Creative Sound Blaster E5 Portable Headphone Amplifier & USB DAC

High Resolution USB DAC and Portable Headphone Amplifier

The Sound Blaster E5 is a 24-bit/192kHz high resolution USB DAC and portable headphone amplifier. Built with precision audiophile components, a best-in-class 600 ohm headphone amplifier and aptX technology for Bluetooth, the Sound Blaster E5 is the perfect audio component for music lovers, whether they are on the move or beside their PC/Mac, smart phones, or tablets.

Designed for the Audiophile in You

The Sound Blaster E5 is designed from the ground up, to reproduce high-fidelity audio with minimum distortion and noise. It is built on the flagship Cirrus Logic CS4398 Digital-Analogue Converter (DAC), with an impressively high 120dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that supports sample rates of up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution.

Sound Blaster E5 is able to decode audio files ranging from MP3s and CDs (16-bit/44kHz) to high-resolution 24-bit/192kHz files, be it from your PC / Mac or other smart devices.

Powers High-impedance Headphones, with a Dual Gain Switch

A best-in-class Texas Instrument TI6120A2 headphone amplifier enables you to power any of the headphones available in the market, giving you clarity, details and a total harmonic distortion value plus noise (THD+N) of <0.005%. The headphone amplifier utilizes a current-on-demand design in the headphone output, which enables the amplifier to respond quickly without the risk of output distortion. When a large amount of power is suddenly needed, the amplifier can respond extremely quickly without raising the noise floor and thus degrades the signal-to-noise ratio.

Very Low Output Impedance - 2.2 Ohm

Headphones, like consumer speakers, have defined classes allowing manufacturers of amplifiers, receivers, etc to design with those standards in mind. Generally different types of headphone fall between 16-32 ohm for consumer or home applications and 600 ohm for broadcast applications. When designing the Sound Blaster E5, our engineers pushed boundaries by specially engineering the headphone amplifier circuit with a very low output impedance of 2.2 ohm. This allows the Sound Blaster E5 to accommodate both extreme ends of headphones in the market while minimizing the introduction of distortion to audio content caused by variance in frequency response.

Dual Orientation Recording with CrystalVoice Technology

The Sound Blaster E5 records via built-in dual microphones with auto-orientation sensor that reacts to landscape or portrait orientation, allowing stereo recording to smartphones or tablets. The Sound Blaster E5 also features CrystalVoice Technology, a suite of audio recording enhancements built into the digital signal processor (DSP) that reduces noise and provides for clear calls and voice recordings, be it from mobile phones or via Skype conferencing.

Communication profiles such as A2DP, HFP and AVRCP are supported for voice calls.

Hi-Fi Companion for Your Mobile Devices

You can play digital audio direct from your iOS or Android* device via the Sound Blaster E5 to your headphones. Digital audio signals are sent from the device directly to the Sound Blaster E5, which decodes them without any degradation in audio quality. What you get is audio playback at its highest fidelity.

7.1 Virtual Surround Support

Sound Blaster E5 supports virtual 7.1 channel audio input signals to deliver realistic gaming effects and audio cues with perfect accuracy and positioning via your headphones.

Sound Blaster E5 also comes with SBX Pro Studio for immersive audio realism. It can be switched off when listening to high-quality lossless audio, so that you may get to enjoy the songs unprocessed, in the way you desire.

Dual Headphone Outputs

Dual headphone output lets you and your loved one enjoy your favorite tracks simultaneously!

Stream Music Wirelessly via Bluetooth

The Sound Blaster E5 features Bluetooth 4.1 with NFC technology for one-touch, fuss-free Bluetooth pairing. A wide range of Bluetooth streaming codecs such as aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC which enhances audio quality wirelessly, are also supported.

Multiple Input Connectivity Options

Sound Blaster E5 sports a Cirrus Logic CS5361 114 dB, 192kHz stereo Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) that allows audio recordings of the highest fidelity to your device, be it PC, Mac or even smart devices.

In addition, Optical I/O supplements the Line I/O to offer unparalleled connectivity options from and to digital and analog sources, such as today's gaming console, high-definition media player and even modern TVs.

Backed by Multi-platform Software for iOS and Android

Get extensive audio control right in the palm of your hand with the free Sound Blaster Central app for iOS and Android devices. Use it to wirelessly customize all your Sound Blaster audio E5 settings so you hear audio, just the way you want it.