Sound BlasterX AE-5

[Will Webster]

Last month, Creative started selling the Sound BlasterX AE-5, a $150 soundcard.  I am looking for an amp to power my 300 ohms headset that I will be getting in December.  It seems to have positive reviews, but it is not widely known yet.  Soundcards are not as popular as they used to be, but this may be a cool product for Linus to review.  What do you guys think?  I am not sure how to let him know.

[johnt]

@Will Webster never buy Creative Labs products. Consider a DAC/amp combo like the Schiit Fulla 2 for your needs. It is also cheaper.

[StormEye]

I don't know. I have had many internal sound cards in the past. None of them were completely free from pops and hisses. The last internal sound card I bought was Creative Sound Blaster ZxR and it was not free issues. I just don't think DAC/Amp should be located inside a PC case where there's too much interference. I don't know how much Creative has improved its shielding on this, but I doubt it has completely solved the issue.

 

If someone wants extra RGB flashing on PCI-e lanes, keep audio setup as clean as possible (not audio quality) and need extra power to drive headphones, it looks ok.

[johnt]

3 minutes ago, StormEye said:

I don't know how much Creative has improved its shielding on this, but I doubt it has completely solved the issue

The problem here specifically isn't the location of the sound card, although I do agree with your view point in general. The problem here is the manufacturer of the product. Creative Labs has never been free of issues, defects, and they make poor, crummy software that never really works properly. 

[Will Webster]

11 hours ago, JohnT said:

@Will Webster never buy Creative Labs products. Consider a DAC/amp combo like the Schiit Fulla 2 for your needs. It is also cheaper.

I have looked at some external DACs and amps.  The Schiit Fulla 2 is not powerful enough to drive my 300 ohms headphones properly.  If I want a Schiit amp, I would have to at least get the Magni 2 Uber edition, which is the same price as the sound card.  That is only an amp, so that still doesn't avoid the potential electrical noise issue without getting a seperate DAC as well.

[johnt]

4 minutes ago, Will Webster said:

I have looked at some external DACs and amps.  The Schiit Fulla 2 is not powerful enough to drive my 300 ohms headphones properly.  If I want a Schiit amp, I would have to at least get the Magni 2 Uber edition, which is the same price as the sound card.  That is only an amp, so that still doesn't avoid the potential electrical noise issue without getting a seperate DAC as well.

Now you've got me really curious. What 300-ohm monsters are you running? 

[SSL]

49 minutes ago, Will Webster said:

looked at

 

So you know that the Fulla 2 does not have enough power via what reasoning...?

[Will Webster]

On 8/8/2017 at 10:31 AM, JohnT said:

Now you've got me really curious. What 300-ohm monsters are you running? 

Sennheiser HD 6xx from Massdrop.  In terms of audio, they are identical to the 650.

[Will Webster]

On 8/8/2017 at 11:15 AM, SSL said:

 

So you know that the Fulla 2 does not have enough power via what reasoning...?

People have paired the Sennheiser HD 650 with the Schiit Fulla 2 and Magni 2 and noticed that the Fulla 2 is not capable of driving the headphones to their full potential, while the Magni 2 can do it much better.

[Dackzy]

41 minutes ago, Will Webster said:

People have paired the Sennheiser HD 650 with the Schiit Fulla 2 and Magni 2 and noticed that the Fulla 2 is not capable of driving the headphones to their full potential, while the Magni 2 can do it much better.

there is no such thing as full potential and the HD 6XX series scale really really well with better gear. Also everything from creative is worse than the fulla 2.

Get a monoprice desktop amp, it has more power than the fulla 2 in the higher impedance range or save up another 50$ and get the schiit stack.

[SSL]

2 hours ago, Will Webster said:

People have paired the Sennheiser HD 650 with the Schiit Fulla 2 and Magni 2 and noticed that the Fulla 2 is not capable of driving the headphones to their full potential, while the Magni 2 can do it much better.

 

In the scheme of things, the Magni and Fulla might as well be the same when you compare them even to something like the Valhalla. Painting the Magni as "much better" is just specious nonsense.

 

I happen to own the HD 650 and Magni and Valhalla. The Magni frankly isn't a great pairing with the HD 650, but at least the Fulla includes a DAC for the same price.

[KaminKevCrew]

Echoing SSL and Dackzy above, the Fulla 2 is going to be what you want to go with, at least for your budget. It's simply the best option for your budget. 

 

Sure, the Fulla 2 isn't a great pairing with the HD650. That being said, there's no such thing as a great pairing for the HD650 at the sub-$150 price point, in my experience, anyway.

[spwath]

1 hour ago, KaminKevCrew said:

Echoing SSL and Dackzy above, the Fulla 2 is going to be what you want to go with, at least for your budget. It's simply the best option for your budget. 

 

Sure, the Fulla 2 isn't a great pairing with the HD650. That being said, there's no such thing as a great pairing for the HD650 at the sub-$150 price point, in my experience, anyway.

Vali 2 is supposed to be good with HD650 at $169.

[KaminKevCrew]

1 minute ago, spwath said:

Vali 2 is supposed to be good with HD650 at $169.

too bad it isn't under $150

[spwath]

Just now, KaminKevCrew said:

too bad it isn't under $150

Used it could be. Or if you happen to find a 20 dollar bill on the street, or work for 2 hours at 10$/hour, or mow a law for $20, or sell $20 worth of stuff.

 

Or if you don't know how numbers work.

[ErickS89]

I'd go the Schiit route.

- Freya Preamp

- Gungnir Dac

- Mjolnir Headphone Amp

- 2 Monoblock Tube Power Amps (if you have speakers)

 

This is the setup I have, granted everything's in a box at the moment  

[KaminKevCrew]

1 minute ago, ErickS89 said:

I'd go the Schiit route.

- Freya Preamp

- Gungnir Dac

- Mjolnir Headphone Amp

- 2 Monoblock Tube Power Amps (if you have speakers)

 

This is the setup I have, granted everything's in a box at the moment  

How is this helpful to the OP in any way. At this point, you're just trying to show off without contributing to the topic at hand in anyway. It makes you look a bit of a jackass. 

10 minutes ago, spwath said:

Or if you don't know how numbers work.

What even are numbers?

[anothertom]

Just now, ErickS89 said:

This is the setup I have, granted everything's in a box at the moment  

And most certainly not under $150, or helpful to the OP.

 

On 8/8/2017 at 3:24 AM, Will Webster said:

I am looking for an amp to power my 300 ohms headset that I will be getting in December. 

Why buy something now when you've got four months to build up a better budget?

[KaminKevCrew]

4 minutes ago, anothertom said:

Why buy something now when you've got four months to build up a better budget?

This is a very good point.

[Will Webster]

20 hours ago, SSL said:

 

In the scheme of things, the Magni and Fulla might as well be the same when you compare them even to something like the Valhalla. Painting the Magni as "much better" is just specious nonsense.

 

I happen to own the HD 650 and Magni and Valhalla. The Magni frankly isn't a great pairing with the HD 650, but at least the Fulla includes a DAC for the same price.

Someone recommended the Magni 2 Uber edition. $169 and slightly more powerful. How does it compare to the first Magni?

[SSL]

Just now, Will Webster said:

Someone recommended the Magni 2 Uber edition. $169 and slightly more powerful. How does it compare to the first Magni?

 

It's better, but I was referring to the second generation of all these products anyway.