Creative SXFI Products

Uriel · 22 Dec 2021 at 23:02

Big reductions with the manufacturer on SXFI Amp usb dac and SXFI Air headphones at the moment (both about 1/3 launch cost). Thought I'd give a type of headphone surround virtualisation I'd not tried a go at the price so I have one of the former on its way. Never tried personalised HRTF headphone virtualisation before.

Sadly it looks like in-ear microphone based personalisation still isn't available for us mere mortals (seems you either need to work for Creative or live in Singapore for that), which was what blew people away at trade shows over the last few years, but I gather the HRTF personalisation via photos and Android app has got on to it's 3rd revision and it's been getting some very good feedback recently.

I'm still quite a fan of Dolby Headphone (the earlier rooms 1, 2 and 3 version) and the Dolby Atmos virtualisation that Windows provides now isn't quite as convincing to me. Not at all enamoured by Creative SBX Studio and I never found CMSS-3D Headphone that impressive.

My best gaming audio setup was probably 4 channel CMSS-3D from an Auzentech X-Fi Prelude (and later X-fi XtremeMusic after Auzentech went bust and stopped updating drivers), either sent to 4 speakers or processed externally with Dolby Headphone using a Victor SU-DH1. If you kept to 4 channels it still had MacroFX and Elevation filter for object based 3d sound (like an early version of Dolby Atmos). Running 5.1 or higher killed those features. My gosh, we've regressed, mostly thanks to Microsoft.

Uriel · 26 Dec 2021 at 23:45

Well, I've got this set up now. Ran through the ear and face photos using the android app (use in android seems very limited though). At least on my phone (Redmi Note 9s) apps like Netflix don't produce surround sound, so it's basically simulating 2 front speakers there. Using it in Windows after the initial setup works very well though, and I quickly settled on using it in 7.1 mode, with a little music and Netflix. No games yet.

A few hours in and this is the most directionally and spatially convincing virtual surround sound I've tried over stereo headphones. I ditched the Aurvana Trio LS pretty quickly (they're not that impressive, lacking treble) though and switched to my Goldring DR150s. SXFi reminds me of DH3 spatially (as per a Xonar D2 or Victor SU-DH1) but without the unnecessary room reflections. I might try re-taking the photos for a new calibration / personalisation because the frontal audio image sounds very slightly off to the left in terms of direction but it's not bad by any means. Prior to this the only convincing 'frontal audio image' from a virtualised surround via headphones came with Dolby Headphone for me. CMSS-3D Headphone never did it. SBX Pro-studio never managed it. I did get a good sense of side and rear with those but it never sounded like the 'on screen' action was really in front of me. It works for me with SXfi. As with the effect I experienced with Dolby Headphone, SXFi is another alternative that genuinely brings me the illusion of listening to speakers instead of headphones. For people who've tried SXFi before, remember the personalisation is on it's 3rd iteration so it might be worth trying again.

Done a bit of switching between the Windows version of Dolby Atmos headphone and SXFi, even with Atmos soundtracks in Netflix (mainly 6 Underground). There is a much clearer sense of distance with SXFi for me. Both work for direction in my case. Just a side note on Netflix - I've never really been convinced that Dolby Atmos headphone in windows allows an Atmos soundtrack in the Windows 10 Netflix app. When it comes to selecting an audio track - Netflix just gives 2.0 and 5.1 options. Hence I believe what the Netflix app is doing is mapping a 5.1 mix to Dolby Atmos headphone (so not allowing object based audio). As such the only genuine 'atmos content' I'm aware of for Windows Dolby Headphone are games with truly 3d audio rather than a 5.1 or 7.1 mix. Not got around to testing at the moment.

I'm intrigued to move on to some more demanding headphones like my HD600s to see how it copes as an amp - but so far, so good. On the Goldring DR150s mid 20% ish volume is as high as I'm ever likely to go.

My experience so far makes me wonder how the implementation in the Creative SXfi Carrier soundbar might be. You have an atmos-certified soundbar with the SXFi headphone tech built in there. Hence, if connected by HDMI, I think they might have fully a working atmos implementation with object based 3d headphone audio there. Could perhaps be a 'poor man's Smyth Realiser A16 (I'm not suggesting it's that good though!).

What would be a very handy product for the PC would be a HDMI based atmos-capable (for genuine 3d object based Headphone Audio rather than just simulated speakers) audio-extractor headphone amp with this technology, that would then pass the video on to a monitor or TV. Of course that would be perfect for the Xbox Series consoles too.

Uriel · 27 Dec 2021 at 00:20

The SXFi Amp is a USB DAC / Amp (hence no Creative Drivers to contend with) that will operate in 2, 6 or 8 channel modes.

The SXFi programmable DSP is actually optional and can be switched on or off at the touch of a button. It also has a 10 band eq built in that's app controlled and not driver dependent.

As a DAC / amp it reviewed pretty well at its original RRP of £150 ish in 2019. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...tive-sxfi-amp-review-headphone-adapter.21636/ They can now be had for £50.

