[Fegefeuer]

PC community is rising. Nobody's threatened either. 
 
The only place where the PC really loses is AAA games. Doesn't matter though, it's good that the market is so diverse and we have a lot of choices. 

 

[DagsJT]

Well my very first thought it that this blows the Mixamp out of the water for bass. I knew my Fidelio X2's were meant to have good bass but the G5 takes it to a whole new sound and the bass sounds so much better. Feels really deep, thumping and crisp now.

 

[rudyae86]

PC community is rising. Nobody's threatened either. 

The only place where the PC really loses is AAA games. Doesn't matter though, it's good that the market is so diverse and we have a lot of choices. 

This and the reason why PC loses in AAA titles is because many people boycott the games for many obvious reasons.

PC community is getting bigger honestly especially with the free upgrade to windows 10...

 

[Helvetica bold]

  Well my very first thought it that this blows the Mixamp out of the water for bass. I knew my Fidelio X2's were meant to have good bass but the G5 takes it to a whole new sound and the bass sounds so much better. Feels really deep, thumping and crisp now.

Did you try it on PC or Console? If so what games? Hows the positional sound? 

 

[DagsJT]

Did you try it on PC or Console? If so what games? Hows the positional sound? 

Only really on PC last night. I did some swapping between this and the Mixamp and it was hard to compare to due time taken to swap cables, change output in Windows etc. But I did feel like the G5 was noticeably clearer in sound with more life to the music. The Mixamp felt a little flat in comparison whereas the G5 sounded great at making music sound more full and alive.

I guess this is what I expected when I first got good headphones and I was disappointed at first because, although I could tell the headphones were good, I heard good headphones really wowed you and made music really pop.

Listening to Damien Rice was incredible going between the two amps. The G5 actually made me feel like I was right there next to Damien Rice with the vocals and guitar sounding real and not coming from a computer and not quite there with realism. I think I actually widened my eyes with disbelief when I first heard the difference, it really was such an eye-opener.

I'll try games on the Xbox One tonight and see what I can try for positional sound. The G5 software does have a gaming audio example with some gunshots and explosions and it did sound pretty good. With the Mixamp, I must admit I wasn't great at picking up positional cues and being able to say exactly where people are, I'm not sure my ears and brain work too well for that. But the stereo positional sound in the demo did sound good and very clear.

As I say, I'll try gaming tonight but music was impressive to say the least.

 

[Evshrug]

The manual shows a picture of the PS4 being connected to the G5 via USB, and the XboxOne via optical since the XBone doesn't have USB audio output. The G5 can be connected to PS4 via USB or Optical (if the console is set to PCM, not DTS or Dolby), in such a setup USB is preferred because that also takes care of microphone duties!

Someone earlier wondered if Creative could make Dolby or DTS decoding support via a firmware update... I don't know if they can. I also don't know if Creative was able to give us the nice Amp + DAC at the price basically equivalent to a new Mixamp (but sound much better) because they didn't include decoding. Well, "IF" a decoding download to install into the G5 was available, I for one would TOTALLY PAY FOR DLC FEATURES LIKE DOLBY/DTS DECODING. I think that would be cool, let us decide if the surround is something we want.

DagsJT,
Thanks for the impressions! I just KNEW it would sound good. Now, you know why we say there's a difference between amping for enough volume and amping for improved quality. How similar/different is the G5 sound/software setup from my E5 review? Does the surround demo on PC (or surround gaming) work better for you than the Mixamp in regards to the difference between frontal and rear cues?

 

[Stillhart]

Now there's a very interesting thought:  DLC firmware addons for $$.  I don't think that's something that's been done outside of things like commercial-level WAN boxes like Cisco routers and firewalls.  It would be interesting to see that come to someone like Creative...

 

[Evshrug]

I mean, if it's even possible. Certainly reduces the cost risk for the manufacturer.

 

[TenMoonsNorth]

   
Yep, they tweeted me
 
Darren Thomas @DagsJT
@CreativeLabs Thanks! Does the G5 provide surround sound for consoles or is it PC only?

 
Creative Labs @CreativeLabs
@DagsJT Virtual surround for both. Consoles are stereo virtual surround. Pc is native 7.1 virtual surround.

