Creative SXFI AMP Review (headphone adapter)

[Berwhale]

Currently available for £39.99 on the Creative UK store - use code OUTLIERPRO to get free shipping...

Creative SXFI AMP

SXFI™ AMP is a finger-sized portable headphone amplifier and DAC with holographic audio that allows you to hear your auditory space expand in your headphones as if you were in a high-end multi-speaker system studio or theater.

uk.creative.com

 

[Chowchilla]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Creative Super XFi headphone amplifier and DAC "dongle." It was kindly sent to me by a member. Unfortunately it is discontinued but from what I can tell, it cost US $149. Its claim to fame was multi-channel virtualization customized to your face and ear shape. My review is focused on its audio performance and not this feature.

I liked the nice buttons on the SXFI:

View attachment 119625

They have a very positive action. The top button turns on its eq/virtualization.

The class driver in Windows recognizes it as an 8 channel DAC. That way, it can receive multi-channel content in order to down convert it to stereo. Alas, as with other dongles, the class driver only works in 16 bit mode with my Audio Precision software. So for testing, I had to use my Roon player to stream content to it which means no sweeps (other than power). In addition, it only supports maximum of 96 kHz sampling so I could not run my 192 kHz multitone test.

Creative SDXI Amp Measurements
As usual, we start with our dashboard:

View attachment 119628

This is with the output adjusted to 2 volts. Performance is pretty good with distortion below threshold of hearing at -115 dB. Signal to noise ratio/dynamic range falls in the same bucket:

View attachment 119629

Ditto for Jitter:
View attachment 119630

Most important test for a headphone adapter is amount of power so let's get into that starting with 300 ohm load:

View attachment 119631

Not bad:
View attachment 119632

Power was more impressive using 32 ohm load:
View attachment 119633

Headphone Listening Tests
There was good amount of power and lack of distortion with both my Ether CX and Sennheiser HD-650 headphone.

Conclusions
If I had tested the sXFI back in 2019, it would have landed at the top of the class. Even today it holds its own. You can get more though for less money than it retail so not as impressive now. Not sure you want to go and hunt one down (I see a used one for $110 on ebay). But if you did, it would be fine. I put it on my recommended list.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Currently available for £39.99 on the Creative UK store - use code OUTLIERPRO to get free shipping...

Creative SXFI AMP

SXFI™ AMP is a finger-sized portable headphone amplifier and DAC with holographic audio that allows you to hear your auditory space expand in your headphones as if you were in a high-end multi-speaker system studio or theater.

uk.creative.com

Was going to post it here too but you saved me the trouble. Surprised the voucher code worked, just went through a few of them.

 

[michty_me]

With this price reduced to £39 now, Is it worth a purchase? I'm currently using a Soundblaster G3 which I'm not finding too great to be honest. The sound seems a bit enclosed.

 

[DavidS]

i think it is a great toy to play with and experiment. For some live recordings, particularly rock stuff, I thought the DSP worked. I’ve never felt really comfortable with it on live classical recordings.

 

[Ufasas]

With this price reduced to £39 now, Is it worth a purchase? I'm currently using a Soundblaster G3 which I'm not finding too great to be honest. The sound seems a bit enclosed.

i've hid g3 deep in my drawers, so i cannot find it, and left sxfi on table, so i don't look for g3 at all, lol

 

[michty_me]

i've hid g3 deep in my drawers, so i cannot find it, and left sxfi on table, so i don't look for g3 at all, lol

Yeah I've gone off the idea of the SXFI and now looking at a different route.

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

Currently available for £39.99 on the Creative UK store - use code OUTLIERPRO to get free shipping...

Creative SXFI AMP

SXFI™ AMP is a finger-sized portable headphone amplifier and DAC with holographic audio that allows you to hear your auditory space expand in your headphones as if you were in a high-end multi-speaker system studio or theater.

uk.creative.com

As of today it still is, but their UK shop would only sell this model within the UK.

While not available in the webshop here (Germany), the successor SoundBlaster X1 is, for EUR 69.99 (about $69.99 LOL). I got one from there, and the code OUTLIERPRO worked nevertheless, thank you for this!


One reviewer at head-fi peeled off the sticker:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/creative-labs-sound-blaster-x1.26009/reviews

 

[t$$]

On sale for $59.99 at Creative's web store with free shipping for people in the USA.

