Creative at CES 2020: Super X-Fi Everything!

[bug]

They had a new true wireless noise cancelling earbuds at CES, but I did not have time to actually meet them. Their website also has next to no way to contact them for media inquiries, so not much that we can do.

Can you do noise cancelling on wireless earbuds without killing the battery life?

 

[Cheeseball]

The G6 and X7 were actually okay/acceptable external DACs. At least the X7 had actual working ASIO. If they were updated for USB-C/TB3 that would be a boon. I've moved on to a FiiO BTR5.

The E5 was not so good and this newer X3 was also not very impressive, especially since you have to use an app for it to get the same of your ears to get proper HRTF working. But both did drive my 6XX (300Ω) well.

 

[Fergutor]

@Fergutor
But not everyone takes fake surround over sound quality. There are different audiences.

The alternative of "fake surround" (actually "virtual surround") is "real surround", which the DACs also don't support, which is my point: they are useles with surround sources. Only good for stereo. This has nothing to do with sound quality. Do you think the surround already present in games is "fake" or "real"? I tell you, it's as "fake" (and less effective) as what SBX, CMSS3D, Dolby this and that or all the others provide you with. Not having any processing and throwing all channels to the headphones is at the end worse (and amazingly stupid).
And about audiences, what I see is primarily: those unaware of or incapable of understanding surround sound and the rest. Seriously, the things "buy a DAC or a receiver" people say, are simply appalling. Revealing an absolute and total misunderstanding of the subject. I can give you examples if you want.

2. Noise is not a binary affair.

Which one of the reasons I said "Sound cards don't pick up noise like that".

While in your case the interference was somewhat constant, you deemed it acceptable.

No, I never said it's acceptable in the Audigy SE (the X-Fi didn't have any noticeable noise and believe me, I tried hard to hear it). Then, as I said, it doesn't seem to be interference but rather a defective sound card (but I never compared it with another Audigy SE). I "fix" it turning my headphones pot at around half and turing the Audigy volume up. That way the noise is barely audible. It's weird (and not good). Also, sometimes it produces a faint whistle of different frequencies each time, which I stop by playing something.

In my case, the interference came from a HDD: I could tell in my headphones when it was operating and when it wasn't.
If you use a digital out, you're interference free guaranteed. Of course, it depends on the total cost which option is better for you (you may already own some of the components needed by a digital out).

Messed up. Was the HDD defective or what? With what device?
Digital has its own problems too.
And yeah, cost is another of the big cons of DACs and receivers. It's simply unjustifiable to spend what they cost (at least those Fiio and Schiit) for what they do when sound cards (from Creative at least) do more and deliver way more than enough audio quality, unless you have some particular headphones that sound better with those (or a particular taste).
BUT, if one has the money and want to use it for music or other strictly stereo sources (even movies and games IF they already have the necessary and properly processed multichannel to stereo sound) and have some special picky headphones, then great. Even I would buy one on that case but only if I already have an AE5/7/9 or other similarly good useful PC-proper audio device for all PC usage.

I have a B350 Tomahawk that supports the Nahimic 2+ thing. Sounds good and the virtualization seems good enough but as you can't configure stereo headphones at driver and 5.1/7.1 in Windows, ends up being mostly useless. Which is why I had to kept using my Audigy SE...that, and the very low volume...

 

[VSG]

Can you do noise cancelling on wireless earbuds without killing the battery life?

Well, it takes some battery life to generate the destructive sound waves and pick up the ambient noise from the ANC microphones. Typically you lose about 20-25% battery life with ANC on, but it depends a lot on the product, the connection protocol and codecs used, playback volume etc.

 

[Prima.Vera]

I wish Creative would make some decent 7.1 sound cards again with analog inputs PLUS HDMI and hardware acceleration.
I really miss the A3D and EAX 5.0 APIs for realistic game sounds, not this emulated garbage in headsets.

 

[VSG]

I wish Creative would make some decent 7.1 sound cards again with analog inputs PLUS HDMI and hardware acceleration.
I really miss the A3D and EAX 5.0 APIs for realistic game sounds, not this emulated garbage in headsets.

Having tested this in person, I can assure you it is certainly not "emulated garbage in headsets".

Out of curiosity, is there still a market for hardware acceleration in sound cards?

 

[Fergutor]

Having tested this in person, I can assure you it is certainly not "emulated garbage in headsets".

See? It's as I say.
When the AE5 came out. Guys like Prima.Vera were at full eeeh...activity...throwing all their..."opinions" (not informed and certainly not smart ones). So I made a comment in a Creative's Youtube video suggesting them to do an educational video about the differences between their products and onboard audio. Some Creative dude responded me saying it was a good idea an that they were actually working on that.
They never did anything, as far as I know.
It's really needed. And I mean from the basics on what audition is and how it works in real life. It's evidently greatly needed.
But remembering the times of the X-Fi especially up to now...yeah, Creative isn't precisely a company that cares to inform and explain properly anything about their sound cards. At the times of the Z brand cards they tried, very unsuccessfully.

