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Review and Measurements of Sound BlasterX G6

Veri

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Thanks for the reply. That's awesome to hear. I get the feeling that the interior vs exterior sound card issue is blown out of proportion. I've just heard so many 'audiophiles' dismiss interior cards completely due to this issue, that it makes me wonder. I never had an issue with my STX either. But with my onboard sound, if I plug into the front jacks on my case, I get bad interference, but I know this is normal for that scenario. I assume the AE-5 has great shielding, like my STX did, and your comment reinforces this for me.
Maybe try to buy from somewhere you can easily return, like amazon, in case you do end up with any noise.
 
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I would love to buy it from amazon.ca, but the G6 is only available from 3rd party sellers for $283.93, and the AE-5 (not plus) is $205.99+$10 shipping, and also a 3rd party seller. Amazon was my first thought too, but the .ca version is terrible. They don't even carry the AE-5 plus version. Literally the only online store in Canada that has the AE-5 plus available is called pc-canada.com, but the return policy isn't as good as amazons, of course.
 

Robbo99999

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Hey all. Been lurking here for awhile, reading the reviews and the 14 page thread. It's been very helpful. I've been trying to decide between the AE-5 and the G6 (both reviewed on this site). For the AE-5, I would be buying the plus version with Dolby and DTS.

In 2008 I purchased an Asus Xonar STX. It died last week. I used it for 12 years with no issues, driver or otherwise (although I did download the unified drivers in 2015 or so). I've matched it with many headphones, and it always sounded great.

Going back to onboard sound is awful, and I need a new card. I use Sennheiser HD599 SE headphones. They are very easy to drive at 50 ohms. I'm about a 50/50 split of gaming and music. I will only use my new card on my PC. It will never move, whether it's internal or external. I use Flac files for music. I don't play shooters, just rpg's and the like. I never use a microphone. I use headphones 99.9% of the time. I use $5.00 logitech 2.0 speakers if I want to show my wife a cat video or something, but that's less than 0.1% of my usage. I will never use the RBG lighting if I get the AE-5.

I live in small town Canada, so my options are limited. In most threads, I see people recommending Schiit stacks and other dac/amp combos, but I don't have access to these. The AE-5 and G6 are each $200 here. Ordering a Schiit Modi and Magni would cost me almost $400, with the exchange rate, shipping, and customs duties. Please keep this in mind if you respond to this. I've been posting "AE-5 vs G6" on forums, and keep getting "just buy this or that seperate dac and amp for the same price", but it's always double the price and people don't seem to get it. Buying used is also difficult. I've been watching the 'swap' forums, but have only seen a few decent products. For example, a used Schiit Modi 2 for $200. I've also looked at the Sennheiser gsx1000, but it's $300 here. So please, I'm only trying to decide between the AE-5 and G6.

Sorry for the long intro, now to the questions. I really need a pro and con list to help me out. On an audiophile scale of 1-10, I'm about a 3. I want clear, great sounding music, that's as loud as I can handle, and good immersive surround sound in games. I know both of these cards will be a huge improvement over onboard sound, but what about compared to the Asus Xonar STX I've been using for 12 years? I've never heard any static or 'noise', despite this card being internal. Is this issue overblown? Most people will dismiss any interior card right away due to the EMI in a computer case, should this be a major part of my decision? Which dac is better? I know the AE-5 uses the Sabre brand, which is great, but it feels like comparing apples to oranges with the G6's dac. From what I understand, they both use the same dual headphone amp, is this true? What about drivers? I've read lots of issues with the G6 drivers, but not as many with the AE-5. Is there really a difference? Will one be supported longer than the other? I run windows 10 and update it when an update is released. Which card will handle these windows updates better? My mobo is the Aorus x370 K7. It has a feature called 'Dac-up 2'. From the company website:
"USB DAC-UP 2 continues to provide clean, isolated and low-noise power while adding the ability to compensate for voltage drop."
Will this be beneficial with the G6? Will it make a difference?

Thank you for any answers you guys may have. This is the best thread I've found discussing the G6, and I would love to hear your thoughts.