 
Stereo Virtual Surround Sound (Front Left/Right) is utterly worthless. There are many far cheaper USB DACs that work with consoles for stereo headphones.
 
If you play on console then I don't see any reason to buy the G5.
 

That really sucks! Why would they even waste time on making this? I can't see them having many sales.

Well... Can't wait to see the G5 go on sale next year for 50 dollars. They shot themselves in the foot this time. Not like I'm going to buy it anyways. I do want to read about how it sounds compared to other devices (via PC of course)

My Recon3D will do me just fine for now
I suppose...

 
The question is why the hell was 7.1 VSS not possible on the E5 and the rest of the E series. The G5 should never exist and rather 7.1 VSS should have been rolled into the E5. An explanation was never given on that but for some reason they could not appear as a 7.1 speaker system to Windows which is what most games check to decide what audio is outputted.
 

  HA, my thoughts exactly. For a new product launch the instructions and marketing is terrible. Especially with the success of new gen consoles I expected better marketing.
Isn't the PC gaming community shrinking? Hell, theres more people playing Battlefront than Xbox One and PC combined! 
EDIT: I do give then credit for the discounted price tho.

 
PC gaming is huge and far more enthusiast orientated than consoles. PC is by far the best platform for gaming unless you want extreme simplicity at the expense of graphical fidelity, competitive scene and huge indie gaming market.
 
For the people who are considering buying the Creative G5.
 

---

 
The PROMO CODE: BLASTG5 is a generic code rather than user specific. It deducts €40 euros or £40 or $40 from the cost of the G5 on the Creative store.

 

[cdsa35000]

Both E5 and G5 are useless, Recon3d usb has it all but only no optical out and a weak headamp, use it as line-out to double-amping will sound best.

If want a really super cheap PC SBX 7.1 Virtual Surround hp, buy the BlasterAxx SBX 8 for only 20euro:

http://en.europe.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blasteraxx-sbx-8#tag-buy

 

[DagsJT]

Delete.

 

[DagsJT]

Which USB DAC & amp would be better than the G5 for consoles and PC that is cheaper than £90?
 
I'm not fussed on microphone chat or anything but it does need to take USB input from the PC and the optical from an Xbox One. From what I can see, an O2 amp on its own costs £90, let alone buying a DAC as well.

 

[Evshrug]

^thanks for the deal code, I signed up for G5 email updates but for some reason haven't received any.

There are tons of USB stereo DAC/amps out there that work with PS4. The question is, do those have an amp and DAC at the G5's level? Do those have mic integration? The G5's audio won't be endgame for music, sure, but if it sounds like an E5 then it's already better quality and power than most things I know of in the portable sub-$100 market. I do still really wish it had full headphone surround for consoles.

I admit, I use my E5 for music and on the go more than anything, I've tested it with ps4 gaming but haven't installed the PC drivers. Have you tested for yourself to be sure the E5 drivers disable PC surround? One thing about PC is there are so many drivers and settings and conflicts and errors and varying equipment, that if I hear one person say they can't get surround working I still don't feel convinced.

 

[cdsa35000]

http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=717470

Hi lagonauta,

Sound Blaster E5 will be perceived as a stereo card on Windows.

Cheers,
JL-CL

 

[Evshrug]

But again, configurations and complexity. The software might be processing the headphone surround mix before outputting to the E5. Later in that same thread, username Thalyn and later Wizard13 ask if the processing was still applied to the sound before becoming a stereo output, like before with the Recon3D USB. Creative replied:

Hi Wizard13,

The Sound Blaster E5 uses the same sound processing technology as the Recon3D.
Cheers,
HT-CL

SO for PC support, it seems a large part of the issue is a language barrier and technicalities. The E5 definitely doesn't have 5.1 speaker output... but the above conversation implies that SBX does its thing on the PC positional audio before sending out the stereo final mix. I definitely DID test the Recon3D as being fully capable of virtual surround output while connected to PC USB. If only Creative's drivers could be installed on the PS4, we could again skip any superfluous Dolby or DTS and have surround through USB, but that kind of system access has never been available on console.