 

[japkoslav]

As a former Creative fan, I must say Creative is pretty much garbage since Creative X-Fi Elite Pro. I owned a new Creative sound card since Sound Blaster Live! and my current is SB X7 LE with E-MU Speakers.
Creative software support is abysmal, most of the headphones are trash, speakers are a subpar joke aimed at 10yo Fortnite players, their headphone surround has not made a decent progress for at least 5 years.
I wonder if they ever release something better than X7, I will probably buy it ... and regret it as usual

 

[Prima.Vera]

Having tested this in person, I can assure you it is certainly not "emulated garbage in headsets".

I neither care or need for headsets for home use.
That's why I have my 5.1 speaker setup. Yes, I want a sound card that can smartly create a 5.1 sound environment for poorly sound coded games (99.5% of them), using an actual 5.1 physical setup not just for the stereo headsets. If there's any sound card in the market that can do that, I would be more than happy to update my X-Fi Titanium to a new one

 

[VSG]

I neither care or need for headsets for home use.
That's why I have my 5.1 speaker setup. Yes, I want a sound card that can smartly create a 5.1 sound environment for poorly sound coded games (99.5% of them), using an actual 5.1 physical setup not just for the stereo headsets. If there's any sound card in the market that can do that, I would be more than happy to update my X-Fi Titanium to a new one

Sure, and that's fine. But there's no reason to call it garbage without looking more into it, when there is a market for those who want it.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Sure, and that's fine. But there's no reason to call it garbage without looking more into it, when there is a market for those who want it.

It's garbage. Can they offer the same quality in real time for any game and movie as this , for example? If not...

 

[bug]

I neither care or need for headsets for home use.
That's why I have my 5.1 speaker setup. Yes, I want a sound card that can smartly create a 5.1 sound environment for poorly sound coded games (99.5% of them), using an actual 5.1 physical setup not just for the stereo headsets. If there's any sound card in the market that can do that, I would be more than happy to update my X-Fi Titanium to a new one

That depends on what you're willing to accept. Each time I try upmixing channels, the sound is worse than the original. Other than the "party mode" on my receiver, I haven't found any good use for upmixing.
You'd think that would be more useful for games, since you don't care that much about sound quality, but if you upmix from 2 to 6 channels, you still don't get the positional accuracy.
So what I'm trying to say is that, ymmv.

 

[Fergutor]

I neither care or need for headsets for home use.
That's why I have my 5.1 speaker setup. Yes, I want a sound card that can smartly create a 5.1 sound environment for poorly sound coded games (99.5% of them), using an actual 5.1 physical setup not just for the stereo headsets. If there's any sound card in the market that can do that, I would be more than happy to update my X-Fi Titanium to a new one

It's garbage. Can they offer the same quality in real time for any game and movie as this , for example? If not...

Not sure I am understanding what you are saying. What I know is that games have a bad virtual surround for stereo, which is why good virtual surround from surround multichannel, like CMSS3D, SBX, Dolby this and that (not recommended at all), Razer Surround, Windows Sonic, etc are needed. For that you need the game to output discrete surround multichannel sound (5.1, 7.1, etc) which they can do (and you usually need the device driver to accept Windows being configured in multichannel while the device output is stereo hadphones or even speakers, as most games audio output can't be configured).
So, they can output proper 5.1 or 7.1 (or other probably) multichannel audio, but they can not downmix it properly in stereo creating a virtual surround for stereo headphones or speakers. It's like multichannel sound is the default (or both are bad).
So, how do you expect to "smartly create a 5.1 sound environment"? From what? Because virtual surround in stereo is precisely the problem. And there is not another path...

Then, the video you gave is an old binaural recording, can't remember where that was from and what method was used (and can't listen to it now). But if it's binaural alone, it has the BIG problem of being really bad with sounds that come from the front while most virtual surround engines are very good at it. If it was holophonics, the one invented by Argentine Hugo Zuccarelli , well, that's (probably, or is according by my listenings) another story.
And you say you have an X-Fi, it has CMSS3D. Have you even tested it? It doesn't have the sound quality, that's for sure, but technologies like it are still being developed (I assume they depend on an expected use of hardware and method of achieving the desired result), but it does have the hability to make a virtual surround, better than the binaural as it can also put sound in front. There are a lot of demos in youtube. Here's one from the HeSuVi thing which simulates many systems. This, using discrete cards, and loook at his channel, you have other similar tests there.

And then you mention "in real time" (!!). Again you have an X-Fi, look at that for yourself. They do it in real time or fast enough as to call it "real time"...