INTRODUCTION

   PC audio may not have enjoyed the same gigantic leaps in technology as graphics have over the years but there's no denying that it has come a long way since the early 90's and the very first 16-bit sound cards. Without getting into too much technical detail I’ll just point out that back in the mid 1990's even 16-bit/44.1kHz playback was considered enthusiast-grade whereas now some gaming and audiophile audio cards can "climb" all the way to 32-bit/384kHz. Almost 3 years ago Creative released the Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 PCIe sound card which has enjoyed high popularity levels, especially among gamers. Well last April Creative announced plans for a successor to that specific model, the Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 Plus which I’ve been using for almost a month now.

   Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for driving the multimedia revolution - which established a user base of 400 million - Creative drives digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions that include premium wireless speakers, wireless headphones, powerful audiophile-grade digital amplifiers and next-generation home-theatre systems. Aiming at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets, Creative continues to reinvent the Sound Blaster, with its ground-breaking Sound Blaster Roar series and USB-audio class of products such as the Sound Blaster X7.

   Under the black aluminum shroud/cover of the brand new Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus (currently available in black and pure white editions) we find the Sound Core3D (CA0132-4AN) audio processor together with the Xamp discrete headphone bi-amp (each audio channel is individually amplified - 1Ohm impedance can drive studio-grade headphones of up to 600Ohm) and the ESS SABRE32 Ultra-class (ES9016K2M) 2-channel DAC (digital-to-audio converter) which supports 32-bit stereo (analog output) playback at 384kHz (122dB DNR and THD of 0.00032%). The Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus also packs the Aurora reactive RGB lighting system (complete with an RGB LED strip - 3 RGB LED strips for the pure white edition) which can output up to 16.8 million colours in 9 different patterns. These specifications however are far from new since they are identical to those of the original Sound Blaster AE-5 model. What has changed is the introduction of Dolby Digital Live and DTS Encoding which should "enrich" the audio experience of everyone who uses an A/V amplifier with their computers (myself included).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The card arrived inside a black and red box that has a product picture at the front right beneath the company logo and above the main product features.

All available connectors are showcased on the right side.

The product serial numbers and barcodes are located at the base of the box next to contact information for Creative.

At the rear of the box Creative has placed the features of the new Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus in 4 languages.

Packaging is excellent with the card wrapped inside a static-free bag and placed in a formed piece of black foam (the rest of the bundle is placed inside a black cardboard box).

Along with the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus you will also get an RGB LED strip with an extension cable, welcome paper, user manual, warranty information papers and a paper showcasing the proper use for the RGB LED strip.

THE SOUND BLASTER PRO GAMING AE-5 PLUS

Measuring 145mm in length, 128mm in height and 20mm in thickness the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus is a rather small to medium sized model.

Purely for comparison purposes i placed the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus right next to the larger Sound Blaster AE-9 and NU Audio Pro models.

Aside the external RGB LED strip the Aurora lighting system also includes RGB LEDs placed beneath the cover both at the front and top of the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus.

This 4pin connector is where you will need to plug the external RGB LED strip into.

One Molex power connector and the usual connector for the front headphones and microphones ports are located at the rear of the card.

Unfortunately, there's no rear aluminum cover on the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus (still the black and white color theme looks nice).

Moving at the front we find the 3.5mm microphone/line-in port, 3.5mm headphone out port, three 3.5mm 5.1 line out ports and the TOSLINK (SPDIF) optical out port.

The flexible external RGB LED strip features a total of 10 LEDs and is expandable.

Here you can see the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus while plugged into the EVGA Z390 DARK motherboard (some of you may notice that the card is not in the same slot, that is due to a software issue which i initially tried to resolve by switching PCIe slots).

SOUND BLASTER COMMAND

Once again, the main tab of the Sound Blaster Command software is nothing less than overcrowded with a plethora of available settings.

The SBX Profiles tab allows the end user to quickly scroll through all 24 available profiles all of which can be modified by the gauges at the bottom.

Inside the equalizer tab Creative has placed the bass and treble sliders and of course the equalizer with a grand total of 36 available presets (some are the same as in the SBX profiles tab).

The playback tab is where you really take control of things since from here you can choose your speaker configuration (stereo/2.1/4.0/4.1/5.1 surround) and the size of your speakers (desktop/bookshelf/tower/custom), calibrate the speakers based on their position/distance, enable direct mode (ideal mode especially for listening to music), use one of the 7 available filters and set the desired audio quality (32-bit/96kHz for 5.1 surround analog, 24-bit/96kHz for optical and 32-bit/384kHz for analog direct). Everything related to recording is placed in the recording tab but unlike in the case of the Sound Blaster AE-9 this option is not available with the AE-5 Plus if you don't have a microphone plugged in.

For FPS gamers (especially multiplayer ones) the scout mode may actually come in handy since it does enhance effects like footsteps and weapon fire.

If you happen to be using the S/PDIF output with an A/V amplifier then you can use the Dolby enhancements found in the encoder tab.

Just like with the Windows volume mixer the mixer tab allows you to adjust the volume of both outputs and the input.

One thing the Sound Blaster AE-9 lacked was the lighting tab and so from here not only can you pick one of the 9 available effects for either the onboard LEDs and the external RGB LED strip but you can also control their "motion" and speed.

Finally, you can check for software updates, enable/disable the software from starting with Windows and reset the software to its factory settings from the settings tab.

CONCLUSION

   Sound cards can basically be used for just 3 things (aside mixing and recording that is), games, movies and music so to that end i used both of my 5.1 surround sound systems and both my 2.0 desktop speaker systems to compare the Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 Plus with the Sound Blaster AE-9 and the NU Audio Pro. When it comes to music (uncompressed FLAC) and movies (Blu-Ray) the EA-5 Plus lacks the clarity of the other two and clearly produces a less crisp and accurate soundstage (vocals are also not quite as good). It does almost as well in terms of lows/bass but even there you can notice a bit of a difference if you pay attention. When it comes to gaming however the gloves come off and here is where the Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 Plus really shines. Yes, you may notice some differences when it comes to in-game voices and audio tracks but for the most part all three cards perform roughly the same (positioning audio seems to be more accurate/specific on the AE-9 compared to the other 2). Of course, in no way am i saying that the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus is just as good as the other two (overall) but considering the price difference between all three models i honestly would clearly choose the AE-5 Plus purely for gaming purposes. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier i did have a problem with the software part of the card which initially i tried to resolve by switching PCIe slots. That clearly didn't work but lucky for me a simple reinstallation of the Sound Blaster Command software was enough to resolve it.

   The Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 Plus currently retails for USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 145Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is actually very balanced, especially if you happen to be using an A/V amplifier (if not however the previous and almost 20% cheaper Sound Blaster AE-5 model is certainly worth checking out since It basically only lacks the Dolby/DTS modes). At the end of the day the Sound Blaster Pro Gaming AE-5 Plus is purely aimed towards gamers and in that regard it does extremely well which is why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Audio Clarity / Detail
- Very Good 3D Positioning Audio
- Creative 3D Enhancements
- Aurora Reactive RGB Lighting System with RGB LED Strip
- Analog & Digital Surround Sound Outputs
- Sound Blaster Command Software (Available Settings)

CONS

- No Backplate