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Smartcomms Kit
I have covered Smartcomms a few times now and have been pleased with its performance. It is used on the Sound Blaster Play! 4 and the Cam Sync 1080p V2.
The main features that the SmartComms Kit offers is:
- VoiceDetect automatically unmutes your mic when you speak and mutes when you stop.
- NoiseClean helps eliminate background noise such as fan noise
- NoiseClean does the same, but in reverse, cleaning up the audio from other people on the call/stream
It works well with the Sennheiser GSP 601, cleaning up the noise and reduces the need for me to manually mute the headset.
Price and Alternative Options
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The Creative SoundBlaster X4 is priced at £134.99 direct from Creative and is available on Amazon.
Creative sell the X3 for just £5 less, it is also available from Amazon for £120. It has a slightly better audio hardware spec, but misses out on Smartcomms
The Creative G6 is also available on Amazon for £129.99; apart from the improved console compatibility, this offers superior headphone impedance with an ultra-low 1Ω vs 10Ω
The FiiO K5 Pro has gone up in price since I bought it and is now £170. It is a great desktop DAC with multiple input options and low output impedance for headphones, but it lacks the software and gaming features of the Creative.
Overall
I really like the Creative SoundBlaster X4, and it could be the overall best solution for my particular scenario. If you use a combination of speakers and headphones, this is an ideal solution.
Sound quality is superb, I’d say it is as good as my FIIO, and you have the added benefit for an EQ and software processing (and the option to disable these). I am a big fan of volume knobs, and this integrates directly into Windows
The main downside for me is the limited number of inputs with just USB and the combo line in/optical socket. This is enough for me as I only ever switch between my Nvidia Shield and PC, but others may find it limiting.
I can’t compare the performance to the previous Creative SoundBlaster X3; while the X3 may appear to offer a better specification, by all accounts, they offer no benefit at all. The X4 then has the SmartComms Kit, which I have found to be beneficial, so I think the small price difference makes the X4 worth buying over the X3 (though it’s also not worth upgrading from an X3 to X4).
Overall, this is an excellent external soundcard that is reasonably priced.
