[mbyrnes]

(copy/pasted my review from the review section)


This is an upgrade (SS3601 and SS3602)


Pros: Clarity, detail, black background, transparency, slight increase in power


Cons: Slightly too large to use the X7 cover, not the cheapest upgrade in the world (if you go for all 4 op-amps)


First, a little about me. Skip this if you want to get right to the meat and potatos.
I've only really been getting into audio since August 2016, with my purchase of the Sennheisher HD 598 paired with my (at the time) Asus ROG Phoebus sound card.

My eyes were opened to just how good sound could.. sound.

I've always had an interest in audio, being a guitarist and gamer, but this being said - I am not a well experienced audiophile, but I am a hobbyist with a bit of an obsession.
Also, thank you Andrew Sparks! He was an absolute pleasure to deal with, would reply quickly and answer any questions I had. I will note that I received a slight dicount for this purchase, as it was of 2X single and 2x dual op-amps.


Gear used 


Creative Soundblaster X7 (which these op-amps are in), 2x Sparkos SS3601 single op-amps, 2x Sparkos SS3602 dual op-amps,  Hifiman HE400i, AKG K712 Pro, Fidelio X2, Little Dot 1+ (with Mullard M8100 tubes and original X7 dual op-amp), Klipsch RP-160M bookshelf speakers.

 
Impressions
The Creative X7 was already a completely satisfactory amp/dac, in which I could find no faults. I was debating buying another amp/dac such as the JDS Element, but decided first after reading some reviews that I would squeeze the most that I can out of the X7.

Well, I'm glad I did. The differences aren't going to be like going from on-board to the X7, or like going from the HD 598 to the HE400i. However, the sound didn't improve in one area - it was improved all around, in a seemingly even way. Sound became louder, more transparent, details were a touch easier to pick up on (some new details in songs were brought to light), I could turn up my volume higher with the X2 before I would hear the noise floor and overall it helped for gaming, as imaging seemed to pick up a touch of accuracy.
I've been leaving the X7 exclusively in high-gain mode, I don't have the ears to notice an improvement apparently, as some say there is a fuller sound to high gain, but any of my headphones are powered easily though they are all sub-100ohm.

I received my Klipsch speakers only a week before the Sparkos op-amps, and I broke them in with pink noise and media for around 50 hours. Switching the op-amps was noticable with the speakers, as well as while using the LD1+ tube amp and X7 only as a DAC.

I have not used any other op-amps to compare to aside from the stock ones.
 My overall impressions are that if you like the Creative X7, and you want as much as you can get out of it - this is worth it. It's like the stock op-amps had the X7 at 85%, while this upgrade brought it up to 100.

 


 
 





I ended up making little feet after this photo, so the X7 now sits higher

Great review, and it's exactly what I heard after the upgrade! Really brings the X7 into audiophile grade ability, I'd put it up against any other DAC/amp without any worry. Upgrade is the best $200 you can spend, better than a separate Modi Multibit, IMO.

 

[Yethal]

Great review, and it's exactly what I heard after the upgrade! Really brings the X7 into audiophile grade ability, I'd put it up against any other DAC/amp without any worry. Upgrade is the best $200 you can spend, better than a separate Modi Multibit, IMO.

And the improvements apply to the line-out so adding an external amp down the road does not invalidate the opamp swap.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  There is a sound quality trade off with bluetooth, aptX has issues with low pass filtering below 5khz creating smeared peaks: if you know what to listen for, it sounds bad. If you turn off all the DSP features you won't hear much difference between direct mode, also the Creative X7 has a rather clever EQ feature built in.
 
Hey Yethal: does direct mode apply to connected USB host devices?

I can't imagine we can reliably detect tiny differences in low pass filtering. I haven't read much about this mind you. I find Bluetooth excellent regardless, and the convenience would for me easily compensate for tiny sonic trade-offs. Each to their own. I may yet try the X7 as it sounds like a fantastic device.

 

[Evshrug]

This is a picture from the "Glorious Linux Master Race" series of memes which by itself is a spoof of Glorious PC Gaming Master Race. Two penguins symbolize Tux (Linux' mascot), smiling guy in the background is Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux and bearded Rayman is Richard Stallman, creator of GNU and Free Software Foundation.

Althouh, I do believe this image is a more accurate depiction of what it's like to run Linux on a daily basis:

I don't disagree with any of the above, except 12 years ago I barely managed to decide against suicide, and simply reinstall Mac OS X on my iBook. With Upgraded RAM. And I think my brief fascination with IKEA furniture satisfies the fourth step of Mac. It's whatever makes you happy!

I can't imagine we can reliably detect tiny differences in low pass filtering. I haven't read much about this mind you. I find Bluetooth excellent regardless, and the convenience would for me easily compensate for tiny sonic trade-offs. Each to their own. I may yet try the X7 as it sounds like a fantastic device.

