Creative Sound BlasterX G5 7.1 Headphone Surround HD Audio External Sound Card with Headphone Amplifier for Windows PC/Mac / PS4 / and Other Consoles

The improvement in sound quality is incredible!!!

I just received my Soundblaster G3 : AMAZING !!!!

I have to tell you and everyone else, getting a DAC makes a huge world of difference !! It only cost $65 CAD.

I first connected it to the Laptop, downloaded the Creative software and made lots of setting changes and the sound was incredible. I then connected it to my PS5, turned up the volume, the mic was on mute, of course I turned the mic on and changed the level in COD. What a difference, I have a pair of Sennheiser Gsp 302 + Soundblaster G3 DAC, what a great combination. I bought a 10ft USB cable and f/f usb adapter as I play on the couch. The best money I have spent on Amazon.

The difference is incredible, better than going from a 42″ to a 75″ 4K TV. Sound stage, separation, detail, all customized to my ears. I love it. I wished I would have bought this a long time ago.

It has been so long since I used a dedicated sound card that I forgot what they bring to the table. With this card I have moved off a built-in on a laptop to a purpose built sound card. I was able to crank up the sound quality and channels to hear things I didn’t know were actually part of my video games.

As for music, it doesn’t sound quite as good as my tube DAC for converting and rendering 2-channel music but it’s pretty close.

100% would buy again.

Short version: Unless you’re desperate for virtual surround and willing to take whatever you can get, the Fiio E10K does better on every front at half the price.

Equipment used: Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, Windows 10
Comparing against: 

FiiO – E10K Olympus USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier – Black

The good:
* Music sounds okay on it. That said, when you turn off the EQ and listen to it without the filters, it gets much more mediocre. Comparing flat EQ to flat EQ, I think the E10K sounds better. It still certainly outdoes my computer’s built-in Realtek DAC.
* Looks neat. Goes well with my red backlit keyboard.
* Ground noise was low. Not as low as the E10K, but way better than plugging headphones into the port directly.

The bad:
* The virtual surround effect is hamhanded and overdone. It seemed to exaggerate sounds to emphasize the 3D effect, but I couldn’t tell the difference between an NPC standing at my back and one 20 meters away. The effect overall was more distracting than immersive.
* Digital volume control. Turning the knob does the exact same thing as pressing the media keys on your keyboard (if you have them). If your computer is in the habit of ignoring media keys during certain games, get used to rebooting the game to change the volume. If your maximum comfortable volume is 10%, have fun picking from your 5 discrete volume levels (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%). In contrast, the analog volume control of the E10K has much better range on the low end.

Nitpicks:
* Feels lighter than I expected.
* The rubber base doesn’t grip well at all, it slides around like crazy.
* Getting it set up the first time was a chore, it took a while for the computer to recognize it and for it to work properly.
* The volume knob has a distinct amount of give to it in both directions before catching. It gives it a loose feeling.
* The design of the volume knob makes it difficult to grab with my forefingers, I had to roll my thumb over the top of it.

To be fair to Creative, I didn’t spend as much time tweaking with the software as I could have, and it’s possible that the hamhanded 3D effects could have been improved by putting in some effort there. That doesn’t resolve the fact that my biggest issue was with the discrete volume control and the overall lack of performance compared to the E10K. I also didn’t test the mic-in or line-out features, since I don’t have the hardware for it.

All in all: After about an hour of listening to music and messing around in-game, I was thoroughly sick of this and just wanted to go back to the E10K.

Me parece que es evidente que el publico objetivos de los DACs que fabrica SoundBlaster ha cambiado, ya que casi todos ahora están enfocados al gaming, pero no por eso no pueden utilizarse para múltiples propósitos como la música, las películas y las videoconferencias. Y en mi caso, a pesar de tener un equipo portátil gaming, el dac que incluye es el peor que he tenido en mucho tiempo. Por eso decidí adquirir este DAC.

El G3 viene en el formato USB-C con un adaptador a USB-A. Funciona tanto en PC, como en algunas consolas y en dispositivos android. Algo que no dice el fabricante es que el DAC ¡tiene conexión Bleutooth!
Pero no es que el DAC sea un emisor o receptor de audio, sino que a través de esta característica y con la aplicación de SoundBlaster Command de android puedes configurar los perfiles de audio. Tanto si el DAC esta conectado a la PC, consola o incluso el mismo dispositivo android. De todas formas la aplicación del mismo nombre también esta disponible en windows (y esta te permite actualizar el firmware del DAC). Por esto y por su conectividad es muy versátil en este sentido.

Ahora viendo lo mas técnico, el dac soporta dispositivos de hasta 300 ohms, lo cual es mas que suficiente para unos cascos con alta impedancia y mucho mas de lo podría ofrecer el dac integrado de algún otro dispositivo.

En cuanto a la calidad del audio, como bien comentan otros, esta mas enfocado al gaming pero tienes diferentes perfiles de audio para varios propósitos, todos personalizables. Físicamente tiene controles de audio y de chat, con interruptor físico para el micrófono. Puedes usar como entrada el micrófono integrado de tus auriculares u optar por la entrada para un micrófono dedicado. Como comentario yo no he tenido problemas de ruido de fondo como si ocurre en el G1, un punto mas a favor.

Honestamente me ha gustado este DAC, el precio es algo mas alto que los mas económicos de la marca y ahora veo el por que. De todas formas sin eres audiofilo empedernido esta marca puede que ya no te ofrezca lo que buscas y debas buscar algo mas especializado. Pero en mi caso si ha sigo una mejora enorme a lo que ofrece mi portátil gaming y ademas puedo utilizarlo en android y en consolas.