
This sound card should suit almost any PC or game user as well as those simply wanting very good audio.
Build quality seems very good and its small size and desk foot print made it very functional in my case.
As usual once discovered the Creative app software compatibility makes everything accessible that you might need to tweak, although in many cases leaving everything as standard is great as it is. Installation is easy and as near plug and play as possible. Even without is own dedicated drivers it worked but of course remember what is written above to get the most from the card.
At first I was only let down by the lack of an ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) driver especially as I sometimes produce music for my own multi channel entertainment.
I wrote to Creative to find out if a dedicated ASIO driver was in the pipeline.
Creative were amazing... They responded by email within a day saying that the X4 was ASIO 2.1 Compliant but the driver was not included in the standard Creative app or the SXFi app. The representative said that they would find the link for the ASIO driver from the Creative team.
A second email arrived with a link to download the ASIO driver.
Once installed all if not more than expected ASIO channels functioned from within my DAW and other VST apps.
If there are musicians looking for a one stop ASIO sound card the Sound Blaster X4 might just be for you given the value for money that compares well considering the up to 7:1 ASIO multi channel once installed.
In addition it is good to know that Creative can and will help as they did with my enquiry.
Well done the Creative and their product.
| Brand | CREATIVE |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 13.1 x 13.1 x 4.1 cm; 620 g |
| Item model number | X4 |
| Manufacturer | Creative Labs |
| Series | x4 |
| Colour | 114 dB with Optical-in and SmartComms Kit |
| Computer Memory Type | DIMM |
| Hardware Platform | Personal Computer |
| Operating System | windows 10 |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 620 g |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
