As the high-end Sound BlasterX H7 headset, the H5 Tournament Edition does offer a comfortable and light chassis, which does incorporate large 50mm drivers. The TE version drivers do feature extra tuning in order to obtain clear and loud audio output, a fact that does not only benefit gamers, but also people who watch lots of multimedia content.

In the first testing stage, we have fired up Dead Rising 4 and we were impressed by the optimal sound positioning, along with the clear screams of the zombies and different weapon sounds. Counter-Strike Global Offensive was next, where the Sound BlasterX H5 TE had no difficulties with rendering surround sound from our ZxR sound card; the weapon sounds were loud and clear, while the VOIP “push to talk” feature worked as advertised. In order to try out the sound quality of the microphone, we have used Skype conferencing for several hours, and we could be clearly heard by our colleagues on the other end of the line.

If you do not own a good quality dedicated sound card, you can still experience BlasterX sound effects via the supplied presets of the Lite application, but with the obvious limitations. Creative does also offer a workaround, by suggesting the Sound BlasterX G1 mini sound card (purchased separately), which does offer a much better flexibility, by allowing fine-tune of the Surround, Crystalizer, Bass, Smart Volume and Dialog Plus features with our own custom values.

Regarding the included remote on the cable, it is very handy when working with the volume controls on-the-fly, but also for moments when we do need to mute the microphone, even if for just a short while.

The Sound BlasterX H5 Tournament Edition can be found online for as low as 84 Euros, a fact that makes it more accessible for the mainstream segment.

Creative Sound BlasterX H5 Tournament Edition Gaming Headset is Recommended for:

We would like to thank again to Creative for making this review possible!