Sound Blaster X5 Hi-res 32bit/384kHz External USB DAC with Fully Balanced Xamp Headphone Bi-amp, Bluetooth Receiver, RCA in/-out, TOSLINK Optical in/-out, Mic-in, Headset-in for Audiophiles

Fantastic product. Bit pricey but if you have good speakers and good headphones it blows high end on board sound out the water. The difference in Driving Sims like Le Mans Ultimate is AMAZING! Worth it 😁 Works FLAWLESSLY on my Asus x870e-e motherboard no crackling or popping for me. Just download the creative app, install latest firmware and driver and it works perfectly. Happy Days.

Arrives well packed in a smart box with plenty of foam inside to protect the sound-card. Unpacking there is the main unit, three cables (USB, Phono and Optical), and some booklets, one of which is a quick-start. The main unit is quite big so you better check the dimensions. Oddly the manual doesn’t mention a PC until the last page. However, a quick trip to the Sound Blaster site and you download the app, which makes light work of setting up the device through a very simple, friendly interface. The app also seemed to switch my onboard sound-card off and set everything up so the new unit just worked and that was that. By the way, the unit is powered through the usb port so if you want to use it without a PC you will need a USB power supply. The USB-C cable they provide can be used just to power the unit or as a data cable for the PC. It’s a type A on the PC end so if you have or want anything different you will have to buy your own cable. As you would expect, it sounds very good indeed and worked flawlessly. I wanted mine to replace the rather poor effort on my motherboard. The app is simple but actually contains a lot of features. If you have used Sound Blaster products before, there are no shocks. Gone are the days of tons of different apps, there is just one and it highly intuitive. Plenty of different effects or none at all for the purists. My guess is that you can install the app without the product to see if it’s to your liking (I didn’t try that, but I don’t see why not.). Recommended. A serious upgrade from onboard sound and a a really nice external package.

this sound card audio quality is out of this world, with some minor bugs like usual sound blaster

Crackles and static cause the sound quality to be absolutely appalling. Overpriced and is simply not fit for purpose - numerous issues reported on forums about the awful sound quality, static and distortion. Sadly I only found these forum posts after I received my X5 and very quickly realising it was awful. The speakers connected to it are Bose so not exactly cheap ones nor were any of the leads I used to connect it all together. Creative known this is a problem and no resolution in sight.

Brilliant piece of kit if it's what you're looking for. I use it USB connected to my laptop and power two monitor speakers and also a soundbar/sub via the optical out option. I've also just purchased an Akai MPC Live 2 music production unit and this feeds into the line in option on the back of the SB unit. It sounds fantastic and although I don't really use all the available extra options for customised sound via the app on the laptop, it does the job of blasting music and enhancing game play dramatically as is for me.

As someone who’s cycled through a fair share of DACs and amps, I picked up the CREATIVE Sound Blaster X5 not expecting it to seriously compete with my more expensive setups — but I’m honestly impressed by how much value and flexibility it offers, especially at this price point. First, sound quality: the X5 delivers truly clean, detailed audio across the board. Running high-res 32bit/384kHz files, the clarity is immediately noticeable — excellent separation, wide but natural soundstage, and a tight, controlled low-end without any mud. Mids are clean and voices sound extremely lifelike. Treble is extended but smooth, avoiding the harshness you sometimes get in cheaper DAC/amps. It genuinely brings out the nuances in well-recorded tracks without coloring the sound too much. The balanced Xamp bi-amplification is the real deal — it drives my planar headphones (HIFIMAN Sundaras and a pair of Focal Clears) without any issue, and with noticeably better dynamics compared to single-ended setups. Even at higher volumes, the background remains silent with no audible hiss. Inputs and outputs are extremely versatile. RCA in/out, optical in/out, USB-C connection, mic/headset jacks — it's basically a full desktop hub. Bluetooth receiver quality is surprisingly decent too; not as pristine as wired, obviously, but perfectly acceptable for casual listening. Mic support is a bonus if you’re gaming or streaming. It’s clear Creative designed this unit to bridge between pure audiophile listening and high-quality general desktop use — and it does so better than I expected. Minor notes: No MQA support (if that matters to you), but native high-res support more than makes up for it. The software is robust but takes a bit of time to tweak if you want to customize everything (thankfully it remembers your settings). It’s not the smallest unit, so make sure you have space on your desk. Overall: If you’re looking for a serious, audiophile-grade DAC/amp that can also handle all the extras (mics, gaming, Bluetooth, optical setups), the Sound Blaster X5 is a phenomenal piece of gear. It punches way above its weight class and would be an easy recommendation for anyone who wants flexibility and genuinely high-end sound without getting lost in the £1,000+ rabbit hole.

Honestly, I would have given 0 stars or - stars!!! Very bad sound card! I can't believe that Creative's best is such horrible product! Static and sparks noise only, almost damaged my speakers! Terrible and expensive!