TL;DR - AE-5 vs G6 for 50/50 music and gaming. Only on pc. Using Sennheiser HD 599 SE headphones.
To me it seems the first question to ask yourself: do you really want/need a gaming sound card? In my eyes the only real reason for a gaming sound card/DAC is because you want virtualised 7.1 channel surround sound for headphones...mainly for sound localisation in fps gaming. If you don't need any virtual surround sound functionality, and you're not interested in microphones (as you say), then I think you need to focus on sound quality instead - therefore you'd be best placed to get two separates: a USB DAC and a headphone amp. So I would recommend the Topping E30 DAC and the JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp. I've got both of those as well as the SoundblasterX G6, and the G6 is buggy, so I don't really recommend that unless you want the 7.1 virtual surround sound. Also, the Topping E30 DAC and JDS Labs Atom Headphone Amp have been reviewed here by Amir on audiosciencereview and they measure fantastically - it'll literally be the best sound quality you can hope for at a reasonable price. In the USA the combined price of those is about $230, so that's more expensive than just getting the SoundblasterX G6, but it's better quality sound and you can't really get better quality sound than that. (Actually the combo I suggest looks like it's cheaper than the prices you're quoting there for the G6, but I don't know how much my combo I recommended would cost you in Canada!)

Topping E30 DAC: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-e30-dac-review.12119/
JDS Labs Atom Amp: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ents-of-new-jds-labs-atom-headphone-amp.5262/
 
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You make an interesting point. I've always enjoyed the 7.1 on the STX. I use it for games like RDR2, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Madden (Just the last four I've played). I don't play these games competitively in any way, generally just offline. I don't play PUBG or CoD or games like that, so I see your point. I'm not using the surround for a competitive advantage, but just immersion. Honestly though, it's been 12 years since I've uses anything but the STX 7.1 surround option for games, so maybe I wouldn't notice a difference without it. My onboard sound's so inferior that it's all I notice right now.

The Topping E30 DAC is $189.99 on amazon.ca, so exactly the same as the AE-5 plus. But I'd still need the amp, and I don't see a Canadian retailer online that carries JDS Labs Atom Amps. The separate dac and amp would be in the $400 range for me, and I would be comparing it to the AE-9 or similar if I was looking to spend that much.

The real question, I guess, is the separate dac and amp option going to make that much difference to me. I know that I can get much better products for twice the money, but that's always the case. And I really believe in diminishing returns. The Topping E30 DAC/ JDS Atom combo isn't going to be twice as good, of course. But as a 3/10 on the 'audiophile' scale (I'm being generous with myself), I don't even know if I would notice much of a difference.

I've read this thread, and the bugs with the G6 are probably the main reason I'm leaning towards the AE-5. If both were bug free, I'd probably go G6 just because it's exterior. But I've read about far less problems with the AE-5. Thanks for your reply.
 

Robbo99999

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You make an interesting point. I've always enjoyed the 7.1 on the STX. I use it for games like RDR2, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Madden (Just the last four I've played). I don't play these games competitively in any way, generally just offline. I don't play PUBG or CoD or games like that, so I see your point. I'm not using the surround for a competitive advantage, but just immersion. Honestly though, it's been 12 years since I've uses anything but the STX 7.1 surround option for games, so maybe I wouldn't notice a difference without it. My onboard sound's so inferior that it's all I notice right now.

The Topping E30 DAC is $189.99 on amazon.ca, so exactly the same as the AE-5 plus. But I'd still need the amp, and I don't see a Canadian retailer online that carries JDS Labs Atom Amps. The separate dac and amp would be in the $400 range for me, and I would be comparing it to the AE-9 or similar if I was looking to spend that much.

The real question, I guess, is the separate dac and amp option going to make that much difference to me. I know that I can get much better products for twice the money, but that's always the case. And I really believe in diminishing returns. The Topping E30 DAC/ JDS Atom combo isn't going to be twice as good, of course. But as a 3/10 on the 'audiophile' scale (I'm being generous with myself), I don't even know if I would notice much of a difference.

