Creative AE-5 Plus PCIe DAC and Amp Review

Creative has long been a leader when it comes to desktop audio. I’m sure most of you have owned or do own some Creative hardware. It’s likely you don’t even know it, as they product chipsets for all kinds of hardware too. I’m a big fan of what they’ve been doing in recent years. I can’t get through the day without my Creative Theatre SXFI headphones, and I use SXFI headphones on mobile, and a Creative speaker to power all my smart home entertainment. So, now it’s time to see what they can offer on the desktop, with the PCIe DAC and XAMP card, or in simpler terms, their latest soundcard!

Creative AE-5 Plus PCIe DAC and Amp

For many, on-board motherboard audio is good enough. There’s no shame in that either, as on-board audio has come a long way, especially on some of the more expensive motherboards. However, it’s hard to match what Creative is offering. It features SABRE-class 122dB DAC, with Hi-RES audio support, outputting up to 32-bit / 384 kHz PCM audio.

What Creative Had to Say

“Be one of the proud OPs showing off their gaming rigs on r/battlestations! The Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus is a perfect convergence between aesthetics and performance that features a SABRE³² ultra-class hi-res PCI-e gaming sound card and DAC with customizable RGB LEDs on its body, and comes with an included RGB LED strip. It also features our award-winning Xamp discrete headphone amp that utilizes a bi-amplification technology, as well as our full suite of industry-leading audio processing technologies including Surround Virtualization.” – Creative