I would like to thank my editor Colin for the loaner unit of the SXFI Amp. The good news is it’s one of the certified headphones that take full advantage of Creative’s SXFI technology, so it’s win-win. For early adopters, Creative’s Aurvana SE over-ear headphones are given free with the amp. The website does imply that this is the best thing since sliced bread, so we’ll see about that.Ĭreative’s SXFI Amp retails for SGD219 or USD150, currently available in Singapore and the US via their official sites only, before rolling out worldwide soonish. It’s a gargantuan name with a Herculean task, capable of decoding and processing up to 8 channels of 24-bit 96KHz of audio simultaneously. The key to this 24 karat magic in the air, comes from a digital signal processing (DSP) chip which Creative dubs the Super X-Fi Ultra DSP. The amplifier is capable of 3x gain with the support of high-impedance headphones up to 600Ω, so it packs a serious punch, and maybe some firearms. It houses a dedicated AKM AK4377 digital-to-analog converter ( DAC), so we can expect better sound quality than smartphones. The SXFI Amp has some good hardware to bolster its credentials, or street cred, if we’re using 1990s slang. There are similar products in the market, like the high-end Smyth Realiser A16 and the uh, 3D switch in iFi Audio stuff, so SXFI is not alone. ![]() People spend six figures for the speaker system of their dreams, and a tiny dongle hopes to touch that? It doesn’t help that the product website is full of hyperbole, marketing speak and people with orgasmic looks. Vocal echo is persistent and bothersomeįirst off, like you, I too am a skeptic.Won’t replace real speakers anytime soon.No USB A-to-C cable provided for laptop connectivity.I hold in my hands one of the products, the SXFI Amp, a tiny dongle touted to recreate a Dolby Atmos-like, surround-sound holographic environment with headphones. Recently the Singaporean brand has been turning heads again with its Super X-Fi (SXFI) headphone technology, by winning AVS Forums’ Best of CES 2018 in the world’s largest consumer electronics show. I had a Sound Blaster sound card at a time when no PC was without one, and fell madly in love with the EP-630 earphones before going hardcore. Their broad product range, from GigaWorks computer speakers to Zen MP3 players, meant I always had a Creative product to consider when I wanted something… techy (not tacky). Both of them had the pleasure of getting usurped by Apple’s irresistible ascent at the turn of the millennium, but that’s another story for another day.Ī wave of nostalgia washes over me when discussing Creative. ![]() But not too far behind and closer to home, Creative weaved some magic of its own. Call it headphone holography, Dolby Atmos-lite, or just plain magic, the Creative Super X-Fi Amp has an ace up its sleeve delivering a speaker-like experience with just your headphones.īack in the 1990s, one brand was synonymous with consistently producing a broad range of consumer electronics and software solutions at the bleeding edge of technology.
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