Sound Blaster G8 – Hi-Res Gaming USB DAC with Dual USB Audio Mixing and Fully Customizable Acoustic Engine and 10-Band Equalizer

I’ve been using the Sound Blaster G8 for a few weeks now, and I’m genuinely impressed by its performance. I mainly use it with my Logitech Z623 speakers and a pair of high-impedance headphones, and the difference in clarity and depth is amazing. The G8 delivers clean, rich audio with powerful bass and detailed highs, even at lower volumes. It’s compact and built solidly, with intuitive controls and excellent customization through the software. The dual USB input and audio mixing features are perfect for gaming and streaming setups. I switched from onboard audio, and the improvement was instantly noticeable — everything sounds more dynamic and alive. It’s plug-and-play friendly, and works flawlessly on both PC and console. For the price, it’s an outstanding upgrade for anyone looking to elevate their sound experience.

Upgraded from a soundblaster x4. First unit of the g8 I received had a hum when volume was set at 0 and I figured it was defective. I had been looking to upgrade my older x4 unit since it was over four years old and I figured the tech had advanced. I eventually reordered a few months later and the unit I have now has nice and crisp audio and is absolutely an upgrade. I utilize the sound for fps games, videos/movies, and music. It’s a nice compact dac with white leds that don’t turn off, but not bothersome. Easy to use. I did install the creative software, but don’t bother too much with it or the scout mode. The default mode works well enough. If you’re looking for a dac for your pc gaming and don’t want to rely on on board sound, I recommend this unit. Creative soundblaster has been around for awhile and makes good products.

This thing is totally underrated in the external DAC space. It keeps things simple, but does not compromise on sound quality. If you play PC games and are somewhat of an audiophile, you will LOVE this. I have purchased many other known brand DACS with LCD screens and a lot more setting to adjust, and to be honest I prefer the simpler life. The included features (Acoustic Engine) in the software are simple, yet extremely powerful, yielding truly stellar sound across a range of headphones. Portable, functions superbly for both music and gaming and has tons of connection options to meet most needs. And the volume power and clarity is astonishing, I can't believe this is a sound blaster product, I'm shocked how good it sounds.

This is pretty good DAC when it functions correctly. Unfortunately, the product started malfunctioning after about a month and a half of use. Some times it would have a big delay when sending sound and other times I would have to move the volume knob up or down. The Sound Blaster Command Software is... acceptable. It's good when you need to configure something on the DAC, but you can just attach a dedicated USB-C power supply, connect a LINE-IN or TOS cable to your hardware of choice and it will work that way as well. No Software needed. About the volume control knob. It's either malfunctioning or it's not analog - trying to set it to low volume just lowers the volume instantly and pushing it past low volume just makes it have a sudden burst of sound. It's a MUCH bigger issue when using it in High Gain mode. Close to "nearly damaging your hearing" levels of loud. It's a serious problem and the main reason I cannot recommend this product. I recommend getting the G6 over this model. It's cheaper, and you won't risk going deaf with the odd sound control knob.

I bought this to use with my PS5 and to hear footsteps and specific audio cues better in Warzone. Guess what, this was definitely a game changer for me. I could even hear the enemy breathing thru proximity chat when they were trying to be quiet and hide cause we wiped their squad. The build quality is premium. The power of it is amazing to be able to customize. Sound lag is now gone . The clarity is amazing but of course it will depend on the quality of your headset and its mic. I definitely give this a thumbs up five stars

Update December 2025: The device is back to it's old ways even with the Windows drivers. It intermittently cuts out every few minutes or when the computer is left alone for 10 minutes or so. It's a bummer because it sounds great.....when it works. Reducing this to a 1 star. It's not reliable enough to be anything more. no matter how good it sounds. Creative get your software together. I have been a longtime fan of Creative Sound Blaster products for many years and with the purchase of many devices I have come to realize the great audio experience to be had with their products. The G8 is no exception. I purchased it so I could add optical in and out to my laptop and be able to disable my problematic onboard sound which relied on the Nahemic software to operate. Now between the G8 and some fantastic desktop speakers, which are also made by Creative, I have excellent sound quality and immersion and the ability to customize the experience to fit the need. There are two USB devices in one unit, USB-1 and USB-2, and they both require separate drivers to function. Both provide connection between your PC and the G8 but only the USB-1 provides power to the G8. Additionally the USB-1 provides access to more software control. The point of USB-2 is so you can plug in another device like a phone or tablet and play audio from those devices through the G8 for processing and out to your speakers or receiver. The quirk is the drivers. If you use the current Creative driver the device will lose connection randomly. The answer? Just use the Microsoft driver for both USB-1 and USB-2. The app works great and the audio is superb. Volume control is great and the ability to customize your experience remains the same. No disconnects and no issues. Get one!

Bought this to replace my current G6 (or use as a backup for G6). At first I didn't notice the difference in sound quality, but after careful listening I did notice an improvement over the G6 sound quality. The sound stage appears to be deeper and wider over the sound of G6, and once you get used to it, it should be a good upgrade over the previous card. The only issue I had was that since my computer is a bit old, it only has one USB-C port, so using this sound card would take up the USB-C port and make it unavailable for other uses. However, once I replace my computer with extra USB-C ports in the future, this should no longer be a problem. (Note: I don't play a lot of games and mainly listen to music using this device, so the review is based on music-listening experience only.)

Take any headphone to another level all together, be prepared though because it will make them capable of blowing your ear drums. Tons of options for customisation and adjusting, scout mode is amazing.

Terrific product

Game to voice chat mix does not work. Only just tried to use it and now likely stuck with a broken DAC. *Update* 1. Windows Sound Configuration Before opening Steam, you must ensure Windows recognizes the dual audio endpoints of the Sound Blaster G8. Default Playback: Go to Windows Sound Settings and set Sound Blaster G8 USB-1 as your "Default Device." This handles your game and system audio. Communications Playback: Set Sound Blaster G8 USB-2 as your "Default Communications Device." This route ensures voice chat is isolated for the mixing knob to work. Recording: Set Sound Blaster G8 External Mic (or Mic-In) as your "Default Device" in the Recording tab. 2. Steam Chat Settings Once Windows is configured, match these settings within the Steam Client: Open the Friends List and click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner. Navigate to the Voice tab. Voice Input Device: Select Sound Blaster G8 External Mic. Voice Output Device: Select Sound Blaster G8 USB-2. This is critical for the "Voice" side of the GameVoice Mix knob. Voice Transmission Type: Choose between "Open Microphone" or "Push-to-Talk" based on your preference. In the end it was Gemini that found this solution. The reversal of the settings in Steam feels a bit non-sensible, but it works!

It's best to avoid this unless you're looking for an expensive USB DAC with equalization features, and even then, good luck