Creative Labs Sound Blaster Recon3D manual

Intr oduct ion 1 Intr oduction Congr atulations on y our purchas e of Creative’ s latest audio revol ution, Sound Blaster ® Re co n 3 D PCIe! With cutting edge technolo gy from the leaders in PC audio, Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe will give you years of reliable en tertai nm ent on yo ur PC I E xpres s (P CIe ® ) enable d person al computer . Th[...]

Introduc tion 2 More Help Fo r the latest news and products for Sound Blaster , visit www. sou ndbla ster .com . Th e sit e also includes infor mation on making purchases, te chnical help, and the latest d river updates. Using Creativ e Software AutoUpdate Locating, down loading, and in stalling upd ates for yo ur Creative products is no w simpler [...]

About Your Ha rdwar e 3 About Y our Har dwar e Fo r instruction s on installing your Sound Blas te r Recon3D PCIe, and any additional accessories, cons ult th e Q uic k S ta rt leaf le t. T o learn more about your produc t, consult the f ollowing section s: ❑ Y our Sound Blast er Re con3D PCIe Audio Card ❑ Y our Sound Blaster I/O Drive* Notes ?[...]

About Yo ur Hardwar e 4 SB1350: SB1354 SB1356: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8[...]

About Your Ha rdwar e 5 SB1358: Jack or Connector Description 1. Optical S/PDIF In jack Connects to playback devices with optical connectors (for exam ple , Digi tal Audi o T ape player s, Mini Disc play ers or DVD play ers). 2. Optical S/PDIF Out jack Connects to recording devices with optical connec tors (for ex ample, Digital Audio T ape recorde[...]

About Yo ur Hardwar e 6 Y our Sound Blaster I/O Driv e* Y our Sound Blaster I/O Drive con nects with your Sound Blaster R e con3D F atal1ty Champion audio card, and pro vides additional c onnectivity for a numbe r of other devices . Front: Back: 5 6 7 8 4 3 2 1 11 10 9[...]

About Your Ha rdwar e 7 Notes • *Av ailable for selected models of your audio device in some r egions. • Y our Sound Blas ter I/O Driv e comes attached to a 5¼-inc h driv e bay adapter . F or inst ructions on removing the driv e bay adapter and installing into a 3½-inc h drive ba y , consult you r Quick Start leaflet. • Not compatible with [...]

Instal ling an d Uni nsta lling Softw are 7 Installing and Uninstalling Softwar e T o take full adv antage of y our Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe audio card, yo u need to install device drivers and applications. At times, you may also need to uninstall some or all of the device drivers and applications to correct pro blems, change conf iguratio ns, o[...]

Conn ectin g Spea ker s and Headp hones 8 Connecting Speak ers and He adphones The con nectors and associated c omponents s hown here may be differ ent from that of your s peaker system. Con sult the documentati on of your speak er system to identify s imilar input connec tors. Y ou can upmix y our stere o sources (f or example, CD Audio, MP3, WMA,[...]

Connecting Speakers and Headphones 9 P ositioning Y our Speak ers Good speak er placement is cruci al to getting opt imal performance from yo ur audio system and achi eving an enh anced list ening expe rien ce. Bel ow are ou r rec omme ndat ion fo r 5.1 cha nnel speakers . Fo r detailed s peaker placeme nt tips, consult the documentation of your sp[...]

Conne cting Spe akers and Head phone s 1 0 Connecting Analo g Speak er Systems Y our audio card supports analog speaker systems of up to 5.1 channels. T o learn more about conne cting differe nt ch annel s peaker syste ms, co nsult the fo llowing sectio ns: ❑ 2.1 channel analog sp eakers ❑ 5.1 channel analog sp eakers 2.1 channel analog speak e[...]

Connecting Speakers and Headphones 11 5.1 channel analog speak ers Jack, Conne ctor or Cable 1. Line Out 3 ja ck 2. Line Out 2 ja ck 3. Line Out 1 ja ck 4. 5.1 channel audio cabl e (av ailable se parately) 5. Center/Subw oofer (Aud io Inp ut) jack 6. Fron t (Audio Inpu t) jack 7. R ear (Audio I nput) j ack front rear center/ subwoofer audio inputs [...]

Conne cting Spe akers and Head phone s 1 2 Connecting Digital Speak er Systems Y our Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe comes with an Optical S/P DIF Out jack which allows you to connect yo ur digital speaker syst em. Most digital speaker s systems connect the audio card to the subwoo fer or an exte rnal un it. Fo r more inf ormation on y our digi tal spe[...]

Connecting Speakers and Headphones 13 Connecting Home Theat er System s Y our Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe comes with an Optical S/P DIF Out jack which allows you to conne ct your home t heate r sy stem. Mo st ho me t heater syste ms co nnect the audio ca rd t o an A/ V recei ver . F or more i nformati on on your A/V receiv er’ s speak er conn ect[...]

