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Creative Sound Blaster X AE-5 Sound Card $148.47 Shipped @ Catch

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Creative Sound Blaster X AE-5 Sound Card $148.47 Shipped @ Catch
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bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:05 catch.com.au (365 clicks)
Last edited 10/04/2018 - 11:01

hi guys,

if you are after a sound card, this is the latest one from creative labs. If I didn't already have a sound blaster Z, I would definitely buy this.

The Sound BlasterX AE-5 is a SABRE32 Ultra Class Hi-Resolution PCIe Gaming Sound Card and DAC with Xamp, a brand new discrete headphone amp utilizing bi-amplification technology. It delivers astonishingly pristine audio, and also shows off the Aurora Reactive Lighting System with 16.8 million customizable colors.

Hardware is good for the price, but creative are known to have driver/software issues, although my Sound Blaster Z has been working flawlessly.

These are particularly good for gaming with headphones as they offer virtual surround which works really well.

IMPORTANT: as noted by some users, this is a "grey" import so will carry no Australian Warranty.

UPDATE: Apparently still has stock, but limited I believe.

Computing Computer Component Sound Card

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  • JHoliday on 10/04/2018 - 09:12
    +1

    Awesome price!!

  • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 09:16
    -1

    Better off with an Asus Xonar Essence.

    • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:20
      +2

      I think it depends on use case, apparently creative cards are better for gaming and Asus for music.

      But honestly, I have used both brands and I think you cannot go wrong with either.

      • PlagueistheCheap on 10/04/2018 - 09:24
        +4

        I have a creative xfi titanium and when it does it will be my last creative hardware. The drivers are terrible and a real pain to get working correctly. I hate formatting windows for this reason and every time windows does a major update I end up with a terrible static hiss. This is a common issue with the xfi series.

        • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:25
          +1

          Ah ok, well maybe Sound blaster Z series are better then as I haven't had any issues with driver/software on mine.

        • CamM on 10/04/2018 - 12:49

          Really sad reading this. It's been a number of years since I was building my own systems, but back in the day, Creative was the final word on sound cards. Have Creative just lost their way or has the competition really upped their game?

        • xrailgun on 10/04/2018 - 13:57
          +2

          @CamM: Creative as a company is terrible, though. They love to sue everyone for everything, and have put multiple audio businesses bankrupt just from the legal process (from frivolous lawsuits) to monopolize the market and stifle progress. (http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=476240 an older thread discussing their tactics, some of the most well-known cases are Aureal, Cyrix, and Ensoniq).

          Ever wonder why audio in games often aren't properly directional like the lighting and physics engines, even though it's a vastly simpler system to model? Because Creative bankrupted and bought up any competitors (with their IP) and patent trolled any studio that tried to publish with that feature.

          Past few years they have tried suing all major smartphone brands, every single year, for stupid stuff like having hierarchical folders. And get this - they wanted full injunction of smartphone sales during investigation. Hilarious stuff, but only because they're going after big brands who can afford to lawyer up. (This is the 2016 attempt https://www.theedgesingapore.com/article/creative-technology…)

          Here's another write-up someone else made that summarizes their patent trolling http://www.ntc.ntu.edu.sg/ntcc/Documents/Full%20Version/6.%2…

          I am personally boycotting Creative, and strongly urge anyone who cares about who they're giving money to to do the same.

        • CamM on 10/04/2018 - 14:38

          @xrailgun: Thanks for the info. Clearly I haven't been keeping tabs on the industry news! Shame that they've had to resort to these tactics.

        • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:16

          every time windows does a major update I end up with a terrible static hiss.

          I have similar problems with my SBZ. I don't get the hiss, but first update my sound was missing many channels, second Windows update, headphones no longer work. I solved the first issue, but the second was never addressed by creative. You can only solve it by rolling back your driver.

        • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:22

          @CamM:

          Really sad reading this. It's been a number of years since I was building my own systems, but back in the day, Creative was the final word on sound cards. Have Creative just lost their way or has the competition really upped their game?

          Creative were the premiere brand back in the day, but on board audio has eaten their lunch.

