Creative Sound Blaster X7 - Detailed Review & Impressions
May 18, 2017 at 12:13 PM Post #2,567 of 3,608
Okay thanks for the quick reply. Looks likes it's worth spending the money on the X7 then.

The great thing about the X7 is the internal amp is powerful enough to drive most headphones. So out of the box it is good enough for most headphones that gamers currently own. Once you want to upgrade, you have a few options that all can make a difference.

Good about X7:
1) RCA outs to any amp you like. This will have VSS added, so your new or better amp takes full advantage of the X7 VSS.
2) Swapping op amps makes a SUBSTANTIAL difference IMO. The Sparkos full swap really upped the X7 overall for Music/VSS. ($200 isn't cheap though). This swap affects ALL outputs, so it maximizes the op amp upgrade.
3) The optical OUT can have the VSS added. This means that the expensive optical DAC you want/own can be thrown into the mix.
4) X7 has an EQ built in. Need more Bass? Want more Highs? tweak to your hearts content! You can save profiles for different headphones!
5) Speaker outs can be used to drive ANY headphone with the appropriate cable adapter. Or drive speakers.
6) Has both a 1/4" and 1/8" headphone output. No need for adapters, just use the native headphone jack.
7) Fully adjustable VSS amount (0-100). You can dial in how much VSS you get. This is a VERY nice feature.
8) BT-W2 gives the PS4 mic ability by plugging mic into the X7 itself. Easier cable management by far over the Xbox One.
9) Music on Direct is very, very good. It competes with a ton of DACs in its price range. Op amp upgrade improves it further.

Downsides:
1) App controlled adjustments. Most would prefer buttons, so changing settings isn't as quick. (you may just leave the X7 in the same setup, so +/- depends on user.
2) If you swap between external and internal amps, you must be careful of current volume (maxed for RCA output). Could blow a headphone by accident. There is no volume level indicator on the unit, only in the app. The volume knob does flash when it hits Max/Min volume, So app technically isn't needed to know volume. May never be an issue (not for me as I always use my MicroZOTL2 amp)
3) Built in Mic is about useless. maybe on a computer desktop setup, but even then I would take a separate Mic.
4) Cable mess with using a mic with the Xbox One. You need a 3.5mm to RCA splitter that runs into the RCA inputs on the back of the X7.
5) Odd shape that is either a love hate. I don't mind it in my setup, but many do not care for the design.
6) Possible cable mess. My X7 sits next to my couch. I have an optical switcher in my TV cabinet for using PS4, Xbox One, Streaming Device (optical outs). That output goes to an optical splitter behind my X7 sending the optical to the X7 and Mimby.

For me and many others, the X7 is the best possible VSS device available. I am very interested in the Smyth Realizer A16, but I just bought a new P75-C1 4K TV, which was more important. I am also curious to see where Microsoft takes audio with the Scorpio. I can wait out and pay more for the Smyth down the road. I also own an Astro Mixamp 2013, which I double amp with a Schiit Magni. I strongly prefer the X7. The Mixamp is terrible for music (no matter the setting) and is just not as clean sounding as the X7. A Mixamp and separate amp is going to get into X7 price territory. There is no comparison in SQ between the 2, X7 walks all over the Mixamp. The current Mixamp is also not very good. The 2011 version seems to be the best they've ever made.

I would also look out for sales on the X7 soon. We have Memorial Day, Father's day, July 4th all coming up soon. Usually sales are posted here when someone finds them, so subscribe if you are interested in getting the best VSS machine currently available. It isn't perfect, but I think most can find a way to use the X7 without much hassle. I do not regret the purchase at all, which I cannot say for other headphone purchases I have made.

If I missed any +/-, let me know and I can update the list for perspective buyers. Also if anyone wants to reuse this post, go right ahead. I hope it sums up the unit well, and if useful, spread the info. Sorry I haven't been active recently. Still recovering from spine surgery. The Burson VS5i op amp upgrade review is in progress, but it is taking longer due to pain and other issues. I can say that the Sparkos are a better op amp, but at twice the cost, that may not be an option for most. The Burson op amps are definitely better than the stock. It's a tough review placing the Bursons between the stock and Sparkos. I have also read multiple issues with the single Bursons in the X7 (couple of times), and want to make sure I am not having issues as well. There was a 100 hour recommended break in period, which I wanted to do with listening. They did get better with time, but I have had a few weird problems at times. It seems to have settled out now.
 
