As mentioned before, do go through other discussions of Creative's Super X-Fi technology to gain a good understanding of the technology as well as the general improvements across the board from Gen1 to Gen2. In many ways, I also had to refresh my experience with it given I started the review shorty after CES 2020 and had to finish it with CES 2021 knocking on my virtual doors. That extra time as a result of COVID and moving across three continents resulted in more time to chew over Super X-Fi and how it impacts the Creative SXFI Air headset.

Pricing has also been lowered since, with an MSRP of $159.99 in the US and a street price of $140 at the time of my initial testing now down to $100. I am still not sure what my final conclusion would have been at the higher price point, especially as this headset is still a capable thing but there are so many arguably better options at the same price now. The Sennheiser HD58x/599 come to mind, as do the Philips Fidelio X2HR and AKG K702, or the Audio-Technica M50XBT if you want a wireless audio solution. Sure, none of these are headsets, but you should not be buying the SXFI Air primarily for that anyway. Super X-Fi was meant to bring this up as a value offering initially, but at $100, it is that much more value for money!

However subjective it may be, I want to stress here that Super X-Fi is not a gimmick. It does more than just provide a multi-channel surround-sound experience with stereo headphones, especially based on the enhanced audio experience with stereo or even mono audio files. This comes from Creative's SXFI chip which, in their own words "is specially designed for Super X-Fi processing and packs 5x the computing power of Creative's most powerful Sound Blaster chip while consuming less than half the power"; one that "is a highly integrated chip" with "a large cache of fast memory to decode and process up to 8 channels of high-resolution 24-bit 96 kHz audio simultaneously. It even has audiophile quality DACs built-in." This is effectively a SoC built over 20 years of research and development by the company, enhanced all the more by the additions of intellectual property and audio engineers over the years. Building upon all the user-generated profiles and feedback, Super X-Fi Gen2 does lower the variability in experience and raises the standard of surround sound in headphones. It is one you really have to experience before deciding whether it is for you, and Creative incorporating it in the SXFI Air makes for a good first option to try it with.

There remain problems, however, even now. The head-map-generated profiles still fall short compared to the in-ear measurement profiles the press got, so do keep that in mind when reading reviews of Super X-Fi products. We also have the unique privilege of having another reviewer who has experienced Super X-Fi via their Sound Blaster X3 soundcard. It is there you can read through a review of someone with more experience with audio solutions than yours truly. I was also disappointed to see that the officially certified list of headphones is woefully short, and not much has changed here within the last two years. The good thing is that the DSP and app will still work regardless of which headphones you have, and this is a non-factor when it comes to the SXFI Air with the integrated DSP. At its current asking price and overall feature set, I have no qualms recommending it to a lot of different folks—those on a budget for a good set of cans, those wanting a portable media player/Bluetooth headset, and those wanting to experience Super X-Fi.