[johnstac]

  Just received mine.  Fulfilled by Amazon.  Headphone stand feels a little flimsy.  Putting it together now, but kind of confused as to which power cord I'm supposed to use.  I received 7 different cables, three of which are US cables... not sure which of the 3 to use.

Same here. I thought was was very strange and there is no documentation about any of the cables inside the box. In fact what little documentation that came in the box I had to tape up to my wall. I hate when companies put all of their documentation on one poster size sheet and then fold it up into a tiny square. Fortunately if you I found a very helpful PDF that has all of the information on the X7: http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Manuals/TSD/13325/0xEB7A9DC6/SBX7_UG_EN.pdf  Even so, I didn't find any info on all of those power cables in the box. Clearly many of them are for international use but as you also mentioned, there are 3 that are nearly identical that could fit into my wall jack. There were two that have the little holes in the metal plug terminals. I used one of those. I haven't turned it on yet though. I have some M-Audio powered monitors that I am trying to figure out where to connect. I think I can just connect them to the RCA plugs.
 
I wasn't really understanding user sovereignty68's post. What does "I'm not impressed on SQ" mean? Does anyone else have the X7 that has used it? I will be turning it on for the first time tonight for use with my ATH-M50x. I am happy that we got the discount from Creative but even at 30% off, it still cost over $300 so it should sound damm good. I don't have room for an internal sound card so if the X7 doesn't work out, I don't know of any other high end external sound cards.

 

[purdy44]

Thanks for the heads up, guys! I just found out about the X7 the other day and wound up on this thread looking for impressions. Saw the holiday deal and managed to snag an X7 as well as an E1 for on the go. The products just arrived today and are currently sitting in my car. Unfortunately my dog ate my Momentum's and I won't be getting a new set of cans until Christmas (asked for the M50xbl's). Hoping to hear some more impressions from you guys so I know what to expect when I can finally use the products (especially would like to hear from Johnstac, since you are using the M50x's).

 

[Fegefeuer]

Evshrug's going to do a good review, and conquerator2 as well (with HE-560/K7XX). Check their updates in the Video Games section,

 

[agrosash]

I'm really looking forward to reading more about the sound of these with UE18 Pro or other high-end IEMs. I currently have the Asus Xonar U7 and wonder if the Sound Blaster X7 would be a good upgrade. I don't need the Surround Sound features or passive speaker connection. I just want to be able to listen to my IEMs all day with the best audio (source Mac Pro) possible and be able to manually switch to output to my SoundSticks when I can't use the headphones. If anyone wants to share some recommendations via PM I'll gladly take em

 

[Enginigmatic]

My delivery date just got pushed back from Monday to Tuesday. FedEx Smartpost is the worst.
 
Looking forward to a full review of this device. I only see a couple of reviews and neither of them are very in-depth.

 

[johnstac]

I just wanted to post a little more info on the 3 cables that fit in the household plug. So, having found nothing, I studied the adapter and found that one had solid blades on the end that fits in the wall. The other two have small holes that you usually find on the ends of the blades. That narrowed it down to two. During the online setup, it asks if I planned on using the 70W cord or the 144W cord. I noticed that one of the cords was slightly thicker than the other so I am assuming that the thinner one is for the 70W. The 144W is for high powered speakers over 600ohm. So that helped me figure out which cable to use.
 
I was just going to mention one other thing I discovered through trial and error. I started playing with the settings on the different tabs. Of interest to me was the SBX Pro Studio tab, the Speakers/Headphone tab, the Cinematic tab and the mixer (EQ) tab. I found that most of the music I tried playing on my ATH-M50x sounded terrible. In fact, even the music through my M-Audio studio monitors sounded bad as well. Way to much bass and overall just sounded lousy. I was beginning to think that maybe I had made a mistake. Usually on the EQ, I have the left side up high, the middle low and the right side up high to make that "U" looking curve. I had to change it and keep the right side (bass) down low and make it angle up to the right. I thought this was strange.
 
Finally this morning, I was messing around and found something on the main control panel that I didn't see before. When I click on the profile button at the bottom left, a new window will pop up that offers presets. You can take these presets and use them or adjust them and save your own custom. I found though that the presets were very good. Especially the "Adventure and Action" which I used today in Dragon Age Inquisition. They include other presets like, move, music, driving simulation, first person shooter and others. Very cool and was glad to find it. Hoping it will help someone find it a little quicker since I missed it all day yesterday. Peace.

 

[purdy44]

Hey John, did presets in that little popup window you discovered improve the sound for music? Or just for games? Also, which power cord did you end up using? Is there a difference in sound between the two? Just wondering whether I should skip the 70w and go straight to the bigger cable.

 

[johnstac]

Hey John, did presets in that little popup window you discovered improve the sound for music? Or just for games? Also, which power cord did you end up using? Is there a difference in sound between the two? Just wondering whether I should skip the 70w and go straight to the bigger cable.

First about the cables. I am hearing conflicting messages about these cables. Creative wrote me back and insisted that there is only one adapter that will plug into a household outlet. This just was not my case. I did in fact have the three. I still have not been able to completely differentiate the three, but if you also got three cables then I am not alone. I ignored the plug that has the blades with no holes. I then compared the two cords that have blades with holes in the ends. I noticed that one of the two had a slightly thicker cable than the other. I opted to go with the thinner cable since I am not using high power. I have been told that it does not matter which one you choose if you are planning on using low power. If though you plan on using the 100W amp, you will need the high power cable. Creative insists that this cable is only available as an option to buy online.
 