May 18, 2017 at 12:40 PM Post #2,568 of 3,608
Speaking of which, mine is for sale, if anyone is interested.

I've been using it strictly as a VSS to a Chord Mojo and a Cavalli Liquid Carbon. Then I bought a desktop DAC, and something in the chain has to go, and I love the Mojo's portability, so the X7 it is.

It really is a great audio hub, as you can upgrade pieces either the DAC or the amp as you go. One thing I like is that it plays nicely with my Android phone. I can stream Tidal Hifi through my phone to the X7, then out to the DAC. All the while, it will charge my phone. Pretty nifty.

If you can get one for $300, it's a good deal, as it's so darn versatile. It even sounds decent driving efficient speakers. I've just outgrown it. No knock on the device itself.
 
May 21, 2017 at 12:46 PM Post #2,569 of 3,608
Massdrop has the X7 ($299) and X7 LE ($399) dropping now. It hasn't hit the those prices yet, but should. Both are currently $19 more than the stated lowest prices above. I'm almost positive it sells well enough each drop to hit lowest price.
 
Jun 13, 2017 at 9:21 AM Post #2,571 of 3,608
Hey guys,

I've been having some really odd hissing/buzzing noises with my Schiit Asgard 2 paired with a X-Fi Fatal1ty internal card. It doesn't happen when I plug the headphones directly into the soundcard and I suspect it might be somehow due to the power cable as I swapped it with a different one. (or the amp just be revealing the noise in my case, unsure yet)

I never used the new creative stuff (on PC) but I've heard that CMSS-3D is still king. Is it possible (or even recommended) to use the X7 as an amp for my X-Fi soundcard? Would the DSP processing on the soundcard be better than whats in the X7?

A thought I had was maybe only use the soundcard DSP for gaming and switch over to only the X7 when listening to music but I'm unsure how clunky that process is.

I got a X7 laying around after a receiver replaced it but would need to rearrange my PC area significantly due to its shape and my layout so I haven't tried it yet. I would be using a pair of AKG 7XX with this setup.
 
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Jun 18, 2017 at 12:00 AM Post #2,572 of 3,608
I have been considering expending my audio set up to a full 5.2* setup for HT - to accomplish this, I intend to use the creative X7 FR/FL, RR/RL and C/sub 3.5mm jacks, some 3.5mm to RCA splitters get an Emotiva A-800 multi zone power amp [each channel has its own discrete unbalanced L/R RCA input] and use the RCA connections for each channel.

Rear panel of the A-800:
9934085_l.png



Has anyone tried anything like this? how would volume control work with this as the A-800 does not AFAICT have direct control over audio levels.

*yep, two subs. I'm tired of doing the subwoofer crawl, using two powerful subs should reduce the need for it.
 
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Jun 18, 2017 at 1:08 PM Post #2,573 of 3,608
Hello, have some questions for fellow X7 owners.

I've been tossing around the thought of switching from the X7 to a different DAC/Amp recently, and my initial search brought me to the Schiit Jotunheim. I'm just curious on people's thoughts as to whether or not this would be a legitimate upgrade in sound quality between the 2? That would be my primary reason for making the change from the X7 but I just want to ensure that if I do make the switch that whatever I change to has the inputs/outputs that I need and the Jotunheim mostly checks those boxes.

I've also been taking a look through this thread though and perhaps doing the op amp switch on the X7 should be the direction I go in? I guess my curiosity about that is will the op amp replacement get me close to, if not equal the performance of the Jotunheim? Because if that's in question maybe I should just go with the Jotunheim then considering the cost difference between upgrading the op amps and just putting that $ towards the Jotunheim and selling the X7. But then at the same time, if I get the Jotunheim I really couldn't use any kind of a gaming microphone anymore due to it not having that input. A lot of things to consider obviously lol. I kind of tend to think that sticking with the X7 is probably the best overall decision for me, but I'd just like to get my audio quality as high as possible. So maybe the op amp upgrade is the way to go.

If anyone has any advice/recommendations I'd appreciate it, thanks. I hook my X7 up to a PC for gaming/music, I have a turntable going into the RCA inputs, and I have Yamaha HS80M speakers hooked up to it, and I use Beyerdynami T1 headphones. I'd consider speaker/headphone upgrades as well, but I tend to think those are pretty solid components at this point.
 
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Jun 18, 2017 at 9:22 PM Post #2,574 of 3,608
Hello, have some questions for fellow X7 owners.

