Sound Blaster X5

Dual DAC USB Sound Card with Fully Balanced Xamp Headphone Bi-amplifier

Sound Blaster X5 fires up to 32-bit / 384 kHz PCM playback at 130 dB DNR and features dual Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs, a custom-designed, fully balanced Xamp headphone bi-amplifier, and customizable DSP EQ functions.

On the connectivity front, it comes with a USB-A Host port with USB audio that works with USB microphones and headsets, and even wireless Bluetooth® transmitters for wire-free audio. This is amongst a plethora of connectivity options such as TOSLINK optical and RCA connectors, so you can connect the Sound Blaster X5 to various platforms, including PC, Mac, PS5, PS4, and even your sound systems, AV receivers, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players.

To enhance the Sound Blaster X5 for smoother operability, the dual microcontroller unit (MCU) design also serves to minimize inter-dependency between major components, reducing the risk of a single point of failure. This allows for improved efficiency with a quicker response time between user interaction and device control and boosts overall product performance.

Featuring not one, but two Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs on the Sound Blaster X5, it’s ready for high-resolution lossless playback in 32-bit / 384 kHz over PCM with an ultra-high dynamic range of up to 130 dB DNR. These DACs are also capable of decoding audio formats in DoP128 and DSD256 to deliver high-fidelity audio streaming.

X5 also supports ASIO 2.2 playback and recording over USB and S/PDIF, so you can easily access multiple audio inputs and outputs at ultra-low latency.

Plus, with an oversampled multi-bit modulator utilizing mismatch shaping technology for a low Total Harmonic Distortion rating of ~0.00018%, audio distortion is almost non-existent with the Sound Blaster X5.

Sound Blaster X5 is equipped with custom-designed Xamp discrete headphone bi-amplifier technology that drives each earcup individually via 3 stages of amplification circuits.

This external sound card works with a wide range of headphones, with the capability to drive studio-grade headphones of up to 600Ω, including the most demanding high-end, open-back planar-magnetic headphones, as well as sensitive IEMs, with ultra-low 1Ω headphone output impedance.

It also supports virtual surround on your headphones, deploying HRTF (head-related transfer function) algorithms onto audio streams for immersive, theater-like audio envelopment with realistic spatial audio positioning, to whichever content you choose to indulge in.

Make adjustments to the 10-band EQ frequency graph, select from a list of Acoustic Engine’s pre-tuned audio profiles, or switch them off completely for clean, pure, unadulterated sound. The Creative app offers you full customizability over what you wish to hear, or not.