The Sound BlasterX AE-5 Owners' Club

[Skynet5]

There is definitely a benefit of playing with both mic volume and boost in windows. Made a marked improvement for my game one ae-5 combo by dropping vol down to 55ish and boost to 10%.

Yeah you can clearly hear some hiss in that review, but it's not much.

 

[Rroff]

Max Payne 2 soundtrack sounds sick on this soundcard - the soundtrack has a wide, expansive and quite punchy sound which works well with the open punchy signature of this soundcard

 

[Captain]

How’s this compared to the Asus Essence soundcard? This would match my system with the RBG nicely.

 

[V F]

How’s this compared to the Asus Essence soundcard? This would match my system with the RBG nicely.

What is the STX II like for gaming?

 

[Captain]

What is the STX II like for gaming?

I have the original STX and it’s good tbh, I’ve been using the onboard audio as even though it’s basic, can’t moan about the quality.

I thought I’d get something more recent instead and this looks good for £120 compared to £220 for the essence STX II.

 

[Marsman]

STXII is a waste of time for anyone with an STX. Personally, for £220, I think it's a waste of time full stop.

AE-5 looks like a good choice for £100 less and has SBX prostudio, which is arguably better than Dolby Headphone for gaming. The AE-5 does as much as anyone would need for gaming and for anyone whose first priority is music, they'd be better off with a DAC/amp than they would spending £200+ on a STXII.

 

[AiiR]

Great soundcard, I routed the RGB strip from mine out if the back and stuck it to the side of the case facing the wall. Gives a beautiful mystic effect when set to aurara that contrasts well with the plain blue LEDs on the back if my monitors.

What settings are people using in the software?

 

[Rroff]

Someone(s) must have been paying attention to these threads and/or noticed there has been a spike in buying - they've been at like £106-109 for awhile suddenly gone up to £116-119 depending where you buy LOL.

 

[ToTheMax]

Great soundcard, I routed the RGB strip from mine out if the back and stuck it to the side of the case facing the wall. Gives a beautiful mystic effect when set to aurara that contrasts well with the plain blue LEDs on the back if my monitors.

What settings are people using in the software?

Using AKG 712 pro headphones this is what I typically use;
Music or TV with stereo track
EQ disabled
Surround disabled
Crystalizer 40
Bass 30

Music when I want a pure experience
Direct HP

Movies / TV with 5.1 source track
EQ disabled
Surround 80
Crystalizer 40
Bass 30

Games
EQ disabled
Surround 100
Crystalizer 40
Bass 30

 

[ToTheMax]

Someone(s) must have been paying attention to these threads and/or noticed there has been a spike in buying - they've been at like £106-109 for awhile suddenly gone up to £116-119 depending where you buy LOL.

It is a very decent sound card for driving audiophile headphones for the ultimate gaming experience, maybe gamers are becoming more discerning / educated.

 

[Skynet5]

I found the limit of my game ones yesterday by turning up the bass.

Speakers started to distort/clip quite badly. Left ear was weaker than the right.

Still far bassier and louder than I would ever use, but just hope I've done no long term damage to the headphones.

I don't adjust the bass from the default anyway, but clearly did to experiment, and tge volume slide at 50 is my mental maximum. I keep it at 25-30 99% of the time.


Plugged my over ear M2s in and they handled the sound well!

 

[Devst8nDscoDave]

I watch a live stream with Creative a few weeks ago and the rep basically admitted but couldn't officially confirmed that a high end version of the AE-5 is coming. He said it's something special.

 

[Rroff]

I watch a live stream with Creative a few weeks ago and the rep basically admitted but couldn't officially confirmed that a high end version of the AE-5 is coming. He said it's something special.

Only way I can see it being better really is maybe swapping the DAC out for the ES9018 which might make it too expensive, ability to change op amps without de-soldering, uprated capacitors (Nichicon KZ and polypropylene film caps, etc. where appropriate) and an enhanced power filtering/regulator stage and a lot of that would increase the cost for relatively minor gain for the average consumer unfortunately so can't see them doing it.

There are some things they could do with connectivity and maybe some more tweaks to the headphone amp.

 

[Devst8nDscoDave]

Only way I can see it being better really is maybe swapping the DAC out for the ES9018 which might make it too expensive, ability to change op amps without de-soldering, uprated capacitors (Nichicon KZ and polypropylene film caps, etc. where appropriate) and an enhanced power filtering/regulator stage and a lot of that would increase the cost for relatively minor gain for the average consumer unfortunately so can't see them doing it.

There are some things they could do with connectivity and maybe some more tweaks to the headphone amp.

I'm looking forward to it anyway. I have the AE-5 and it's brillliant. If I can get an improvement over that I'm game.

 

[ToTheMax]

Hmm if they manage to do a balanced headphone output and improve the SNR further, that alone would be amazing.

 

[EsaT]

I watch a live stream with Creative a few weeks ago and the rep basically admitted but couldn't officially confirmed that a high end version of the AE-5 is coming. He said it's something special.

Maybe it's something similar to ZxR.
AE-5 really makes ZxR feel rather lack luster with that old TPA6120 headphone output.
Daughter card could also help in fitting balanced output.

 

[Rroff]

AE-5 really makes ZxR feel rather lack luster with that old TPA6120 headphone output.

I have to say compared to my previous experiences with devices using the TPA for headphones where a lot of current isn't needed the AE-5 is in another league and in current hungry headphones atleast no worse than the TPA. While I have my criticisms with the AE-5 terms of driving my HD600s I was impressed how well it did manage in that respect compared to most other devices in its class - IMO it needs just a little more voltage to fully take control of those drivers I'm not really sure on the details as to how and why but there is a point where the "magic happens" with the 600 series even though you might not actually be using that full VRMS output capability.

 

[Devst8nDscoDave]

Argos have Sennheiser 350SE for £46 if anyone wants a great pair of headphones for the AE-5.

 

[PapaLazaru]

New Pure Edition out now - https://uk.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blasterx-ae-5-pure-edition

 

[Rroff]

Its just the AE-5 with additional RGB stuff isn't it?