I've been tossing around the thought of switching from the X7 to a different DAC/Amp recently, and my initial search brought me to the Schiit Jotunheim. I'm just curious on people's thoughts as to whether or not this would be a legitimate upgrade in sound quality between the 2? That would be my primary reason for making the change from the X7 but I just want to ensure that if I do make the switch that whatever I change to has the inputs/outputs that I need and the Jotunheim mostly checks those boxes.

I've also been taking a look through this thread though and perhaps doing the op amp switch on the X7 should be the direction I go in? I guess my curiosity about that is will the op amp replacement get me close to, if not equal the performance of the Jotunheim? Because if that's in question maybe I should just go with the Jotunheim then considering the cost difference between upgrading the op amps and just putting that $ towards the Jotunheim and selling the X7. But then at the same time, if I get the Jotunheim I really couldn't use any kind of a gaming microphone anymore due to it not having that input. A lot of things to consider obviously lol. I kind of tend to think that sticking with the X7 is probably the best overall decision for me, but I'd just like to get my audio quality as high as possible. So maybe the op amp upgrade is the way to go.

If anyone has any advice/recommendations I'd appreciate it, thanks. I hook my X7 up to a PC for gaming/music, I have a turntable going into the RCA inputs, and I have Yamaha HS80M speakers hooked up to it, and I use Beyerdynami T1 headphones. I'd consider speaker/headphone upgrades as well, but I tend to think those are pretty solid components at this point.


By far the biggest sound difference you can make is speakers and headphones. The X7 is no slouch and has a very good amp section. Now an OP amp upgrade will definitely improve the X7, but again, headphones and speakers will make the largest change in sound by a long shot. Which ohm version of the 880s do you have?
 
Jun 18, 2017 at 10:13 PM Post #2,575 of 3,608
By far the biggest sound difference you can make is speakers and headphones. The X7 is no slouch and has a very good amp section. Now an OP amp upgrade will definitely improve the X7, but again, headphones and speakers will make the largest change in sound by a long shot. Which ohm version of the 880s do you have?

I have the 600 ohm T1's and yeah I was wondering about that too, a potential headphone/speaker upgrade.
 
Jun 20, 2017 at 11:59 AM Post #2,576 of 3,608
Hello my fellow X7 owners!

I'm new to this forum but I've been following it quite for a while and made sure I had a good time reading those 172 pages :wink:.
Still, I don't have the feeling that the issue I'm facing has been covered entirely.

I received my X7 / E-MU XM7 combination a few months ago and from the beginning, I was having a blast experiencing the audio upgrade from a low end Edifier system.
I am still absolutely impressed when it comes to audio quality and to the speakers keeping in mind that they are not connected to a subwoofer.

A few weeks ago it started to behave a bit weird: I switched on the X7 and after a few seconds the speakers started to scream at max volume, it was a massive, loud humming and buzzing noise.
As my system was not booted completely, the only solution was to switch off the X7. The volume knob was no help, as I have connected it via USB to my PC.
After trying hard to solve this issue, my only hope was that my device was faulty and an RMA would help. The people at Amazon did not bother a second and just sent me a replacement.

For the first few days, everything was perfect. Crystal clear sound, no issues at all, but then after a few days of use the same sound started to send me shivers again. So, I went on and tried to figure out what could be a possible cause.
As I found out, this issue might be related to the fact that I am not using the headphone/mic jack at all. So the only device connected to my X7 are the passive speakers. Also, from time to time the X7 decides to reset the "Mic Monitoring" setting.
This results in audio loops starting at the integrated microphone of the X7 -> microphone monitoring sends it out over the speakers -> mic array records it again (you people might have a simple word for that situation, I just do not know it, all I found on the Internet was "acoustic feedback" :) )

So i started to watch every single step of my X7. What it does, how it behaves and what the many different settings in the software do. For now it seems that I arrived at the end of my journey.
To me, it looks like every time I shutdown my PC prior to switching off the X7, the device forgets the "mic monitoring" setting, resulting in the same sound all over again, with a volume level depending on if my PC is up or not. If it is, the volume setting is holding that sound on a decent volume level. If it is not, the X7 just screams out at max volume. I just don't get why it would forget the mic monitoring setting on the one hand and also uses it's own microphone ignoring my system settings while the PC is up.

So please, can anybody of you give me any advice on how I teach this thing to do what I want it to do? I'm already pretty desperate, altough it delivers a fine level of audio quality.
Additionally I maybe should tell you, that (as I already said, there is no headset/headphones connected to my X7) I only have a USB headset and I'd like to keep it.

