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[Various] Creative Releases BlasterX AE-5 Gaming Sound Card

31K views 192 replies 85 participants last post by  ryan92084 
#1 ·
#2 ·
PRO MLG 1337 Gaming
biggrin.gif

Also, a sound card? People still use them?
 
#4 ·
Does it do Digital Out to a multichannel preamp, and can you turn off the LEDs?

/clearly not the target audience for this
 
#5 ·
Interesting, they are taking audio cues from competitive FPS games and re-imaging enemy placement in a companion app for you smart device... so you can see them based on their audio data... kind of dirty if you ask me.
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by inedenimadam View Post

Interesting, they are taking audio cues from competitive FPS games and re-imaging enemy placement in a companion app for you smart device... so you can see them based on their audio data... kind of dirty if you ask me.
Yea, its actually kind of dirty. But if people are doing it and you are getting owned cause of it, wouldn't you do it?
tongue.gif
kill or be killed...
 
#7 ·
^why would you buy an expensive sound card for a digital out? Digital out is basically bypassing the sound card itself.
 
#10 ·
Come on now guys...this is a Sabre DAC based card which sonic wise could put it above a LOT of devices out there. My LG V10 uses a Sabre 9018 DAC and surpasses, honestly, any of my stand alone DAP's.

So yeah, I'm sure it'll have good circuitry and quality components so this just might be the sound card to get.

If you need a sound card...otherwise get a USB DAC or something.
 
#13 ·
May not be for everybody but if you spend enough on headphones you want to get the best audio you can. I got the Sound Blaster Z after I bought Sony MDRXB950BT headphones and because it came with a great mic that can sit on top of your monitor. I also like the software too, there is a mode for games that boosts the audio levels of footsteps which is really useful for CSGO.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndroidVageta View Post

Come on now guys...this is a Sabre DAC based card which sonic wise could put it above a LOT of devices out there. My LG V10 uses a Sabre 9018 DAC and surpasses, honestly, any of my stand alone DAP's.

So yeah, I'm sure it'll have good circuitry and quality components so this just might be the sound card to get.

If you need a sound card...otherwise get a USB DAC or something.
How good is the DAC on the V0?! I can't believe how good it sounds for a phone...it reminds me of the ridiculous DAC in the original Playstation.
 
#15 ·
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by HugoStiglitz96 View Post

May not be for everybody but if you spend enough on headphones you want to get the best audio you can. I got the Sound Blaster Z after I bought Sony MDRXB950BT headphones and because it came with a great mic that can sit on top of your monitor. I also like the software too, there is a mode for games that boosts the audio levels of footsteps which is really useful for CSGO.
i dunno about sound quality, the review is much too "imho" with no graphs to show certain things like audio response and accuracy.

a simple frequency sweep using a 2nd soundcard in a loopback would easily do this, using the onboard sound chip in particular is a cheap way to do it.
 
#18 ·
Looks like a decent card. I don't need flashy lights though. Im guessing this was a "everybody else is doing it things." I wish they would come out with a decent external usb card. There is just too much electrical noise inside the PC. Pretty sure my next card will be external.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by maestro0428 View Post

Looks like a decent card. I don't need flashy lights though. Im guessing this was a "everybody else is doing it things." I wish they would come out with a decent external usb card. There is just too much electrical noise inside the PC. Pretty sure my next card will be external.
I hear you, I felt that way too so I bought the Xonar U7 and I'm really quite happy with it! Found it on Amazon for a discount ($85 or something) so I jumped on it, so keep an eye out for deals. Once I get a good set of headphones I'll get something like the Schiit Jotunheim, until then this does very well for me.
 
#20 ·
The Sabres are a bit too clinical for me, especially in the Dragonfly, and at least for music I prefer the AKM 4490 for Delta Sigma DACs. But I imagine for sound effects and overall computer audio the Sabres might be right in their element.

Creative's Dolby / DTS pass-through works for me, where for some other cards it's not passing the bitstream for DTS / Dolby-encoded games. I haven't been able to figure out why, but for some reason Creative just works where others don't, for my multichannel setup. That's why I do digital out from their cards.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by infranoia View Post

The Sabres are a bit too clinical for me, especially in the Dragonfly, and at least for music I prefer the AKM 4490 for Delta Sigma DACs. But I imagine for sound effects and overall computer audio the Sabres might be right in their element.

Creative's Dolby / DTS pass-through works for me, where for some other cards it's not passing the bitstream for DTS / Dolby-encoded games. I haven't been able to figure out why, but for some reason Creative just works where others don't, for my multichannel setup. That's why I do digital out from their cards.
"Clinical" or not depends a lot on the rest of the circuit too and the headphones or speakers you have to go with it. I have never once heard good sound from an ES DAC that wasnt on a board that had extensive surrounding circuitry. And nothing mobile in design can have that so they never sound great.

The best audio I have ever heard was on an ES9018, and some of the worst "high end" sound I have heard was on an ES9018.
 
#23 ·
#25 ·
I been using HDMI for audio for a few months now and I have ditched both Optical and Analog. This obviously only works if you have a receiver and decent speakers but I'm very happy with the results. The only thing I use my Xonar for these days is the Microphone and occasional Headphone listening.
 
#26 ·
RGB only works if connected via............MOLEX.

Quote:
Why no SATA power as i would have expected? Creative Labs has since told me that there's not enough 5 volt power carried over SATA with maxes out about 7.5 watts. Molex, however, can supply up to 55 watts.

Since the AE-5 can power up to four LED strips, it can't be run off of SATA. There is power through the PCIe slot, but that's 12 volts only. While Creative didn't say, I'm going to imagine adding additional hardware to convert 12 volts to 5 volts and bringing it onto the plane of the sound card goes against the point. The extra circuitry would add cost and induce more noise. So yeah, Molex it is.
 
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