One company put it quite well at CanJam NYC: there may be a slight degradation of ultimate quality using Bluetooth wireless, but it is easily overmatched by the quality upgrade from a good DAC and amp [and DSP, in the X7's case]. Love my X7 for gaming, movies, and music, and often it makes a case to my ears that my more expensive separate gear is/was redundant. Maybe my Theta DAC sounded a bit better, but I could only use coaxial, which required its own rigmarole of extra gear (eventually used a Raspberry Pi and a HiFiBerry +, because that could connect to my network and thus PC, DNLA NAS server, and AirPlay to connect Mac or iPhone), but it was huge and complicated because it was too simple, and as a desktop solution I just decided to stick with the Sound Blaster X7 (and buy a Mojo for portable/bedroom use).
Now, not to dissuade Sonic Defender, but last summer my X7 (first batch, after about two years of solid service) developed a hardware defect in the USB Host port where low bass impacts cause an irritating ringing noise. Creative tech support politely lead me around possible software causes for two months so they wouldn't have to tell me my device was out of warranty and I'd just have to buy another if I wanted that part working. I'm assuming they don't have a reduced out-of-warranty repair fee, because after updating the firmware and rolling it back to older firmware, and then they suggested the same troubleshooting again, I gave up. What does all that boil down to? I'm very glad that Bluetooth is still an option that sounds fine, meanwhile USB, optical, and analong line-in also work normally.

 

[kellte2]

I don't disagree with any of the above, except 12 years ago I barely managed to decide against suicide, and simply reinstall Mac OS X on my iBook. With Upgraded RAM. And I think my brief fascination with IKEA furniture satisfies the fourth step of Mac. It's whatever makes you happy!
One company put it quite well at CanJam NYC: there may be a slight degradation of ultimate quality using Bluetooth wireless, but it is easily overmatched by the quality upgrade from a good DAC and amp [and DSP, in the X7's case]. Love my X7 for gaming, movies, and music, and often it makes a case to my ears that my more expensive separate gear is/was redundant. Maybe my Theta DAC sounded a bit better, but I could only use coaxial, which required its own rigmarole of extra gear (eventually used a Raspberry Pi and a HiFiBerry +, because that could connect to my network and thus PC, DNLA NAS server, and AirPlay to connect Mac or iPhone), but it was huge and complicated because it was too simple, and as a desktop solution I just decided to stick with the Sound Blaster X7 (and buy a Mojo for portable/bedroom use).
Now, not to dissuade Sonic Defender, but last summer my X7 (first batch, after about two years of solid service) developed a hardware defect in the USB Host port where low bass impacts cause an irritating ringing noise. Creative tech support politely lead me around possible software causes for two months so they wouldn't have to tell me my device was out of warranty and I'd just have to buy another if I wanted that part working. I'm assuming they don't have a reduced out-of-warranty repair fee, because after updating the firmware and rolling it back to older firmware, and then they suggested the same troubleshooting again, I gave up. What does all that boil down to? I'm very glad that Bluetooth is still an option that sounds fine, meanwhile USB, optical, and analong line-in also work normally.

How extreme was the ringing noise from the USB Host port? I've always experienced disappointing low end quality from said port, with a digital tinny/ringing noise on the low end. In fact, I attempted I have my unit replaced under warranty and the replacement unit had identical sound quality (read: unacceptable) via USB Host.

Having said that, I agree: the X7 is ultimately a surprisingly excellent all around device.

 

[Yethal]

Evshrug, do You still have the Stax headphone system? If yes, is there a noticeable improvement after swapping the opamps? Speaker taps use the dual opamps in their signal path.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@Evshrug, bummer of a story for sure, but yes Bluetooth can save the day and what I like about Bluetooth is that as DAC and amplification technology get better even micro units such as embedded in headphones can get better so for those who find they hear differences in DAC and amps, even if say the transmission quality of the signal never really changed there can be better sound quality possible regardless. I fully expect wireless to dominate big time in the audio world very soon, wired headphones for portable I expect will become relegated to cheap low grade nasty consumer stuff.
 
I look forward to when ever portable amp and DAC accept Bluetooth like the current X5 (which I owned) and the upcoming FiiO Q5. Even Mojo has the Poly add on which I may get, but it is expensive. Anyway, I'm just repeating myself and babbling here, but yes Bluetooth is a great feature and nice to see that you also appreciated it with the X7.

 

[Sonic Defender]

How extreme was the ringing noise from the USB Host port? I've always experienced disappointing low end quality from said port, with a digital tinny/ringing noise on the low end. In fact, I attempted I have my unit replaced under warranty and the replacement unit had identical sound quality (read: unacceptable) via USB Host.

