Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have had this for nearly two months now and haven't had a single issue with the G5. I am constantly switching between my onboard amp/dac and this with no conflicts at all. The software is very easy to use and the crystalizer option with a small 20 level setting for surround makes it very easy to hear footsteps in fps games and pinpoint exactly what direction they are coming from. Music isn't as good with settings at default though. Every feature of the software has a negative impact on music quality. The crystallizer option is the only one that could be seen as an improvement for some with certain headphones. With my beyerdynamic dt 990's and HD650's every option negatively impacts the sound and even turning it all off doesn't help much. It always seems to be processing the music and messing with it making the sound stage more narrow and the imaging worse. There is an option for a direct sound mode that solves the issue and prevents you from using all the other built in features of the app like eq. It's a good thing because the G5 tends to boost the gain too high in high gain mode adding distortion and clipping. I use an eq app called peace that has a setting to prevent clipping that lowers the gain in all programs making everything much easier and cleaner sounding. This isn't a powerful amp but without adjusting for the clipping or distortion my 250ohm dt 990's would be painfully loud at a 10 out of 100 volume setting. With the gain set properly I can get to a comfortable listening level around 40 where it should be for a usb powered amp with these internals. At the $75 I paid for it I couldn't be happier. You can't find something of similar quality anywhere near that price. At the standard $150 it's not as easy. It's still one of the best values at that price if you want something small but at that price you are only $50 away from getting a schiit magni/modi setup which I would recommend if size isn't an issue. That is unless you purpose is to use it mainly for gaming then the extra features of the G5 come in handy.

Buy 2 audio cards, one of which is used, with dirt, wear marks and missing accsesorios not brought the manual, which badly done by Bestbuy sell me something used. lack digital cable, the USB cable has markings that show the use and the card has a raised plaque that can be seen in the images, it is obvious that is used and cosmetic dudoso.aun the state have not tried, who knows what surprise I'll take. very badly made, badly made

This is a good deal if you meet these three criteria. 1) You use headphones for PC and not for a console [You will not be able to use virtual surround with a console] 2) You are looking to use Virtual Surround Sound and 3) You have high impedance headphones which require amplification beyond what a typical motherboard delivers. It is a very good product. Currently I have a Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 Motherboard which has Creative quad-core sound and SBX Pro Studio. So I can attest to it being the same quality as the internal sound card. I believe the E5 is slightly newer, it runs on different software. It is really only meant for use with headphones, though there is a line out for stereo. Switching between a surround sound setup and headphones is the only real difference I have found between these and the built in quad-core. It is a DAC and headphone amplifier, and at $75 isn't the best option if those were the only uses you have for it. The Virtual Surround is the only reason I would recommend this over a tube based Amp. It is some of the best Virtual Surround I have ever heard, and as a VR user Virtual Sound is really important for me. I find 7.1 headphones very gimmicky. Virtual Surround is really the only way to get a good surround experience with headphones. I also am running high impedance headphones, which is another thing I can attest it works well with. I have Sennheiser HD600's, and typical amplification isn't an option. Again, if you are just looking to drive high end headphones for music, I would look elsewhere. If you want to use them for gaming, and believe me they work well for that, thi is a good option. It has a mic in port as well, so you can buy an attachable boom mic to use for communication and not have to plug it in at a different location. I don't know why the price has been lowered so drastically as this is hardly a year old, and it may be Creative is going to release another product to replace it. It is a niche product in my opinion, and although it does work on the PS4 you will not get the virtual surround on consoles. So if you are a PC gamer looking for better sound to go with your high end headphones, and especially if you are using a laptop and do not have the option of an internal card, this is a slick deal. If you mostly listen to music, or you do not play games on PC. If you are a console gamer. If your headphones cost less than this product. You will not benefit much from this purchase. If you need a headphones amp for music, look into tube amps.

