It seems we just can’t get enough of Creative and their Super X-Fi hardware. We were blown away by SX-FI at CES 2019 and I still use my Creative amp and headphones daily, heck, I’m using them right now. Forget advancements in mobile audio though, this year, Creative are going for home cinema, gaming and beyond.
First up, the Creative Theater headset. This is built for high-end home audio that admittedly can be used for gaming and music too. It’s more just the “living room” set that will simulate the performance of a powerful surround sound system with ease. Of course, you need to set up your profile using X-Fi, just like with their amp from last year.
Want to run multiple headsets in your home so you and friends can listen at the same time? Their new TV box acts as a bit of a router for multiple Theater headsets. What’s cool is you can use the microphone to chat. Why? Well, you can enjoy a movie at the cinema volume you desire even when you have a need to keep the noise down. Not forgetting that X-Fi sound bloody amazing too.
We did a few demos and just like every other Creative audio demo we’ve done, I was sold pretty much instantly.
The headphones are every bit as premium as we’ve come to expect too. Superb build quality, powerful and clear drivers, and they look fantastic too.
We’ve got a set in for review though, so stay tuned for updates.
Soundbars are growing in popularity (again) but this time, they’re actually becoming good. I’ve always hated the damn things. However, we did a demo of the Creative SXFI Carrier and I’m still confused about how they got a great Dolby Atmos sound from it. I have Dolby Atmos and damn, this thing can stand up tall. It’s about a $1000 though, but honestly, if you’re short on space but want big sound, this is it.
Watch out for this beast though, it’s extremely heavy. I haven’t heard this much bass from an AIO system… ever.
Planar is their next push too. This is getting into the extreme end of the enthusiast market and I’m sure the price will match that too. I didn’t get a chance to demo these, unfortunately, but I suspect I’ll be hearing more of them later in the year too. The best processing, amp and driver technology combined? Sign me up.
They had quite an extensive range really. It seems they want in-ear, around the ear, on the ear, speakers and everything else. Not everyone likes the same style of headphones. Creative knows this and looks set to bring built-in SXFI processing to just about every part of the audio market. For me, I like my SXFI amp, as I can use any 3.5mm headphones. Of course, built-in has its perks too.
However, for me, the best update has to be Super X-Fi Gen 2. Now, the cool thing is that this is purely a firmware update for all Super X-Fi hardware. You’ll see the Gen2 badge rolling out over the next few weeks on your profile. With thousands of more samples processed, they’ve made their surround processing even better (if you can believe that) and even said that Gen 3 is on the way!
