[Sound Blaster]

Dear Head-Fi'ers,
 
we are very excited to be part of the Head-Fi community! For those of you who don't already know us, we at Sound Blaster have been manufacturing audio equipment for the PC for the past two decades. And now, with our new Sound Blaster E-series portable amplifiers, we are able to reach out to more of you who are passionate about audio.
 

 
 
The Sound Blaster E1 is a USB DAC and portable headphone amplifier that connects to smartphones or tablets via a 4-pole cable or to your PC/Mac via USB.  With a built-in 106dB DAC and 25 hours battery life, you will get hours after hours of great music. We have made the Sound Blaster E1 super affordable so that you can start experiencing High Resolution Audio without burning a hole in your pocket!
 
The Sound Blaster E3 is a USB DAC and Bluetooth headphone amplifier that connects to smartphones and tablet via Bluetooth on top of USB connectivity to your PC/Mac and supported iPhone (using lightning connector) and Android phones.  With a built-in 112dB DAC and an 8 hour battery life, enjoy pristine audio even while on the move without tangling cables.  What's more, it turns every analog headphones into a wireless headset!
 
Lastly, and most importantly, our flagship Sound Blaster E5 which so many of you have expressed interest in owning one. We are very close to releasing the product and would like to take this opportunity to update everyone on where we are with the launch. As the demand for the SB E5 has exceeded our expectations, we will be rolling out the Sound Blaster E5 in stages:
 
Asia - Singapore 
Customers who have signed up for the email notification during the COMEX electronics show will be receiving an email with ordering instructions in their mailbox by next week. We will also be showcasing the Sound Blaster E5 at the SITEX show (27-30 November) with very limited quantity for sale. For those who've missed it at the previous COMEX, here's your chance. Do come down early!
 
Americas - United States
Customers who wish to get their hands on the Sound Blaster E5 can start ordering from December 3, 2014.
The Sound Blaster E5 has been highly reviewed -- PC Gamer says "This portable DAC and headphone amp is an audio powerhouse. Creative's Sound Blaster E5 pulls off the trick of being a jack of all trades with nary a significant compromise."
For now, limited quantities will be made available to customers in the US. So, follow this link and choose to be notified when the Sound Blaster E5 is available for sale.
 
United Kingdom
A press tour is going on in London this week where we will be showcasing the NEW Sound Blaster X7 and the E5 to the press.
We have also specially organised two public demonstrations of the Sound Blaster E5 and Sound Blaster X7, which comes with a Burr-Brown PCM1794 (127dB DAC) and TPA6120A2 headphone amp, at the following locations. Do drop by if you're in the vicinity to experience these products for yourself.
 
Maplin 218-219, Tottenham Court Rd, London W1T 7PX 
Time:  1100 - 1900 hours
Date:  Nov 13, 2014 (1 day only)
 
Scan Computers, 25-28 Enterprise Park, Middlebrook, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 6PE
Time:  1100 - 1900 hours
Date:  Nov 15, 2014 (1 day only)
Location:  Bolton (as above)
 
In UK, the sales of the Sound Blaster E5 will start on Nov 25.  To be notified, please visit the product page here.
 
EU (Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Ireland)
Head-Fi'ers in EU can start ordering the Sound Blaster E5 on Nov 25, 2014 as well.  Click here to be put on the notification list.

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We have so much more to share with you guys in the weeks to come! In the meantime, if you have any questions on the Sound Blaster E-Series, we will be here to answer them!

Sound Blaster E1 and E3 Press Release
Sound Blaster E5 Press Release

 

[rajeevrn]

Welcome to Head fi! I own a Creative Recon 3d sound card. I might get the E3 if I can.

 

[Evshrug]

I loved the Recon3D USB, I also had a SoundBlaster Z and I still own an Omni to use with my Mac/Windows computer. I'm highly anticipating the upcoming X7, but I'm concerned that the X7 will also be produced in limited quantities but I wasn't able to sign up for availability notification on www.soundblaster.com/X7.

But in any case, welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[Bugattikid2012]

Just bought myself an E5 earlier today.  Hopefully I'll have it within a week. 

One suggestion to Sound Blaster: Add Scout Mode to it!  We know it's capable of it because it was on the E3!

 

[arcwindz]

So excited about the E5, I will voice the same thing as bugattikid since E5 got the audio processor while E3 don't, yet the E5 doesn't get the full suite of the SBX software.

 

[TJ Max]

So anyone here having a good experience with Android devices? I'm try to determine if something is wrong with my unit. on mine the Battery only last a little over an our and gets very warm after a few minutes when connected to my phone.

