Closer Examination

I have to admit I wasn't very impressed by the Creative Sound Blaster X5 initially. With an all-plastic case and a weight of a mere 879 grams (1.93 lb), it feels much cheaper than it is and not much different from a generic no-name DAC/headphone amp from Aliexpress. I honestly think Creative should have opted for an aluminium case that would bring the look and feel of the product to a higher level and much more in line with what it actually is: a serious external sound card that's also aspiring to be an audiophile-grade DAC/headphone amplifier.


Measuring 216 x 170 x 72 mm (8.5 x 6.69 x 2.83 in), the Sound Blaster X5 is larger than any other external sound card in Creative's portfolio. Its dimensions make it suitable for stacking with other audio products, such as dedicated headphone amplifiers, if that interests you. Pictured above is the Sound Blaster X5 stacked with the fantastic Topping A90 Discrete, quite possibly the most exciting headphone amplifier that came out in 2022.


The front side of the Sound Blaster X5 is quite busy. Here you'll find various buttons, switches, and dials, along with a monochrome LED display, showing information such as volume level, playback format, output selection, selected equalizer setting, and Bluetooth status. Only the power button and the large volume knob have an integrated LED, and that brings me to the biggest functional issue I have with the Sound Blaster X5: the button and knob markings are very hard to read in anything other than direct light. After a while, you'll remember the positions of the ones used the most, like the headphones/speakers toggle, equalizer profile selection, or the microphone mute button, but Creative should have come up with a better solution; either a different color scheme for the front panel of the Sound Blaster X5 or an LED backlight for all of the buttons.


Taking a closer look at the left side of the front panel, here's where you'll find the Bluetooth pairing button, a microphone mute button (it glows red when the microphone is muted, so at least there's that), a display selection button, a solid microphone gain dial (-96 to + 9 dB), and a headphone gain switch with two settings, Normal and High.


The right side of the front panel is lined with a headphones/speakers toggle button, a Direct Mode/DSP Mode button, an EQ selection button (it works only when the Direct Mode isn't active), a PC/console switch, and three audio ports: a 3.5-mm microphone input and unbalanced headphone output, and a 4.4-mm balanced headphone output. Finally, on the far right side of the sound card, there's a large volume knob, which controls both headphone outputs and the analog audio output on the rear.


The back of the Creative Sound Blaster X5 has two analog RCA line outputs, two RCA line inputs, an optical (TOSLINK) output and input, and two USB ports: USB-C and USB Type-A. The USB-C port is used to power the sound card and connect it to sound sources – your Windows or macOS PC or PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5 consoles. The USB Type-A port is an interesting one. It serves as a host port for external USB speakers, headsets, microphones, and even wireless audio transmitters, such as Creative's own BT-W3 and BT-W4. You can output sound to connected devices through a direct USB connection with the sound card and apply all of the sound-processing features of the sound card, including equalizer profiles, to the connected device. I tried this feature with the Creative's own SXFI Gamer USB headset (reviewed here), still one of my favorite USB headsets on the market, and it worked flawlessly. The direct connection to the Creative Sound X5 also spared me from having to fiddle with an additional playback/recording device in Windows; the headset essentially behaved like it was connected to the sound card's analog ports. The USB Type-A host port supports 5 V / 100 mA audio class devices, regardless of their manufacturer.


Creative provides an informative connectivity guide that should give you a good idea of what you can connect to the Sound Blaster X5 and through which one of its interfaces. I have absolutely no complaints in terms of the sound card's connectivity. It's equipped with every possible input, and output one might need. You're obviously left hanging if you have an elaborate 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system, so if that's the case, do look elsewhere.

Disassembly

Here's a look at the internals, which are accessed by removing the rubber feet and unscrewing a total of nine screws. You can see all of the important components (DAC, ADC, DSP, digital amplifier, and assorted electronics), as well as both front and rear ports. You'll notice that one of the RCA ports' screwing hole housings fell apart after a single screw removal, proving that my comments about the lackluster build quality of the Sound Blaster X5 aren't at all subjective. If you'd like to examine the PCB in greater detail, please use this high resolution photo.