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Guru3D Rig of the Month - March 2021
White limited edition model of the Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus
And really, nothing else has changed other than that white jacket. For those that actually still purchase a soundcard, kit might be a nice match in a white-colored PC.
A limited number of white models have appeared for the gaming sound card "Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus", the one with Dolby Digital Live / DTS Connect surround sound encoding function.
Although the basic functions have not changed, the number of LED strips included has been increased from the conventional one to four. For audio output, stereo speaker output is up to 32bit / 96kHz (up to 32bit / 384kHz in direct output mode), 5.1ch speaker output is up to 32bit / 96kHz, headphone output is up to 32bit / 96kHz (up to 32bit / 96kHz in direct output mode) 384kHz), optical digital output up to 24bit / 96kHz.
Bus interface is PCI-Express (x1), connection interface is equipped with 3.5mm headphone terminal x 1, 3.5mm line output terminal x 3, optical digital output terminal x 1, 3.5mm line input / microphone input. The card size is 145mm long, 20mm thick, 128mm wide, and weighs 215g.
Noisiv
Senior Member
Posts: 7725
Joined: 2010-11-16
Senior Member
Posts: 7725
Joined: 2010-11-16
#5793405 Posted on: 05/28/2020 05:32 PM
is very nice
would have looked even better w/o that teenage SB X logo
btw what's up with 1980s 5.1?
is very nice
would have looked even better w/o that teenage SB X logo
btw what's up with 1980s 5.1?
bobblunderton
Senior Member
Posts: 404
Joined: 2017-02-15
Senior Member
Posts: 404
Joined: 2017-02-15
#5793444 Posted on: 05/28/2020 07:42 PM
@Noisiv Well a lot of people just use stereo headphones, or a typical 5.1 setup - but anything more than stereo is uncommon except for home-theater PC's.
I loved my X-fi Titanium HD Pro I had in 2011, great GREAT card. I still have it in-fact, it still works fine and has current driver support (I believe it's recently been moved to legacy support as has followed earlier departure of the cheaper/rest of the line-up of X-fi). Cheap X-fi cards were absolutely junk and a driver nightmare, as was trying to find the right driver for your card, as they wouldn't work interchangeably with one another with 'Hardware not detected' errors. The more expensive ones like the Fatality and Titanium / Titanium HD Pro (with replaceable op-amps!), were tops by comparison. I almost think Creative would be in a lot better position if it wasn't for the cheap-end soundcard disasters (mostly it was Windows Vista & newer taking away hardware acceleration due to HD movie content protection). Before Windows Vista, sound cards actually helped squeeze a few more FPS out of your PC by dumping sound chores to hardware other than the CPU.
I have an Audigy Rx 5.1/7.1 card here & it sounds great. Much more consistent warm/smooth bass with a harder punch, and a night & day difference on recording performance (on-board sound peaks and distorts quickly and loses a lot of the dynamic sound and lesser heard notes). Putting a soundcard in with some GOOD speakers (if you don't just use digital-out to a fancy receiver already), will make you hear notes and backing tracks within music that you never heard before - even if the song is almost 40 years old.
I've been sold on Creative sound boards since the SB16 non-PNP card multimedia kit I got new with my (used!) AM486 computer in late 1994 or so.
Some people can't heard the difference. Even a 5 year old 100+ $ soundcard is better than current on-board with 'decent' speakers hooked to it, to me. So if you work and leave music on (not using headphones or digital outs), and have good speakers, give your ears a treat and celebrate some good sound. Of course anything's better than the Pentium 3 / 4 days where you could hear the mouse cursor move when using onboard sound on those cheap Dell motherboards with no shielding on the VRMs (or very little)!
I like this card, it's nice, I have some white trimmings inside my case (drive trays, expansion slot covers, fan blades though nothing LED except the AMD CPU cooler), so it could look nice.
Just wished they never dropped SOUNDFONT support after the x-fi series - something I used since 1997 or so. That said, a few popular digital audio workshops can suffice in other means to accomplish the same thing.
@Noisiv Well a lot of people just use stereo headphones, or a typical 5.1 setup - but anything more than stereo is uncommon except for home-theater PC's.
