Sound Quality

As their name implies, each earpiece of the Creative SXFI Trio in-ear headphones is equipped with three speaker drivers. A 10-millimeter dynamic bio-cellulose driver produces deep frequencies, while the medium and high frequencies are taken care of by two balanced armatures. As for the accompanying DAC and headphone amplifier tucked inside the in-line SXFI Wire module, Creative is notoriously silent about the exact specifications of the embedded electronics, but I did manage to dig up that they're using the AKM AK4377 asynchronous USB DAC (up to 32-bit/96 kHz) along with the Super X-Fi UltraDSP chip, which handles the Super X-Fi headphone holography, sound equalization, and everything else happening in the digital domain.

The triple-driver in-ear headphones combined with the aforementioned electronics deliver a lively, energetic sound performance with a full and pleasant bass, a well-balanced midrange, and a detailed, unfatiguing high-range. The vocals are present but never drown out the instruments, so you will always hear clearly what is going on in the instrumental section. The power of the built-in amplifier is sufficient to drive the in-ear headphones to unbearable volumes without audibly distorting the built-in speaker drivers.

It's also worth mentioning that the speaker drivers respond well to equalization. Because of that, you're welcome to add bass or treble through the SXFI App without introducing any distortion. Of course, there's no point in going overboard. Unless you have a very specific taste, you should keep your adjustments within +3 dB at all times.

Super X-Fi Headphone Holography

In addition to taking care of the digital-to-analogue conversion and its amplification, SXFI Wire offers the possibility of using the Super X-Fi headphone holography technology, an advanced and at times quite impressive virtual surround sound technology. It seeks to improve the experience of listening to music, watching movies, and gaming by drastically increasing the width of the sound and creating the feeling of it coming from "outside of your head."


Using Super X-Fi starts by scanning your left and right ear and face, which is done with the SXFI App. When you take the necessary photos, Super X-Fi generates your personalized profile and automatically applies it to the SXFI Trio headphones, after which it can be used on all devices you connect them to. If your platform is a PC, you also have to visit Control Panel> Sound> Playback, right-click on SXFI TRIO before Configure Speakers, and then select the 7.1 Surround option.

Unlike most traditional virtual surround technologies, Super X-Fi does not destroy the bass and ruin the spatial positioning of the sound source. The technology is quite successful in increasing the perceived width of the sound for that feeling of completely being surrounded by it. When Super X-Fi is paired with a game that has a high-quality multi-channel sound engine, such as Battlefield V, the results can be quite astonishing. The rumble of tanks, roaring of planes, explosions of bombs, and vicious gunfire—the chaos and brutality of the battlefield—feel truly enveloping and immersive. Multi-channel movies also sound good, but I've regularly resorted to classic stereo mode for my music-listening sessions. The same was true in games with less advanced sound engines—here, the Super X-Fi technology isn't nearly as impressive.

Microphone Quality

Some 10 centimeters down the cable, coming out of the right earpiece, is a MEMS microphone. Thanks to it, the Creative SXFI Trio can also function as a headset, both for making phone calls and chatting with comrades while playing online. The quality of the built-in capsule is certainly good enough for these elementary uses, which means it delivers exactly what is expected of it. You can listen to its sound in the sample below.