 

[EXPERIMENTONGOD]

Looking at these products as a Samsung Galaxy S4 owner:
 
E1 = pointless, as you need to connect it through analog
E3 = not bad, as you can use it as a real DAC through Bluetooth
E5 = AMAZING!, as you can have an external soundcard/DAC with full functionality for your smartphone through USB, that's insane o__O

 

[Evshrug]

Looking at these products as a Samsung Galaxy S4 owner:

E1 = pointless, as you need to connect it through analog
E3 = not bad, as you can use it as a real DAC through Bluetooth
E5 = AMAZING!, as you can have an external soundcard/DAC with full functionality for your smartphone through USB, that's insane o__O

The E3 also supports OTG connections, I believe it even comes with the cable to connect to your Samsung's charge/sync cable. So, two ways to use the E3's DAC.

I haven't tried connecting my E1 to computer via USB yet, I should though.

 

[headoncollision]

loool awesome creative is now on head-fi, so the rumor is true, creative is making a strong come back!
 
creative products I own
- Creative titaniumHD soundcard
- Creative soundblaster X-Fi HD USB DAC
- Creative Gigaworks T40 II
- Creative inspire m4500 4.1
 
the E5 is definitly on my radar , wonder if it sounds any better than the soundblaster x-fi HD which I`m using right now, shames it`s not available locally otherwise I would`ve just picked it up and reviewed it.

 

[Evshrug]

loool awesome creative is now on head-fi, so the rumor is true, creative is making a strong come back!

creative products I own
- Creative titaniumHD soundcard
- Creative soundblaster X-Fi HD USB DAC
- Creative Gigaworks T40 II
- Creative inspire m4500 4.1

the E5 is definitly on my radar , wonder if it sounds any better than the soundblaster x-fi HD which I`m using right now, shames it`s not available locally otherwise I would`ve just picked it up and reviewed it.

Well, I haven't heard it, but the E5 is supposed to have a DAC and amp at least as good as what's in the X-Fi Titanium HD, plus the new SBX suite and Bluetooth (and easy to transport).

 

[headoncollision]

if thats true then the E5 would be really good external DAC and amp since the titanium HD is regarded as one of the best audiophile soundcards.

 

[Evshrug]

if thats true then the E5 would be really good external DAC and amp since the titanium HD is regarded as one of the best audiophile soundcards.

The E5 has
Cirrus Logic (CS4398) 120dB DAC
Texas Instruments (TPA6120A2) OpAmp (might be the same one used in TiHD, though I think the engineers managed to reduce the output impedance)
Battery power supply
External from PC noise.


Even if it just sounds equal, it'll be better than the X-Fi HD USB DAC, plus it can source audio from PC, Mac, Bluetooth, USB host mode for smart devices that support OTG digital output (like my iPhone 5S), and it has an optical input which is nice for an Apple TV or consoles but the optical input can't decode Dolby.

Eventually, I'll get either an E3 or E5, but I don't want to go too crazy too fast because I just got an X7 (wrote a Head-Fi review) and not too long before that an HD700 (with that big 1/4 plug).

 

[headoncollision]

The E5 has
Cirrus Logic (CS4398) 120dB DAC
Texas Instruments (TPA6120A2) OpAmp (might be the same one used in TiHD, though I think the engineers managed to reduce the output impedance)
Battery power supply
External from PC noise.
 

yup thanks for clearing this for me, this sounds amazing, and the kicker is u can use it with any device, and yup to PC noise, appeantly having both the sound blaster x-fi HD and titanium HD I`ll have to find a buyer for them locally in order to make buying the E5 justifiable, which of course is almost impossible since not alot of people appreciate hi fidelity audio.
if your.
I just checked your review, seems nice but E5 is just right for me with it`s portable size. it just looks good for me,

 

[headoncollision]

"It looks like the SB-E5 uses the same DAC chip (CS4398) as the SB-Z, so I would think the older Titanium-HD would still be better sounding (at least a little).
I would think a Titanium-HD with an external headphone amplifier, would offer the better over all sound, over the SB-E5"
 
some one pointed this out for me in another thread, not like its a deal breaker, having all your sound needs taken care off in one device is too much of an appealing idea to care about little sound quality difference.

 

[headoncollision]

I`m really disappointed, 1st time have to deal with creative customer service, and their really bad, my T40s II stopped working and creative stopped responding to my E-mails when I mentioned "replacement" in my E-mail. after spending all this money on creative products, recommending them in countless occasions thats the kind of treatment I deserve.