Creative Also Announces Sound BlasterX G5: 7.1 External Sound Card and Amplifier

[btarunr]

Creative Technology Ltd today announced at gamescom 2015 , as part of the Sound BlasterX Gaming Series, the Sound BlasterX G5, a 7.1 HD audio external sound card with built-in headphone amplifier. The Sound BlasterX G5 is an external sound card that comes with the built-in SB-Axx1 multi-core chipset for hardware accelerated SBX Pro Studio enhanced audio and transforms even basic stereo into 3D positional surround sound on your headset. The Sound BlasterX G5 also supports multi-channel content, delivering true 7.1 audio for ultra-realistic surround sound.

Built with precision audiophile components, the Sound BlasterX G5 is also a 24-bit/192kHz, 120dB USB DAC and headphone amplifier with 2.2 ohm output impedance for high fidelity playback -- driving studio-grade headphones up to 600 ohms and sensitive in-ear monitors. The illuminated volume control knob and dedicated SBX and Scout Mode buttons also allow for quick volume or audio adjustments during gaming sessions.

• USB plug-and-play functionality
• Dedicated SB-Axx1 audio processor
• 120dB DAC for 24-bit/192kHz playback
• Headphone amplifier with low 2.2 ohm output impedance supporting sensitive in-ear monitors and studio-grade headphones up to 600 ohms
• Cross-platform connectivity
• USB port for easy connection to additional USB devices such as mice or keyboards
• Integrated volume and audio enhancement controls
• Backlit 'X' logo and volume control knob

BlasterX Acoustic Engine
The Sound BlasterX Gaming Series also comes with the BlasterX Acoustic Engine software for PC that allows gamers to customize their audio profile to the game genres that they are playing. It is designed to intelligently decrease distractions and enhance essential audio details in games, giving gamers an added advantage. Gamers can now experience unprecedented levels of audio realism with immersive surround sound and bass boost -- hear details you never knew were there! The full, customizable version of the BlasterX Acoustic Engine is available for the Sound BlasterX G5.

Other products in the Sound BlasterX series, namely the Sound Blaster H7 Professional HD 7.1 Surround USB Gaming Headset, the Sound BlasterX H5 Professional Analog Gaming Headset, and the Sound BlasterX P5 High-Performance In-ear Gaming Headset will be announced in separate press releases.

Pricing and Availability
Sound BlasterX G5 is priced at USD149.99 and will be available at the online store at creative.com November 2015.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[RejZoR]

Gamers can now experience unprecedented levels of audio realism...

Through 10 crappy software audio stacks. Mhm. Anyone who owned X-Fi soundcard on Windows XP knows what's audio realism. And later in games with OpenAL. After that, it all became same generic crap.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Not a bad device for it's feature set. I have an E5 and I'm pretty happy with it, but you need to really use the niche collection of features to make the most of it.

The amp is shit though, build an O2 or something to fix it.

 

[Bansaku]

.

The amp is shit though, build an O2 or something to fix it.

Your (seemingly) O2 fanboy opinion? The device isn't even out yet so how did you come by your statement?

 

[SaltyFish]

Through 10 crappy software audio stacks. Mhm. Anyone who owned X-Fi soundcard on Windows XP knows what's audio realism. And later in games with OpenAL. After that, it all became same generic crap.

What Creative should do is take the X-Fi chip and put it into an external USB sound card. The X-Fi is still their best sound chip so far and all they would need to do is clean up the I/O connections to improve it.

Your (seemingly) O2 fanboy opinion? The device isn't even out yet so how did you come by your statement?

You mean this thing?

 

[RejZoR]

I don't think it would make any difference compared to Core3D. The crappy software stack in Windows is what would ruin X-Fi core capability. X-Fi needs to be in the native HW accelerated environment (DirectSound3D, basically Windows XP or any later with OpenAL support), otherwise it's a waste of it's potential.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Your (seemingly) O2 fanboy opinion? The device isn't even out yet so how did you come by your statement?

"o2 fanboy" means in a blind test all 10 of my coworkers didn't even hesitate to tell the difference between my O2 and my Creative E5?

Okay. I know most audiophile stuff is snake oil, but that is pretty tangible. My HD650s sound muffled and crowded. I have no doubt they would use the same shitty amp in this thing.

They simply cannot drive a high demand 600 ohm headphone effectively, I assure you.

http://i.imgur.com/FqHSdq5.jpg

The sound is so bad I'm pretty confident I could record a sample with my phone and it would be pretty trivial to tell which is which.

If anything, the E5 is actually a higher end model than this device.

Edit: Yes, I know that picture shows gain switch is on low, I use the line out which is irrelevant.