Gadgetory

hey guys welcome back to hardware I'm boxed I'm your host Matt and today we've got a hands-on a very cool little product creative soundblaster ePHI portable headphone amp creative has long been a favorite sound solution for PC gamers and the Sound Blaster branding has been synonymous with upgradeable PC audio since their windows 95 sound card days in 2015 they boasts a range of audio solutions under the moniker and one of the newest product lines is the sound blaster a line of all-in-one portable dark amps of which today we have on hand the Sound Blaster e5 first of all let's take a look at everything you get inside the package the box itself is nothing remarkable from the outside but when you break open the seal and peel it open it has a surprisingly premium feel on the inside everything is held in place by this layer of foam up top and the device itself is in case an obscure velvet-covered plastic there's a box in the box below which houses the funky red micro USB cable handy desktop stand and two branded elastic bands a couple of instruction manuals and warranty documents and there's also a mini Toslink cable included which is certainly a nice touch the desktop stand I mentioned is also a nice addition to the package especially considering the e5s microphone capabilities not only can you set it up on top of your desks with its anti slip rubber base but it also comes the gold-plated threaded mount on the bottom so you can secure it to a microphone stand or similar I really liked the build and aesthetic design of the e5 well I'm not constructed of aluminium it's smooth plastics feel and look very high quality the underside of the e5 is covered with a furry rubber panel branded with the sound blaster logo and it protects and insulates the device from whichever surface you have it laying on the rear features the micro USB port a full-size USB host port a line obstacle out port and the Lion Mark optical input on the left side there are three small white battery indicator lights and towards the front left you can switch between low and high gains toggle sound blasters SPX audio enhancement and the last button controls power and bluetooth connections finally the front side features a nice volume wheel with the trademark creative red base that can be pressed at any time to meet whatever you're playing which is pretty handy either side of the volume wheel at two three and a half filled headphone out ports that can of course be used simultaneously the e5 really thrives in terms of functionality in typical creative fashion they design the e5 to be able to do everything under the Sun and then some creative on the a5 with a cirrus logic cs4 39 eight dark which is capable of up to 24 192 decoding is compatible with Android by OTG i gadget via lightening or 30-pin pc and mac but unfortunately lacks DSD in this implementation creative have also packed in a texas instruments TI 6120 a2 headphone amplifier that can power two sets of headphones by the twin outputs on the front you also have the option to bypass the amp in component through the lineout functions so you can connect it to your amp of choice and simply use it as a digital to the analog signal converter something i really enjoyed about the e5 was the aptX bluetooth connectivity which you can quickly pair two devices using its built-in Near Field Communication aptX is important for this product as is aimed at game is to require very low latency even a slight delay will basically render it useless for serious gamers so this is great to see on top of that it also offers much better sound quality to boot you're also able to control compatible devices hands-free and taking me calls using bluetooth in the three clever built-in mics which amplify record and adjusts which two microphones are in use based on the e5 s orientation creative have always been great with their software integration and PC interfacing and this is a real strength of the sound blaster a5 you get access to an equaliser SPX audio settings audio profiles crystal voice technology to customize the mark setup settings to configure for either speakers or headphones and you can set up mixing options for individual channels of output I had no issues with the software it was easy to install easy to set up and reliable the battery life of the sound blaster 85 is good but certainly not exceptional the sound the e5 delivers is much what you'd expect from a portal or amp or DAC if anything the tonality leans toward bass a little but the most part I would say it's fairly neutral the mids and highs sounded nice to me but admittedly I'm not a full-on audiophile and a more discernible ear would probably be able to give you a more accurate reading what I can say though is that paired with a five you beginning a much cleaner sound at high volumes and certainly plenty more volume to play with overall Sound Blaster z5 is a really solid portable dark and amped solution features wise it's unmatched this price point and its connectivity and on the goro options are impressive too I think the e5 sound profile will suit gamers especially with a slight lean towards bass and an overall clean and detailed sound currently priced at $199 I believe the Sound Blaster e5 is going to make a lot of audio discerning gamers who appreciate portability very happy thanks for joining me for another Hardware unbox a quick review as always let me know what you think in the comments jump onto our forum a hardware on box comm if you have any questions if you want to see more videos like this hit subscribe