Yeah not too shabby

Super DAC - geiler voll volluminöser ausgewogener Klang. Nutzung: Tonsignal vom 65-Zoll Samsung Fernseher optischer Ausgang über diese X5 in einen nur analogen Röhrenvorverstärker bringen Aber... ersteinmal ging gar nichts. Bescheidener Klang... oder nur Störgeräusche. Wie immer: 99% der Fehler sitzen vor der Technik !! So auch ich. Am Fernseher den Ton-Ausgang auf optisch umstellen geht einfach - ABER REICHT NICHT AUS !!!! Fernseher war im Werkszustand zurückgesetzt und es mussten im Expertenmodus 4 Einstellungen geändert werden! Ohne fremde Hilfe von jüngeren technikversierteren Freunden wäre ich da nicht drauf gekommen. Ende gut - Alles gut ! Das Gerät ist genial, die versprochene Tonqualität wird tatsächlich eingehalten. Die Einstellungen an der X5 sind einfach, und in der Onlinebeschreibung relativ gut beschrieben.

I buy a SoundBlaster x5 soundcard on 24 juni 2024, nice soundcard, but all the time after in three months, the only what I hear is the crackling and popping, I have done every fix you can read at forums. Being a company that is dedicated to sound, and knowing that these cards are going to be used in computers, they should have engineers who know how to implement the exact components so that the sound of any digital equipment such as computers can make use of these and not try to sneak around by putting the following solution on their website (¨Solution ID: 200261¨) Which indicates to me that their sound card is not suitable for the computer market, since in a computer there will always be programs that are running internally. It is like saying if you have the washing machine running, you cannot turn on the light in the house. The interferences of this card are in the simple complexity of using USB. Likewise, the latest drivers 3.6.3.0 do not solve anything at all, in fact they make things even worse. I have lost three months trying to fix the faults of this SoundBlaster x5 sound card and 300 euros thrown away, simply because Creative Labs does not recognize its responsibility. So Creatieve labs, it's time to take this card problem very seriously.

CREATIVE Sound Blaster X5 wady i zalety: ZALETY: + porządne wykonanie, bardzo ładny design, dobrze działające manipulatory + dyskretne podświetlenie z możliwością przyciemniania + czytelne komunikaty + rozbudowana ale i prosta w obsłudze aplikacja WADY: - brak filtru zasilania lub osobnego portu zasilania - wysoki poziom zakłóceń EMI

Cela fait plus de 20 ans que je ne jure que par la marque Creative concernant l'audio sur PC, et ce malgré le suivi assez pauvre de la marque question logiciel. Je leur ai donné ma confiance encore ce coup-ci en me procurant le X5. Sauf que je me suis permis de prendre en parallèle plusieurs DAC pour le mettre en concurrence, à savoir côté Fiio le K11 R2R, le K7 BT et le K5 Pro ESS et côté Topping le DX3 Pro+ et DX5. Le X5 était le plus gros de tous ces DAC, mais plutôt sobre et relativement soigné. Par contre c'était le seul tout en plastique... Le bouton de volume est en métal et bouge légèrement sur son axe si on le titille un peu. L'écran ne reste pas allumé constamment et fini par s'éteindre au bout d'un certain temps une fois les réglage trouvé, c'est un bon point. Côté praticité, il ne réclame qu'un seul est unique câble USB-C pour être alimenté et fonctionner. Il ne chauffe absolument pas, je pense que c'est dû à la taille de l'objet, il ne manque pas de place à l'intérieur comparé aux autres DAC. Niveau audio, je n'ai rien à lui reprocher, il a driver mon Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro parfaitement, les puces Cirrus Logic CS43198 sont excellentes et surtout très polyvalentes que ce soit pour du jeu avec spatialisation utilisant du HRTF que pour de la musique ou des films. J'ai malgré tout fini par le renvoyer. Pourquoi ? Son prix, même si j'ai pu le toucher à 239.99€ lors d'une promo au lieu des 299.99€, c'est le choix de matériaux tout en plastique, qui je pense finira tôt ou tard par prendre les marques, qui m'a fait le renvoyer. D'ailleurs la gravure du bouton Bluetooth n'était centrée sur le bouton et légèrement de travers, cela faisait un peu mal fini dans les détails... 239,99€ quand à côté j'ai un Fiio K11 R2R à 184,90€, voir le K11 tout court à 149€ qui fait tout aussi bien auditivement parlant et est surtout infiniment mieux fini, compact et entièrement en métal. Je pense que Creative devraient revoir très rapidement leur tarif et la qualité de construction de leur produits si ils veulent rester dans la course. Actuellement je reste sur le K7 BT et le DX3 Pro+ le temps de recevoir un dernier pour faire mon choix, le Topping DX5, le reste a été renvoyé. EDIT : Le DX5 bien que très bon, voir légèrement meilleur que le K7 BT pour ce qui est des mediums et des basses moindre mais bien présentes et précises, ne vaut pas la différence de prix. D'autant plus que j'ai pu voir que la fiabilité de la marque Topping ce n'est pas trop ça. Je reste donc sur le K7 BT.

Excelente qualidade de som, prático e multifuncional.