With all the onboard audio chips you can find on today’s motherboards it could seem that soundcards have been a thing from the past. Apparently Creative thinks different as they’ve just released a new Sound Blaster add-in-card.


The Sound BlasterX AE-5 is based on a Sound Core3D 24-bit audio DSP and an ESS Sabre32 DAC with 116 dB signal-to-noise ratio. The card comes with outputs for a 5.1-channel setup and support for 7.1 headphone surround virtualization. Creative is also proud of the Xamp headphone amplifier which is capable of driving headphones with impedances ranging from 16 ? up to 600 ?. According to the company, the Xamp has individually-amplified left and right channels.

The rear panel packs three 3.5-mm jacks (for front, rear, and center+sub outputs), a TOSLINK optical output, and another pair of mini-jacks for headphones and a microphone. The PCB has a front panel connector and headers to connect up to four RGB LED strips. Once installed the Creative Aurora software will allow you to change the color of each strip.

The Sound BlasterX AE-5 will be available in two versions. The standard one comes with a black finish and a 10 LED RGB strip, while the white-painted Pure Edition is going to be combined with four LED strips. The Pure Edition is only going to be available via Creative’s online shop.

While the standard card will ship in July for $150 US, the Pure Edition will become available in August for $180.




Source: Guru3D