          I remember when the SB Live! was their flagship, they called it Live because they wanted the audio to sound indistinguishable from a live performance. Someone blindfolded theoretically wouldn't be able to tell if was coming from the sound card and speakers, and not a live performance. That would have made it the be all and end all of sound cards. Needless to say, it was a naive goal and very hyperbolic. It's impossible. You're going to be limited to what the playback device can do, and it's not going to simulate a live performance.

          Not long after this, on board audio became a thing, and took over the market the same way Internet Explorer took over browsers by virtue of Microsoft pre-installing it with every version of Windows. And how Bing that came from nothing became more used than Google and all but Chinese search engines.

          Creative has fought an uphill battle since and haven't put much resources into supporting their products. They've fallen off a cliff. EAX isn't even a thing anymore.

        • CamM on 10/04/2018 - 16:04

          @lostn: The days of SB Live! were when I was last building my own machines (which tells you how long it's been!). Since then, I've existed on work laptops and made the switch to Mac for home so haven't had cause to keep up with the goings on in the industry. On board audio was always going to be a threat to Creative so I'm not surprised that they were finally overtaken.

        • Trickey on 10/04/2018 - 16:43

          @lostn: Remember the AWE64? I decommissioned an old workstation to be quite surprised by finding an AWE64 in it. We'd never purchased it for anyone so we could only guess that whoever was using the workstation had put it in and forgotten to remove it when they left. Needless to say it found a new home in my PC to then make way for the Live.

          Also, EAX was never really a thing after versions 1 and 2. Even then not many games supported it and by the time EAX 3 through 5 came out you could almost count the number of games that supported it on one hand.

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:14

      I have SBZ but I'll be going back to Asus for the next one. Creative doesn't bother with driver udpates, even when there's problems.

  • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 09:16
    +4

    inb4 "you don't need a soundcard" from someone who plays with $20 headphones.

    • follow on 10/04/2018 - 09:18
      +4

      USB DAC and amp would be better tho?

      • rekkore on 10/04/2018 - 09:25

        Which ones tho?

        • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:31

          Well the usual safe recommendations are o2/odac or schitt stack, or if you go deeper down the rabbit hole you can go tube amps etc.

      • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:30

        Unfortunately most USB DAC and amp do not do virtual surround for headphones which is a deal breaker when it comes to gaming.

        Also, I previously owned a Magni3/Modi2 and could tell no difference vs my SBZ sound card when using my AKG K712 and ath-r70x, probably just my ears but I ended up selling the schiit.

        I dare say that most people (non-audiophiles) won't be able to tell the difference between a good soundcard vs external dac/amp combo.

        • Trickey on 10/04/2018 - 10:09

          Isn't virtual surround software processing that has nothing to do with the DAC and amp? Unless the DAC is altering the signal then the virtual surround should pass through just fine.

        • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 10:11

          @Trickey:

          Yes it is software processing, but there is not much good virtual surround software I know of that works with external dac/amps, so easier option is just get a soundcard that does it.

        • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 10:25

          @bruc3: I know Dolby do a virtual surround software called Atmos but it's A) shit & B) they charge a subscription fee.

        • Trickey on 10/04/2018 - 11:44

          @bruc3: Thanks. I haven't been into PC gaming for a very long time now due to kids but I would have thought the onboard sound manufacturers (realtek and so on) would have added it by now with their own software. It might not ever be up to the Creative standard that you pay the premium for but for most it would do if you can even tell the difference.

        • Beanvee on 10/04/2018 - 14:59
          +2

          I've always found virtual surround to sound crap, stereo audio with proper balancing always seems to be better. Like audio recorded with a binaural microphone.

        • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:31

          @Trickey:

          Isn't virtual surround software processing that has nothing to do with the DAC and amp? Unless the DAC is altering the signal then the virtual surround should pass through just fine.

          You can get software that does virtual surround for you. You don't need to buy a sound card for it. But you shouldn't do 7.1 anyway if you're using headphones. Gamers will think you do, just as they think Steelseries, Astro and Razer make good sounding audio.