The Creative G5 is an amazing deal depending upon A) Your Equipment and B) What you use it for. This isn't the best choice for a Headphone Amplifier, tube amps sound much better. It is the best headphone amp for gaming in Virtual 3D Stereo. Most people DO NOT need a headphone amp. Unless you have high impedance headphones, you do not need an map. If your headphones cost less than $200, you probably don't have them. It is a great choice for gaming with high end headphones, because of the Virtual Audio. Creative has had years of experience in the audio industry, and the G5 is a great product. I have tried lots of different Virtual Audio processors and this ones is maybe the best out there. 7.1 headsets are a gimmick, and if you want the best audio experience do not buy a "gaming headset." If your headphones have a boom mic installed, they are not high end. They may cost a lot, and you may like the sound, but they will not benefit from this product. If you are an Audiophile, looking for a good Virtual Audio Processor for gaming with your high impedance headphones, I recommend this. It'll take the load off of your CPU, and in an industry with Realtek Audio saturating the market, Creative really stands out. I can't believe the price dropped to $75 less than a year after they were released. These are not outdated, and I compared it to a Gigabyte motherboard using Creative's quad-core solution and found no noticeable difference. Other than the software, which the G5 has the updated BlasterX Suite. It had less options for Audio Input, despite claiming Crystal Audio I only see the option for voice modulation and not the standard features like Noise Reduction I found in the software for Gigabyte's 2015 Z170 motherboards. Most motherboards will have Realtek Audio. Even Gigabyte no longer includes the Creative quad-core. You'll have to spend over $300 for similar audio capabilities as the G5 on a motherboard from 2016. Asus has their own, as well as MSI, but only on their top-end $300+ motherboards. For the vast majority, this is an upgrade that is also portable and can't be used for Console Gaming. However the Virtual 3D Audio DOES NOT work with consoles. So I cannot suggest buying it for your PS4 or Xbox One. If you a PC Gamer looking to upgrade your audio for you expensive head phones, this is a great choice. I have VR, and the Virtual Audio processing on the G5 works great with it. Again, do not fall for the 7.1 Headset gimmick. With headphones, your ears are only going to pick up one channel each. Virtual Audio has made great strides forward and is the future of 3D audio in VR. Just don't buy this if you are a console gamer, or don't know what headphone impedance means.

I needed something better than the integrated soundcard on my laptop motherboard and I wanted decent specs for digital out to my A/V system. While the Sound Blaster Acoustic Engine software is more geared towards the gaming community, it comes in handy for saving custom audio profiles that I use for listening to music and doing mixes with my portable DAW. It does not have perfect audiophile specs but the unit delivers plenty of clean power to the various headphones I use when working on a project. At the original price, I would recommend going with units better tailored to music production but I caught a sale and got the unit for $79.99. At that price, the specs are quite acceptable. The build is sturdy and the additional usb port means it's not taking away from limited resources. There are some surround effects and tweaks but the unit is neither a Dolby nor DTS decoder. Nevertheless, it was 24-bit/192kHz, 120dB DAC and the ability to cleanly drive my circumaural AKG, Sennheiser and Munitio headphones that got me interested at $199. For $79, the unit was a steal.

I use a Manni uber / modi uber stacked. Most my headphones are 250 ohm to 600. I bought this for work and to use its gaming processing because i can actually pass digital into my dac and amp and still use creatives 7.1 vr sound..But i find myself using this little thing over my 300 dollar setup! Thing thing is driving my headphones harder then my desktop amp i have to use high gain for say my dt 250 pro I started off like this and instantly got distortion because of the to much juice was going to the headphones , pretty Amazing for how small the device is. The Dac on this thing is awesome! Its got a tad more bass then my desktop Dac but its controlled. If you are looking for an external card that can output very good vr 7.1 then this is it. Enough so for me to pull out of dgx i was using. This thing is no joke its just as good at my desktop amp and can for some reason better drive my high end headphones. It works and it works well. no noise that i can tell coming from the usb.

Having finally embraced the 20th century I recently bought a gaming laptop to replace my usual setup of desktop with soundcard. Even though on board sound has improved greatly the last few years, dropping an ASUS Xonar Essence or HT Omega onto your board makes a huge difference in quality. Since I didn't have this option with the laptop, I needed an external solution. The price was right and the sound is a huge improvement. Even running Windows 10 I haven't had any driver issues as yet as well. I run mine into an older Marantz Receiver outputting through Pioneer FS52 Floorstanders and am very satisfied with the sound quality.

