I saw it once but can no longer find it. I recall the creative aurvana and teaks were in there. But they work with everything I’ve tried so far: iPhone earbuds, Bose sport earbuds, beoplay h9 and audeze isine20.
I would bet the unit is designed to work with any neutral headphones (as defined by the Harman curve), which means a whole host of high end phones ought to work just fine--especially if they're eq'd.
I would bet the unit is designed to work with any neutral headphones (as defined by the Harman curve), which means a whole host of high end phones ought to work just fine--especially if they're eq'd.
I' ve tested SXFI amp with EP660, Aurvana SE, HD598, HD650/HD6XX, Emu Teak. All of their main sound signature to my ears sounds the same. (Although their sound signature is the same but there are some inherent difference because of the headphones itself, like closed back is different from open back, the details/resolution that the headphone is able to create are different, decay speed, soundstage etc) What I think creative SXFI app did when you select the profile is most likely modify the sound signature to emulate ELAC speakers that they are modeling after. So just get a headphone model that is listed in their SXFI app list and you will be able to get the same ELAC speaker sound signature. If there is a specific sound signature that you prefer, you can try different headphone model in the app and see whether any of it fits your taste and if you want to be more specific, you can use the EQ in the app to further customized to your taste and the settings will all be saved in the SXFI amp which is a very nice touch. So It also means that you do not need to buy expensive headphones to enjoy the SXFI experience.
Has Creative posted a list somewhere of the headphone profiles they currently have available? I've poked around online but have yet to find an explicit list.
I' ve tested SXFI amp with EP660, Aurvana SE, HD598, HD650/HD6XX, Emu Teak. All of their main sound signature to my ears sounds the same. (Although their sound signature is the same but there are some inherent difference because of the headphones itself, like closed back is different from open back, the details/resolution that the headphone is able to create are different, decay speed, soundstage etc) What I think creative SXFI app did when you select the profile is most likely modify the sound signature to emulate ELAC speakers that they are modeling after. So just get a headphone model that is listed in their SXFI app list and you will be able to get the same ELAC speaker sound signature. If there is a specific sound signature that you prefer, you can try different headphone model in the app and see whether any of it fits your taste and if you want to be more specific, you can use the EQ in the app to further customized to your taste and the settings will all be saved in the SXFI amp which is a very nice touch. So It also means that you do not need to buy expensive headphones to enjoy the SXFI experience.
Btw i think head tracking is unnecessary because I am looking straight at the screen 99.9% of the time so unless you are laying down on your bed or couch and would like the music to play from your feet or from your side, it is not necessary for head tracking.
If we can't use the app, how will the SXFI amp knows which headphones we use ? 32 ohms , 64 , 250 , 300 ,600 ?? I mean it could use 32 ohms from what it cares ... so we need External amp so handle the headphones at the right amp cause from all we knows it using 32 ohms without proper calibration and headphones selection ... do I have a point ? because I think we can't use it properly nore AMP and right sound Levels without the APP .. to fix the amp issue we can use external amp cause I don't think the AMP will work default at 600 ohms , not as long you don't set it ..
Indeed the amp won't know. You have to use the app to select the headphone profile. The app will connect to their servers to combine your ear structure and selected headphones to come up with a sound profile that gets loaded onto the amp. I think the app can store more than one profile, but only one gets loaded onto the amp at any point in time. So one would be somewhat handicapped without the app, and only be able to turn the SXFi effect on or off, but won't be able to change headphone profile.
Using the same pair of headphones, I selected different headphone profiles. The sound changes, but I haven't tested whether this is in any way related to impedance. The difference in sound between most headphone profiles are typically less obvious than turning SXFi on and off. However, to get the most out of the amp, it is still important to select the correct headphone profile, so an external AMP won't really solve the problem.
Has Creative posted a list somewhere of the headphone profiles they currently have available? I've poked around online but have yet to find an explicit list.
Thank you! It's too bad Creative can't team up with Sonarworks (or Inner Fidelity), which has already measured tons of headphones. That would greatly expand their list. Here's hoping they periodically keep adding more headphones to their "supported" list. I'd love to see some Audeze and MrSpeakers models get added to that list.
Thank you! It's too bad Creative can't team up with Sonarworks (or Inner Fidelity), which has already measured tons of headphones. That would greatly expand their list. Here's hoping they periodically keep adding more headphones to their "supported" list. I'd love to see some Audeze and MrSpeakers models get added to that list.
i have used the audeze isine20 with sxfi and can say it works. but i dont have the app so its just the general profile. since this is an iem it is less out-of-the-head than an over the ear but still 10x better than plain stereo. i will be testing the LCD series in a few weeks and will report back.
I might add this review to Head-Fi soon, but the item is not created yet and will take some time. It's a matter of copying and pasting from the Creative official website but the marketing department basically went wild with SXFI with all the hype. Eeehhh.
I am in the lucky position to have obtained the SXFI amp and the bundled Aurvana Live SE. Sadly I'll have to wait until the US release of the app before giving it a full go.
Quick thoughts:
- Pretty nice aluminum build with clicky buttons.
- Powered HD 6XXs in stereo mode to well above listening volume levels.
- Holographic audio mode definitely seems to work the best on the Aurvana Live SE to my ears when compared to my other cans.
I'll need a bit more time to really form an opinion, but it's a neat little portable dongle dac/amp. Works on both my Android phone and Windows computer. If anyone has any questions, ask away.
I asked Creative when the app would be released in the U.S., and they said that it should be available around the same time U.S. orders for the amp are fulfilled.
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