Creative SoundBlasterX G5 7.1 Headphone Amplifier Review

A Closer Look

The amp is nice and compact, meaning it’ll be easily moved around if you travel a lot while also taking up a minimal amount of desktop space. The metal housing is well finished with a mixture of brushed metal and matte finishes that gives it a premium look and feel. It’s also quite heavy, so while that’s not so great for carrying it around, it does feel more durable and is less likely to slide around your desk.

Up front, you’ll find a microphone and headphone jack, both gold-plated and easily accessed. The left jack supports 4-pole combi-jacks for headset/microphone, and 3-pole for headsets/headphones so you can use the dedicated microphone jack or both, it’s up to you. There’s also a large control wheel for the master volume. It’s got a smooth action on it, with a little bit of tension to help make steady volume changes, has infinite left/right rotation and when pushed inwards, it has a nice tactile switch to control the master mute/unmute function.

Down the right side, three controls buttons and three LEDs. Here you can toggle scout mode, pick your SBX profile (indicated by the LEDs) and change between low and high gain output.

Around the back, you’ll find an optical line in and out, which is great if you want to pass the audio through to a secondary amp or source, such as your surround sound, a USB device port and USB PC line in.

The base is hard-wearing rubber that will help prevent it from sliding around your desk, but it’s also a great solution to prevent the metal housing from scratching surfaces also.

Hooking up the system is easily done, just plug-in the USB for power, although this can be an audio input too if needed, as well as the optional (albeit highly recommended) optical cable.