Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5

Special product for connoisseurs

Sound BlasterX AE-5 is positioned by Creative as a special product designed for the most demanding gamers and just lovers of high-quality sound. The sound card is characterized by advanced hardware, the presence of an RGB backlight system and thoroughly developed software. It costs as much as a professional or audiophile hi-fi card, but it sounds just as good.

High-quality SABER DAC and top-end headphone preamp

The AE-5 is based on the BlasterX Acoustic Engine, which uses a SABER32-class DAC capable of up to 384kHz/32bit with 122dB dynamic range and ultra-low distortion. There is support for 5.1 mode (and virtual 7.1), a chic XAMP headphone preamp (maximum impedance of 600 ohms) and a standard set of inputs and outputs (4 3.5 connectors, an optical output and a headphone output). As bonuses, we have the same Aurora Reactive backlight synchronization, which will come in handy for owners of transparent cases and an excellent set of software with a huge number of settings.

Is it worth it to overpay? Yes!

All things considered, the most controversial part of the Sound BlasterX AE-5 is the $200 price tag. This is 2 times higher than the popular Asus Strix Soar and Creative Sound Blaster Z. Is it worth paying extra for ephemeral sound quality? In general, this is a moot point, someone hears the difference in sound between different wires and distinguishes MP3 from WAV by smell. Most people will have to use an audiophile sound card, elite Hi-Fi acoustics, etc. to hear the difference. And all this costs very decent money.

Completely new gaming experience

But in the case of the Sound BlasterX AE-5, it seems to be worth paying for: even with an inexpensive gaming headset, the Sound BlasterX AE-5 sounds wonderful. In games, everything hoots, bangs and rattles with incredible clarity and positioning in space. Especially if you use the headphone output with a preamp.