Review of ZOWIE Vital Audio System

Written by Martin "byx" Buhl.

ZOWIE, who most CS:GO players know for their mice, mousepads, monitors, and other gaming peripherals designed specifically for CS:GO, and which I previously have reviewed for HLTV.org, made quite a new type of product which has still been overseen by many players around the world.

VITAL is the name of the external audio system from ZOWIE, and in this review I will take a closer look at what the benefits are for using a product like this, how it works and tell you a bit about why VITAL was created and the thoughts behind the product.

ZOWIE VITAL is the first external audio system I have ever tried, and therefore this review is also aimed more at the general CS:GO player without much knowledge about this area, rather than the hardcore Hi-Fi geeks out there.

Information & Specifications

Traditional USB sound cards require driver installation and bothersome sound adjustments. The motivation behind VITAL is a combination of three goals – ease of use, personalization and consistent sound quality – that aim to simplify and streamline sound card use. Once you load your personal sound settings on the intuitive touch panel, you are just a plug and play away from the heat of competition on any computer, any time. Dual output allows for convenient switching between headphones and speakers, and a built-in hi-fi chip enhances sound for all your media needs.

Specifications

• Driverless
• USB Powered
• Hi-Fi DAC
• Hi-Fi Headphone Amplifier
• Input – USB (B Type), Microphone (3.5mm)
• Output – Line-out (3.5mm), Headphone-out (3.5mm)
• Playback Maximum Sampling Rate 96 kHz/24 bit
• Recording Maximum Sampling Rate 96 kHz/16 bit

Features & Design

From it’s physical appearance, ZOWIE VITAL doesn’t attract much attention. A little rectangular box weighing in at only 113 grams doesn’t really create a lot of attention, and my first thought wasn’t that I was sitting with a super advanced soundcard, and buttons are nowhere to be spotted either.

It’s when you plug VITAL to your USB port that things begin to light up, and in a second the user-friendly touch-display comes to light.

Here you can change general volume for both speakers, headset & microphone, adjust treble & bass, switch between speakers and headset, mute your microphone and lock the display.

There isn’t really any eye-catching visual features in terms of design, which ZOWIE is also known for, and that’s quite alright for me.

Driverless Like Other ZOWIE Products

One of the things that ZOWIE have always been known for, as I just mentioned, is that they make their products without the need of complicated drivers that often give gamers more problems than they solve.

This is also the case with VITAL, and that is interesting in my opinion. When you decide to make a product as advanced as an audio system / external sound card, my thoughts would be that a piece of software would be needed in order to achieve the perfect settings for individual taste, but with the direct adjustment of treble and bass, no drivers are needed, so ZOWIE stays true to their usual reputation about being driver-free and completely user-friendly which players also know from their mice for example where you can adjust DPI & HZ directly by pushing a button.

Touch Interface & User-friendly

The choice to make a touch interface which only requires a touch from your finger in order to change your settings, is in my opinion one of the best features regarding VITAL. The fact that you don’t need to open some kind of driver or similar, but can control everything physically with your hand, is very appealing, especially for players who value easy use.

This also comes into play if you for example have a call on your phone, someone is knocking on your door, or likewise. Everything is within reach by the touch of your fingertip, and by holding down either + or -, you can easily adjust the sound-level for your speakers or headset and instantly mute the selected device.

This makes VITAL extremely user-friendly, and I will vow to the fact that any person who can turn on a PC, can use VITAL without any issues whatsoever.

Sound Experiences

Let it be said right away, I have never been the big sound enthusiast, said in the way that I have always prioritized having a good headset and thought that would be it, because how much more do you really need just because you listen to music and play Counter-Strike?

Often experiences make you a little bit more insightful, and this was truly what I concluded after I started using VITAL from ZOWIE.

It was the old saying “You don’t know what you have been missing before you’ve tried it” which came true when my former partner for which I did reviews of gaming gear for CS:GO asked me to return the VITAL to him after I had used it for a month or two.

After I delivered it back and got home, I could instantly hear that nothing sounded as good as when VITAL was turned on, and that surprised me quite a bit. All sound experiences are just way better with VITAL than your average on-board soundcard, and the difference became totally clear after I no longer used VITAL at that time.

Even my friends on Teamspeak noticed a difference in the quality of my microphone when we talked, so there is something to achieve on all points if you want to increase the quality of the sound output for both games, music and your microphone.

Personal Sound-optimization For CS:GO

Earlier this month I went to Taiwan to visit ZOWIE, and Eric, who works at the head-office told me he thought it was a shame that our faithful readers on Dust2 haven’t heard much about VITAL, because the sound-options have been, besides making your general experience better, made for optimizing your experience with the sounds in CS:GO.

By adjusting the treble & bass you have the ability to change how footsteps and other sounds register, and that is actually something I haven’t thought about in the time I’ve had VITAL, but it does have a big difference and is definitely something that you should try testing out to find the perfect settings for your personal needs.

3D Audio & Stereo in CS:GO With Bass & Treble

I’m not a big fan of the new forced sound command called “snd_occlusion,” and by no means either the new 3D Audio option, and thus I thought it would be a great idea to see how ZOWIE VITAL would affect both these sound options in terms of the adjustable treble & bass directly on the audio system’s touch-display.

HRTF is in the past now, and therefore it is the 3D Audio you will have to choose if you want a more advanced sound-experience than the normal stereo option.

Snd_occlusion “1” is, like I said, now a forced command. A few weeks ago it was possible to put snd_occlusion to “0”, but this required that you did it on a private server and had activated cheat-codes in form of sv_cheats set to “1.” This is in the past now, and as such we have to get used to the new way sounds appear in CSGO with occlusion forced to be turned on as the new standard.

