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Showing 1 of 102 conversations about:
ShazMan
163
Feb 3, 2019
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Times are hard for Creative. Using the Sound Blaster name to sell gaming keyboards must be a new low for them. Gone are the days of sound cards, X-fi and Audigy. Granted most of them where still geared towards gamers but a product that has the word "Sound" but has nothing to do with Audio just sounds weird to me, pardon the pun.
smileybarry
142
Feb 4, 2019
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ShazManYeah, I was looking for anything to justify the name. But no, it doesn't even include a USB sound card built into it like some 10+ year old gaming keyboards.
Fugums
0
Feb 7, 2019
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ShazManMicrosoft "killed" PC Gaming audio when they got rid of the audio HAL and DSP effects with Vista when they got rid of DirectAudio. Suddenly games had to use their own software audio solution, and hardware "gaming" sound made less sense. (yes, there are workarounds like OpenAL for older soundcards, but...)
So, these days, there is no need for DSP anymore, as game devs are forced to do everything in software. This essentially tuns the sound card into nothing but a DAC.
ShazMan
163
Feb 7, 2019
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FugumsTrue, but some Sound cards do come with an AMP and interchangeable OpAmps. I used to run an Asus Essence and Essence II STX's on my rigs when I used to actively game. They came with TRS plugs for HP and Mic outs and I got into the OpAmp game until life forced me to use a Mac 24/7 and now I just run a dedicated desktop DAC/AMP stack.
DigitalRonyn
558
Creative Labs
Mar 15, 2019
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ShazManHey ShazMan,
Actually...we're celebrating our 30th anniversary this year and have more audio products in our lineup coming in the back half of this year than we've ever had in the past.
We made the Siege and Vanguard to compliment our gaming lineup range and expand out...we've made mice and keyboards in the past...lots of them.
And it's actually not all that uncommon for tech companies to expand out and try new things (like those other crazy companies that started in non-audio and moved into audio...(Razer, Logitech, SteelSeries, Asus, ....and basically EVERY other gaming peripheral company out there).
We started with Sound...and it's our passion...along with delivering awesome products that fuel our other passion we've been pursuing for the last 30 years. Gaming. We know it might not be the most logical to some folks to have the Sound Blaster brand on an input device...but it's our brand and heritage...and we never let it limit the pursuit of our passion.
DigitalRonyn
558
Creative Labs
Mar 15, 2019
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FugumsThis isn't really a totally accurate statement for our audio products that are enabled with hardware processing.
We can do PLENTY of enhancements and effects with the audio streams that are supplied to our devices in 5.1 /7.1 mode (optical or USB).
TLemelin
165
Jun 25, 2019
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DigitalRonynWhile the response is, of course, appreciated... the point is that Sound Blaster on a keyboard is silly. Unless the keyboard has an integrated sound card and we're plugging our speakers into the keyboard? No? Then yes, silly. It's Creative Labs... not Sound Blaster.
TLemelin
165
Jul 17, 2019
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MKiroThat would be interesting, but a very niche product. I wouldn't want my speakers plugged into my keyboard, but I could see someone who does digital audio editing making use of that.
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