Creative Sound Blaster G8 Desktop Hi-Res Dual DAC AMP – BiAmp Gaming Acoustic Engine
Creative Sound Blaster G8 is a $149 USD desktop DAC / AMP with a Dual DAC inside, Hi-Res decoding support, and Proprietary XAMP dedicated amplifier. Today we will review the G8 and explore how it works, how it sounds like and if it would make a good purchase for an audiophile too.
Introduction
Creative Labs is back to creating desktop DAC AMPs, now G8 being a full upgrade over the original G6 and other older models. While it is not here to replace the Creative X5 we reviewed a while ago, G8 is a more compact, better looking DAC than anything usually available for gamers. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Huge thanks to Creative for providing us with the sample for this review.
PROs – Detailed, Punchy sound with excellent dynamics. Small shape and practical design, you have access to most functions without the driver installed, but you can get fine tuning when installing it. Very high driving power at maximum, and it has a wide, holographic soundstage with exceptional layering and instrument separation even with no EQ and DSP engaged.
Cons – Audible noise floor with IEMs and Headphones.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3YZgpbx
Build Quality/Aesthetics
Creative Sound Blaster G8 completes the cycle of excellent products from Creative released recently, by being one of the most affordable, yet most revolutionary ones. We have the Sound Blaster Acoustic Engine, and the list of DSP G8 has includes a 10-Band Equalizer, a Scout Mode, and a Crystal Voice Mode. As those are all advanced dSP or Digital Signal Processing algorithms, they each will change the sound quite heavily compared to a vanilla sound we audiophiles are used to, but experimenting is never bad, and those can be really useful for gaming and watching movies.
An even more advanced processing can be found in the GameVoice mix, which allows you to focus on either the volume of the voice in the chat, or the game volume. This seems to have an impact on the sound itself, as well as music apps, but it is a practical way to control things quickly. We also have three buttons, one for engaging SBX, one for Mode and one for Headphones or Speaker line out selector.
The latest Creative App is fairly easy to use and practical and much more capable now, but it is good to keep in mind that MAC Os will also get support starting with Q1 2025. You can quickly and easily configure G8 with the app, but I have used it a lot without any app, and most of the functionality is still there.
When it comes to the technical data, G8 can decode data up to 32 bit / 384 kHz, and has a dynamic range of up to 130 dB. It will be able to drive headphones between 1 OHM and 600 OHMs, if you engage the gain level, and it features Xamp Discreet Bi-Amplifier for headphones, which basically indicates that it has a separate amplifier for each channel. With a HDMI to SPDIF Converter you can use the G8 with PS4 and PS5 too, and the large volume control has a nice damping to it. The THD+N of the DAC is very low, at 0.00018% but the ADC is impressive to, having a THD+N of 0.00056%, and a Dynamic Range of 114dB
USB DAC / Subjective Usage
Happily, G8 is ready for real time gaming, and there is zero USB DAC delay, with perfect playback. This makes G8 perfect for watching movies, playing games and exploring any kind of real time content. The Big volume wheel controls the windows volume, and it does the same job as using the volume wheel on my KeyChron Q6 Max.
The Voice / Game Volume has the effect of reducing the volume if you’re using voice, and I found the best sound to be had if it is left right in the middle, where it has a tactile notch letting you know you’re right at home. While I do not have two PC computers to test it, G8 has the ability to stream sound from two devices at the same time.
Physically G8 is rather small and ergonomic, it has a thick padding on the bottom to keep it stable on your desk, and it has separate microphone input and headphone output, but it only has a 3.5mm headphone output, which considering the huge driving power, feels a bit limitative, especially when X5 comes with a balanced 4.4mm output.
At the back you can find an Optical Input, Optical output, two USB inputs, and a HDMI ARC output. We also have a gain selector, and a Line Out, along a Line in. G8 gets only slightly warm during usage and I have experienced no dropouts, errors or pops in the sound, everything works really well both with and without the driver installed.
Sound Quality
Pairings – To test the Creative G8 I have paired it with a wide selection of IEMs and Headphones, including T+A Solitaire P-SE, Campfire Moon Rover, Rose Technics QTX, Palma DHS-1, FiiO FD15, MIRPH-1, NF Acous RA15, Soundz Avant and Soundz Flame. G8 generally has enough power for easier to drive headphones, but can struggle with hard to drive planar magnetic headphones, the maximum it can handle being Mirph-1, which is fairly easy to drive. HIFIMAN Arya Organic will sound fairly good, as the voltage loading is smartly done, but the maximum loudness might be a bit limitative, and while the sound itself has very low THD and excellent clarity. I prefer using G8 mostly with easy to drive headphones, as even with Simgot EM10, I am close to 50% volume at maximum listening comfortable volume. For IEMs, there is a loud noise floor audible, with both electronic and AMP gain noise, hissing. This noise floor comes from the headphone amplifier, and using Keces P14 to clean the USB sound does not clear the AMP hissing and gain noise, but it clears the electronic noise inherited from the PC. It is not possible to use JDS Labs Synapse as G8 draws too much power from the source. With most IEMS you will not hear the noise floor at normal listening volumes, as it is too quiet at normal listening volumes, and for headphones with a high impedance like Sennheiser HD 660 S2 or Sivga SV023, G8 does a good job at providing a clean and crisp sound. The noise floor / amp gain can be heard even with headphones if you’re not playing anything.
