Creative X3 Hi-Res 7.1 SXFI USB DAC and Amplifier Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Creative Sound Blaster X3 Hi-Res External USB DAC and Amp Sound Card with Super X-Fi Holographic Audio, etc, etc, is available now from most major retailers. It’s on Amazon UK for just £109.99, which I think is a pretty great deal actually, for what you get. Heck, the five-year-old Creative X7 is still £249.99, and while brilliant and extremely powerful, The Creative X3 is more advanced, a lot more advanced actually, and it’s less than half the price and less than half the size.

Overview

I’m spoilt for choice with Creative recently. The SXFI Amp was and still is my favourite gadget of the last few years. It has changed audio for me entirely. I think it’s a bigger innovation for audio that Atmos or DTS:X, albeit I love those too. The Creative X3 is basically just a bigger and even more powerful version of that tiny little amp. Bigger power output, more input and output, and bigger control buttons. I loved it before, this is just more of everything piled on to the SXFI Amp, therefore, I like it even more.

SXFI

If you just want good sounding headphones and holography, Creative sell that built into the Creative Air or even the Theater headphones these days. They’re what I use daily for work, gaming, movies, etc. However, if you just want to use your all-time favourite headphones or any headphones for that matter, the X3 will deliver the power needed to run virtually any audiophile-grade headphones on the market today, and it’ll do a damn fine job of it too.

Added Value

The gaming market, streamers, heck even conference calling and home voice-over work can benefit from the microphone line in. I don’t use a microphone much, but the overall clarity from the input was noticeably better than going straight into my motherboard. All that processing and those quality amps work both ways it seems. I don’t have 5.1 outputs to test the back end of this, but I like the option, plus I just plugged in my stereo speakers and they worked fine. It means you can have your speakers and headphones simultaneously wired and jump from one to the other, no more swapping jacks, etc. The X3 just makes desktop audio a much easier process and a much more enjoyable one too.

Should I Buy One?

Well yes and no. I honestly think that direct motherboard audio and USB headsets are so damn good these days that most users will find few benefits in buying higher-end audio hardware. However, if you’re like me and love high-res audio, holography, advanced EQ settings, trick game-hearing modes, headsets that require powerful amplification, and all that kinda jazz, then you’ll struggle to beat what Creative is offering with the X3. It’s incredible value for money for the level of features it offers and it compliments the hardware you already own really well too.