Uriel · 28 Dec 2021 at 22:23

Something I wasn't anticipating here is how much of an enormous difference selecting a headphones in the SXFi app that closely match what you're listening with.

Select the wrong headphones in app with SXFi enabled and it sounds awful.

The generic headphone works well with my Goldring DR150s. The generic in-ear setting works OK with my Audio-technica ATH-ANC33iS but the Shure SE846 is far better. Both are quite detailed IEMs so the match kind of makes sense.

Uriel · 29 Dec 2021 at 00:24

I think at the moment I probably wouldn't buy an internal soundcard.

For home cinema the best option is just HDMI from an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card to a receiver or soundbar.

Headphone wise - a USB connected DAC / Amp is a decent option. This Creative SXFi Amp is one of the cheaper ones worth considering for headphones. If you want virtual surround over headphones it does a decent job but even when that is switched off it's decent enough. If more connectivity is needed the Soundblaster X3 and X4 have the same headphone virtualization tech built in, as does the Soundblaster GC7.

Uriel · 1 Jan 2022 at 23:06

Happy accident... I've taken to watching Netflix on a windows tablet while on my cross trainer. As such I wanted something robust and sweatproof and remembered I had some JVC HA-EC10-B unused lying around. These are a pretty cheap iem (like £8-9 cheap) with over ear hooks.

Just tried them with the SXFi amp and my phone and tried some different headphone models. I'm simply stunned by what the SXFi amp does for the soundstage. Many of the headphone profiles don't work that well but for some reason the HD650 profile hits the jackpot.

The packaging claims these JVCs go down to 10hz (!) and - my gosh, the way the SXFi algorithm lifts the bass on these out of my head and in front of me is just incredible, bordering on miraculous) for the price (of both - but especially the IEMs). Perhaps the treble and mids can seem a little veiled but it's by no means muddy. Without the SXFi amp processing the JVCs are not bad for a cheap headphone but nothing terribly special.

I was very satisfied with the results from my Goldring DR150s but not so much with the IEMs I've tried - Sennheiser ie8 and Audio-technica ANC23, plus Creative's own Aurvana Trio LS.

I think what's happened is that the DSP has less to do in correcting the trickery that manufacturers use to play with the headstage like angled drivers and reflectors present on the other items I've tried. The Goldring DR150, HD650 and these cheap JVC sports IEMs are all as simple as it comes in that respect.

I'm going to have a play with these IEMs and the Dolby Atmos virtualization in Windows now...

Edit: Had a play with SXFi, JVCs and Saving Private Ryan on Netflix. Just astonishing synergy really. Going to have to dig out some more of my headphones that have a 'neutral' headstage. That seems to be where the SXFi processing really seems to shine.

Uriel · 2 Jan 2022 at 23:56

Well, with Atmos headphone the JVCs can certainly manage direction but not so much distance. Reminds me a bit of using multi-driver surround sound headphones like the Speedlink Medusas. By comparison SXFi is much more expansive.

Uriel · 4 Jan 2022 at 21:27

Another decent combination: my Senn ie6 IEMs with the HD800 headphone setting. These capture a lot of detail that the JVCs miss. There is huge depth and transparency to the soundstage with this combination. A real impression of 3d space.

Uriel · 7 Jan 2022 at 15:13

OK - Settled on pairing the Senn ie6 with the Sony MDR-Z7 model in app. The directionality and three dimensional depth of soundstage this produces is quite scary, and it seems to much reduce artificial sounding simulated room reflections I was getting in other headphone models.

As such, I'm intrigued as to what speakers and listening room are being modelled (can't find any information from Creative). Something I've never had happen before on headphones with stereo source material is I hear vocals coming from a higher elevation than guitars and bass (and it's a 3d soundstage out in front of me). Rather than just the tone itself representing a psychoacoustic elevation effect, I think what's actually going on is that floor-standing speakers with tweeters at the top and woofers lower down are being modelled by the SXFI DSP. I didn't notice this effect with the JVCs - and I put it down to the ie6 being significantly more detailed. The remote bass effect is just as good but there is very little of the veiled element of higher frequency sounds that I noticed with the cheaper IEMs.

Also this is probably the most natural-sounding pairing I've come across for various Netflix soundtracks (having tried most of my headphone collection now). I am getting something that sounds like elevation effects in soundtracks labelled Atmos - however - Netflix labels the soundtracks as Atmos in the summary screen but if I select soundtrack options while watching I'm listening in English 5.1 mode. I'm genuinely not sure what is going on here. I think that's just that many 5.1 mixes have deliberately recorded elevation cues and it works well with this DSP / IEM combo (possibly better than if it was a physical speaker 5.1 set with no dedicated height speakers handling an atmos soundtrack). I wasn't aware a Windows PC could handle multichannel atmos directly - just via headphones or put out by HDMI to a receiver- and Spatial Sound is definitely turned off. Puzzling but it sounds good anyway.

Edit: As recommended by WhatHiFi for testing speaker bass:

what this combo does with this track is just obscene. No way would I sneak any kind of speaker system into the house that could pull this off to the extent the SXFi amp does.