Windows 10: Sound blaster z audio sometimes sounds low and unclear

TechSeven · Nov 15, 2019

Windows 7 64 bit
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster Z

I been having issues with this sound card for a while.

This is a strange issue.

The problem is that when the issue occurs you cannot hear the audio properly. It would sound very muffled, unclear and low at the same time. But this does not happen all the time.

If I choose to play music only some songs It will decide to sound this way and sometimes it will sound fine.

I was trying to watch a game last night but I couldn't make out what the commentators were saying.

I could hear audio but it was not clear. While the audio was playing the volume was low even tho I had my volume control turned up in my volume controls.

Im not sure if anyone has came across this issue.

:)

jlb17 · Nov 15, 2019

Lost sound after latest Windows 10 update (Sound Blaster Z)

Hi All

This is the first post I have made and hope it helps because I have had this problems for over 2 years. My Sound Blaster Z would produce no sound after Windows 10 creators and anniversary updates. I Deferred updates for 2 years but when 1709 was pushed it circumvented my deferment so I decided to give it a try before the customary Rollback of the OS to 16**.

So my problem consisted of Sound Blaster Z either producing no sound with no sound signal visible in volume mixer which was often accompanied by slow video streaming or none at all. I would then reinstall drivers and would get the green bars in volume mixer but still no sound and very slow video streaming, again with no sound.

Now when 1709 completed I had sound for the first time AFTER a shutdown and cold boot. This was without any Sound blaster software installed. The problem reoccurred when I installed the Sound Blaster Z drivers again and all the above problems reoccurred. So... now to the fix.

First turn off windows fast boot which you can read how to do HERE. Now go into your Bios and deactivate onboard sound so that the only option for you will be the sound card. Find out how to do this by reading your Mother Board Manual or Google your boards name for videos or guides on how to do it. Onboard audio can cause conflicts with sound cards. In my case it would cause windows start up sounds to cut out or be choppy. I only discovered this AFTER disabling onboard sound in my bios. *Confused Save and exit after making the change to your bios and allow system to reboot.

I then uninstalled all drivers and removed all creative folders and registry keys I could find. You can do this before the bios changes, it doesn't really matter but this step MUST be done before trying to install sound blaster Z drivers.
1) C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative
2)Have "Show Hidden folders" on to find this file easily ** C:\ProgramData\Creative
3)C:\Users\YOUR COMPUTER NAME\AppData\Local\Creative
4)C:\Users\Public\Creative

Open RUN and type "regedit" and delete the Creative Tech keys.

1) Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Creative Tech
2) Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Creative Tech

Then restart. I also use CCleaner but you don't need to.

Now let windows install its own driver for the Sound card. You should have sound but no control over sound blaster Z setting such as EQ as the control panel is NOT installed by windows 10 automatically. Once this process is finished install the Drivers from HERE. Some people at the time of this post were saying that SBZ_CD_L13_1_01_08 was more stable but I am using SBZ_CD_L13_1_01_10. Follow the installation instructions and go to custom and install the Controller driver and Sound drivers ONLY. They are the top 2 options. Clicking the other options produces a drop down menu and an option to not install that specific item which is shown as a red X.

Restart system as instructed at the end of the installation process. Sound should now function properly. IF you have a problem (I have had none following the above steps) go to Device Manager - Sound, video and game controllers - Sound Blaster Audio Controller and ROLLBACK. The rollback option will only be there if you let windows install the drivers as instructed earlier. Doing this allows the control panel to be installed but gives the option to roll back the driver if you have a recurrence of the problem.

Sorry for the long explanation but I hope it helps someone. As I said before it took me 2 years to find a fix.

Windows 10 Windows 10 creator update creators no audio no sound not working can't hear sound blaster z creative June July 2017 Creative Sound Blaster Z 1704 1709 Creators update Fall Update.
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Excellent walk-through! I basically followed these steps, albeit using a slightly different method, and yet I still couldn't get sound out of my headphones. The one step I changed in my process, which seemed to make a difference, was ONLY installing the control panel and drivers as @kunyiosh stated in his steps. Now I finally have sound from my headphones. Just to clarify, my sound was working just fine prior to the Preview Build 17063 update. Thanks for the tips!

Zelioom · Nov 15, 2019

Lost sound after latest Windows 10 update (Sound Blaster Z)

I'm sorry to hear that, are you using a creative sound card? Did you restart after rolling the drivers back? Did you roll back the drivers for "Sound Blaster Audio Controller" or for one of the other Sound Blaster entries? I specifically did the one for the Audio Controller but you could try the others too if you already have tried that one.
Try going into control panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound and making sure the settings there and the default devices seem correct.

Play a file that has audio and see if the green equalizer bars move for any of the items listed while the file is playing even if you can't hear anything. If the green bar is moving set that device to active and see if you get your sound back.
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Yeah, I have a Sound Blaster Z. I have tried pretty much everything. I've tried multiple older driver updates and they didn't have any effect. I've also made sure that default audio devices were correct, it was showing the green bars, but no actual sound was coming from my headphones. My microphone will still work through my sound card. Onboard audio still works fine.

m0nk3n · Nov 15, 2019

sound blaster z , windows 10 1903

yes. i had this problem with the sound blaster z audio card for a long while now and i decided to reinstall windows 10 using the reset windows 10 and keep all files but not programs. then updated windows 10 using the update and security app as usual on windows 10. then i installed the newest creative sound blaster z driver and i got sound now but the cinematic mode wont work for some reason.

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Windows 10: Sound blaster z audio sometimes sounds low and unclear

Sound blaster z audio sometimes sounds low and unclear

Sound blaster z audio sometimes sounds low and unclear

Sound blaster z audio sometimes sounds low and unclear

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