Having said that, I agree: the X7 is ultimately a surprisingly excellent all around device.

So to this day you have the same USB Host issue? I take it that it doesn't really bother you much anyway. Still a drag for sure.

 

[kellte2]

So to this day you have the same USB Host issue? I take it that it doesn't really bother you much anyway. Still a drag for sure.

USB Host fidelity (on the two units that I've used) when using my iPhone and iPad is notably worse than Bluetooth. As a workaround, I bought a Chromecast audio and hooked it up via optical (with a switch) to the X7. Chromecast Audio via optical is pretty much the best you can do with Spotify (my source of choice), so I'm happy.

 

[Evshrug]

Well it's Bluetooth 4.0 I believe, which has a maximum bitrate throughput higher than AAC or MP3, so anything from iTunes or Spotify would not be compressed.

Think about this: the X7's Bluetooth receiver is soldered directly to the DSP & DAC chips in the X7, and the DAC is soldered directly to the Amp, so you don't have to worry about interconnect cables, particularly Lightning to USB cables which get kinked and frayed all the time.

I missed that Kellte2 had the same issue as me, at least we aren't alone! I just had a thought but no time to test it out yet, I'm going to try a short extension USB cable and a Audioquest Jitterbug, see if that makes any difference. May or may not.

 

[kellte2]

Question for all those with the BT-W2 transceiver:
 
Do you hear a hiss when paired with your console (PS4)?  I have my Bluetooth slider set at max, as voice chat is hard to hear over in-game sounds, and the hiss following connection between the X7 and BT-W2 transceiver is noticeable.  Only way to reduce it is to lower the Bluetooth volume in the X7 amp under the Mixer settings.  Not sure if I have a PS4 setting that could use adjustment, as I have always wondered why I've needed to max out the Bluetooth mix setting on the X7 to hear friends over in-game noise, gunfire, etc.
 
A quick google search yielded an account by another BT-W2 user with the same issue, so I'm inclined to believe that it isn't a hardware issue.
 
http://xim4.com/community/index.php?topic=44773.0

 

[Yethal]

  Question for all those with the BT-W2 transceiver:
 
Do you hear a hiss when paired with your console (PS4)?  I have my Bluetooth slider set at max, as voice chat is hard to hear over in-game sounds, and the hiss following connection between the X7 and BT-W2 transceiver is noticeable.  Only way to reduce it is to lower the Bluetooth volume in the X7 amp under the Mixer settings.  Not sure if I have a PS4 setting that could use adjustment, as I have always wondered why I've needed to max out the Bluetooth mix setting on the X7 to hear friends over in-game noise, gunfire, etc.
 
A quick google search yielded an account by another BT-W2 user with the same issue, so I'm inclined to believe that it isn't a hardware issue.
 
http://xim4.com/community/index.php?topic=44773.0

Haven't noticed but I'll check.

 

[sparko311]

Andrew of Sparkos Labs here.  Wow guys, reading this thread has all but brought a tear to my eye and definitely put a smile on my face. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews, impressions, and kind words.  If anyone has any questions about the devices or compatibility with your gear, or installation questions, I would be happy to answer them. 

 

[kellte2]

  Andrew of Sparkos Labs here.  Wow guys, reading this thread has all but brought a tear to my eye and definitely put a smile on my face. I would like to thank everyone for their reviews, impressions, and kind words.  If anyone has any questions about the devices or compatibility with your gear, or installation questions, I would be happy to answer them. 

 
Your products have gotten a lot of traction on this thread!  I am a big fan of the Singles in my X7.
 
I know there have been posts dedicated to the doubles in the past, especially with respect to getting them to fit inside the lid closure.  Other than a soldering operation, is there any way to get the doubles to fit in the X7 with the lid closed?

 

[sparko311]

Well there are a couple options - and it sounds like there may be some confusion out there about the legs, risers, sockets, etc. 

The devices are shipped with a socket to protect the legs and pins in shipping.  This is one of the cheapest sockets known to man, so its not going to be as good as a socket with circular machined pins would be in an installation.  Once the socket is removed - the remaining gold pins and legs are soldered into place on the board.  I have seen people remove these and run wires - which - you have to be a pro at soldering to even attempt. 

If you need to squeeze out a little height - and are just average at soldering - you can remove the socket in the soundblaster and solder the devices straight into the board.  This will save the height of the socket and I think that may get us somewhere.  Obviously, this will make it much harder to swap devices around since there is no longer a socket, so it may be best to do this only after one is done playing around with everything. 

Some of these things have a shield or cover and depending on how it mechanically works one may be able to space the shield off a bit with some flat washers or hexnuts, and I think it may buy us just enough room to but the cover/shield back on.  The soundblaster (looking at these pics anyway) may not be a candidate for this.

Andrew