          I dare say that most people (non-audiophiles) won't be able to tell the difference between a good soundcard vs external dac/amp combo.

          I'm very surprised you think this. Since we both have a SBZ, and we both have K712 headphones, I can tell you listening to music through the SBZ's headphone jack sounds very different to my portable USB DAC. It just sounds so bad. The highs are sibilant. You can't seriously not be able to tell the difference. It's not just the highs. Everything sounds like it's been processed through some filter. I don't know if it has anything to do with the software. But I get crisp clean audio through my external DAC.

        • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 16:58
          +1

          @lostn: I'm a gamer and I think 7.1 is shit for headphones and every one of those brands can suck a dick. Also, the K712 is the best headset I've ever had by far. So sad it's falling apart. But it's also a good excuse to buy a new one.

      • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 09:37

        Sound cards aren't just used as amps and signal converters though. A DAC and amp can't replace what a sound card actually does.

        • dcep on 10/04/2018 - 10:03

          so what a sound card actually does ?

        • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 10:14

          @phunkydude:

          Provides built in software features such as virtual surround. If you can find a virtual surround software that works as well as the Creative or Asus ones which work with an external dac/amp please let me know. I am not being a smart ass, but honestly struggled to find one that worked with my magni3/modi2.

        • incipient on 10/04/2018 - 10:18

          @phunkydude:
          I think he means the enhancement stuff? Virtual surround, crystaliser, etc. But really they're all software tricks so it can be done.

        • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 10:22

          @incipient: You can also swap out the OP-Amps in (some) sound cards for a different sound, something I've not seen possible in any DAC/amp combo (although tbf I haven't checked)

        • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:38

          @incipient: The question is, why would you want any of that stuff?

          I want my audio as reference sounding as possible. When you process the sound with things like crystalizers, you're not hearing it the way it was created.

      • Trickey on 10/04/2018 - 10:00
        +1

        By far. Plenty of integrated units like the objective 2 would more than meet someone's needs. Just depends (as the response below states) how far you want to go down the rabbit hole. Tubes or hybrids typically being toward the higher end of town.

        What you can spend on a Creative soundcard is definitely better directed towards a DAC and amp. In some cases you'll probably spend less (see FiiO) and you'll still get better than Creative could ever offer you.

  • alz on 10/04/2018 - 09:24

    Has anyone tried the usb portable soundcard from creative. Is it any good?

    • mj7312 on 10/04/2018 - 10:49

      The Sound Blaster E1? I'm using it right now and I love it. Never gives me any problem, sounds great, has good configuration with EQ, crystalliser, bass boost etc. settings that it remembers away from the PC, a headphone preamp, and can be used from any audio source. I'm still on my first one after a couple of years but I'll buy another in a heartbeat when the time comes.

  • Homr on 10/04/2018 - 09:31

    Is there much difference between this soundcard and the on-board sounds cards in most modern PCs?

    • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:35

      There are many people who would swear there are night and day difference, also comparing external dac/amps but from my own experience the difference is minimal or none at all.

      I think if you are happy with your current onboard sound i.e. no hiss, crackles or obvious sound issues then probably best to just stick with onboard.

      I personally bought a sound card mostly for the virtual surround (as it works really well for gaming).

      • Tacooo on 10/04/2018 - 09:41
        +1

        I'm on the night + day train. Sound cards can output more voices, have higher fidelity and generally better shielding from interference which a lot of motherboards still suck at. Add a good pair of headphones (AKG, Sennheiser, AT) and you've got yourself something magical.

        • daleyboy79 on 10/04/2018 - 09:57
          +1

          Yep, if you have decent speakers or headphones a sound card is a must to get the most out of them … you'll be hard pressed to notice any difference with crappy speakers, but you certainly will with good ones.

        • incipient on 10/04/2018 - 10:39

          @daleyboy79:
          My hearing is "moderate" 10-20db range, so not perfect. From my experience I'd temper the night and day comparison a bit. My friend is using a pair of sony z7 headphones, and idsd dac amp, with DSD/PCM192khz source. I'm using a pair of venerable ath-m50xs with "good quality" onboard sound (some Fatal1ty branded board) with 270vbr mp3s.

