I have had the Creative Sound Blaster X5 for over a year, the sound of the headphone amplifier is amazing, it can easily compete with amplifiers over $500.
I like watching media on my Samsung 24 ultra with a pair of Focal headphones and have tried lots of dac dongles but at last I found a Sound Blasters dongle that sounds great. The music setting sounds strange but the Dolby surround setting sounds great, im a very happy camper.
Sound Blaster X5 300$ Vs Topping DX3 Pro+ 200$ using qauality headphones ( everything above Sennheiser HD 560S ) and Topping DX3 Pro+ is a clean winner .
My Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is struggling for a while, trying to find a new DAC amp that suits 'audiophiles' as well as a gamer that has a MIC input plus a budget price tag isn't bloomin' easy! This might just be the answer when its available and I've got some pennies!
Great review. I am pretty new at this so bare with me here. I want to connect my bluray player (Panasonic UB-820) via optical cable to this DAC/Amp and from the DAC/AMP to my Sony headphones WH1000XM4 using a 3.5 aux cable. Will this work? My headphones are considered low impedance (50 OHM I believe) What limitations will I have using the toslink cable? For know I just want to use this device to watch movies at night.
great video, I would like to ask if the bass changes with balanced output on headphones, is the bass stronger, more dynamic, deeper, more pronounced on balanced output or is the bass the same on both outputs, thank you very much for your answer.
The bass absolutely changes, higher driving power combined with better control can deliver more punch. The bass amount is a bit lower though, sound is more neutral and not warmer from the balanced output.
Lupu, great review of this unit. We were talking about Fiik K9 AKM and SMSL DO400 for more of a reference-tuned dac/amp, and you suggested that I if I could steretch my budget, Aune S9C Pro is a better unit. And, I've taken your recommendation of S9C Pro very seriously. However, this review and your talk about single-ended headphones and unbalanced outputs made me question something: my headphones are all single-ended. So, since I can't use balanced output on the three mentioned units, how is power and sound quality on the their unbalanced outputs? Due to the fact that I can only use unbalanced headphone-out on the S9C Pro, K9 AKM, and SMSL DO400, with which of these do you think I should go now? Which one has the better power and sound quality on the unbalanced output? PS there are two features that I like about K9 AKM that the others don't have: 1. It supports USB Audio Class 1 for gaming consoles. 2. Besides USB-B, It has a dedicated USB-C input for connecting your phone which, incidentally, I intend to mainly use my dac/amp that way for listening to music, too. All these aside, thanks to your recommendation, I've taken a great liking to S9C Pro, too. Haha!
S9C PRO would be the best of the list, I would go for it overall. X5 is much cheaper, which is a plus, and it can serve well. K9 has a ton of features, but sonically is much flatter. DO400 is a nice middle ground that I seldom recommend nowadays, it is great overall, doesn't do anything in particular as a highlight.
@@AudiophileHeaven Thanks for giving a sonic order to my list. By K9 AKM being "sonically much flatter," do you mean it's more neutral? For me, frankly, it has come down between K9 AKM (because of its mentioned features) and S9S Pro (because of its reference sound). But, I don't know how much K9 AKM's sound quality and power output differs from those of S9C Pro on their unbalanced headphone-outs to justify one over the other.
@@MoonshineBeforeSunshine S9c PRO is justified I think. K9 PRO has a flatter sund in general, including soundstage and dynamics, everything si really flat
@@AudiophileHeaven I don't have access to any of these units for a sound trial before purchase, and you've been phenomenal in helping me to make the right decision before spending a considerable amount of money. Thanks, Lupu for your existence in the audio world. You're more than a good reviewer in this world of audio, you're a good audio friend.
ok, so they took the effort to offer a balanced headphone output option, yet couldn't be bothered with a stereo set of mic XLR plug with phantom power or more than 2 RCA plugs on the back for outputs, hmmm. I've seen motherboards that cost less that have more audio IO options than that box has on the back.
Their own AE-9 has more inputs and outputs. I think there is a limit to hat you can have on a mnotherboard tho, never seen one that was decent, but i know some good interfaces for entry-level pricing
@@AudiophileHeaven yeah, I was just thinking of all the motherboards that have a quarter-inch plug for the 2 front outs, another for the rear outs, and a third for sub and center channels, and compared to that only having a single stereo out is a bit meh for a 300 quid box. I guess they may be bandwidth limited if that is dropping to 1MBps USB 1.0 for the one mode, so it's kind of understandable I guess. I guess the only selling point is the balanced headphone plugs on the front, and beyond that, it's just the wrong wrench to pound in a screw for other users, lol.
I have had the Creative Sound Blaster X5 for over a year, the sound of the headphone amplifier is amazing, it can easily compete with amplifiers over $500.
Woah, super nice!!
I like watching media on my Samsung 24 ultra with a pair of Focal headphones and have tried lots of dac dongles but at last I found a Sound Blasters dongle that sounds great. The music setting sounds strange but the Dolby surround setting sounds great, im a very happy camper.
Yooo, super nice, happy to hear you're in a good place there!!
Sound Blaster X5 300$ Vs Topping DX3 Pro+ 200$ using qauality headphones ( everything above Sennheiser HD 560S ) and Topping DX3 Pro+ is a clean winner .