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

So I received it. Works fine with my Sennheiser HD 600 overears (300 Ohms, 106 dB/1Vrms) and Samsung Galaxy A33 (USB-C, w/o 3.5mm jack which was the main reason for getting this). Very slight hissing noise audible.

Volume control buttons act separately from phone volume. Setup via the app was easy enough. The built in EQ is difficult to operate as there are no sliders, also no parametric EQ, just regular 10 bands. List of headphones a bit limited, tried the built-in HD650 curve for the 600 but did not like it too much. Ended up using a the EQ from Android system.

This SXFI virtualization seems a bit of a joke. After mapping ear lobes and head with the Andriod app (which would better be done by a 2nd person because you need to center your ears in the camera picture well) the personalized sound is much less like the AI designed 7.2 home theater (promised) than a moving box sized bathroom with stereo speakers in it.

In retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised: Creative has rebranded the amp and, as far as I could tell, sells it only via their own webstore - I think it never became popular for it doesn't live up to the promise.

It does give good output for large headphones, is small and seems well built and not too expensive so I'll keep it.

 

[MCH]

Very slight hissing noise audible.

I was very curious when I read this because I never noticed any noise with mine, so today I tested it with my akg k371 that is quite sensitive and one of those youtube videos of absolute silence. All volumes maxed and absolutely no hissing at all. I know I cannot hear anything beyond 13.5kHz, but I am still surprised you can hear hiss with your dongle, specially with the HD600. Are you sure it was noise from the dongle? Maybe you have a faulty unit...

 

[Juanrdp]

So I received it. Works fine with my Sennheiser HD 600 overears (300 Ohms, 106 dB/1Vrms) and Samsung Galaxy A33 (USB-C, w/o 3.5mm jack which was the main reason for getting this). Very slight hissing noise audible.

I was also unable to notice any hiss (with an older unit, but the new one just seems a rebrand anyway) with neither Akg, sennheiser or beyerdynamic headphones.

Regarding the virtualization i found it very dependable of the headphones you use, for example with the sennheiser or beyerdynamic was not too much good as you described, was noticeable better with the Akg and (not so much) curiously they make wonders with the Aurvana SE headphones that the unit gift. Those headphones where horrible but the sound improve by several factors when the virtualization was on.

List of headphones a bit limited, tried the built-in HD650 curve for the 600 but did not like it too much. Ended up using a the EQ from Android system.

Just one thing, in my oppinion the headphone selection at the start where not only like EQ presets but instead parametric values used also to makes the virtualization work, if you don't use a correct one the virtualization took a severe hit, and yes at least years ago the selection was too much limited.

Anyway i still use it, it works nice for several years.

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

I've checked again and couldn't find anything noticeable. It was very quiet indeed.

Had some disconnects yesterday (would play over phone speakers allnof a sudden). Apart from this, all good.

I was very curious when I read this because I never noticed any noise with mine, so today I tested it with my akg k371 that is quite sensitive and one of those youtube videos of absolute silence. All volumes maxed and absolutely no hissing at all. I know I cannot hear anything beyond 13.5kHz, but I am still surprised you can hear hiss with your dongle, specially with the HD600. Are you sure it was noise from the dongle? Maybe you have a faulty unit...

 

[Aquafax]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Creative Super XFi headphone amplifier and DAC "dongle." It was kindly sent to me by a member. Unfortunately it is discontinued but from what I can tell, it cost US $149. Its claim to fame was multi-channel virtualization customized to your face and ear shape. My review is focused on its audio performance and not this feature.

I liked the nice buttons on the SXFI:

View attachment 119625

They have a very positive action. The top button turns on its eq/virtualization.

The class driver in Windows recognizes it as an 8 channel DAC. That way, it can receive multi-channel content in order to down convert it to stereo. Alas, as with other dongles, the class driver only works in 16 bit mode with my Audio Precision software. So for testing, I had to use my Roon player to stream content to it which means no sweeps (other than power). In addition, it only supports maximum of 96 kHz sampling so I could not run my 192 kHz multitone test.