          Honestly the z7 setup is better. Swapping between them for direct comparison, i can hear some sharper vocals and maybe the instruments were a bit more spaced out…but if i listened to them separately I probably couldn't tell….and for the extra $1000 it didn't change my life =P

        • Trickey on 10/04/2018 - 11:20

          @incipient: That's what we call the law of diminishing returns. There is a point where you can keep throwing money at something but your gains get smaller and smaller. I suspect that a lot of people hear what they want to hear because they've spent so much money that it must sound better.

    • dcep on 10/04/2018 - 10:58

      if you have logitech speakers , then don't bother

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:40

      There's a lot of variation in quality depending on the board. Some gaming boards use the same audio processors as creative.

  • ry34 on 10/04/2018 - 09:49

    I've been using the AE-5 for about a month now, previous card was an X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty (X-Fi was a great card, just had terrible drivers/software). My headphones have never sounded better (clearer/louder) and the software install/config is a breeze.

    • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 09:51

      omg you are tempting me to buy this, even though I probably dont need it seeing I already have a sbz.

      Come on, you must have something bad to say about them? Something to deter my trigger finger from click buy now lol.

      • ry34 on 10/04/2018 - 11:26
        +1

        if it helps i paid $185… this is a great price

    • congo on 10/04/2018 - 10:00

      Is it worth $150? Night and day difference between this and onboard sound card?

  • hollykryten on 10/04/2018 - 09:49
    +1

    Am i the only one who's noticed that this isn't actually being sold by Catch itself. But by an overseas Marketplace seller called F Digital and the fact that it's a grey import which is being shipped from overseas which will no doubt have no warranty in Australia?.

    This is why it's cheaper compared to those stores on staticice which are carrying Australian stock with full warranty in Australia.

    If you're fine with it being a grey import with no warranty in Australia which is shipping from overseas then go ahead and buy it if you will.

  • DemocracyManifest on 10/04/2018 - 09:54

    What's pretty awesome is the community behind all this hardware; until pretty recently I was using a card about 20 years old thanks to community development. The best reason for a seperate sound card is to prevent interference when for example ripping vinyl/cassettes etc

  • hollykryten on 10/04/2018 - 09:57

    A popup was just showing as under 5 units available. Almost sold out.

  • Scab on 10/04/2018 - 10:10

    my Sound Blaster Z has been working flawlessly

    Lucky you, my Zx randomly disappears from my system and the only way to fix it is to shut down and restart.

    Been doing it since I bought it many years ago, extremely annoying.

    • bruc3 on 10/04/2018 - 10:12

      I am on Windows 7 might have something to do with it.

      • Scab on 10/04/2018 - 10:16

        W7 also, it's a common issue and there's a huge thread about it on their forum.

        Isn't limited to any OS or hardware models.

      • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:43

        Ah, that explains why you don't have the headphones issue the rest of us on Win 10 are having.

  • bahgain on 10/04/2018 - 10:25

    Better off buying an external stereo amp

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:43

      That will cost more though.

  • Hyena on 10/04/2018 - 10:34
    +3

    Creative Labs Sound Blaster. Thanks for the flashback to 1994!

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:45
      +1

      I got it in 93. It sounded so beautiful when the alternative was that screeching loud PC speaker. My goodness. If there was ever a night and day comparison, this is it.

      though I always wished I had a Rolant MT.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/04/2018 - 10:34
    +1

    Seriously, how are sound cards still around these days.

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:45

      They've become a niche market for sure.

      But Asus makes cheap sound cards that are very good and much better value than Creative.

  • dvddirect on 10/04/2018 - 10:34
    +1

    I’m still using my Gravis Ultrasound!

    • naphman on 10/04/2018 - 11:16

      I’m using my Pro Audio Spectrum. (Does better Sound Blaster then SB!)

