Sound Blaster SBX Pro Studio Smart Volume

Sound Blaster SBX Pro Studio Smart Volume addresses the problem of abrupt volume level changes during playback and between songs by automatically and continuously measuring volume, and intelligently applying gain and attenuation to compensate for those changes.

[BunnyHatJ]

For those not testing it with headphones: I got a SB ZX card 2 weeks ago. The sound is pretty awesome and extremely "detailed" (you can hear all the sounds and details and they sound beautiful. You can even hear sounds that were "hidden" with a bad card like the integrated Realtek I had). When you listen to a 5.1 audio file or movie, it feels like it's really around you, BUT IF you have the SBX Pro Studio disabled (therefore, the surround effect will be disabled too... which is ironic xD). Aside from that, the SBX, Surround and Crystalyzer are awesome BUT for amplifying good quality (192kb + mp3 or FLAC) stereo music, if you have some patience to configure your speakers in the Pro Studio Speakers options. Each person will have their own prefferences, but I suggest that if you get this card, get Winamp and download the Maiko WASAPI plugin for the clearest sound possible (that works just like ASIO, but without the crashes. Why is that, I leave it to you to look it up ;) ). There's no doubt that these SB cards are awesome, but maybe they aren't showing it properly in these videos xD

[pauljtonehead]

Companding is the process of dynamic range expansion.. Look up ' What is companding'?

DBX 1BX is a very awesome unit for giving new life to old recordings. I've even played overly compressed nasty cassettes from the 80's through it and it suddenly makes the music come to life without sounding compressed...it's because it is essentially the opposite of compression. Having put my Hammond A100 organ through the 1BX ( via the reverb amp to a spkr-to-line out adapter) & graphic EQ made studio gold!

[BogdanCurta]

the corect name is audio compresion and is 1040 tehnic. Exemple; DBX compresors, Alesis compresors, Yamaha dinamic procesors, Avalon  , Universal audio, Samsoon, Focusrite dinamic preamplifiers etc etc.

[evshrug]

That said, I only use "smart volume" when I've been playing for a while and acoustic fatigue has set in, and I want to turn the overall volume down without missing the quietest details.

[evshrug]

@ L0vethehater,
Wait, what? No, that's not how volume compressors work. It doesn't make all sounds uniformly quiet, it boosts the dB of quiet sounds and decreases the dB of the loudest sounds.
To use the "jogging race" example, most of the racers are in the middle of the pack, and "smart volume" brings the very slowest (quietest) racers and the fastest (loudest) racers in closer to those in the middle of the pack. The middle of the pack is unaffected, it's just the extremes are moderated.

[pauljtonehead]

For an excellent explanation look up- Dynamic range compression, on WIKI.
I scored this unit for $15 at a thrift store in the late 90's-

DBX 1BX, Dynamic Range Expander

It was the absolute most amazing piece of gear I have ever owned! The ability for the 1BX to completely transform recorded music into vibrant MORE dynamic than what comes in is just baffling, but it's true! I used to put cassette, 8tr, & RR tapes, 78's, LP's, etc. through the 1Bx and WOW! Also great on my Hammond A100 organ!

[kojocisco]

I hate it so much because it also changes volume control from linear to logaritmic. It took me a while to know what is wrong. It means, when you try to adjust volume while listening to music you get noticeable difference only in range like 0-10% of volume. Normally you hear difference every couple %. It's a bit like back in days winamp directsound plugin configuration.

[santosic]

If one were to activate this feature, what would be the best setting to use? I set mine at 100%, is that too much or not in your opinion?

[Rattacko]

How does this compare to dolby volume equalization?
and does it do a similar thing to loudmax?

[BROnik]

so that's something like Loudness Equalization in other audiocards and windows settings?

[yomofoindahouse]

The ZXR Smart Volume, the way it's implemented, - sucks balls.
I just wanted you to know that.

[UmbraAtrox_]

And i have been Blaming windows for adjusting my Volume.

[spencertasso]

is there any negatives to turning the crystilizer, bass, and surround sliders all the way up settings all the way up in pro studio
and what is audio fatigue.

[bjelkan]

my sound blaster cinema dont work it just says no audio device supported or something please help

[Lvethehater]

smart volume is just a way to make all mp3's et c.. level down to the lowest quality and are rather useless when you are given a software tool that you can't customise at all.It's a safe bet to say that less than 1 of 10 use smart volume and some who have a problem with a rather trivial and simple "problem" just use the media players configuration/settings options and instead of just jogging beside the last person in a race that creative have solved the problem with quality gaps.

[basshead]

can any one help me i cant find sbx pro studio how can i find it

[juxyper]

this kills my sound whenever i get a notification on facebook and i can't turn it off
thanks for ruining everything

[adamjhonson]

This feature is really bad for music, how do i turn it off?

[chaosordeal]

YOU MADE A VIDEO JUST TO TELL ME WHAT IT IS!!??!?!? How do I turn it off? Twenty second intro to a one minute video about nothing.