I loved my X-fi Titanium HD Pro I had in 2011, great GREAT card. I still have it in-fact, it still works fine and has current driver support (I believe it's recently been moved to legacy support as has followed earlier departure of the cheaper/rest of the line-up of X-fi). Cheap X-fi cards were absolutely junk and a driver nightmare, as was trying to find the right driver for your card, as they wouldn't work interchangeably with one another with 'Hardware not detected' errors. The more expensive ones like the Fatality and Titanium / Titanium HD Pro (with replaceable op-amps!), were tops by comparison. I almost think Creative would be in a lot better position if it wasn't for the cheap-end soundcard disasters (mostly it was Windows Vista & newer taking away hardware acceleration due to HD movie content protection). Before Windows Vista, sound cards actually helped squeeze a few more FPS out of your PC by dumping sound chores to hardware other than the CPU.
I have an Audigy Rx 5.1/7.1 card here & it sounds great. Much more consistent warm/smooth bass with a harder punch, and a night & day difference on recording performance (on-board sound peaks and distorts quickly and loses a lot of the dynamic sound and lesser heard notes). Putting a soundcard in with some GOOD speakers (if you don't just use digital-out to a fancy receiver already), will make you hear notes and backing tracks within music that you never heard before - even if the song is almost 40 years old.
I've been sold on Creative sound boards since the SB16 non-PNP card multimedia kit I got new with my (used!) AM486 computer in late 1994 or so.
Some people can't heard the difference. Even a 5 year old 100+ $ soundcard is better than current on-board with 'decent' speakers hooked to it, to me. So if you work and leave music on (not using headphones or digital outs), and have good speakers, give your ears a treat and celebrate some good sound. Of course anything's better than the Pentium 3 / 4 days where you could hear the mouse cursor move when using onboard sound on those cheap Dell motherboards with no shielding on the VRMs (or very little)!
I like this card, it's nice, I have some white trimmings inside my case (drive trays, expansion slot covers, fan blades though nothing LED except the AMD CPU cooler), so it could look nice.
Just wished they never dropped SOUNDFONT support after the x-fi series - something I used since 1997 or so. That said, a few popular digital audio workshops can suffice in other means to accomplish the same thing.
Slammy
Member
Posts: 89
Joined: 2003-03-12
Member
Posts: 89
Joined: 2003-03-12
#5793445 Posted on: 05/28/2020 07:47 PM
Yup onboard sound is trash in comparison and so is USB audio. Ive tried to ditch my SoundBlaster Z several times and i just cant go back to muffled audio. I have spent time tuning my EQ, its either clear with no bass or it has bass but then distorts or muffles the highs. Alot of people are missing out i have to say
Yup onboard sound is trash in comparison and so is USB audio. Ive tried to ditch my SoundBlaster Z several times and i just cant go back to muffled audio. I have spent time tuning my EQ, its either clear with no bass or it has bass but then distorts or muffles the highs. Alot of people are missing out i have to say
Burgurne
Senior Member
Posts: 259
Joined: 2004-08-17
Senior Member
Posts: 259
Joined: 2004-08-17
#5793477 Posted on: 05/28/2020 09:19 PM
@Noisiv Well a lot of people just use stereo headphones, or a typical 5.1 setup - but anything more than stereo is uncommon except for home-theater PC's.
I loved my X-fi Titanium HD Pro I had in 2011, great GREAT card. I still have it in-fact, it still works fine and has current driver support (I believe it's recently been moved to legacy support as has followed earlier departure of the cheaper/rest of the line-up of X-fi). Cheap X-fi cards were absolutely junk and a driver nightmare, as was trying to find the right driver for your card, as they wouldn't work interchangeably with one another with 'Hardware not detected' errors. The more expensive ones like the Fatality and Titanium / Titanium HD Pro (with replaceable op-amps!), were tops by comparison. I almost think Creative would be in a lot better position if it wasn't for the cheap-end soundcard disasters (mostly it was Windows Vista & newer taking away hardware acceleration due to HD movie content protection). Before Windows Vista, sound cards actually helped squeeze a few more FPS out of your PC by dumping sound chores to hardware other than the CPU.
