With the AE-5 laid bare, we see some high quality capacitors, but note that there are no sockets allowing you to replace any components directly, thus it is fairly safe to suggest that this soundcard is not targeting audiophiles.


At the heart of the soundcard we find the ESS 9016, which is a 32bit DAC. It is fairly old now, but is a well renowned and good quality. Towards the left side you can see the Creative SoundCore chip, while towards the top right you will see the Creative controller as found on the Z Series soundcards.


All the channels appear to be using the Texas Instruments L4265 opamps, which are a low profile version of the LM 4562.


To swap outputs between the headphone and speakers there is an a5w-k Takamisawa signal relay.


As lighting is a key part of the product, there is a bank of 5 RGB LEDs which sit alongside the logo embedded in the EMI shield.