I've read this thread, and the bugs with the G6 are probably the main reason I'm leaning towards the AE-5. If both were bug free, I'd probably go G6 just because it's exterior. But I've read about far less problems with the AE-5. Thanks for your reply.
Ok, it sounds like you should stick with 7.1 virtual surround then. I too find it very immersive and I couldn't quite believe how good it was when I played BF1 for the first time using the virtual 7.1 of the G6 when I was used to BF1 in normal stereo previously.....so I think you will miss the 7.1 virtual surround - definitely get a gaming sound card then. You'll want to choose the least buggy version I think. If the AE-5 is reportedly less buggy than the G6 then get the AE-5. It's probably cheaper too. It sounds like you're not too fussed about sound quality, and the AE-5 measured really quite well in terms of the DAC performance here on audiosciencereview. So yeah, I think you're right to get the AE-5.
 
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Thanks again for the reply. Yeah, the 7.1 surround is great. Even for single player games, it makes the world feel more alive. Like I say, I'm 50/50 music and gaming, so what I really need is a gaming card that is also great for music. I know I could do better music wise if I bought a separate dac/amp combo, but I'd lose the gaming stuff. My uncle is a musician in his 60's, and has $10,000 headphones, and a room of audio equipment that I don't understand. He's been collecting it, altering it, rewiring it, for years. He's a 10/10 on the audiophile scale. I've listened to music with him and it's amazing.... but.... I kept thinking that my STX that I bought 12 years ago for $200 wasn't that bad. The difference is there, of course, but it's better by gradients, not hundreds of times better. I get it, I probably just don't know 'how' to listen to it. But as a regular guy who just likes to listen to music, I'd be happy with the difference a sound card would make.

The bugs are probably going to be my deciding factor. The AE-5 review on this site has 5 pages of comments with a few bugs. The G6 review has 15 pages of comments with lots of bugs. I'm also hoping that because the AE-5 plus is a newer version of this card, that maybe that will mean longer driver support.
 

Robbo99999

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Thanks again for the reply. Yeah, the 7.1 surround is great. Even for single player games, it makes the world feel more alive. Like I say, I'm 50/50 music and gaming, so what I really need is a gaming card that is also great for music. I know I could do better music wise if I bought a separate dac/amp combo, but I'd lose the gaming stuff. My uncle is a musician in his 60's, and has $10,000 headphones, and a room of audio equipment that I don't understand. He's been collecting it, altering it, rewiring it, for years. He's a 10/10 on the audiophile scale. I've listened to music with him and it's amazing.... but.... I kept thinking that my STX that I bought 12 years ago for $200 wasn't that bad. The difference is there, of course, but it's better by gradients, not hundreds of times better. I get it, I probably just don't know 'how' to listen to it. But as a regular guy who just likes to listen to music, I'd be happy with the difference a sound card would make.

The bugs are probably going to be my deciding factor. The AE-5 review on this site has 5 pages of comments with a few bugs. The G6 review has 15 pages of comments with lots of bugs. I'm also hoping that because the AE-5 plus is a newer version of this card, that maybe that will mean longer driver support.
I would bet your Uncle is a 'classical audiophile' rather than an 'audiosciencereview audiophile' if I was gonna bet on it, so I think you're on a better track, ha! Yeah, go for it I reckon with the newer AE-5. Bugs are super annoying and ruin the experience if you can't depend on your device.
 
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Thanks for the help. The AE-5 plus is in stock now and only $180, so I'm going to get it. Amazon has it now, but for $243, so screw them...lol.
 

Tup3x

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The bugs are probably going to be my deciding factor. The AE-5 review on this site has 5 pages of comments with a few bugs. The G6 review has 15 pages of comments with lots of bugs. I'm also hoping that because the AE-5 plus is a newer version of this card, that maybe that will mean longer driver support.
As far as I know, it's exactly the same card but with Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect encoder software (license). Small revision changes are possible for AE-5 but in any case hardware wise current AE-5 and AE-5 Plus are the same.
 
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That's true. I worded that in a bad way. The only difference is Dolby Digital and DTS. The hardware is exactly the same. But it's newer in that it was released a couple of months ago, so I assume they intend to continue driver updates for longer than they would have for the orignal AE-5.
 

