[Mad Lust Envy]

It doesn't. Only sends it through usb devices and the PS5 controller.

 

[illram]

Just curious, what’s your setup like currently?

The X7 has optical out but I haven’t been able to make good use of it.

Currently just SXFi dongle for games, but I'd love a line out to a better amp. I have an SDAC and a iFi micro iCAN SE setup for music, so if the GC7 had a functional SXFi analog line out I'd ditch the SDAC and the SXFi dongle and run everything through the iFi. Would simplify things.

But, they've limited the line out before if I remember correctly (X3 did not carry SXFi on its line out I think) so I wonder if they are doing the same here. I cannot find an answer in any of their documentation.

 

[motorwayne]

For me CMSS is just too good, I can't love SBX, tried and tried..and so far to my ear Super X-Fi just sounds weird.

 

[jincuteguy]

As for quality, their pads are top notch. Memory foam is just right, breathes yet has some density for comfort. Quality materials.

As MLE pointed out, changing from stock pads will alter the sound signature. Dekoni has FR charts comparing their models vs stock so you can get an idea of what will change. I use EQ to restore original signature elements using Elite Hybrids on my DT-1990.

Yea i know the earpads will alter the sound. I would get the OEM earpads if I could, but the Earpads for the HD700 are discontinued along with the headphones. I saw some reviews on amazon for Dekoni earpads, and they're horrible.

 

[Chastity]

Yea i know the earpads will alter the sound. I would get the OEM earpads if I could, but the Earpads for the HD700 are discontinued along with the headphones. I saw some reviews on amazon for Dekoni earpads, and they're horrible.

Aren't the HD800 pads the same?

 

[Asyrin25]

I’m not a reviewer but I thought there might be someone considered for the headphones I have.

So I got my teaks in a few weeks ago and I’ve got to say, they are everything I remember about my d7000 and more. There’s something incredible about that sound.

I had an opportunity to compare them with a set of full Lawton teaks with maple cups. Didn’t care for the sound.

So that left it to my LCD-GX.

Without eq, the teaks were clearly superior to my ears. There’s a richness and a body to the lows that the audeze just wasn’t able to touch. The teaks lacks the resolution and mids that the planars provided.

With EQ, (6db bass shelf) the audeze come very close to the rumble of the teaks while still retaining the better resolution, vocals, and piano.

I also personally find the GX much more comfortable to wear.

So while the GX retains the place as my primary gaming set, I’m keeping the teaks. I think it’s important to have more than one headphone to keep sound fresh.

Thanks for the help, MLE and community.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

To anyone playing Outriders, I dunno why, but the Dolby Digital to VSS conversion have the positional cues utterly screwed up. So I advise people to only use Tempest 3D audio or stereo.

This is far from the only issue this game seems to have. I had to get a refund for the Steam version because the game was utterly broken. Bad controls, horrible frame stutters, messed up audio...

The PS5 version is much more stable, despite the ruined DD 5.1 mix. It still crashes though.

That and you will get booted from the servers with no ability to log back in. It's a known issue.

 

[kellte2]

Isn't this kind of an X7 successor lite? Dolby decoding plus Super X-Fi with digital and analog out.

If the line out does super x fi it's an instant buy for me.

Very interested to hear impressions with ps5. If SXFi over line out, it would be approaching instabuy territory. Only rub is that I can’t see it besting the DAC SQ of the X7 with full sparkos op-amp upgrade.

 

[halcyon]

Isn't this kind of an X7 successor lite? Dolby decoding plus Super X-Fi with digital and analog out.

If the line out does super x fi it's an instant buy for me.

Time to order then:

Source: https://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=200442&c

Would love to hear your experiences/comments, if you decide to get one.

 

[halcyon]

Full specs of Sound Blaster GC7 here:
https://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=200429&c

Connection setup options / variations here:
https://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=200430&c

Things that stick out:

- heaphone output impedance: 10 ohms (way too high)
- USB bus powered (won't have a powerful headphone output)
- headphone out power: 32 ohms (Low Gain, 51mW) / 150 ohms (High Gain, 41mW; Low Gain, 16mW) (could be higher)

Personally I'll be most interested in seeing measurements for the total delay/latency out of headphone/line out with SXFI processing on.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Time to order then:

Source: https://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=200442&c

Would love to hear your experiences/comments, if you decide to get one.

I don't think that's referring to SXFI. The device has a surround option OUTSIDE of SXFI. So needs to be made clear on what's getting used, as using SXFI turns off Acoustic Engine, and that's where the surround size setting is.

 

[illram]

I don't think that's referring to SXFI. The device has a surround option OUTSIDE of SXFI. So needs to be made clear on what's getting used, as using SXFI turns off Acoustic Engine, and that's where the surround size setting is.

Yeah could refer to SBX out. I'm pessimistically presuming that is what they are referring to, actually. I wonder if they worry their headphone tuning settings might not work as intended if they let users stick their own amps in the chain.