  • AirMartino347 on 10/04/2018 - 10:37

    My experience with PCIe sounds cards have all been horrible. I would always recommend an external soundcard. Most inbuilt sound sound on gaming grade motherboards are decent but are heavily let down by in case noise. For around this price id recommend a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi 5.1 external USB sound card.

    Also OP the sound card is now out of stock.

  • KenY on 10/04/2018 - 10:48
    +5

    SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1

    • mikef on 10/04/2018 - 11:48

      Brings back the "Autoexec.bat" memories :)

      • butter on 10/04/2018 - 12:21

        I still have an ISA AWE32 lying around :D

        I still have nightmares thinking about extended memory and expanded memory just to play "The Lost Vikings"

        • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:48

          I would buy that off you if I still had an ISA slot.

          I had an AWE64 but gave it away when I got a Live, and really regret that.

      • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:49

        Brings back the "Autoexec.bat" memories :)

        It's config.sys that you have to change the most. Or you can make a boot disk.

        Memmaker does most of the work for you. Those were the good days. If you have it set up correctly, the only thing you need to change is NOEMS <-> RAM depending on the game.

    • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 15:47

      I think I used I7.

  • Trip on 10/04/2018 - 10:50

    Does Target still have 20% off Catch gift cards?

  • twocsies on 10/04/2018 - 10:50

    It's not sold out anymore. It says, "Dispatch in one day".

    • hollykryten on 10/04/2018 - 10:54
      +1

      Yes it's adding to the cart but a popup still says under 5 units remaining. I wonder how accurate that stock count is.

  • jlogic on 10/04/2018 - 14:24

    Used to be a fan of Sounds Cards… until I realised that I was still fragging the same on a Realtek on board sound card so ditched the sound card on the new computer.

  • lostn on 10/04/2018 - 14:48

    Hardware is good for the price, but creative are known to have driver/software issues,

    You're damn right about that. I swore off buying Creative cards again after they refused to release Vista/7 drivers for my perfectly good SB Live. They said it's EOL, go buy a new sound card. Why should I buy a new sound card if this one sounds just fine? It's not like a graphics card or CPU which gets outdated and can no longer run the latest games. Sound is sound. If it sounded good enough then, it's good enough now. After this I decided not to buy any more Creative cards, but 15 years later, I thought, hey it's been a while. Maybe they've upped their game? So I got the SBZ. Nope. They haven't changed at all.

    although my Sound Blaster Z has been working flawlessly.

    That isn't my experience. Headphones don't work after a Windows Creator update. Creative have not released an updated driver since early 2017. And that is the driver that's screwed. You have to roll back to a 2016 driver if you want your headphones to work. But if you never installed that driver and only installed 2017, you can't roll back. If you try to install the 2016 driver, it will say your current drivers are up to date and refuse to install them. Windows Update screwed up the sound, and creative never bothered to release an updated driver after that. It's been over a year. They've pretty much shit canned the SBZ which was a flagship card. In its history it has only had 2 drivers released. That's a very short time to put your flagship card into EOL status. And it's all because they want you to buy their newer flagship, which I am certain will get lackluster software support.

    I use my headphones through a portable DAC now, and it sounds better anyway. But I'm pissed off that I can't make use of the built in 600ohm amp.

    Conclusion: fk Creative. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Never again.

    These are particularly good for gaming with headphones as they offer virtual surround which works really well.

    An audiophile will tell you to steer clear of virtual surround. You don't need it. And it processes the audio, messing with it. That's never a good thing. 2.0 on a good pair of headphones is more than adequate at doing what your surround setup is doing. And will sound better. 7.1 is a marketing gimmick. It only makes sense with a speaker setup.

    Btw, headphones through the SBZ sound bad. It is coloring the sound big time. The treble is extremely harsh, especially with female vocals. When I plug the same headphones via passthrough on my speaker volume dial, it doesn't sound like that, although it does introduce some noise via EMI. I just use my portable DAC where it sounds best.

  • The Magic Pudding on 10/04/2018 - 18:29

    I got one of these, about $100, I think it's better than onboard.
    Placebo is a tricky phenomenon though.
    https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Audio-DacMagic-Headphone-Bl…

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