Aurvana SE

Creative knew that reviews without certified headphones would not be great, so they included two different Creative-branded and Super X-Fi certified headphones along with the amp for testing. For the purpose of this review, these are effectively accessories, and I will do a quick overview of both before using them to test the Super X-Fi experience with the amp. First up is a special edition (hence the SE in the name) of the Creative Aurvana Live over-ear wired headphones in a relatively simple packaging. This makes sense considering it is not a retail product by itself, and of note is the Super X-Fi certified logo on the front. There are two seals on the side that have to be cut through to access the contents inside, and we are immediately greeted by the headphones in a soft foam wrap.


Underneath this is, well, nothing really. This is a barebones special edition of a retail product which, for a limited time, comes included for free with the SXFI amp, so buyers will definitely at least have a pair of headphones with which to make best use of the amp. Taking the headphones out of the wrap, we see that this is indeed an over-the-ear style product with an affixed cable for connectivity; the latter comes in a small plastic pouch for cable management during transit. The Aurvana SE is lighter than average compared to those I have used in this size category, rated at 210 g, and the cable is 1.2 m long. Not seen here are accessories that come with the retail version, presumably in the empty bottom compartment here, such as a travel pouch, 3.5 to 6.3 mm adapter, and an extension cable for a total reach of 2.7 m.


The cable terminates in a 3.5 mm TRRS connector, making it suitable for the SXFI amp. The headband is thin but adequate, with leatherette padding and an Aurvana SE marking that makes it feel more like its own thing as opposed to a quick and dirty adaptation job. It was not necessarily designed with portability in mind since the cable can't be removed and the ear cups do not fold inward. The ear cups themselves are ~3" x 3.45" in size, which is large enough to go over the ears of most people, and have a glossy outer panel that can pick up fingerprints easily, but they can also be wiped off just as easily. The ear cups also use a similar leatherette padding, and your ears can get warm if you use these for long. The closed-back design is especially curious for a demo unit for Super X-FI. The Aurvana SE from Creative uses 40 mm neodymium magnet drivers rated for a 10 Hz to 30 kHz frequency response.