I Purchased The Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus Pure Edition But I Use 2.1 Corsair SP2500 Speakers, Have I Wasted My Money?

[MagnusFarseer]

I still use the Corsair SP2500 2.1 Speaker System which is discontinued but I consider it to be among the best 2.1 Computer Speakers ever made and I don't wanna stop using it. I have used it since 2013.

Did I waste my money? Will I still notice the benefits of having a sound card? I was thinking I won't. Using my speaker system I can't put the red and white audio inputs in the graphics card or the speakers won't work, it must be hooked into the speaker system subwoofer, unless there is some type of triple converter but I don't think there is. This means I can only use the headphone jack with the speaker system, while I will mostly be using headphones, I do like experiencing it without headphones sometimes.

The speaker system also has a remote with a headphone jack so I won't be hooking up my headphones into the soundcard so will I still notice the differences with having this sound card? I don't think the sound would be as loud on my headphones if I had them directly hooked into the sound card anyway, I could be wrong but I doubt I am.

Currently I am upgrading my computer and the new motherboard I have is the AsRock Steel Legend Wifi Z790, while the MOBO isn't so different it has Nahimic audio support and I think it looks nicer but the onboard sound isn't as good as my current mother board which is the Gigabyte AERO G Z790. The AERO G has the ALC1220-VB CODEC and the Steel Legend has the Realtek ALC897, while the ALC1220-VB is supposedly better I have seen some that say you won't notice the difference.

 

[mvmiller12]

I have the same card, and only because I am using a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround system via optical. The only reason I bought the card is because I could not get my Auzentech HomeTheatre X-Fi card to work on my X670e mainboard (and honestly THAT was the better sounding card to my ears). I doubt you'd notice a difference using an analog 2.1 system, but the only way to know for sure is to try it both ways (connected to onboard sound and connected to the SoundBlaster).

(The Auzentech card worked fine on my old AM4 system, but I could not get it to work at all with the AM5 one for some reason.)

 

[Dreamerbydesign]

Honestly with those speakers OP I don’t think you’d notice any benefit to a dedicated sound card.

The reason you see very few on the market now is because precious cpu cycles are less precious. Offloading sound processing to enhance cpu performance is no longer needed generally. That and onboard sound has improved drastically from let’s say… the late 90’s through 2010’s

 

[MagnusFarseer]

Honestly with those speakers OP I don’t think you’d notice any benefit to a dedicated sound card.

The reason you see very few on the market now is because precious cpu cycles are less precious. Offloading sound processing to enhance cpu performance is no longer needed generally. That and onboard sound has improved drastically from let’s say… the late 90’s through 2010’s

But having this sound card allows me to use the sound software for it so at least I can try that out, still I might not notice a difference compared to other sound software like what I use now which is Steel Series Sonar and the Steel Legend Motherboard I have has Nahimic audio support.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

I have the same sound card. For best results get a z5500 digital optical 5.1 system and hook that to the optical. Then hook your headphones directly into the sound card. There is a massive difference in sound quality from on board to the AE-5 it's a monster card. And the z5500 will tear your house down connected to the AE-5. I think that 2.1 is no suited for the AE-5 imo. Balance it out it will be more pleasurable for you. Yes that 2.1 is good, but the z5500 is incredible for the price. Like end game speaker set for life.

 

[MagnusFarseer]

I have the same sound card. For best results get a z5500 digital optical 5.1 system and hook that to the optical. Then hook your headphones directly into the sound card. There is a massive difference in sound quality from on board to the AE-5 it's a monster card. And the z5500 will tear your house down connected to the AE-5. I think that 2.1 is no suited for the AE-5 imo. Balance it out it will be more pleasurable for you. Yes that 2.1 is good, but the z5500 is incredible for the price. Like end game speaker set for life.

That speaker system is really expensive, I don't think I will buy it, if I do I probably won't until next year. Why do you think digital optical is better for sound? But wouldn't hooking the headphones into the sound card mean I can't control the volume with the z5500 speakers? I once had the Logitech Z625 but I didn't like it at all compared to my Corsair SP2500, the subwoofer was louder but the sound quality wasn't clear compared to my Corsair, I would rate it 6.5/10 and my Corsair SP2500 is 8.5/10.

Why do you think this soundcard won't work well with my Corsair SP2500? I have this so I could use the optical with that but the audio input would have to be used in the headphone input.

Or I could get this and hook it directly into my speaker system and into the sound cards digital optical port but I don't know if it would work, it might not, only way to know would obviously be buying it and trying it.

 

[mvmiller12]

The optical (or SPD/IF) is required for the Dolby Digital 5.1 to work. If you're not using 5.1 then you don't need it.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

That speaker system is really expensive, I don't think I will buy it, if I do I probably won't until next year. Why do you think digital optical is better for sound? But wouldn't hooking the headphones into the sound card mean I can't control the volume with the z5500 speakers? I once had the Logitech Z625 but I didn't like it at all compared to my Corsair SP2500, the subwoofer was louder but the sound quality wasn't clear compared to my Corsair, I would rate it 6.5/10 and my Corsair SP2500 is 8.5/10.

View attachment 662545​

Why do you think this soundcard won't work well with my Corsair SP2500? I have this so I could use the optical with that but the audio input would have to be used in the headphone input.

Or I could get this and hook it directly into my speaker system and into the sound cards digital optical port but I don't know if it would work, it might not, only way to know would obviously be buying it and trying it.

View attachment 662546

Optical cables are not as good as HDMI but using an optical cable (Toslink) for audio instead of a regular RCA cable can offer several advantages, depending on the specific use case and equipment involved:

Digital Signal Transmission: Optical cables transmit audio signals in a digital format using light pulses, which can result in a cleaner signal transmission compared to analog cables like RCA. This can help reduce interference and noise in the audio signal.

Immunity to Electrical Interference. Optical cables are not susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI) because they transmit data using light rather than electrical signals. This can be particularly advantageous in environments where there are many electronic devices nearby that could potentially cause interference.

No Ground Loops: Optical cables do not create ground loops, which can sometimes lead to humming or buzzing sounds in audio systems connected using analog cables like RCA.

Longer Transmission Distances: Optical cables can transmit audio signals over longer distances without significant signal degradation compared to analog cables. This can be useful in setups where the audio source is located far away from the audio receiver or amplifier.

Support for Surround Sound Formats: Optical cables are capable of transmitting multichannel audio formats such as Dolby Digital and DTS, making them suitable for use in home theater systems where surround sound is important.
Ease of Use: Optical cables are generally easy to connect and are less prone to wear and tear compared to analog cables, which can degrade over time with repeated use.

However, it's essential to note that the actual benefits of using an optical cable over an RCA cable may vary depending on the specific audio equipment being used and the quality of the cables themselves. In some cases, particularly with high-end audio systems or equipment that does not have an optical input, an RCA cable may be more appropriate or provide similar performance.

 

[TrunksZero]

He doesn't need optical and the SP2500 would give the Z5500 a very good run for their money as they both tor down a house . The SP2500's are heavily underrated and mostly forgotten. But they go toe to toe with the better known Klipsch 2.1 Pro Media's and Logitechs Z2300's of it's era.

I run the same setup, and it sounds great. It will sound considerably better than your MB's on-board... probably by allot, if not simply by enough to notice. I do however use the AE-5's headphone connection instead of the SP2500's, because it sounds better. I used a relatively short 3.5mm extension cable so I don't have to plug the headphones directing into case