Caporegime
Creative product page - http://www.soundblaster.com/x7/#home
OcUK product page - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-097-CL&groupid=701&catid=1925
Today I will be giving a quick overview of the Creative Soundblaster X7.
This device is a headphone amplifier, sound card, microphone all-in-one device which is bristling with a features list as long as my arm.
That is just a small selection of some of the X7 features, to say it is packing a punch is an understatement.
Packaging and Accessories.
Included with the X7 is.
• RCA to 3.5mm jack.
• USB cable.
• RCA to RCA extension.
• RCA to 3.5mm output.
• Headphone stand.
• A power brick and mains leads are also included (not pictured).
Outside the X7.
So the X7 itself comes in a pyramid shape, it feels a bit plastic in comparison the Essence STU I had prior. But it is a sturdy shape and sits well on a desk.
The front controls consist off.
• Volume knob
• Power ON/OFF and Bluetooth button (press in and hold till it turns blue).
• SBX ON/OFF
We also find a 3.5mm microphone input and 3.5mm/6.3mm stereo out which can also be used at the same time.
The Dolby logo illuminates when it is decoding this format.
The grill hides a beamforming microphone.
This USB port is for connecting other devices such as a phone or tablet.
At the rear we find a great range of options for hooking the X7 up to various powered or passive speakers or optical out to a home amplifier.
The X7 has a 100watt (50watt per channel) built-in amplifier for passive speakers but this does require a 24V 6A power brick upgrade which is an optional extra on this model, without this it is 38watt per channel using the supplied 24V 2.91A power adapter.
Under the X7 is a door that gives you access to the swappable OP-AMPs if you want to tweak the sound stage.
And this is the headphone stand shown earlier fitted, a very convenient but flimsy way to store your gear.
Drivers and Software.
Being a fully featured audio device you expect full control over it and the included software does not disappoint.
It basically has full adjustment to nearly every conceivable parameter.
But if you want to control the X7 from the comfort of your sofa you can also download an iOS or Android application for your phone which gives almost the same functionality.
This is a fantastic feature I feel and what is even better is when your device is connected via Bluetooth to the X7 you can have the sound streamed to the X7 and thus out of the speakers or headphones that it is connected to while your device is still playing the visuals.
Thoughts and Conclusion.
So I have had this now for nearly 3 weeks and used it as a regular sound card to power a Logitech Z4 2.1 setup, Sennheiser HD505 headphones and even used it in a 2 way speaker setup using a pair of Gale 6Ω Hi-Fi speakers.
Using it to play games or listen to music and movies and even being able to use this one device as a microphone on Teamspeak is phenomenal.
It was faultless throughout and unlike the Essence STU I could set it up with that bit more bass which I personally like using the software or even play around with the soundstage using CrystalFX adjustments.
If post processing is not your thing you can select the "direct" options and bypass this completely for the cleanest and purest signal.
It is obviously hard to describe how a device "sounds" but this to me seems at least as good as the Essence STU was and then more so.
So in summing up it is an all singing all dancing audio device that has a huge range of connectivity options, adjustments via software or the choice of listening direct without processing. It is a lot of money to spend and not as well made as the Essence STU which had a metal construction but it sure does offer a lot more under the hood.
Did I mention it has NFC? well it does, what an endless feature list.