I have an Audigy Rx 5.1/7.1 card here & it sounds great. Much more consistent warm/smooth bass with a harder punch, and a night & day difference on recording performance (on-board sound peaks and distorts quickly and loses a lot of the dynamic sound and lesser heard notes). Putting a soundcard in with some GOOD speakers (if you don't just use digital-out to a fancy receiver already), will make you hear notes and backing tracks within music that you never heard before - even if the song is almost 40 years old.
I've been sold on Creative sound boards since the SB16 non-PNP card multimedia kit I got new with my (used!) AM486 computer in late 1994 or so.
Some people can't heard the difference. Even a 5 year old 100+ $ soundcard is better than current on-board with 'decent' speakers hooked to it, to me. So if you work and leave music on (not using headphones or digital outs), and have good speakers, give your ears a treat and celebrate some good sound. Of course anything's better than the Pentium 3 / 4 days where you could hear the mouse cursor move when using onboard sound on those cheap Dell motherboards with no shielding on the VRMs (or very little)!
I like this card, it's nice, I have some white trimmings inside my case (drive trays, expansion slot covers, fan blades though nothing LED except the AMD CPU cooler), so it could look nice.
Just wished they never dropped SOUNDFONT support after the x-fi series - something I used since 1997 or so. That said, a few popular digital audio workshops can suffice in other means to accomplish the same thing.
Yes, we are still some people that prefer good graphic as well as good sound quality. No matter if it is music or a good game, my good old Logitech Z5400 5.1 speakersetup just love a real soundcard like this (my AE-5 is not white though!!). I have - 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec) on my Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming X, and it is way lower in quality than my AE-5, white or not.
@Noisiv Well a lot of people just use stereo headphones, or a typical 5.1 setup - but anything more than stereo is uncommon except for home-theater PC's.
I loved my X-fi Titanium HD Pro I had in 2011, great GREAT card. I still have it in-fact, it still works fine and has current driver support (I believe it's recently been moved to legacy support as has followed earlier departure of the cheaper/rest of the line-up of X-fi). Cheap X-fi cards were absolutely junk and a driver nightmare, as was trying to find the right driver for your card, as they wouldn't work interchangeably with one another with 'Hardware not detected' errors. The more expensive ones like the Fatality and Titanium / Titanium HD Pro (with replaceable op-amps!), were tops by comparison. I almost think Creative would be in a lot better position if it wasn't for the cheap-end soundcard disasters (mostly it was Windows Vista & newer taking away hardware acceleration due to HD movie content protection). Before Windows Vista, sound cards actually helped squeeze a few more FPS out of your PC by dumping sound chores to hardware other than the CPU.
I have an Audigy Rx 5.1/7.1 card here & it sounds great. Much more consistent warm/smooth bass with a harder punch, and a night & day difference on recording performance (on-board sound peaks and distorts quickly and loses a lot of the dynamic sound and lesser heard notes). Putting a soundcard in with some GOOD speakers (if you don't just use digital-out to a fancy receiver already), will make you hear notes and backing tracks within music that you never heard before - even if the song is almost 40 years old.
I've been sold on Creative sound boards since the SB16 non-PNP card multimedia kit I got new with my (used!) AM486 computer in late 1994 or so.
Some people can't heard the difference. Even a 5 year old 100+ $ soundcard is better than current on-board with 'decent' speakers hooked to it, to me. So if you work and leave music on (not using headphones or digital outs), and have good speakers, give your ears a treat and celebrate some good sound. Of course anything's better than the Pentium 3 / 4 days where you could hear the mouse cursor move when using onboard sound on those cheap Dell motherboards with no shielding on the VRMs (or very little)!
I like this card, it's nice, I have some white trimmings inside my case (drive trays, expansion slot covers, fan blades though nothing LED except the AMD CPU cooler), so it could look nice.
Just wished they never dropped SOUNDFONT support after the x-fi series - something I used since 1997 or so. That said, a few popular digital audio workshops can suffice in other means to accomplish the same thing.
Yes, we are still some people that prefer good graphic as well as good sound quality. No matter if it is music or a good game, my good old Logitech Z5400 5.1 speakersetup just love a real soundcard like this (my AE-5 is not white though!!). I have - 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec) on my Asrock Z390 Phantom Gaming X, and it is way lower in quality than my AE-5, white or not.
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Member
Posts: 77
Joined: 2003-02-06
"Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus" could easily be Elon Musk's 8th childs name.