For the test I used a pair of Sennheiser Game ONE headphones and of course ZOWIE VITAL.

First Test

• Audio Output Configuration – Stereo Headphones
• Advanced 3D Audio Processing – Disabled (Compatibility Mode)

This is my normal settings for when I play CS:GO. The sound is “oldschool CS,” or as much as it can be without all the fancy 3D elements, and it’s probably just a matter of old habit that 3D Audio Processing hasn’t catched me yet.

By using this setting, the adjustable treble & bass shines the brightest. Up until now, I didn’t know that there was more than 3 points of adjustable levels on the VITAL, but in fact there is 12 more intervals to choose from, which is quite impressive.

What thrilled me the most, was how much bass I was able to achieve in my headset, and I must say I was VERY surprised. If you choose to turn the bass up all the way to the highest level on ZOWIE VITAL, you are at a point where you can almost hear the blood pumping through your veins, and your heart beating, or at least, that was how it felt.

It’s a crazy experience, and makes all the sounds in CS:GO extremely sensitive. Should you try this setting and stand half-way close to a bomb detonation in CS:GO, you will achieve the same experience that people who have witnessed nuclear test-bombings, or at least that’s what I believe. This is not for the faint of heart, by any means.

I believe the loud bass setting is most interesting for players with reduced hearing, or just the audience who wants the most detailed sound-experience possible, but it’s a sensitive setting, and I don’t believe the highest possible level should be your first choice. Try taking a few intervals and see what suits you.

Treble, which is the contrast to bass, is also very detailed on ZOWIE VITAL, but seems more overwhelming to me. 1-2 intervals should be enough for most players.

Of course I also had to try the highest possible setting for this feature, and let me just be completely hounest, it made a fork scratching a plate seem like a nice experience compared to this. Not that it’s a bad thing, because it just shows how much you can personalize the settings for your needs, but be careful!

Second Test

• Audio Output Configuration – Stereo Headphones
• Advanced 3D Audio Processing – Enabled

This is the new standard setting instead of the old HRTF which is now called 3D Audio. This hasn’t been something that I’ve used enough time to test out in terms of making a permanent jump to this sound setting, as I mentioned previously, but of course it deserved a proper test.

The big difference between the two bass & treble settings for ZOWE VITAL with 3D Audio versus the normal Stereo setting, is that they both appear to be less brutal at the highest levels, but still packs a punch strong enough to make a big difference, depending on how high you turn them up separately.

Should I later change to 3D Audio as a CS:GO player, I could easily be tempted to turn the bass up to one of the 3 highest levels on VITAL, because I feel it brings a more balanced experience in terms of the different audio types that exists in CS:GO. Treble would probably stay at the default setting since it can easily become overwhelming when using the 3D Audio.

Besides these subjects, the test with 3D Audio is very much similar to the experience with the Stereo settings.

DAC Hi-Fi Chip

Built into VITAL is a DAC chip in Hi-Fi Quality which gives the system its quality in terms of sound experience.

Many different types of DAC chips exist, and since my knowledge about the subject is extremely limited, I can’t really say so much more about this topic other than the chip in VITAL is made out of quality, not discount or mediocre, parts.

VITAL Deserves A Good Headset

Following my previous reviews of gaming headsets for CS:GO on both Dust2.dk & HLTV.org, I also found out that VITAL shined the brightest when a proper headset was being used.

Sennheiser Game ONE, which is the most expensive and luxurious headset I have at home, is a perfect companion for ZOWIE VITAL, and it quickly made it clear to me that you need a good headset to the get the full benefits from VITAL.

If you only have a cheap or mediocre headset, I’m leaning towards saying that VITAL might be a bit of an overkill strictly in terms of the benefits you gain in audio quality, but otherwise you have to go out and invest in a good headset so that the audio system from ZOWIE gets the proper partner for your gaming setup.

A Necessity or A Lovely Luxury?

There is no doubt that an onboard soundcard is fine for most gamers out there.

We have been used to using the soundcard that was built into the motherboard we purchased with our computer, and as such the “finer layers” of sound quality have never been a central subject for the average Counter-Strike player.

An onboard soundcard delivers what it should, and not much more, but the experience with VITAL has made me more insightful to the fact that there is a lot of enjoyment in having superior sound quality for both CS:GO, music, movies and everything else you can think of where audio is being used on your PC, and the super user-friendly functions makes it easy as ever with VITAL to switch between speakers/headset, adjust sound, mute your microphone and much more.

Pricing

VITAL from ZOWIE comes at a retail price of $199.99.

With almost the same price-tag as a quality headset, this price isn’t too overwhelming for most players out there, and I believe VITAL could last many years ahead.

Conclusion

All in all, VITAL is a great product for my needs.

The ability to switch between speakers and headset with one click, turn sound up and down, mute my microphone and much more directly through the touch-display, and get an extremely enhanced sound experience with the built-in DAC chip, both in and outside of CS:GO, makes VITAL a success in my opinion.

With a retail price of $199.99, it is an investment for many players, especially the younger ones that may not have much of a personal economy, but it’s still a lovely piece of equipment which I believe earns its price-tag rapidly as you use it every day.

As mentioned previously, I firmly believe VITAL should be combined with a good headset in order to be able to live up to it’s full potential, and such it must be up to the reader to decide which way to go on this subject. If you already own a good headset, you are ready to experience the full potential in this product from ZOWIE.

Read more about VITAL right here and you can buy ZOWI VITAL right here.