The Sound BlasterX AE-5 Owners' Club

CaptainRAVE · 7 Jan 2019 at 19:42

So many settings, where to start? Any tips for headphone use? Music/Gaming mostly.

R3X · 8 Jan 2019 at 14:26

It does feel a mine field at first glance, since sound is so subjective and different to everyone's ears its really best to try out different settings and compare.

For myself I don't game, so all I did was went straight to set up and selected 'Direct HP' and set my headphone ohm setting and saved.

Direct HP switches off all the other settings and gives a pure clean detailed sound ie the way music and movies were suppose to be heard imo, anything else kinda tweaks or adjust the sound but that isn't to say its 100% not going to sound better then the surround or other modes though.

I still have not had time to play around with the other surround and functions since direct HP is so clean, accurate and detailed sounding and I came from X-fi with surround always switched on for all.

Rroff · 8 Jan 2019 at 14:35

One thing to watch out for with direct modes (not sure if there is a proper way to set it up or something) if you use them and have say a fullscreen game, voice comms and a media player running one or more of the applications might stop outputting audio - doesn't happen in the non-direct modes. I'm guessing that is part of how it works to give the best quality, low latency, audio.

CaptainRAVE · 8 Jan 2019 at 20:10

So after it all working fine yesterday, I fire it back up and Spotify is crackling again like it did with the Soundblaster X. Could it be because I have the soundcard directly beneath my graphics card? There are no other slots unfortunately.

Will try a fresh windows install. Doubt it will help, but I am out of options.

The weird thing is that on board audio works fine, but just sounds rubbish.

CaptainRAVE · 8 Jan 2019 at 21:09

So it’s fixed again. I bet tomorrow when I come back it’ll break. What on earth is windups doing?

Rroff · 9 Jan 2019 at 08:08

See what it is sharing system interrupts with? shouldn't be an issue in this day and age but you never know.

R3X · 9 Jan 2019 at 14:18

CaptainRAVE said:
So after it all working fine yesterday, I fire it back up and Spotify is crackling again like it did with the Soundblaster X. Could it be because I have the soundcard directly beneath my graphics card? There are no other slots unfortunately.

Will try a fresh windows install. Doubt it will help, but I am out of options.

The weird thing is that on board audio works fine, but just sounds rubbish.

Its rare to hear of any EMI or interference issues but I have always placed the soundcard as far away as possible to the GPU like on the last or one before the GPU if possible but the AE5 soundcard cover casing is designed to shield EMI also so its unlikely its that issue.

Also make sure you are connecting the headphone to the correct port on the back, its the 2nd last port (furthest away from the square optical spif
port) with the thicker rounded bearing, has a very tiny picture of a headphone.

https://hothardware.com/photo-gallery/Article/2651?image=big_soundblaster_ae-5_angle.jpg&tag=auto

Maybe try and switch off microphone/line in under normal windows audio settings, click set up under creative panel and change speaker set up and set correct ohm also or try low ohm setting, its unlikely 2 soundcards are faulty and causing the crackling too. Try also a different pair of headphones or ear phones or speakers etc.....

Also update the latest creative sound drivers as always, do you get the crackling on spotify via the desktop app ? try the website version on chrome or firefox as a test or check on youtube or deezer even see if the issues still there.

Fault finding computer issues is a pitta but once you solve it its like finding buried treasure.

V F · 9 Jan 2019 at 17:58

R3X said:
Its rare to hear of any EMI or interference issues but I have always placed the soundcard as far away as possible to the GPU like on the last or one before the GPU if possible but the AE5 soundcard cover casing is designed to shield EMI also so its unlikely its that issue.

I'd love to try doing a custom DIY shield for the Audigy 2 ZS and X-Fi Prelude to see if I could get the noise floor lower than what it already is and it's pretty silent.

soloz2 said:
this has been covered numerous times before and while I applaud your effort and ingenuity, there is an actual product designed for audio applications that is much safer than tin foil.

ERS paper sandwiched between two 1/8" layers of craft foam, grounded to the case. Pictured is an X-Fi XtremeMusic card with full modifications performed (replace all output caps, op-amps, power supply cap and ERS shield)

~It is very important for the shield to be grounded, in this case one corner of the insulation between the ERS and card is cut away so the ERS touches the bolt attaching the I/O shield to the card PCB

I use the same method for the shield on my Prelude and a few others use these shields although I haven't made one in some time.

Mr G · 10 Jan 2019 at 13:58

I currently use a Logitech G Pro headset for chat/sound and I've been sat on the fence for a few weeks now reading many reviews and user feedback and still undecided on whether to ditch the onboard ALC1220 audio on my Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 motherboard in favour for a Sound Blaster Z or AE-5.

What do you guys think, is it worth ditching the onboard audio in favour of this soundcard?