If you want good surround but without all the speakers, this is a good option. Three profiles can be stored in the unit (music/movie/game or whatever you need) and all are can be adjusted as well. Has a good amp that drive my 80 Ohm Beyerdynamic headphones with no issues. You will need a toslink to mini toslink if you use the optical input but it's good with the standard 3.5 mm as well.

Sounds great, easy to use good price, software good lots of extras...

This is a good choice to have a sound card which is external and also eases the switch between headphones and speakers. It has an amplifier which would be good for higher end headphones. Sound quality is great and comparable to my Schiit stack though the surround in games is not exceptional.

My PC has never had great sound. It's impossible to get it plugged in on it's own outlet and it seems like there are grounding issues that cause a little bit of electrical hum on the in and out signals. I picked up this soundcard to alleviate that problem and give my audio quality a nice boost at the same time. Thankfully the soundcard delivers on all fronts and I'm extremely happy with it. The microphone line, headphone out, rear ouput & input are all crystal clear and the ability to use an optical in means I can run my PS4 through it as well. I use Audio Technica ATH M50s and the headphones really shine with this soundcard, as do my powered monitors. All in all I'm very happy and would recommend it to anyone looking for better sound for their computer.

Great sound, good options. Has a built in headphone amp to power high end headphones and a mic input for those that need it.

As an external sound card and earphone amplifier it has met my expectations. It is my first time to own such a device. I don't play games, but need it for music and movies. I have read some reviews about the difference with E5, and the amplifier compared to Fiio E10K. I am glad the review on Slickdeals was accurate, that the amplifier is good enough. The output impedance, as one article said, could be lower, but in my experience the max volume is good enough (I use it to drive both HD650 and a Bose Companion 2). My input is the computer (foobar2000 with wasapi, kodi and other movie players), and a portable CD player. It is easy to toggle the direct mode/off but I do wish there is a tray shortcut. The best thing is that line-in works when USB input is enabled. When I want to listen from the CD player, I don't have to unplug the USB input. Initially my biggest concern was the delay as a USB device. I had a $5 USB sound card before, which was quite unresponsive or has jitters. But then I found this one plays instantly. One issue in Windows 10 though is the device stops working after computer resumes. The light flashes and I have to unplug it, plug it, repeat maybe several times. Once it starts to pick up the signal then it would continue to work without problem. I don't think it is a hardware issue, just the driver fails to initialize it properly. It does not work well with a Mi-box (an Android TV device). There is loud crack sound once in a while. It works in Fedora Linux without such issue. It is quite small, not bigger much than a pack of cigarettes. I got it for $75 at clearance. I'd like to buy another one to avoid carrying it though, to reduce the work of setup, and to avoid repeatedly plugging in the wires. Somehow I feel audio devices are more delicate.

This device offers great quality 7.1 surround sound. It has an amplifier. Scout mode gives you a competitive edge in games. Hear better!

Creative labs have always made great sound cards and devices for computers and this is no exception. The sound is great but the price is pretty high and you will need to get some really nice speakers to enjoy the full potential of this external sound card. So if you have the money for both, go for it. However, there are alternative cards and speakers that cost a fraction and can still have great performance.

This external sound card makes music and games sound way better on my laptop than the integrated sound card. Playing games thru this sound card is awesome. Have not tried the input for my PS4 yet.

I am currently using my Windows Vista premium and had it since 2009 during my college Years and suddenly the sound card went out so I asked a guy this sound blaster adapter and it works excellent so I can play games and listen to music.

This thing sounds way way way better than you'd ever expect it to, I had an audigy xfi xtremegamer before buying this, and this sounds better with both my logitech THX certified desktop speakers and my Sennheiser HD558s.

I purchased this unit to increase the sound quality of my Zbook 17 G2 running Windows 10. It's very clean with powerful amplification. Totally satisfied.

it works as what creative lab said. I hooked up with my Microsoft surface pro bundled with bowers and wilkins headphone, best music I ever heard. no problem hooking up with my xbox one s, great sound.