Exclusive First Look: Creative Labs' High-end Sound Blasterx Ae-9 Breaks Cover

We get hands-on with Creative Labs’ newest audiophile sound card: The Sound BlasterX AE-9.

- Gordon Mah Ung

High-end audio lovers finally got the attention they craved when Creative Labs showed off its upcoming $300 Sound BlasterX AE-9 sound card.

Aimed at a more discriminating class of audio listeners, the AE-9 features such audiophile features as replaceable operational amplifiers, or opamps, to tune the flavor of sound from the card.

Following the introduction of the gaming-focused Sound BlasterX AE-5 (go.pcworld. com/xae5) and Sound BlasterX AE-5 Pure (go.pcworld.com/ae5p) last year, the AE-9 kicks it up a notch or two.

Although still based on the same Sound Core 3D chip as the AE-5 and AE-5 Pure, the AE-9 jettisons the on-chip digital analog converter, or DAC, in favor of an external DAC. The premise being that a high-end DAC will make the sound even more pristine.