Creative SXFI Amp

[chauvelin2000]

I'm LOVING the SXFI Amp with my Massdrop FOCAL Elex (using Creative's SXFI AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 audio profile), FOSTEX TR-X00 Purplehearts & E-MU Ebony (both headsets using the E-MU Teak audio profile), SENNHEISER HD 6XX (650 audio profile), AKG K7XX (K701 profile), HIFIMAN HE-4XX (HE-400S profile) & MONOPRICE Monolith M1060C Planar Magnetics (AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 profile), BEYERDYNAMIC DT 770 Pro (oddly, the AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 profile sounds better with these than Creative's BEYERDYNAMIC DT 800 profile), SENNHEISER HD 598Cs (598 profile), SONY MDR-7506, AUDIO-TECHNICA ATH-M40x (M50x profile), KOSS KPH30i & KSC75X (Porta Pro profile), and also with my CREATIVE Aurvana Live! & Aurvana SE (both Super X-Fi Certified).

I'm excited to see how the SXFI Amp sounds with the SONY WH-1000XM3 wireless bluetooth headphones (I'll activate them using a HAGIBIS aptX bluetooth adapter that I bought for the SXFI Amp at AliExpress.com) & FOSTEX MOD HOUSE AUDIO Argon Planar Magnetics which I've custom-ordered (I may later purchase, too, the Aurvana Trio earphones and stand-alone SXFI AIR headphones). Also, when I can afford them, I'd love to see how the SXFI technology impacts the SENNHEISER HD 820 experience (if anyone's tried this combo, please let me know! ). For those who may own the MEZE 99 Classics, I've found what works best for them is the SXFI sound profile for the AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 headphones (my second-choice profile picks for the Classics would be the audio profiles posted in Creative's SXFI mobile app and Sound Control dashboard for PC -- those for the SENNHEISER HD 598, BEYERDYNAMIC DT 800, or AKG K701, in that order).

For SXFI Amp use with my laptop, I downloaded the SXFI Control Panel (dashboard) for Windows 10 at this site link: SXFI Control Dashboard for Windows 10.

Do make sure, though, when configuring your PC, that you set your Windows Control Panel Sound Controls to 7.1 Surround Sound and also disable any conflicting Spatial Sound settings, such as Dolby Atmos, under the 'Speakers Properties' Spatial Sound tab: PC Sound Controls Configuration. Believe me, SXFI sounds MUCH better than anything Dolby has yet produced for PC spatial sound.

Having installed the SXFI dashboard, it's with this that I toggle between Creative's different headphone audio profiles, to test which profiles work best for the various headsets I own. If you're using moderately high-end headphones, or, alternatively, if in doubt (or if you simply don't like the sound of Creative's generically labeled 'Unknown' headphones profile), I find that I opt most often for the AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 profile, which seems, for me, to work best across the broadest range of different headphone makes and types.

Though clearly not the optimal solution, adopting these 'makeshift' SXFI profiles still creates an astonishing audio soundstage that sounds dimensions better than the closed-in 'cans' nature of the lows-mids-highs we're traditionally used to, even as we sport our most 'open' audiophile incarnations. The current makeshift profile situation will gradually disappear as more and more sound signatures are mapped to augment the SXFI database. Even as it now stands, I'm extremely impressed with the strides Creative has made with its new technology.

To aid in testing the SXFI audio profiles, here's a playlist link to 100 sound-test tracks for audio quality': SOUND ~ Test tracks for Audio Quality.

Cheers!

 

[Shaman1982]

I'm excited to see how the SXFI Amp sounds with the SONY WH-1000XM3 wireless bluetooth headphones (I'll activate them using a HAGIBIS aptX bluetooth adapter that I bought for the SXFI Amp at AliExpress.com)

Hi chauvelin2000 please let me know if that bluetooth adapter works with SXFI Amp. Thanks.

 

[VSG]

Yeah, I am curious too. For what it is worth, I briefly tried this out with the HD820s and I think I prefer using a standalone amp with the HD820 rather than this, I lose more clarity with the sound signature than I gain soundstage.

 

[chauvelin2000]

Yeah, I am curious too. For what it is worth, I briefly tried this out with the HD820s and I think I prefer using a standalone amp with the HD820 rather than this, I lose more clarity with the sound signature than I gain soundstage.

Good to know, VSG. I hear the HD820 has an amazing soundstage to begin with, so perhaps the SXFI doesn't have too much of an effect on that pair of $2300 headphones.

Also, the HAGIBIS Bluetooth 5.0 aptX adapter that I got today (Model: MG-X2) is apparently the wrong one (referencing the SXFI-ready bluetooth transmitter I spoke of in my first post, above, and to which I redirected the reader via an embedded 'AliExpress.com' link), as it doesn't seem to work. I don't believe that I was careful enough to note that there exists an alternate model (Model: X2) that appears to be the correct one, as it's the one referenced in the online article: 'SXFI Amp Goes Wireless with Hagibis X2 Wireless Audio Adapter Bluetooth 5.0 aptX Receiver Transmitter' (the differing Model designations are specified in the AliExpress product Specs for the respective models). The correct link to this (what is professed to be) SXFI-ready adapter I've included here. The first one I mentioned I suspect is an older model -- one without the SXFI-relaying technology built into it. Today I ordered the one actually referenced in the online article, so hopefully that one will work, as the article professes it to. I guess we'll find out when it gets here.

I'm very happy to report, however, that I love my new SONY WH-1000XM3 bluetooth headphones! And while we'll have to wait on the verdict about the SXFI wireless transmitter, the 3.5mm cable that came with the 1000XM3 does allow one to enjoy, at least, the SXFI technology of the SXFI Amp (when I get the HAGIBIS X2, I'll let you know if the same can be said using that transmitter's alleged wireless-relay capability). The audio profile that seems to work best for the 1000XM3, however, isn't one of the various SONY sound profiles that Creative has posted in its Android SXFI mobile app or within its PC-created SXFI dashboard: because after some testing, it appears that (at least for me) the best profile to adopt as a temp-solution (until the time that this SONY headset's own audio signature gets added to the Creative headphone-profile mix) is the AUDIO-TECHNICA AD700 sound profile.