Conne cting Spe akers and Head phone s 1 4 Connecting your A/V Receiver using Line le v el inputs If your A/V re ceiver suppor ts multicha nnel line-l evel inpu ts, you can c onnect them dir ectly to yo ur aud io card’ s Line Out jacks inste ad of t he Optica l S/PD IF Out jack as sh own bel ow . Jack, Conne ctor or Cab le Description 1. Line Ou [...]

Connecting Speakers and Headphones 15 Jack, Conne ctor or Cab le Description 1. Line Ou t 2 jac k Connects to the Rear Left and Re ar Right jacks on yo ur A/ V rece iver , using a 3. 50 mm (1 /8- inch) stereo-to-RCA cable (available separately) 2. 3.50 mm (1/8-inch) surround-to-RCA cable (available sepa rately) Connect s your au dio card and A/V re[...]

Conne cting Spe akers and Head phone s 1 6 Jack, Conne ctor or Cab le Description 1. Line Ou t 3 jac k Connect s to the Cente r and Subwoof er jacks on yo ur A/ V rece iver , using a 3. 50 mm (1 /8- inch) stereo-to-RCA cable (available separately) 2. 3.50 mm (1/8-inch) surround-to-RCA cable (available sepa rately) Connect s your au dio card and A/V[...]

Connecting Speakers and Headphones 17 Connecting Headphones and Headsets Alternative ly , yo u can also connect you r headphones and headsets to the Sound Blaster I/O Drive*. Do no t list en to a udio o n your headp hones or h eadsets at high volum es fo r prolon ged per iods of ti me as heari ng lo ss may re sult. Connecting your headphones and he[...]

Conne cting Spe akers and Head phone s 1 8 Connecting your headphones and headsets to the Sou nd Blaster I/O Drive* For head phones : For head sets: Notes • * Available as an up grade access ory for select ed mode ls of your audio device in som e regi ons. • Use an adapter if the plug comes in different size . Jack or Co nnect or Description 1.[...]

Using Your Sound Blaste r Recon3 D PCIe 20 Using Y o ur Sound Blaster Recon3D PCI e Y our Soun d Blaster R econ3D PCIe works seamles sly with man y external devi ces to perfor m different tasks. T o learn more about these tasks and how to connect additio nal devices, consult the following section s: ❑ Playing Games ❑ W atching DVDs ❑ Playing/[...]

Using Your Sound Blaste r Recon3D PC Ie 21 W atching DVDs Y our DVDs are encoded with Dolby Digital audio te chnologie s, which have to be decoded to enjo y multichanne l audio on your 5. 1 speaker syste ms. Decoding with a soft ware DVD player Y ou can use a software DVD pla yer to decode Do lby Digital encoded signals from yo ur DVDs, and output [...]

Using Your Sound Blaste r Recon3 D PCIe 22 Playin g/Re cordin g Music Y ou can pl ay mu sic fr om, an d/or rec ord mu sic to extern al dev ices ( for ex ampl e, Dig ital Au dio T a pe play er/recor der) by connecting them to yo ur Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe. Connecting your external device t o the Sou nd Blaster Recon3D PCIe Jack, Conne ctor or Ca[...]

Using Your Sound Blaste r Recon3D PC Ie 23 Cr eating Music Y ou can set up a home music stu dio using y our Sound Blaster R econ3D P CIe. Put together your own produc tions consistin g of multiple music tracks from a MIDI sy nthesizer o r an electri c guitar . Alternatively , connect your elec tric guitar us ing a pre-amp bo x to the Line In/ Micro[...]

Using Your Sound Blaste r Recon3 D PCIe 24 Chatti ng / G aming Y our Sound Blast er Re con3D PCIe c an also be co nnecte d to hands-f ree microph ones or the So und Blaster Beamformin g Microphone, making over -the-Ne t chatting a hassle-f ree affair . Now you can enjoy c lear voic e cha t for gam ing a nd o ther onl ine chat ting p urpo ses. Jack,[...]

Crea tive Soft ware Su ite 26 Cr eativ e Softwar e Suite The following software is designed for you to ac cess the basic as well as the adv anced feature s of your audio c ard. W e recommend that you familiariz e yourse lf with their functions in order to make full use of th e rich feature s of you r audio card . T o learn more about each applicati[...]

Cre ativ e Sof twar e Sui te 2 7 Sound Blaster Recon3D PCIe Contr ol P anel Managin g your P rofiles Click the button to displa y the Profiles pane. Activ ate a profile by clicking and s electing it from the list. Click to sav e all settings to the current pr ofile or create a new profile. Clic k to delete the active pr ofile. Sharing Pr ofil es Y [...]

