Sound Blaster X5

The Creative Sound Blaster X5 isn't just a sound card for the gaming community. It's also a nice little DAC, even if it does have a few oddities.

Very good sound. Balanced circuitry and balanced headphone output. Wide range of inputs and outputs. Inexpensive.

No remote control. No external power supply. Build quality does not match the fine specs. Bluetooth reception only supports SBC.

The Sound Blaster X5 is an unusual product, and some of the features are downright weird. Fortunately, that doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s a very good headphone amplifier at a price point where there are few competitors. If you’ve bought...