It is good to know what you prefer!
My Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD is struggling for a while, trying to find a new DAC amp that suits 'audiophiles' as well as a gamer that has a MIC input plus a budget price tag isn't bloomin' easy!
This might just be the answer when its available and I've got some pennies!
Ahh it is available in the UK just not on Amz yet it seems.
Hope you will have lots of fun if you go for it!
I've got X5 but my brother just purchased Topping DX3 Pro+ 200$ and I am sad now because DX3 Pro+ gives better audio detail and dynamic :(
@@Bemx2k That is good to know, then you can return X5 and keep DX3 PRO+
@@AudiophileHeaven :) I have purchased X5 over 6 moths ago , my brother got DX3 Pro+ a few weeks ago . Then ...... how to send it back to Creative ?
Great review. I am pretty new at this so bare with me here. I want to connect my bluray player (Panasonic UB-820) via optical cable to this DAC/Amp and from the DAC/AMP to my Sony headphones WH1000XM4 using a 3.5 aux cable.
Will this work? My headphones are considered low impedance (50 OHM I believe)
What limitations will I have using the toslink cable? For know I just want to use this device to watch movies at night.
@@liquidxxvi hiii, there should be no limitations and the setup should work fine
@@AudiophileHeaven Tks for the response. Keep up the good work. New subscriber here.
great video, I would like to ask if the bass changes with balanced output on headphones, is the bass stronger, more dynamic, deeper, more pronounced on balanced output or is the bass the same on both outputs, thank you very much for your answer.
The bass absolutely changes, higher driving power combined with better control can deliver more punch. The bass amount is a bit lower though, sound is more neutral and not warmer from the balanced output.
@@AudiophileHeaven Thanks
Lupu, great review of this unit.
We were talking about Fiik K9 AKM and SMSL DO400 for more of a reference-tuned dac/amp, and you suggested that I if I could steretch my budget, Aune S9C Pro is a better unit. And, I've taken your recommendation of S9C Pro very seriously.
However, this review and your talk about single-ended headphones and unbalanced outputs made me question something: my headphones are all single-ended. So, since I can't use balanced output on the three mentioned units, how is power and sound quality on the their unbalanced outputs?
Due to the fact that I can only use unbalanced headphone-out on the S9C Pro, K9 AKM, and SMSL DO400, with which of these do you think I should go now? Which one has the better power and sound quality on the unbalanced output?
PS there are two features that I like about K9 AKM that the others don't have: 1. It supports USB Audio Class 1 for gaming consoles. 2. Besides USB-B, It has a dedicated USB-C input for connecting your phone which, incidentally, I intend to mainly use my dac/amp that way for listening to music, too.
All these aside, thanks to your recommendation, I've taken a great liking to S9C Pro, too. Haha!
S9C PRO would be the best of the list, I would go for it overall. X5 is much cheaper, which is a plus, and it can serve well. K9 has a ton of features, but sonically is much flatter. DO400 is a nice middle ground that I seldom recommend nowadays, it is great overall, doesn't do anything in particular as a highlight.
@@AudiophileHeaven Thanks for giving a sonic order to my list. By K9 AKM being "sonically much flatter," do you mean it's more neutral?
For me, frankly, it has come down between K9 AKM (because of its mentioned features) and S9S Pro (because of its reference sound).
But, I don't know how much K9 AKM's sound quality and power output differs from those of S9C Pro on their unbalanced headphone-outs to justify one over the other.
@@MoonshineBeforeSunshine S9c PRO is justified I think. K9 PRO has a flatter sund in general, including soundstage and dynamics, everything si really flat
@@AudiophileHeaven I don't have access to any of these units for a sound trial before purchase, and you've been phenomenal in helping me to make the right decision before spending a considerable amount of money. Thanks, Lupu for your existence in the audio world. You're more than a good reviewer in this world of audio, you're a good audio friend.
Is this better then the fiio k11 or gc7?
Yes, also pricier than K11.
♥
Thank you!!
You don't have an inline microphone on any of your headphones/earphones that sport a 3.5mm plug?
No sir, I use an XLR Rode NTG-3B Microphone to record audio, which needs XLR Phantom power.
ok, so they took the effort to offer a balanced headphone output option, yet couldn't be bothered with a stereo set of mic XLR plug with phantom power or more than 2 RCA plugs on the back for outputs, hmmm. I've seen motherboards that cost less that have more audio IO options than that box has on the back.
Their own AE-9 has more inputs and outputs. I think there is a limit to hat you can have on a mnotherboard tho, never seen one that was decent, but i know some good interfaces for entry-level pricing
@@AudiophileHeaven yeah, I was just thinking of all the motherboards that have a quarter-inch plug for the 2 front outs, another for the rear outs, and a third for sub and center channels, and compared to that only having a single stereo out is a bit meh for a 300 quid box. I guess they may be bandwidth limited if that is dropping to 1MBps USB 1.0 for the one mode, so it's kind of understandable I guess. I guess the only selling point is the balanced headphone plugs on the front, and beyond that, it's just the wrong wrench to pound in a screw for other users, lol.