Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D review

The sound card is also available as part of a bundle with Creative’s Omega wireless headset – a transmitter module plugs into the back of the Recon3D. By far the best of the company’s recent wireless headsets, the Omega is also one of the most expensive. While the Recon3D audio processing unit costs a reasonable £90, the headset bundle is a massive £210.

The headset has powerful bass and a massive sense of space. Treble and mid-tones remain clear and sharp, although they are dominated by the bass. The headset definitely benefits from Recon3D’s dynamic range enhancement – music in particular sounds muddy without it. The microphone is somewhat oversensitive, picking up a great deal of background noise that the audio processor’s noise cancellation can’t quite eliminate. While only supported wireless gaming headsets from Creative can be used with the Recon3D, you can connect any wired equipment you want via 3.5mm mic and headphone ports. We’ve heard much better audio quality from less expensive wired headphones, so we’d recommend just buying the Recon3D sound card and using a good-quality wired headset such as Plantronics’ £17 Gamecom 367.

The Recon3D’s greatest value is portability. You can move it between PCs and consoles and get the same high-quality audio processing and effects on every machine you use. If you have multiple computers or gaming platforms, this gives it an obvious advantage over internal PCI Express cards such as the excellent Asus Xonar DX.

It’s very obviously a gamer’s sound card – if you want to record music or podcasts you’re better off with the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, and the Asus Xonar DG is a more versatile surround sound card – but if you want the best in gaming audio for a very reasonable price, the Recon3D is perfect.