Creative SoundBlasterX G5 7.1 Headphone Amplifier Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Creative SoundBlaster G5 is available from Overclockers UK for £124.99 and while that may seem like a lot of money to some, we think it is incredible value for money given the range of features, build quality and, of course, the performance. It’s also a lot cheaper than the X7 amp from Creative, which is certainly worth the money, but at less than half the price, the G5 is a bit of a bargain.

Overview

If you take your audio just a little more seriously than most, then the G5 is certainly something worthy of your attention. Desktop software solutions or even those offered by some sound cards or on-board audio rarely come close to offering this level of acoustic performance. If you’ve gone out and spent good money on a great quality gaming headset, or headphones, then you’re likely not getting the full range of their capabilities while watching movies, gaming or listening to your favourite albums.

The specifications on this unit are enough to excite any audiophile and that’s pretty impressive given the competitive price. Equipped with the XB-Axx1 multi-core chipset for hardware accelerated audio, 24-bit/192kHz, 120dB Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC equipped with a Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 headphone amp with a low impedance of just 2.2Ohm and capable of running up to 600Ohm for those who have seriously expensive headsets. As if that wasn’t enough, the support for a wide range of headset/headphone/microphone configurations, multi-format support, fully configurable on-board profiles, scout mode, best-in-class surround processing, optical passthrough and the list just goes on and on.

It’s really easy to set this unit up on any device you need, the software is a breeze to work with, the performance is exceptional, and build quality is rock solid and in our opinion, the price is pretty fair too. If you can afford it, we still love the X7 even more, but for those who can’t stretch their budget that far, the G5 is a great bit of kit.

Pros

• Durable build quality
• Huge range of built-in features
• High-quality components
• Audio pass-through
• Combi and separate microphone support
• Configurable on-board profiles
• Multi-format support
• Competitive price
• Exceptional sound processing
• Compact size

Cons

• Pushing the volume wheel to mute causes the device to slide back, perhaps placing it on top would have been better, but far from a deal breaker.

“Powerful, feature-packed and reliable sound processing from one of the most iconic audio brands in the industry. Through testing the G5, it’s clear that Creative hasn’t lost the competitive edge one bit, and for those looking for a versatile audio solution that gives a big sound, despite its compact size, the H5 is certainly the way to go.

Thank you Creative for providing us with this sample.