Sound Blaster AE-5 vs onboard audio

[_roman_]

Anyone else have a similiar experience? Sorry if I'm derailing the topic, just happened to be fiddling with the damn thing whilst debating returning it...

As someone who learnt about electronics and basic information-transfer-communications I dislike those reviews who claim speaker, headphones, microphones are fine when they are not a straight horizontal line with logarithmic base 10 scale in the x-axis

My adam T8V Studio Monitors, in my point of view another word for active speakers, are nearly a straight line.

These are just the basics. Sorry. People who read headphone reviews and others accept "garbage" audio quality. The music is already premixed by nature or the music producers. It should never be changed by cheap amplifiers or speakers. I have a reason why i bought active speakers.

Pay attention: base 10 logarithmic scale
Pay attention: db scale / red line

Well, when you got speakers, you also need a signal. flac files. than you also need a decent sound card, e.g. my M-Audio Air 192|6 audio interface, in my point of view another word for usb 2.0, self powered sound card.

I would also not buy any sound cards with extra power connectors. Only one usb-cable!

One speaker cable has cost me more than the usual usb headphones with microphones. I think they call them balanced - cables.

Well igor is not here, so I can bash him. Check igorslab.de or com. Not any of his fabulous praised reviews had a proper Frequency response for speakers, headphones, microphones... (those who are not mentioned, know why, ...)

Some guys, i did not wrote idiots, claim sound has better feeling, bla bla, when the line is not straight. You do not need proper recording equipment when you use cheap shit, like logitech, creative, ... to play the sound.

Those adam T8V can not be compared to the fake presonus eris 3.5 which i had before. Physics also matter. Size of the speaker vs audio. That are also the basics from electronics and physics which have not changed in past 30 or more years.

Note: I did not read everything ahove.

 

[MSV198]

There's no comparison with my Roccat Kave XTD USB headphones, it's not even close.

Which headphones do you use when testing the AE5? If you happen to use a pair of low quality ones I'm not surprised if your USB headset sounds better.

I ran a pair of Fidelio X2HR on my AE5 and the difference between motherboard audio and the Sound Blaster was night and day.

 

[Octopuss]

I just got an AE-5 Plus off eBay and it sounds horrible! I'm on an Asus Prime B550 motherboard, tried it in different slots to no avail. Direct Mode was as poor as SBX, Dolby "enhancements" on. Have I got an iffy card?

Seems like it, as everyone else reckons this is the bees knees for entry level soundcards... Or maybe it's just incompatible with my mobo? The seller is a big one with 100% good reputation.

There's no comparison with my Roccat Kave XTD USB headphones, it's not even close. The former is just plug and play and sounds fine but the AE-5, no matter what I fiddle with in settings, sounds weird, harsh, empty, just all over the place.

Anyone else have a similiar experience? Sorry if I'm derailing the topic, just happened to be fiddling with the damn thing whilst debating returning it...

Try turning direct mode on in the Connect app. But this sounds really weird.

 

[SPDIF]

Be sure you use the latest Sound Blaster Command version! Look the screenshot i provided.

And even more important check you have the latest drivers installed, some older version causes the problems you currently have.

You also could try the reset button in the last screen to reset everything back to factory settings.

 

[Chris516]

I just joined this website, and. Am earnestly wanting to be able to use my Sound Blaster AE-5 PLUS. That I asked(and received) for, my birthday. While I haven't been able to get it to work yet(probable system limitations). I bought the Sound Blaster Audigy 5/Rx in 2021, after. My on-board sound went DOA. I replaced that, along with getting the MSI GeForce GT1030. For when the on-board video goes DOA. My Sound Blaster Audigy 5/Rx seems to have gone DOA.

I have seen YouTube videos', recently. Touting how good on-board audio has become. But, They always ignore the fact, that. While you can replace a card. You can't replace a chip on the mobo. Gone are the days of soldering a chip onto the mobo.

 

[silentbogo]

I have seen YouTube videos', recently. Touting how good on-board audio has become. But, They always ignore the fact, that. While you can replace a card. You can't replace a chip on the mobo. Gone are the days of soldering a chip onto the mobo.

Nowadays it's actually not that scary. Replacing a NIC or an audio codec is easy and relatively cheap. Did it a gazillion times in my workshop.
I think the most pain in the ass is an ALC1220 on ASUS ROG boards (or others with an ESD shield on top), but even then it's no more than 30min of soldering.
Assuming that it's just a failed codec without any PCB trace damage, then something like an ALC892 takes less than 10 minutes. The rest of the cost solely depends on how shady the repair shop is, cause yeah - there are still a bunch of assholes and scammers that will charge you about as much as a MOBO itself(usually after the fact). But normaly it's fast, cheap, and more or less risk-free repair if done right.

 

[Dr. Dro]

The codec itself hasn't been a problem for some time. The modern ones even run on the USB bus. It's usually the DAC and amplification stages, which will never be as advanced on a motherboard as they are on a dedicated solution, internal or external.

 

[Blue4130]

Nowadays it's actually not that scary. Replacing a NIC or an audio codec is easy and relatively cheap. Did it a gazillion times in my workshop.
I think the most pain in the ass is an ALC1220 on ASUS ROG boards (or others with an ESD shield on top), but even then it's no more than 30min of soldering.
Assuming that it's just a failed codec without any PCB trace damage, then something like an ALC892 takes less than 10 minutes. The rest of the cost solely depends on how shady the repair shop is, cause yeah - there are still a bunch of assholes and scammers that will charge you about as much as a MOBO itself(usually after the fact). But normaly it's fast, cheap, and more or less risk-free repair if done right.

I think you are confusing what a codec is.

 

[Onasi]

I think you are confusing what a codec is.

No, he does not. Realtek audio chips (their digital to analog stage) are referred to as codecs, it’s a proper name. Even OEM manuals refer to them as such.

 

[silentbogo]

I think you are confusing what a codec is.

RTFM

 

[Blue4130]

RTFM

Well I just Rtfm and they flipflop calling it many things including code, codec chip, IC, among others.

I maintain that a codec is the software wrapper and the thing on the motherboard and pcie card is an IC or chip.