CaptainRAVE · 10 Jan 2019 at 21:22

R3X said:
Its rare to hear of any EMI or interference issues but I have always placed the soundcard as far away as possible to the GPU like on the last or one before the GPU if possible but the AE5 soundcard cover casing is designed to shield EMI also so its unlikely its that issue.

Also make sure you are connecting the headphone to the correct port on the back, its the 2nd last port (furthest away from the square optical spif
port) with the thicker rounded bearing, has a very tiny picture of a headphone.

https://hothardware.com/photo-gallery/Article/2651?image=big_soundblaster_ae-5_angle.jpg&tag=auto

Maybe try and switch off microphone/line in under normal windows audio settings, click set up under creative panel and change speaker set up and set correct ohm also or try low ohm setting, its unlikely 2 soundcards are faulty and causing the crackling too. Try also a different pair of headphones or ear phones or speakers etc.....

Also update the latest creative sound drivers as always, do you get the crackling on spotify via the desktop app ? try the website version on chrome or firefox as a test or check on youtube or deezer even see if the issues still there.

Fault finding computer issues is a pitta but once you solve it its like finding buried treasure.

So far a fresh windows install seems to have fixed it - fingers crossed!

pawloszczak · 11 Jan 2019 at 19:10

Hello
I'm new here. Recently I've bougth AE-5. One thing is annoying for me...changing from speakers on headphones. Is it faster way than clicking in SB connect few times? Maybe some script or something?

Coolasmoo · 11 Jan 2019 at 19:53

@pawloszczak google AE5 switcher

videodj · 20 Jan 2019 at 21:20

Coolasmoo said:
@pawloszczak google AE5 switcher

I tried this earlier, seemed really slow and buggy. While I like the card the ability to switch between speakers and headphones quickly is a real let down. I honestly can't see why they could not have the ports auto detect.

Gimpymoo · 20 Jan 2019 at 23:08

Currently using some Cloud II's via the USB.

For gaming only, is there a debate that the AE-5 would be a worthwhile upgrade?

Improved positional accuracy?

videodj · 21 Jan 2019 at 14:33

I'm probably going to return mine, I didn't realise it doesn't encode Dolby or DTS, don't like the headphone not auto switching. Given the price, I really don't think it's worth it, not that impressed with the RGB or software either.

R3X · 21 Jan 2019 at 21:31

videodj said:
I'm probably going to return mine, I didn't realise it doesn't encode Dolby or DTS, don't like the headphone not auto switching. Given the price, I really don't think it's worth it, not that impressed with the RGB or software either.

That would drive me nuts also, maybe wait for the new EVGA soundcard seen here:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/evga-nu-audio-sound-card.18842807/

EsaT · 21 Jan 2019 at 21:57

Gimpymoo said:
Currently using some Cloud II's via the USB.

For gaming only, is there a debate that the AE-5 would be a worthwhile upgrade?

Improved positional accuracy?

You think Kingston sacrificies profit margin by bundling actually good USB sound card with them?

As time passed however I quickly realized that the headset is great but the 7.1 USB sound thingy sucks harder than a Dyson.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/30945620

And Dolby Headphone is something I wouldn't trust with any closed design which has bass.
It sounds bad enough with open headphones which can afford some above neutral bass strength without it instantly starting to bury details.
Creative has lot better binaural sound simulation keeping bass neutral.
Also Dolby Hypephone has serious tendency for echo.

Anyway first minute of this is excellent quick test for capabilities of headphones. (Dolby Headphone starting 7:15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1_20T8x_OI
(disable any effects/processings when listening that)

And if you have also console or more than one PC then external Sound BlasterX G6 would give pretty much same as AE-5 in portable form and include Dolby Digital decoding.

videodj said:
I honestly can't see why they could not have the ports auto detect.

Did you even think what that would cause?
Why would anyone want to reach behind PC to connect/disconnect something regularly?
Besides the physical trouble usually involved in it, that will also put connectors under wear.

T floppy · 2 Feb 2019 at 21:07

I bougt ae5 and When i change volume in game using directx11 the image freeze while sound continúes for a few seconds. I use latest drivers. Any suggestion?

Sven Hassel · 7 Feb 2019 at 14:29

mine works one day then doesnt the next,Ive tried various slots..still does it

SpudMaster · 10 Feb 2019 at 01:47

Anyone using one of these with some AKG K702 headphones?

Got my AE-5 installed today but I'm struggling at getting a sound that I like out of it. Ive tried similar settings to what I was using with my Sound Blaster Z and tbh so far I'm preferring what I was hearing with the Z despite numerous reports saying the AE-5 is a big step up for headphones.

The Connect software isn't that nice to use either, the software with the SB Z was much easier to use.

Anyone got any suggestions as its sounding prettu thin to me compared to my SB Z?