Creative sound blasterx g5 review (full review)

Creative is one of the absolute benchmarks in terms of sound related products for our computers, the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 sound card has been launched as part of the new series of BlasterX products from this prestigious manufacturer. Announced at the beginning of the year we already have it among us to see what its virtual 7.1 sound is capable of offering. Will it pass the tests in our laboratory? Will it enter the list of our best sound cards for PC ?

First of all we thank Creative for the trust placed in giving us the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 for analysis.

Creative Sound BlasterX G5 technical features

Unboxing and product description

The Creative Sound BlasterX G5 comes to us in a cardboard box in which the color black clearly prevails. On the front we see an image of the device and on the back we detail its main specifications.

Once we open the box we find the sound card itself protected in a plastic blister and different accessories including:

Creative Sound BlasterX G5 external sound card. USB power cable. Optical cable. Instruction manual and quick guide. World warranty book.

We already focus our eyes on the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 and we find a device very similar to the E5 model. It has a size of 110 mm x 74 mm x 22 mm, a rubber finish on the bottom and a large control wheel at the front that will help us adjust the volume to our liking in a very comfortable way, this wheel has lighting which increases in intensity as the volume increases. On the sides of the wheel we find the 3.5 mm jack connectors for headphones and microphone.

On the back of the card is a micro USB port that will serve to connect it to our PC or a console with the help of the cable included in the bundle, near the micro USB port we find a USB port and two optical ports for input and output.

Already on the right side of the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 we see the missing controls among which are the Scout Mode button, the button to switch between profiles and a control to adjust the gain. The aesthetics of the device are completed with a Sound BlasterX logo on the top that includes lighting on the X when it is working.

If the exterior shows a high level the best is inside the Creative Sound BlasterX G5. The card uses the same Texas Instruments amp motor as the E5 model and is capable of properly operating headphones with a maximum impedance of 600Ω. We continue with an impressive Cirrus Logic digital audio converter with support for 24bit or 192kHz playback and a signal and noise ratio of 120 dB. The set is completed with the Creative SB-Axx1 audio processor that can be adjusted through the buttons on the card or through its advanced BlasterX Acoustic Engine Pro software.

BlasterX Acoustic Engine Pro software

In order to get the most out of the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 we have the BlasterX Acoustic Engine Pro software with a very intuitive design and advanced tools to make a difference compared to its rivals in the market. In the profiles section we can choose from a wide variety of presets and assign them to the three available profiles, to switch between these three profiles we only need to use the button for this task on the sound card.

Creative has thought about the most video game fans so it offers us different settings for first person shooting games, adventure and action games, driving simulators and even profiles specific to games like Call of Duty, Dota 2 and CS: GO. If you don't have enough with the 17 profiles offered, you can also create your own to better suit your tastes.

We go to the section dedicated to the acoustic engine where we can make different adjustments to the sound engine of the card and customize them for the different profiles. In this section we have access to the preview of three types of sound to have immediate feedback after adjusting a parameter. Finally we find a useful equalizer.

We now come to the section of Scout Mode where we can activate and deactivate this option that will help us to better hear our enemies in the middle of the battlefield to take advantage of the game and rise to victory. We can also configure a quick access to activate / deactivate this option very comfortably.

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In the Voice FX section we can apply different voice filters to achieve very fun results, something that will be very pleasant for the most enthusiastic but that will not matter to most users. Finally we come to the advanced settings section where we can manage the Surround mode and all the levels of the mixer.

We also have the equalizer options and advanced options to make an adjustment of the sound more to our whim. A super complete application!

Final words and conclusion

As we have been able to in this review, the Creative Sound BlasterX G5 external sound card is one of the best portable solutions on the market with an integrated SB-Axxx1 processor and its Scout mod. Unsurprisingly, it offers a great experience with virtual 7.1 surround sound, excellent gaming performance and is compatible with headphones with a maximum impedance of 600Ω.

We really liked the wide connections and modes from its sides. In addition to a volume controller built into the sound card, making the sound much faster to adjust.

It is fully compatible with any PC, laptop and the main video game consoles (Xbox One, Playstation 4…). Its store price ranges from 150 euros , which of course is not a cheap product, but if you want quality you should opt for it.

Currently it can be found in some online stores for 150 euros, it is clear that it is not a cheap price but being a PREMIUM product we see its justified price. It also has a 4 year warranty! One more plus to take into account this graphics card.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ QUALITY PRODUCT.	- PRICE.
+ FIRST DESIGN.
+ SOUND QUALITY.
+ MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE.
+ AMOUNT OF CONNECTIONS.