[382921]

Thank you, looks like I'll have to remove it from the list :/

By what's best I mean what has the most "compatible sound" with my headphone, the AKG K545, which are known to have accentuated highs. Adding a DAC that also accentuates highs wouldn't be a smart idea, would it?

And then I mean best in this price range: which sounds better (because of DAC chip), and also considering warranty: the dragonfly is 1 year,while audioengine's is 3 years.

Some people actually like accentuated high, as far as i know audioquest dragonfly is one of the best in that price range, audioengine, from some reviews i read, got good score but nothing to write home about.
I suggest you go to the respective threads and ask there, try to read posting guidelines on how to ask for recommendations if you haven't done so

Btw, e5 strength is in its myriad of features that none have around or above its price range, yet. But if you are looking for simple, no hassle, music only dac/amp, you can skip e5

i am reading the threads of every device and everyone says theirs is best. I'm starting to think they are exactly the same...

i like all of its features, but at this point I doubt I'd use them
-Nfc to pair Bluetooth is neat, but listening to music thorough Bluetooth is pleb-tier,even with apt-x.

 

[FlacFan]

i am reading the threads of every device and everyone says theirs is best. I'm starting to think they are exactly the same...

i like all of its features, but at this point I doubt I'd use them
-Nfc to pair Bluetooth is neat, but listening to music thorough Bluetooth is pleb-tier,even with apt-x.

pleb-tier?
 
Rubbish.

 

[thefitz]

If you're unhappy with the E5 drawing power from your Android phone when plugged into the USB host, you can use an OTG cable and plug it into the microUSB port (like how you'd plug it into a computer) and use it like any other DAC that doesn't use drivers.

The downside? The E5 draws charge from your phone instead of charging your phone. So your options are: your E5 charges your phone, or your phone charges your E5.
 
USB Audio Player Pro detects the E5 as a 24-bit/96kHz DAC, not 24/192. Not that it matters.

 

[FlacFan]

  If you're unhappy with the E5 drawing power from your Android phone when plugged into the USB host, you can use an OTG cable and plug it into the microUSB port (like how you'd plug it into a computer) and use it like any other DAC that doesn't use drivers.

The downside? The E5 draws charge from your phone instead of charging your phone. So your options are: your E5 charges your phone, or your phone charges your E5.
 
USB Audio Player Pro detects the E5 as a 24-bit/96kHz DAC, not 24/192. Not that it matters.

None of this is needed.
 
Install newest Firmware and you can double hit the power button of the E5 - that turns charging off.
 
Cheers.

 

[thefitz]

  None of this is needed.
 
Install newest Firmware and you can double hit the power button of the E5 - that turns charging off.
 
Cheers.

Through Android? Everything I read indicated that this firmware update indicates it'll turn off draw from the PC (I'll try that), but I've found nothing to indicate that you can disable the E5 from charging your phone. It's Android compliance. The E5 must charge your phone, from what I understand.

 

[RojasTKD]

 
Through Android? Everything I read indicated that this firmware update indicates it'll turn off draw from the PC (I'll try that), but I've found nothing to indicate that you can disable the E5 from charging your phone. It's Android compliance. The E5 must charge your phone, from what I understand.

Yes, over USB (E5) to Micro USB (Android phone) it must charge your phone (until Goggle changes requirements).
 
BUT Micro USB to Micro USB no charging is possible, in this case phone can be kept from charging E5. Though I do lose SBX functionality last I tested (not a big deal to me).

 

[Magic Man]

Could someone answer a question bout the SBX software?

Under the sliders in the SBX area are little triangles - what do they relate to? I assumed they were the current SBX settings saved on the device itself but, if that is so, how do I then update the device settings since they don't change.

I think the SBX settings saved to the device and used when the SBX is turned on are whatever was last set via the software? In which case, what do those tiangles mean?

Also, is it only the SBX settings saved on the device or the other options too?

I can set the headphone output as stereo or virtual 7.1. I can also set surround options in SBX. Do they conflict or just different options to do a similar thing?

Thanks.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

Hi,
 
I am looking for an external sound card that is able to offer the following features:
-       -   music listening from a low impedance head phone out to drive my triple.fi
-       -  gaming with headphone sourround sound
-       -  also connecting a pair of simple active stereo speakers for  everyday use in youtube ect. where audio quality isn’t that important to me.
-       -  bitstream Dolby and DTS 5.1 from videos tot he SPDIF-out
-       -  Dolby Digital encoding to the SPDIF-out in games that support it.
 
Right now I’m using a combination of X-FI HD and Fiio E11 for headphone listening (the latter to get a~0 OHMs output impedance). The X-FI is also connected to my reciever via TOS-Link for movie playback and via chinch to the stereo speakers. Furthermore I have an internal  SB X-FI PCI-E for the sole purpose of Dolby Digital Encoding (the software allows the encoded singal being sent tot he SPDIF out oft he X-FI HD), which is blocking the valuable PCI-E 1x slot.
 