Robbo99999

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That's true. I worded that in a bad way. The only difference is Dolby Digital and DTS. The hardware is exactly the same. But it's newer in that it was released a couple of months ago, so I assume they intend to continue driver updates for longer than they would have for the orignal AE-5.
Well that's a good thing in some ways that the hardware is the same because Amir has reviewed the AE5 on this site, so you know what you're getting - if it was new hardware then the audio performance would be a bit of an unknown.
 

Nathanael

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Hello, this my first post here.

Can you tell me how audible this measured distortions (THN+D) under 300 kHz (without lowering the output) via line out are?

Thank you
 

Robbo99999

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Hello, this my first post here.

Can you tell me how audible this measured distortions (THN+D) under 300 kHz (without lowering the output) via line out are?

Thank you
That's a good point, but it's not just that graph you're referring to....there's also the Intermodulation Distortion graph that goes up to -50dB at 0dBFS. This latest point is showing that this would be audible based on some "threshold work" done on this site, see this link:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-thresholds-of-amp-and-dac-measurements.5734/
From that link you can see the -50dBFS is above the threshold of -66dBFS for that variable. So I think you should avoid running the G6 at it's maximum volume, instead run it at 79% windows volume which equates roughly to -2dBFS.
 

Nathanael

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Thank you for your answer and the link. You own the G6. Do you use it at 79% volume? Could you notice problems with 100% volume (really audible)?

A lot of people recommend 100% windows volume for full dynamics and the best sound.

So, in this case it is either a bit distortion or a bit less dynamics?
 

Robbo99999

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Thank you for your answer and the link. You own the G6. Do you use it at 79% volume? Could you notice problems with 100% volume (really audible)?

A lot of people recommend 100% windows volume for full dynamics and the best sound.

So, in this case it is either a bit distortion or a bit less dynamics?
As long as you're running the DAC/Windows in 24bit mode then you're losing absolutely no audible dynamic range by running at 79% windows volume. I've never tried experimenting running 100% vs 79% Windows volume in listening tests. Given what Amir found in the review I didn't want to waste time trying to see if I could detect a difference - I just run it at the recommended level (79%). As long as your headphones get loud enough with your headphone amp when running at 79% windows volume, then there's no reason to bother considering running it at 100% Windows volume. (Yep, I got the G6 hooked up via Line Out to JDS Labs Atom headphone amp).
 

Nathanael

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Ok, thank you for your answer.

Now I'm a bit curious: how is the sound from the built-in heamphone amp (wich is according to Amir quite good but not nearly state of the art as the Atom) of the G6 compared to the G6/Atom combo with your headphone(s)? When it comes to power alone the built-in amp schould be enough for your 702 but i supposse your listening experience says that the combo sounds better.
 

Robbo99999

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Ok, thank you for your answer.

Now I'm a bit curious: how is the sound from the built-in heamphone amp (wich is according to Amir quite good but not nearly state of the art as the Atom) of the G6 compared to the G6/Atom combo with your headphone(s)? When it comes to power alone the built-in amp schould be enough for your 702 but i supposse your listening experience says that the combo sounds better.
I subjectively noticed an improvement in the sound from going from G6 built-in headphone amp to JDS Labs Atom amp. The way I described it before when making the switch: "an overall cleaner sound with tighter bass and generally more 'attack' to the music". I mean it wasn't some kind of blind A/B testing I was doing, so it's subjective, but I think there was a positive difference using the JDS Labs Atom headphone amp.
 

usersky

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I see all that 79% drama here. Guys, there is no audible issue pass 80%. None whatsoever. In the review it was stated that a possible cause could be insufficient filtering for the power supply. If this is true then some things may make all that "79% issue" non existent. If the lack of filtering + peaks in power consumption that lead to some low frequency distorsions (insufficient current), that could eventually be fixed with a shorter / better quality cable or a specialzed USB port like that DAC-UP ports on some Gigabite motherboards that allow incresing USB voltage in increments of 0.1V to up 5.3V. I use short and thick cable with DAC-UP USB port set at 5.1V and I cannot feel the slightest issue passt 80% volume. On the other hand I cannot say if the originally measured distorsions are audible anyways but again, just go for G6 if you feel like it, you won't hear any issue at high volume. If I can say I don't like something about G6, it would be the lag/delay between rotating volume know and Windows actually registering the change. It's not big, a fraction of a second but it ruins all the experience you expect from a good quality device, it feels (at least to me) just totally cheap, like a slow PC in 90s except that I have a Ryzen 3700x with 32G ram and unfortunatelly it's not 90s anymore. This is the main reason why I dislike and don't use G6. I know, I'm strage (i get comfort knowing I am not the only one of this kind around here :D )
 