But, I ordered it anyway as I'm too curious. Unfortunately can't/don't know how to measure latency other than just via eyes and ears. But I'm still excited to play with a new Creative product. I'll let everyone know what I find out.

 

[Evshrug]

Time to order then:

Source: https://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=200442&c

Would love to hear your experiences/comments, if you decide to get one.

Hnnngh!

I don't think that's referring to SXFI. The device has a surround option OUTSIDE of SXFI. So needs to be made clear on what's getting used, as using SXFI turns off Acoustic Engine, and that's where the surround size setting is.

Perhaps, but the screenshot specifically shows the text “Speakers (Line-Out)/Headphone Virtualization Off” with an arrow pointing right, implying a submenu with options.

Why do I have to be so fascinated by surround DSPs

 

[jincuteguy]

Aren't the HD800 pads the same?

You mean like same size? I dont think so

 

[illram]

I has it.

The good news is Creative said it would take 9 business days to get to my house, and it took 1. Excellent. The bad news is it does NOT pass SXFi through line out or SPDIF. Sad face.

It also has an "SPDIF passthrough," but that only passes through whatever is coming in via SPDIF in. One thing I did not test is whether you can decode Dolby Digital via SPDIF input to PCM, add SXFI, then do that out via SPDIF? That would be cool for the last gen of consoles! Sadly too late for me, Creative. My Xbox has been retired from my gaming desk. I did not really mess with Dolby decoding at all. If it does have the ability to add SXFI to Dolby, that would be pretty cool. It's instructions recommend using HDMI extractors to get the Dolby signal in via SPDIF for next gen consoles, though (!).

I played with it for 4 or 5 hours to see if it is worth it over my SXFI dongle. My conclusion is maybe? It does sound different, and I spent a bit of time going back and forth between the dongle and this trying to figure out what the difference was. By ear alone (volume matched) it sounded like there was slightly more db in the upper mid to high end (4k, maybe 8k max) range. Also a little more bass presence to my ears. Just sounds a little "fuller", to me. If you don't have a dongle yet, and want SXFi on your desktop (versus the dongle which is more portable), I'd probably go with this. It's almost the same price, anyway. But if you already have the dongle I wouldn't say it is worth it. You could probably just EQ it to make it sound almost the same if you wanted. (How I isolated the sound difference.) I don't have the X3, so I don't know how it compares to that.

I didn't play around with the decoding, or the SBX (called "Acoustic Engine" here) really. Sounded like SBX to me. With SXFI, I don't really understand why SBX continues to exist, in the same product alongside it, no less. It's inferior. Why this device uses both, I don't know. They are mutually exclusive. (My guess is you cannot add SXFi to Dolby, despite my optimism above, so to keep it relevant for consoles they still need it. Just a hunch.) I also tried some of the gaming presets (they have EQ presets for specific games) and they honestly all sounded terrible. If used for non SXFi purposes (why??) I would just use it like a G6 or X7 and stick to a surround setting I like, and turn everything else off other than maybe a little EQ.

I also tried SXFI "battle". I truly have no clue what Creative is trying to accomplish, here. Honestly, it kind of sounds like Dolby Headphones. What I remember of it anyway. Cues are super isolated to the channel they are supposed to primarily come from, so you can tell the channel they are coming from very well, but there is tons of reverb, like I am in a narrow tunnel, and there is no panning to speak of. Stuff either comes out of one channel, or another. I couldn't really handle it for more than a few minutes.

As per usual with Creative, the software is sort of confusing. First off, let's just take a moment to recognize that every single Creative product has its own app. Some even have multiple apps! (Like SXFI). Sheesh. Here, to use SXFi, you have to install the Creative Control app for the GC7, and you have to also install the Windows App store UWP "SXFi App." But NOT the "SXFi Control" .exe program, which also works with SXFi products, but which does not work with the Creative Control App. Clicking SXFi in the "Creative App" opens the "SXFI App" and god forbid you also have SXFi Control open and another SXFi device attached, because it will cause the SXFI App to just close immediately if you do. The SXFi app sucks and I hate it. You can't login with a Google account, for example, despite being able to login with a Google account on the mobile SXFi app and SXFi Control. What. (You can log in on your phone, and then scan the QR code the Windows App presents, and it will log you in on the Windows app, at least. But if you don't have your phone handy, and your login is your Google login, sorry! No SXFi app for you). SXFi app crashes a lot and is just generally a less pleasant and less functional experience than SXFi Control. It is like a big phone app on your Windows screen. (Why two apps? Why??)

There's loads of other stuff here that a more in depth review could cover, it's a very feature laden device. The mic features, for example, are totally lost on me but clearly a huge improvement over other SXFi devices, and maybe even over the X7 and G6. (Never used mic functionality in any of these products.) It's also kinda cool lookin'. But all I care about is SXFI, at least until my Smyth Realiser (ever?) arrives, and I will suffer whatever indignity Creative throws at me to get it, because it really is fantastic. I truly do not understand their over zealous imprisonment of it from any line out on any product. Release the Kraken, Creative!