Can the E5 or G5 provide all of this in a single device?

 

[thefitz]

Can the E5 or G5 provide all of this in a single device?

 
I do not believe the E5 does pass-thru surround. Stereo only.
 
Perhaps the X7 is what you're after, assuming you do not want it portable.

 

[arcwindz]

Hi,

I am looking for an external sound card that is able to offer the following features:
-       -   music listening from a low impedance head phone out to drive my triple.fi


-       -  gaming with headphone sourround sound


-       -  also connecting a pair of simple active stereo speakers for  everyday use in youtube ect. where audio quality isn’t that important to me.


-       -  bitstream Dolby and DTS 5.1 from videos tot he SPDIF-out


-       -  Dolby Digital encoding to the SPDIF-out in games that support it.


 


Right now I’m using a combination of X-FI HD and Fiio E11 for headphone listening (the latter to get a~0 OHMs output impedance). The X-FI is also connected to my reciever via TOS-Link for movie playback and via chinch to the stereo speakers. Furthermore I have an internal  SB X-FI PCI-E for the sole purpose of Dolby Digital Encoding (the software allows the encoded singal being sent tot he SPDIF out oft he X-FI HD), which is blocking the valuable PCI-E 1x slot.

Can the E5 or G5 provide all of this in a single device?

- the impedance on e5 is 2.2 ohm, not the best but good enough
- yes it does surround, sbx though not dolby headphone
- yes you can plug your speaker to e5 line out
- and no e5 doesn't do DD encoding, will it passthrough bit stream dolby? I don't know for sure, maybe some people will answer that

X7 does DD encoding, but then it can not pass surround through optical out (yet? Creative should update x7 with newest software, even e5 got it...)
And you'll need some bluetooth dongle if you are planning to use this with console chat.

 

[ColinMacLaren]

I got bot a G5 and an E5 for testing.
 
Both sound great with the triple.fi. Maybe a bit on the bass heavy side but i like a slight bass boost with these cans anyway. G5 doesn't offer anything over the E5 apart from a couple of preconfigured SBX True Studio profiles. Since both cast the same the E5 is the better choice since I can also use it as a portable dac on my IOS devices and I can ge rid of the mirophone on my desk.
 
However, there was no sound at all from the optical out of the E5. I am assuming this is a defect, the G5 was working fine. Neither does support bitstream pass-through or DDL.  

 

[Cloudtastrophe]

Has anyone had an issue updating their E5?
 
I have had a ton of trouble the past week just trying to restore its normal function. Long story short, i am running the newest software pack, on the 3rd most recent driver, with the most recent firmware pack, i believe (november?).
 
Along the way the device stopped working, wouldnt get recognized, lost the "direct mode" function, would only be recognized with the generic usb device driver, sometimes only worked with optical, driver kept saying it wasnt signed and kept getting errors in device manager, as well as lots of other issues like having to reinstall everything multiple times in multiple combinations to get it to work.
 
At the moment, I got the double tap to stop charging feature to work and the headphone out/line out surround thing to show up in my software, but the device is working normally with my computer, i.e. its not recognized as 7.1 but just stereo. updating the driver causes issues since it says either the driver is "not signed" even though its the january 20th driver, or it ends up showing up under playback devices but anything i try to do gets the error message "this device is being used by another program" or something and it wont work.
 
Anyone else with these issues? Or have a solution?

 

[thefitz]

I updated mine to the latest firmware 2 days ago without any issue, on a 6 year old laptop running Windows 7.

 

[gecko92]

Hello everyone! I ended up on this page by chance and got to know this device, and now I'm considering buying it 

But I also discovered the E3, which seems much more portable and considerably cheaper (99€ vs 169€ here in Italy)...
Can anyone compare the SQ on these two?
 
The only thing I'm worried about is that I might find the highs too harsh for my ears...can they be toned down through software?

 

[Lion022]

Hi all,
 
This is my first post. I was wondering if any of the E5's owners (or any E5 expert) could help me with the following queries:
 
I am looking for a DAC/Amp, portable if possible (It's not a must), mainly for music and some gaming, so I found that this Sound Blaster E5 has basically all I want at a decent price.
 
For music I will use either my Samsung galaxy S6, 2nd Gen iPod Touch and a laptop. For gaming, mainly a PS4 but also PC. The PS4 will be connected to an EarForce DSS via an optical cable to get the Dolby Headphone (VSS).
 
My questions are:
 
  1.- Can I use the E5 as a DAC/Amp with my Samsung S6 and iPod? If so, can I do it through USB and Bluetooth? Will I get 24bits/192kHz from both types of connections?
 
  2.- Can I use the E5 as an amplifier only? If so, How can I do it?
 
  3.- If I have the E5 connected to my PS4 via USB and then I connect a mic to the Line-in port of the E5, Will the PS4 receive my voice?
 
Many thanks for your help.