Robbo99999

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I see all that 79% drama here. Guys, there is no audible issue pass 80%. None whatsoever. In the review it was stated that a possible cause could be insufficient filtering for the power supply. If this is true then some things may make all that "79% issue" non existent. If the lack of filtering + peaks in power consumption that lead to some low frequency distorsions (insufficient current), that could eventually be fixed with a shorter / better quality cable or a specialzed USB port like that DAC-UP ports on some Gigabite motherboards that allow incresing USB voltage in increments of 0.1V to up 5.3V. I use short and thick cable with DAC-UP USB port set at 5.1V and I cannot feel the slightest issue passt 80% volume. On the other hand I cannot say if the originally measured distorsions are audible anyways but again, just go for G6 if you feel like it, you won't hear any issue at high volume. If I can say I don't like something about G6, it would be the lag/delay between rotating volume know and Windows actually registering the change. It's not big, a fraction of a second but it ruins all the experience you expect from a good quality device, it feels (at least to me) just totally cheap, like a slow PC in 90s except that I have a Ryzen 3700x with 32G ram and unfortunatelly it's not 90s anymore. This is the main reason why I dislike and don't use G6. I know, I'm strage (i get comfort knowing I am not the only one of this kind around here :D )
Actually, Amir doesn't talk about "insufficient filtering for the power supply" that you mention.....instead he says the following as a probable reason for the G6 distortion he noticed above the equivalent of 79% windows volume: "The G6 is USB powered and likely doesn't have enough capacitance in its DC input to ride out the lasting peaks at low frequencies.". So this has nothing to do with your USB cables. I don't know if your slightly higher USB voltage is gonna be positively impacting this or not though but it seems USB can normally allow up to 5.25V so it doesn't appear your motherboard is really doing anything that special with the voltage as it's essentially 'within spec'. I think anecdotal advice from you regarding whether or not you can hear distortion at 100% windows volume is not really holding a candle to the validity of Amir's review here that's showing distortion above the equivalent of 79% windows volume. Sensible people who want the best out of this DAC are gonna be running it at a max of 79% windows volume.
 

usersky

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Actually, Amir doesn't talk about "insufficient filtering for the power supply" that you mention.....instead he says the following as a probable reason for the G6 distortion he noticed above the equivalent of 79% windows volume: "The G6 is USB powered and likely doesn't have enough capacitance in its DC input to ride out the lasting peaks at low frequencies.". So this has nothing to do with your USB cables. I don't know if your slightly higher USB voltage is gonna be positively impacting this or not though but it seems USB can normally allow up to 5.25V so it doesn't appear your motherboard is really doing anything that special with the voltage as it's essentially 'within spec'. I think anecdotal advice from you regarding whether or not you can hear distortion at 100% windows volume is not really holding a candle to the validity of Amir's review here that's showing distortion above the equivalent of 79% windows volume. Sensible people who want the best out of this DAC are gonna be running it at a max of 79% windows volume.

Actually it is about power. If you have enough capacitance to filter DC that means you are able to compensate for drops of voltage on the cable when consumption peaks. You get drops on DC voltage specifically because cable resistance. If you lower that resistance you lower the voltage drops so capacitance for filtering these drops becomes less important. If you increase voltage that you start with, it may be sufficient to compesante for the drops and stay above the treeshold that leads to distorsions. Just assumptions of course. USB voltage may be specified as up to 5.25 but in reality is not there in most of the cases, actually I have 4 computers nearby and all are under 5.05 and that's without any significant draw so increasing may actually do something in most of the cases. Increasing means you upper your real voltage, not the maximum theoretical specification. Of course everything i write is anecdotal, no measurement, no double blind testing, as most of us here write all the time but ohm law (hence the cable "perhaps" solution) is beyond anecdotal. And I consider myself sensible :)) (just joking ;) ).
 
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