Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! 3 External USB Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac. Plug and Play (No Drivers Required). Upgrade to 24-Bit 96Khz Playback

My iMac cant get updates past 10.13, so it was time to breath new life into it by loaded Windows 8.1, which is the latest version of Windows it can run effectively. After loading Windows 8.1, I was unable to get the built in sound to work. Ive run various versions of Windows on a lot of different Macs and never ran into this. After trying a number of different solutions I decided to just go ahead and get an external USB sound card. The reviews on this were great, so I got it and its done what it needs to do. And as an added bonus, I can tell it provides slightly better sound than with the built in output to the same headset I was using. I would recommend purchasing this device to anyone.

Necesitaba tener una entrada adicional de sonido en mi macbook para poder evitar el loopback

The Sound Blaster Play! is a compact and portable sound card that can be easily plugged into your computers USB port. It has a sleek and stylish design, and its small form factor makes it easy to carry around with you wherever you go. The sound card is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, and can be used with a variety of devices including headphones, speakers, and microphones. One of the main features of the Sound Blaster Play! is its high-quality digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which helps to improve the overall sound quality of your audio. It also has a built-in amplifier, which can provide additional power to your headphones or speakers, resulting in a clearer and more detailed sound. Users have reported that the sound quality is noticeably better when using the Sound Blaster Play! compared to their computers built-in audio. The Sound Blaster Play! also includes a variety of software features, such as the Sound Blaster Command software, which allows you to customize the audio settings to your liking. The software also includes a range of audio effects and enhancements, such as virtual surround sound, EQ adjustments, and noise reduction. In summary, the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! is a great option for anyone looking to improve the audio quality of their computer or laptop. Its compact and portable design, high-quality DAC and built-in amplifier, and customizable software features make it a great value for its price.

I mainly used to device for music. Sound quality is excellent and its very neutral. Pairs excellent with bright iems. Not sure why people dont mention this device. I had issues with driver but I somehow fixed it by uninstalling and installing the drivers again. But device was keep disconnecting for sometime. I decided to return the device. If creative make another portable dac in future I am certainly going to try it out.

Sound quality is what I have come to expect from Sound Blaster, having owned the SB16 back in 94, the AWE32 a couple years later, and eventually a SB Live! PCI card in the late nineties. I eventually took a hiatus from A/V and PC gaming until recently when I decided to pick one of these up to use for teleworking. It has a decent level of pre-amplification for minimal distortion playback of video and/or video games. Anything I play back sounds as good as the source permits (obviously, a 128Kbps MP3 cant be made to sound any better than it can; garbage in, garbage out). Its just that this overcomes limitations present in most inexpensive onboard sound chipsets included in the vast majority of PC systems and/or motherboards.

Recently purchased a decent 2.1 speaker system to use with laptop in my office. Plugging the 3.5 into the headphone jack just wasnt cutting it with the laptops built in sound card. Sound was weak and almost no power to the sub. This fixed that! Download the software and youll be very pleased. Now my 2.1 system sounds like it did when I was running everything through a A/V receiver. Love it.

Update #3 Creative wants to play games with support and I havent gotten anything substantive from them. Their chat support was responsive, but they dont do consumer RMAs. I finally got in touch with a helpful person at Amazon who refunded me. And then the 4th one died too, albeit in a different way. Not sure how I got so many duds, nor what the problem is. i cant get in touch with a techy person to do real troubleshooting. This was my last time trying this adapter. I went with a random one on Amazon for half the price, which probably has a Realtek chip in it. Update #2 Both Amazon and Creative are dropping the ball. Amazon made promises, then failed to deliver, and Creative wants nothing to do with you if you dont buy direct from them. This is ridiculous! Update: The second one has died the same way as the first: no mic input. Looking on their support page for less than a minute and Ive gone in 3 circles and found some kind of channel partner portal. Warranty/RMA service is not complicated, yet companies seem to go out of their way to make it so. Ive noticed the price has dropped 25% since I bought mine, but its still available for same-day delivery. That seems to be conflicting signals if my problem is indicitive of a wide spread issue or not. I may upgrade my review if, ONCE I FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH CREATIVE, I can get decent support. Original review: TL;DR Works good, and the gamers I voicechat with love the audio quality First one died after 2 days, but the replacement has been working fine. Getting a replacement out of amazone instead of a refund/re-order was more painful than anything to do with the sound card. I use it with a SENNHEISER GSP 500 Open backed headset: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CK4J1SW/ which apparently has an unusal mic impedance and might not work with all USB soundcards. That headset did not work with a comparable Sabrent USB soundcard, for example.

Used it with both my laptop and desktop. Other than occasional audio pops and distortions from time to time, it works good.

muy bueno

I bought this for my son who just needed a volume boost. He loves it.