The Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus from Creative Labs is a SABRE ultra-class hi-res PCIe gaming sound card and DAC with customizable RGB LEDs on its body, and comes with an included RGB LED strip. It has also been built with an Xamp discrete headphone amp that uses bi-amplification technology, as well as a full suite of audio processing technologies, including Surround Virtualization.
Compatible with 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7, the AE-5 Plus features an ESS SABRE Ultra DAC that delivers a 122 dB DNR at up to 32-bit / 384 kHz PCM playback, plus a low Total Harmonic Distortion of 0.00032%. It also features a 1 Ohm headphone output impedance that can drive studio-grade headphones of up to 600 Ohms, 5.1-channel discrete surround, and up to 7.1-channel virtual surround. It requires an Intel Core i3 or AMD equivalent processor, and an Intel, AMD, or compatible motherboard. On the back of the card there are three 3.5mm 5.1 line outputs for front, rear, and center channels, a TOSLINK optical output, a 3.5mm headphone output, and a 3.5mm mic/line input. There is also an Intel HD Audio front-panel connection.
Nya Lowe (verified owner) –
As a low level audiophile, this sound card is reasonably priced for the sheer enjoyment I got from the first song I listened to through my gaming headphones.
Earnest Ruecker (verified owner) –
Good + Excellent audio quality, puts onboard to shame + Better driver support than onboard + Has a desktop audio mix recording source, useful for streaming + Amped speaker & headphone lines very nice + Easily usable with many OS’s & versions, nice for dual/multi-boot enthusiasts Legitimate Gripes – No CD in box & defaults to 5.1 speakers. Had to download the Creative utility just to switch to 2.1 setup under Windows – Card’s size makes it tricky to install in PCIe slots larger than 1 Minor Gripes – Can’t turn off the integrated red LED on the side of the card – In Windows, Creative utility installs to C: no matter what, but if your Program Files path is customized to another drive, it will make invalid shortcuts using the custom path, which you have to repoint to C: yourself
Alverta Satterfield (verified owner) –
Main reason I got this card is I had really bad interference on my internal Realtek audio. Secondary problem was that there was no easy way to manage a set of active speakers and active SubWoofer without vokume control. This card solved both problems instantly. No interference – yay!. For the second one – I thought I’ll have to play around with advanced settings for some time – but it handed my Sub out of the box as well.
Jamel Kemmer (verified owner) –
I don’t regret buying this sound card.
Caden O’Conner (verified owner) –
Easy to install and was recognized by Windows 10 right away. I would suggest going into the Command app and change the setting stereo to get it to work on editing apps.
Allie Daugherty (verified owner) –
This sound card is much better than the one built into the motherboard.