Now for the details.
Features, appearance and operation
In the large, colorful cardboard can be found next to the two basic units a radio module for external sound card, a plug-in microphone for headphones as well as all necessary cables to connect: USB to Micro-USB, Toslink to Mini Toslink (by the way only one meter long ), headset on Xbox controller. The processing of equipment and accessories is good. Could disrupt only that apparently a component is not properly secured within the sound module so that it herumklappert in housing.
The headphones can be quite comfortable to wear, with the usual closed headphones advantages and disadvantages despite its relatively high weight.
Headphones and sound card are decorated in operation with blue light-emitting elements. This is of course a matter of taste, looks in my opinion but quite chic and also facilitates locating in the dark.
The operation comes after a short well out of hand - the controls are mounted sense.
Installation on your PC
Windows 7 automatically detects the Recon3D sound card to the USB port and installed a driver that is however older than that on the driver CD.
To access all the settings of the sound card, of course, the complete supplied software must be installed (same version on the Creative website available). Then two new processes for the mutual control of the effects on the controls on the external card and running Windows on every system startup launched: "Sound Blaster Control Panel" and "Creative SB AVStream Monitoring Utility" (seen in the Windows "System Configuration" aka msconfig).
The playback of PCM or AC3 sound (Dolby Digital) via an optical SPDIF output is also possible on the PC (more on that later).
The "Sound Blaster Recon 3D Control Panel" is actually somewhat unstable: After a temporary switch the Windows default audio device they often refused to cooperate.
Function and sound quality
The first big disappointment was the sound quality of the supplied earphones for me. The sound is muffled and dull, reminds me a bit of a plastic bucket. A right on the Sound module is plugged for comparison Koss PortaPro sounds much tighter in the bass and brilliant to classes in the heights. Wonders one must not expect so.
For music playback on the PC I have interestingly achieved the unique cleanest, richest sound via the optical digital connection, much better than USB. Strange but true: When switching from USB to SPDIF input, the current volume is adopted as the maximum volume, from which subsequently can only turn down. In durchgereichtem AC3 volume also can be set only on the headphones, ie in a normal wired device does not in the ordinary way. For changes in the volume you have to go in the "MIXER" dialog of the software supplied.
When connected via SPDIF after all the sound to the headphone jack of the sound module is very good, compared for example with the headphone jack of my notebook (Realtek HD Audio) especially in the heights balanced.
Pressing the button activates the THX sound imaging. You hear essentially a widening of the stereo base ("Surround") and an increase in bass and treble ("Crystalizer"). The strength of the effect can be set in the software, and the settings can also be exported to the external device. In fact, the soundscape of games is clearly bombastifiziert what example of the effect of explosions benefits. Everything sounds just "fat". With only the "Crystalizer" can be heard in the heights, however, artifacts with whirring sound, similar to a bad MP3 compression. Most useful to me is the pure "Surround" setting to about 80%.
With spatial perception all that has little to do, and that was for me the second disappointment. A spatial locating is not possible. The fact that the audio system is recognized when connected via USB under Windows only with two channels, is not surprising (where should come the spatial information in a pure stereo signal?). However, even with the sound transmission via AC3 to 5.1 (standard for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) for me no spatial imaging is recognizable. The sound is like a normal stereo signal. A test with the directly gereichten AC3 sound of a DVD has confirmed that.
After all, the microphone provides a fairly good sound quality for a headset in any case sufficient. The use of the microphone port on an Xbox 360 (with the supplied cable from the headset to Xbox controller) the way leads to a significantly perceptible background noise, which can be reduced in the connecting cable only by scaling down the volume control.
Charging the headphone batteries via microUSB is easily and successfully with the help of a smartphone charger.
The headphones have a very good range. Even for walking around in a full-size apartment they should be sufficient as a rule.
Conclusion
For bass and effect fans who simply want to leave big blast, the set is interesting policy. It is well suited to most "fat" to drill puny original sound. Already good sound verschlimmbessert the preparation by the sound card but rather. Definitely not the system for purists or high-fidelity friends.
If you can do without the radio link, it is with the Recon3D sound card only (available to less than half the price) and an ordinary wired headset or headset better served than with this set.
Unfortunately, neither is able to convince in terms of sound quality even to provide a near real acting like a surround sound home theater system the team. The full-bodied advertised on the packaging and on the manufacturer's website surround sound is simply not take my feeling.
Despite some positive details that is in the basic disciplines offered for the price range is clearly not enough. Therefore, I can not be more than two stars by rings **.