Crea tive Soft ware Su ite 28 Configuri ng your ge neral s ettings Y ou can change the langu age settings or restore setti ngs to thei r default v alues. Y ou can also c heck for softw are update s. Click and select the opti on from the list. THX T ruStudio Pr o Settings 1. THX T ruStudio Pro enh ancements Select to tur n on or turn of f each enhan[...]

Cre ativ e Sof twar e Sui te 2 9 Cr ystalV oic e Settings 1. CrystalV oice enhancements Select to tur n on or turn of f each enhanc ement. Having fun with Crysta lVoice Select a v oice preset to us e, then clic k and speak into y our micropho ne to hear how y our voice s ounds with the preset applied. Scout Mode 1. Scout mo de Select to turn on or [...]

Crea tive Soft ware Su ite 30 Speak ers/Headphones Settings 1. Device select ion Select the nu mber of speak ers or headpho nes that you are us ing. Switch bet ween Speaker s or Headphon es mode. Testing your aud io playback Select the appropriate conf igurati on based on your s e t u p , t h e n c l i c k t o h e a r a s a m p l e a u d i o clip b[...]

Cre ativ e Sof twar e Sui te 3 1 Mix er Settings 1. V olume sliders Adjust the pla yback and recording volume for yo ur vari ous inputs and outputs. Adju sting your Mi xer set tings Slide the v olume level sl iders right to incr ease and left to decrease. Click the icon to mute/ unmute the inpu t/ouput. Y ou can click the icon to adjust the setti n[...]

Crea tive Soft ware Su ite 32 Custo mizin g your EQ s ettin gs Select the EQ ch eckbox to enable this f eature, then click the EQ drop-down arrow and select a preset fro m the list. Selecting a preset will move th e EQ sliders to the appr opriate va lues. Y ou can adjust th e equalizer setting by dr agging the sliders up or down to the desired leve[...]

Cre ativ e Sof twar e Sui te 3 3 THX TruStudio Pro Dialog Plus enhance s the voi ces in movies for cleare r dialog, allow ing the listener to hear the dialog over the r est of the so undtrac k and over ambient noise in the listening envir onm ent. Scout Mode transf orms yo ur hearing and enables y ou to hear y our oppone nts from fu rther aw ay , g[...]

Gen eral Sp ecific ation s 34 General Specifications This secti on details the specificatio ns of your Sound Blaster R econ3D PCIe audio c ard. PCI Bus Masterin g ❑ PCI Express Specification V ersion 1.1 compliant ❑ Bus mastering reduces laten cy and speeds up system performance Sound Blaster So und Core3D Audio Processor ❑ Adv anced hardwa r[...]

Genera l S pecifi cation s 35 Connectivity This section det ails the connecti vity of your Soun d Blaster R econ3D PCIe audio card and Sound Blaster I/O Drive*. Sound Blaster Recon3 D PCIe audio card Audio Inputs ❑ One 3.50 mm (1/8-inc h) Line In jack for Analog Line In or Micr ophone In ❑ One Optical S/PDIF jack for Digital In Audio Outputs ?[...]

Gen eral Sp ecific ation s 36 F r ont P anel Header Audio Connector Connection compatiblity ❑ Intel HD Front P anel A udio standard only . Not compati ble with AC97 or Intel-co mpatible HD Fr ont P anel A udio Pin config uration Pin Signal Name Description 1 PORT 1L Analog Po rt 1 - left chan nel (Microphone) 2 GND Ground 3 PORT 1R Analog Port 1 [...]

Troubleshooting 3 8 T r oubleshooting This se ction pro vides solutio ns to probl ems you may en counter dur ing install ation or no rmal use. This includes: ❑ Problems with Digital Audio Devices ❑ Problems with Dolby Digital Live ❑ Problems with Multiple Au dio Devices ❑ Problems with Ol der Sound Blaster Audio Devices ❑ Problems with So[...]

Troubleshooting 39 Alternatively, during the instal lation of your audio card , do the following: ❑ If y our com puter det ect s an inst alled Sound Bla s ter Audi gy series , Sound Blaster Live! ser ies or Sound Blaster PCI512 audio card, a message bo x recommending that y ou completely unin stall and remove th e older au dio device wi ll appear[...]

Lice nse and Co pyrig ht 40 License and Cop yright Informa tion in this docum ent is s ubject to change witho ut notic e and does not repres ent a c ommitm ent o n the par t of C r e a t i v e T e c h n o l o g y L t d . N o p a r t o f t h i s m a n u a l m a y b e r e p r o d u c e d o r t r a n s m i t t e d i n a n y f o r m o r b y a n y m e a[...]