Creative Sound Blaster Play! 4 Hi-res External USB-C DAC and Sound Adapter Ft. VoiceDetect Auto Mic Mute/Unmute, Two-Way Noise Cancellation, Bass Boost/Dynamic EQs, for Video Calls on Windows PC

The Creative Sound Blaster Play! 3 is a compact and versatile USB audio interface that significantly enhances sound quality for gaming and music. With its easy plug-and-play setup, it’s perfect for both beginners and experienced users. The built-in headphone amplifier provides rich, clear audio, while customizable audio profiles allow for a tailored listening experience. The durable design makes it a reliable companion for on-the-go use. Overall, it’s an excellent choice for anyone looking to improve their audio experience without breaking the bank.

I can feel noticeable difference, please use Apple Music and get great experience and get lost in melodious world

The sound quality is excellent compared to my on board dac of my laptop. You must download the software to make the full use of it. The equalizer part is not good because it produces a wow effect ( if you know older tape players you know what I mean) . So I turned it off always. The srs crystallizer setting is all you need, very deeep bass and sharp and crisp treble. The night mode is very convenient too.

My laptop's inbuilt sound card gives terrible sound. With this dongle, I can certainly sense the performance has improved quite a lot. I use it on my laptop and it works with my android mobile as well. You need to enable the USB Debugging option in the settings of your phone. Moreover, to drive the headphones I have added the Volume Booster app so I can increase the volume output. It does cause phone overheating so be cautious. 20-30 mins use should be okay. Yes! You need to install the Creative SBX Pro app on your PC/Laptop. I use this device for Zoom meetings, on-location content recording, and to connect my lav mic (with adapter TRRS to TRS). I love it. Going to drive my Sony MDR 7506 headphone monitors, the Blackwire 5220 headset and the basic Sennheiser CX180 headphones. I shall update the experience here because not much review/content is there on YouTube and elsewhere for this product. Overall, I loved the product. Priced quite high compared to the USA market. I am going to get the Sound Blaster Play 4 for online meetings and calls.

Good product

Don't waste your money on it, Completely ruined sound signature.

Its worth noting that the Play 3 should be used with the Software (downloadable from official site) rather than simply Plug and Play. The software has quite a few tweaks that allows lots of flexibility regarding tweaking of sound signature. The output gain options are handy depending on the kind of headsets being used. Over ear large sized headphones even though less than 64 ohms play quite well with the higher ohms option as it increases the volume by approx 30%. I found the default option a bit too low in volume. Other enhancement options like Crystalizer enhances the volume further while giving more Bass and Treble (fun sounding signature). There is also a Bass Boost option which also provides quite a punch. Apart from these options one can also tweak the EQ separately. Hence all in all the options are plenty. As for difference between onboard audio and USB can definitely be felt if the motherboard is below 10K /-. My reason for buying this usb DAC is because I was hearing crackling sounds from my motherboard inbuild audio, mostly because my GPU (rx5700XT) was causing interference. This solved the issue (do note that simple plug and play didn't solve anything besides the audio sounding too underwhelming. Only after installing the downloaded driver/software did I notice the immediate change in sound signature).

Best for audio calls. Plug and play solves most of my problems. Supports even ubuntu and mac so I am sure other should be compatible with other platforms as well. Must have if you want to cheap out headphones or earphones.

Lo compré para tener mejor sonido en el ordenador del trabajo, cuya tarjeta de sonido integrada es muy pobre. La diferencia se nota desde el primer momento: el sonido es mucho más detallado, con menos ruido de fondo y mayor volumen en unos auriculares de 32 ohmios (unos Samson SR850). Donde de verdad se nota una gran mejora es en la entrada de micrófono, que se escucha mucho más alto y con menos ruido de fondo que con la tarjeta integrada. Además trae funciones para reducir el ruido de fondo, tanto el que entra por el micrófono como el que se recibe por los auriculares, aunque esta opción reduce algo la calidad del sonido y, a menos que estés en un entorno ruidoso, no creo necesario utilizarla. También se nota la diferencia al conectarlo a unos altavoces y, aunque no soy partidario de utilizar efectos, la función Crystalizer mejora mucho el sonido en este caso. Respecto a la función DAC para teléfono móvil, he probado a conectarlos a un Xiaomi Mi A3 y no he notado demasiada diferencia en la calidad de sonido respecto a la salida normal de auriculares. Además, el volumen es más bajo que al utilizarlo en PC, no se si esta limitación es a causa de Android o del voltaje del USB del móvil, por lo que si queremos utilizarlo como amplificador, creo que es mejor buscar otra alternativa. Por el precio que tiene, es una estupenda tarjeta para escuchar música con calidad y tener un buen sonido en las videoconferencias.

This product works as a USB to 3.5mm audio out/mic in amp. Handy when you need an extra audio out but have only one at the back of your motherboard either due to case design or malfunctioning audio port. Just like other reviews mentioned, the creative control panel software should be installed and used to disable the audio enhancements and mic monitoring that are on by default. This results in a clean sound. As for the hissing sound that others mentioned, I personally experienced a minimal level of it when using a pair of low impedance earphones. This can be worked around by either replugging this USB amp, or switching to a different audio source (e.g. movies, switching from 2.0 to 5.1 or vice versa causes the very minor hiss to disappear). When using a 50 ohms headphones I experienced none of that hissing noise. It is not really a problem for me. The only downside would be the short USB connector placing it in an odd vertical position when plugged into the front USB ports. Otherwise, well, this works. 8/10

Tut was es soll (hatte Probleme mit Sound an Mainboard - kein Sound unter Win 11(Treiber-Problemm)) Diese an USB A angeschlossen (USB C auf USB A Adapter war dabei) und es funktioniert nach dem PC-neustart sofort und ohne Probleme. (musste nichts installieren). Preis-Leistung - Top!

Very good DAC dongle, pairs great with HD599 on a Iphone(will not handle well HD600’s series). The bass boost is well balance. Works straight from the box, there is a firmware update available for some features.

Avevo bisogno di uno splitter per separare gli ingressi di cuffia e microfono del mio notebook, recensioni e prezzi dei cavetti di separazione non mi hanno convinto e ho preferito acquistare una scheda audio esterna. Dopo averla provata con il driver installato da Windows 11, ho scaricato il driver proprietario e funziona benissimo. Ha un livello di uscita adeguato a pilotare la mia cuffia che ha un'impedenza di 250 Ohm, mentre con la scheda audio interna il volume a volte era troppo basso. Avrei preferito le prese di cuffia e microfono un po' più distanti fra loro, ma non è un problema. Molto soddisfatto dell'acquisto, funziona molto bene e ha un prezzo poco più alto di un semplice cavetto. Pagata poco più di 16 euro.