Somebody in this thread described that he does not turn off the device any more, just as a workaround for this issue. I don't want to believe that this is the only solution :frowning2:...

In case any additional information is needed, I will try my best to provide it.
Thanks in advance!
 
Jun 21, 2017 at 6:49 PM Post #2,578 of 3,608
Somebody in this thread described that he does not turn off the device any more, just as a workaround for this issue. I don't want to believe that this is the only solution :frowning2:...

In case any additional information is needed, I will try my best to provide it.
Thanks in advance!

I'm not in the habit of leaving things like PCs running continuously, I turn off my X7 when I'm done with it. But I have mine set up in a set it and forget it manner.

I'm sorry to hear of your woes with the X7 - there is a ghost in the machine and it likes to scream. Changing the positioning/ toe-in of your speakers can help with this. Turning down the volume on the internal mic and shutting off the recording device in the Sound control panel might be of use too.

It has been said that connecting a dummy 3.5mm connector in the X7 mic plug shuts down the internal mic - this can be used to prevent the internal mic from activating.
 
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Jun 22, 2017 at 8:38 AM Post #2,579 of 3,608
I'm not in the habit of leaving things like PCs running continuously, I turn off my X7 when I'm done with it. But I have mine set up in a set it and forget it manner.

I'm sorry to hear of your woes with the X7 - there is a ghost in the machine and it likes to scream. Changing the positioning/ toe-in of your speakers can help with this. Turning down the volume on the internal mic and shutting off the recording device in the Sound control panel might be of use too.

It has been said that connecting a dummy 3.5mm connector in the X7 mic plug shuts down the internal mic - this can be used to prevent the internal mic from activating.

Thanks for your response! Indeed, using a dummy plug would be a valid workaround. Did somebody figure out if it is a defective device, or it's all about the software being used? I just cannot describe how ridiculous it is to sell a device within that price range while the user has to insert a dummy plug if he doesn't want his ears to bleed...
 
Jun 24, 2017 at 6:47 AM Post #2,580 of 3,608
Thanks for your response! Indeed, using a dummy plug would be a valid workaround. Did somebody figure out if it is a defective device, or it's all about the software being used? I just cannot describe how ridiculous it is to sell a device within that price range while the user has to insert a dummy plug if he doesn't want his ears to bleed...

Hi there, X7 owners and all of Head-Fi! First time poster!

I also get this problem as well from time to time but only after the last firmware update which is really annoying. I just end up muting the X7's mic each time but strange how it doesn't remember the setting and only occurs when I haven't used my X7 in a few days (Away from home) and is reconnected though the laptop via USB. I have also experienced the X7 forgetting the speaker configuration from 2.1 thinking I have a 5.1 setup however this has only happened once.

I also have spent time reading through all of the pages on this forum and I have to say there is pretty much nowhere else that has a community that appreciates this product with knowledge of the usefulness and full functionality of the X7 than over here. Most other casual reviewers mock it for comparing it against other DAC/AMP solutions for being cheaper and offering similar functionality which they may do in some areas but the usefulness of the SB-Axx1 chip allowing for multiple streams at once makes it so convenient to have all my audio sources in one place. It really is underrated and that is a functionality I cannot live without. That alone sells the product for me and have had this for over a year now. I will be writing a long time ownership review for this on this website when I'm ready as I feel as if the product is well appreciated here but I have also come for advice.

So I currently own 2 speakers from a previous system, the Gigaworks S750 and am using them with the in-built amplifier of the X7 with an active SA-WS8 subwoofer attached and love it. I see that there are pre-outs, more specificly the rear 3.5mm jack. I want to use this in order to add an additional 2 satellites I would like to use for a 4.1 setup at my desk/bedroom I also see that within the X7 speaker configuration that the centre channel can be removed so I have no reason to believe why 5.1 DD signals coming in from Optical would not be down-mixed to work with 4.1.

In order to do this I would require another amp however not sure what would suit this setup that I am trying to go for. I know I could get a full 5.1 reciever and connect the optical out from the X7 to the reciever however I'm not sure if 5.1 sources from the laptop such as games would be transferred correctly as the X7 does not encode DD hence using the pre-outs seem the correct way to go for 5.1 from all sources. I had tried this with my Creative T7900 which uses multiple 3.5mm input jacks when I first had the X7 and it worked flawlessly.

I would only want something small to put under the X7 for example and was looking at the Topping TP60 however I would also want something balanced that would sound close to the amplifier of the X7. Any ideas? Also sorry if my first post was too big :p
 

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