Creative Launches Sound Blaster X5 USB DAC and Headphones Amp
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TheDeeGee
Still waiting for a Sound Blaster ZXR successor without the need for a box on my desk.
stereoman
Currently running the Fiio K7 USB DAC and Headphone Amp and have no plans on changing it, absolutely amazing sound for the price, pair it up with a pair of Hifiman Sundara with custom dekoni ear pads and it's audio heaven.
rl66
Expensive and sound is too "coloured"... not really "audiophile".
There is better for less money.
mackintosh
Sounds like an entry-level dac/amp tbh. Nice that it comes with a balanced out, but still, the specs aren't terribly impressive by today's standards, and I doubt it sounds neutral. You can get a much, much better Topping stack for the same money.
Venix
More bass =good .... At least in the mind of most average users 😛 .
Although it does not take a lot to know this is not true , I am an audio pleb and I do know it !
kcajjones
Isn't the Sound Blaster AE-9 the successor? I presume you don't have to use the box that comes with it, otherwise the AE-5 doesn't come with a desk box?
Robbo9999
Nice, I like how Soundblaster are continuing to marry the gamer & audiophile closer & closer together, which seemed to start with the SoundblasterX G6 DAC/amp that I own, and now this one (the X5) has taken it a bit further with balanced headphone out, and a more audiophile style aesthetic to the unit combined with the screen readout that I like the look of and is useful to see how many minus dB you're at. I would wish they would have included at least a 10 band parametric EQ capability rather than the Graphic EQ capability - that would have been an absolutely stunning product!
TheDeeGee
AE-9 requires the ACM, it has no speaker/mic outputs on the card itself.
AE-7 would be the next in line, that ACM is optional, just like with my ZxR.
I'm just gonna ride out the ZxR until it breaks or something else surfaces.
Michael Lang
I got mine on Friday. I will say it does sound pretty good. I have it paired to Sennheiser 660s on the balanced output. I also have it on normal gain, and I can hear my headphones down the hall in the next room laying on my desk at about 1/4 volume. I've only really tested it with some FLAC music files, playing Returnal and so far I am pleased with how it sounds. I have had and still have a ton of Creative sound cards over the years. I am by no means an Audio expert. I'm just a old fart that enjoys playing games.
rl66
And the famous "may you put more bass in the treble?" lol
Alessio1989
expensive toy. at this point id you don't need a professional ADC better buying an AE-5 or higher (if you need that toy acm): same efficiency, lower price, more I/O options.
ThermaL1102
i use APO equalizer , which is a host program for vst plugins , which you can use to install EQ's , gains , surround sound , oversamplers ( make sound fatter/heavier ) ,
can even install guitar amp vst's if you play guitar , delay and such ... you name it ...
i have a SubPac S2 , which is a subwoofer to strap to your chair , so i need a bit of control to get a punchy bass out of it , not that it really needed but i like a good bass , this thing HAS good bass already 😉
good program APO equalizer , gives your sound a bit more Power and ''oomph'' , plus with a good EQ you can really dial in what sound you want .
Ven0m
I use X3 and it's pretty solid, although extra headphone amp helps a bit and ... the power filtering is bad. I can hear too much noise created by the rest of my computer, especially graphics card related spikes.
If I could keep all X3 features, ditch extra amp and the power isolation + delivery were good on X5, I think I'd switch right away. Custom gain control would be useful too - I usually stay at max 8-20 volume in Windows depending on headphones. Jumping between 4-6-8 is troublesome.
Michael Lang
I have the X3 and it seemed like I was missing certain sounds compared to my AE-9. It may just be my old ears but have yet to notice the same with the X5. I had the same issue with the x4. I wanted to ditch the internal for space and lanes which is why I put my AE-9 in a eGPU box lol. The z790 Godlike and 4090 covered the only other PCI slot so the only option I had was to put sound first then GPU then that just looked retarded and then the 4090 cramped all the USB and other crap on the bottom of the motherboard.
Michael Lang
Then my son wanted a 4090 and just happen to find a 4090 Liquid X local and MSRP and the way our cases are laid I had to take the liquid and he took the other. So then space was a non issue but anyways now the entire board isnt covered by cards now at least I guess.
Neo Cyrus
Same, it ended up being one of my best electronics purchases ever. It had its times of infuriating driver issues making me wish I had an external solution that didn't require drivers, but surprisingly it's made it to this day and nothing will actually sound better than it, not to a normal human anyway. Best I can do is replace it with something that'll sound different, like a tube DAC/Amp setup. Though it does have swappable opamps as well, at least for the speaker portion, I don't remember about the headphone amp.
Michael Lang
Hmm I had the Zxr and still have it actually and for shits and giggle I popped it back in a few years back after going AE-5 and on and I have to say it didnt take me long at all to take back out. So I don't agree with ya on something not sounding better. It all depends on what you connect it to also but anyways it was good card.
Neo Cyrus
Objectively how can it sound better when the ZxR is at the limit of human hearing? Sure it can sound different which you interpret as better, but demonstrably/scientifically better in a way an actual human can tell? I doubt that. And I don't exactly have it hooked up to a PoS either, it's a Sennheiser HD6XX, so basically the HD650.
If I'm wrong on this, I'd actually like to know.
TheDeeGee
I got it for €165 at the time (2013) was a complete steal.
Can't say it ever caused issues for me. I only remember in the early days of Windows 10 the OS would not keep the ZXR as default audio device, but that could have been a Windows issue. And the temporary solution was to disable the GPU HDMI audio in device manager. Eventually it got fixed.
I'm using it with the new Command software for a while now, and it sounds identical to the old software.
Robbo9999
It sounds like one of you might have used ASR in the past, it's a good site, I recommend it to anyone that is interested in audio who has the goal of getting some really well measuring audio gear that will therefore sound great for the least amount of money:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?reviews/
It's a way of avoiding all the expensive snake oil that's always been associated with the audiophile world. There's a bit of a learning curve associated with getting the most out of that site, because it takes time to understand the measurements and the significance of them, but you don't have to understand absolutely everything - you can just buy the stuff on there that measures well & is well received in the review.