This is all on low gain, because there is a high gain switch at the back, which gives you access to even more driving power, an even more colorful, more vivid and punchier sound, especially when driving hard to drive headphones. Using it, G8 is more than enough even for hard to drive headphones, including HIFIMAN HE1000SE, and Audeze LCD-XC.
Overall Signature – Sound Blaster G8 has a beautiful sound, with a rounded, full and voluminous bass, sweet voicing and bright, airy, detailed treble. Creative stays true to their roots, and they project a huge soundstage with a holographic, especially interesting and fun sound. G8 can be quickly tuned to sound warmer by turning the voice / game wheel to voice, or brighter, by turning the wheel towards game. There is a plethora of EQ and DSP processing available to tilt the sound either way, and happily there is more than enough driving power available to provide it with a huge headroom, so you’re not likely to ever run out of power for crazy-level EQ profiles.
Bass – Starting with the bottom, at default with everything right in the middle, G8 has a fairly natural bass, which is plenty full and smooth, edging on the neutral / clean side of things, with a satisfying kick and punch to it. As with most DSP, I prefer listening raw and unprocessed, as each DSP I tried to date will add a bit of aliasing, but G8’s is near perfect, with the only downside being that it has a tendency of making sound a bit digitally shrill / metalli and exaggerate the top end a bit. For the bass, at default it has the most natural weight, body and impact, and the most thickness.
Midrange – With a sweet voicing, detailed and revealing mid, G8 is perfect for enjoying music, anything from rock to metal to J-Pop and J-Rock. The best sounding styles are generally those with a high level of processing, as modern, and compressed music can take advantage of the advanced processing inside of G8, while older music sounds excellent and acoustic is crisp, especially with all DSP disengaged. The voices lose their naturalness the quickest if engaging DSP, although the SBX works wonders for widening the soundstage and making music more dramatic when listening to Dubstep, EDM and music with no voices. Engaging the white version of SBX will project the voices closer to the listener, and create a more aggressive, more forward sound, so it will help reveal more detail in the midrange, including background voices, and background layers, but it flattens the depth of the soundstage significantly compared to the vanilla version of the DAC.
There’s also a Blue version of the SBX which does exactly the other thing, it makes music smoother, deeper and more relaxed, project depth and weight of each instrument really well, but this variant is also less natural than vanilla which is an excellent balance in general. Having the option to fine tune headphones and IEMs at the touch of a button is really excellent though, and G8 is focused on creating the most fun experience for the user.
Treble – The treble of G8 is generally natural, with a nice expression and extension up to 20 kHz, although most energy can be found a bit lower, around 13 kHz. There’s no trace of metallic tinge or sibilance, and G8 sounds really sweet and detailed, with a detailed to-end that is fatigue-free, but energetic and bright.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – G8 sounds very similar and consistent across multiple loudness levels, staying very consistent even if you’re listening at quiet or loud levels. The only drawback is that the AMP has quite a bit of gain and hissing, so if you listen really quiet, you may not notice it, as the level of this noise grows with the volume, while if you listen very loud, you will definitely hear the noise while no music is playing, or when the song is intentionally quiet. This is audible even with headphones, not just IEMs, so it is not output impedance alone, more of an AMP gain like we’ve seen in HIFIMAN Serenade, but Serenade has a much lower quantity of it.
Dynamics Handling – SoundBlaster G 8 sounds very dynamic and can handle both dynamically compressed and uncompressed music very well. It tends to render more color and dynamics, more punchiness and control with dynamically compressed music and modern music than the vast majority of DAC AMPs.
PRaT / Textures – G8 renders a natural – smooth texture in the no DSP mode, but it tends to render quite a bit of texture and a digital, somewhat harsh texture if you’re using the SBX White mode, while SBX Blue relaxes the textures further and renders almost no textures, creating a laid back, smooth and fluid texture. Having so much customization is truly beautiful and G8 can basically give everyone what they want, including those who like it raw, direct and forward, and those who want a laid back, chill sound, and also for those who want things to sound in between.
Soundstage – Soundstage Width and a holographic sound has always been a highlight for Sound Blaster and Creative, G8 following the trend and creating a sound that’s even wider and more holographic than most DACs previously released by Creative, with a really good lateral project and strong instrument separation. You have two SBX modes along with many other DSP processing algorithms that will change the way music is spatially presented, but the default is already top notch, wide and well separated, so I highly suggest testing it before engaging any of the DSP processing employed in the G8.
Value and Conclusion
As we can see, Creative still dominates the entry-level market when it comes to gamer audio, and their products can be downright excellent for audiophiles too, and especially appealing for those who are a cross of gamer and audiophile, as having quick access to effective DSP, with no need for drivers, or additional software, but with an excellent build quality and superb performance, at 149 USD G8 is a really good choice.
At the end of the day, G8 is a great unit that does a lot of tasks for very little money, and while it has a higher than average noise floor, especially with IEMs, it has huge driving power, low THD, has a microphone input, and can power active speakers too, for less than what most interfaces cost, while also offering excellent DSP or digital signal processing, including advanced EQ.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3YZgpbx
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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