Creative SDXI Amp Measurements
As usual, we start with our dashboard:

View attachment 119628

This is with the output adjusted to 2 volts. Performance is pretty good with distortion below threshold of hearing at -115 dB. Signal to noise ratio/dynamic range falls in the same bucket:

View attachment 119629

Ditto for Jitter:
View attachment 119630

Most important test for a headphone adapter is amount of power so let's get into that starting with 300 ohm load:

View attachment 119631

Not bad:
View attachment 119632

Power was more impressive using 32 ohm load:
View attachment 119633

Headphone Listening Tests
There was good amount of power and lack of distortion with both my Ether CX and Sennheiser HD-650 headphone.

Conclusions
If I had tested the sXFI back in 2019, it would have landed at the top of the class. Even today it holds its own. You can get more though for less money than it retail so not as impressive now. Not sure you want to go and hunt one down (I see a used one for $110 on ebay). But if you did, it would be fine. I put it on my recommended list.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Which one would you suggest is the better DAC/AMP? The Fiio KA3 or the Creative SXFI? These are the readings for the KA3: https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/fiio-ka3/

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

Thanks for that link Aquafax. I don't own any Fiio device so can't say anything on the company. A few thoughts:

Both give adequate power into a 300Ohms headphone (Creative does 19mW vs 14 mW for the Fiio). Measured performance (as per link) does not differ vastly.

Different DAC chip (AKM 4377 vs ESS 9038Q2M).

The Fiio has a unbalanced connection option. Also 768k max sample rate and DSD support, while the Creative does 96k PCM max. (Not that I care.)

The Creative is smaller and lighter and cheaper (as far as I know) and comes with auralization app and gaming DSP functions to play around with.

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

I found the reason for the hissing noise: A fridge (possibly inverter driven) in same room. If that is not running, there is no audible background noise from the unit.

 

[LDvo]

I found the reason for the hissing noise: A fridge (possibly inverter driven) in same room. If that is not running, there is no audible background noise from the unit.

LOL. Good to know. Note to myself - do not test audio equipment in the kitchen.

 

[Hammy4theWin]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Creative Super XFi headphone amplifier and DAC "dongle." It was kindly sent to me by a member. Unfortunately it is discontinued but from what I can tell, it cost US $149. Its claim to fame was multi-channel virtualization customized to your face and ear shape. My review is focused on its audio performance and not this feature.

I liked the nice buttons on the SXFI:

View attachment 119625

They have a very positive action. The top button turns on its eq/virtualization.

The class driver in Windows recognizes it as an 8 channel DAC. That way, it can receive multi-channel content in order to down convert it to stereo. Alas, as with other dongles, the class driver only works in 16 bit mode with my Audio Precision software. So for testing, I had to use my Roon player to stream content to it which means no sweeps (other than power). In addition, it only supports maximum of 96 kHz sampling so I could not run my 192 kHz multitone test.

Creative SDXI Amp Measurements
As usual, we start with our dashboard:

View attachment 119628

This is with the output adjusted to 2 volts. Performance is pretty good with distortion below threshold of hearing at -115 dB. Signal to noise ratio/dynamic range falls in the same bucket:

View attachment 119629

Ditto for Jitter:
View attachment 119630

Most important test for a headphone adapter is amount of power so let's get into that starting with 300 ohm load:

View attachment 119631

Not bad:
View attachment 119632

Power was more impressive using 32 ohm load:
View attachment 119633

Headphone Listening Tests
There was good amount of power and lack of distortion with both my Ether CX and Sennheiser HD-650 headphone.

Conclusions
If I had tested the sXFI back in 2019, it would have landed at the top of the class. Even today it holds its own. You can get more though for less money than it retail so not as impressive now. Not sure you want to go and hunt one down (I see a used one for $110 on ebay). But if you did, it would be fine. I put it on my recommended list.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Well, today, it is $100 less on Amazon. It seems like a pretty good deal at $49.99 - especially given the fact that the AudioQuest Cobalt blew chunks at 6Xs the price!

 

[dumbsuck]

I wonder how many people will listen to 96KHz hi-res music on this thing thinking "oh boy hi-res sounds so good" not knowing that the SXFI/X1 internally downsamples 96KHz to 48KHz XD

 

[Buckaroo Shanzai]

I wonder how many people will listen to 96KHz hi-res music on this thing thinking "oh boy hi-res sounds so good" not knowing that the SXFI/X1 internally downsamples 96KHz to 48KHz XD

Got a source for this? Spec says 24/96 is "supported".

 

[staticV3]

@Buckaroo Shanzai See here:


"Supported" as in "will accept 96kHz without error message". But yeah, it's resampled to 48kHz internally.