Both are desktop DAC/amps, $399 against $285. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
The Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Creative Sound Blaster X5 on 561.
| Specification | Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M | Creative Sound Blaster X5 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 300 mW | 64 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 65 mW | 112 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 32 mW | 57 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 16 mW | 29 mW |
| Output impedance | not published | 1 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $399 | $285 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 565 | 561 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
4 headphones reach 100 dB on the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M but not on the Creative Sound Blaster X5 — Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios, 1 more.
561 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M and Creative Sound Blaster X5. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.