Regarding the control panel presets, I really liked the gaming preset and use it exclusively.  The only other one I tried was the music. I noticed that when using the music preset and when I looked at the EQ, all of the sliders were right around the middle. I won't lie though. I am still having issues with the bass both on my studio monitors and the headphones. I still have to keep the sliders on the left near the bottom and the sliders on the right closer to the top. I am not at all satisfied with this but I am confident that as more people begin to purchase the X7, we will hear more from people about what settings they are using. That's my hope anyway.

 

[purdy44]

First about the cables. I am hearing conflicting messages about these cables. Creative wrote me back and insisted that there is only one adapter that will plug into a household outlet. This just was not my case. I did in fact have the three. I still have not been able to completely differentiate the three, but if you also got three cables then I am not alone. I ignored the plug that has the blades with no holes. I then compared the two cords that have blades with holes in the ends. I noticed that one of the two had a slightly thicker cable than the other. I opted to go with the thinner cable since I am not using high power. I have been told that it does not matter which one you choose if you are planning on using low power. If though you plan on using the 100W amp, you will need the high power cable. Creative insists that this cable is only available as an option to buy online.

Regarding the control panel presets, I really liked the gaming preset and use it exclusively.  The only other one I tried was the music. I noticed that when using the music preset and when I looked at the EQ, all of the sliders were right around the middle. I won't lie though. I am still having issues with the bass both on my studio monitors and the headphones. I still have to keep the sliders on the left near the bottom and the sliders on the right closer to the top. I am not at all satisfied with this but I am confident that as more people begin to purchase the X7, we will hear more from people about what settings they are using. That's my hope anyway.

Hey John, it turns out you got a review unit; that's why you got the extra cables. Found that out in the Video Game thread.

 

[agrosash]

I'll be receiving mine today and will post impressions soon

 

[Enginigmatic]

One thing I'm having trouble with is the integrated mic. I can't seem to get it to work with my PS3 or my Xbox 360, which is pretty disappointing. It was a longshot to get it to work over USB with my 360. But I was fairly confident that it would work with my PS3 since the PS3 can connect to any bluetooth microphone. This isn't a huge deal since my console gaming is ramping down, and there isn't really any PS3 game that I play online.
 
Here's what happens with my PS3: I am able to add the Sound Blaster X7 as an bluetooth device to my PS3. But the second I go to "Audio Device Settings" on my PS3, the X7 disconnects immediately.
 
I'm wondering if the microphone works with the Xbone or the PS4. What's the point if it only works with PC? Another weird thing -- I can control the device via bluetooth using my phone, but not from the Mac control panel software via bluetooth. I'm assuming it only works via USB.
 
I *can* get bluetooth audio (at 44100Hz) from my Macbook Pro, which is great because it's just one less wire, and I only need stereo audio for music listening. Also, the microphone does seem to work via bluetooth with my Macbook Pro, which makes its PS3 incompatibility even weird.
 
Another weird quirk is that sometimes I have to unplug my headphones and plug them back in for audio to come through. Seems to be related to using multiple input sources or switching between them; I'm not entirely sure. I can actually get the device to process audio for e.g. bluetooth and SPDIF in at the same time, so I don't think the device is getting "confused" per se, it just stops outputting audio to the headphones sometimes.
 
I'm wondering if some of these things could be fixed in something like a firmware update, but is that wishful thinking?
 
Scout mode was pretty effective for me playing a few matches of Gears of War 3. Hearing enemy footsteps is a huge deal in that game, and I felt like I always knew when I wasn't alone and where enemies were relative to me.
 
Also I got a ton of cables. A few of them are for outlets that aren't used in the States, and then three others, two of which seem to be the same?

 

[MeAmir]

OK so i got the unit... my impressions:
first of all... the x7 is beautiful and tiny.
the software have a lot of bugs and  a lot of strege thing happning there.
the x7 connected by line out to my nad c372 with wharfedlae.diamond 9.6.. until now i had the esi audigy hd 2...
when i choosing in the speakers settings the stereo 2.0\2.1 the audio quality is very bad... every kick the volume is down for a quter second,,,, very very bad and strane... i need to switch to sorround and disable all the sorround speakers exept the front speakers... then the sound is fullier and beatifull.. but every time i plug in my headphones.and then plug it out.... the software switch it to the stereo optiong... very very annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the crysillaizer make a good job with wome music... the xbox one sound very very good... 
with my shure se846 the sound is so clean no hiss,
overall i found the x7 to be beatifull dac  with exelent sound quality and very musical.
 
creative need to do update to the software,,,
 
and about the cables..... i got like a 100 cables LOL

 

[552388]

Is there any Data such as SNR about X7?

 

[552388]

OK, Got some data
PCM1794 127dB SNR
24Bit/192KHz 5.1
Links here
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x7

 

[rc80]

  One thing I'm having trouble with is the integrated mic. I can't seem to get it to work with my PS3 or my Xbox 360, which is pretty disappointing. It was a longshot to get it to work over USB with my 360. But I was fairly confident that it would work with my PS3 since the PS3 can connect to any bluetooth microphone. This isn't a huge deal since my console gaming is ramping down, and there isn't really any PS3 game that I play online.
 
Here's what happens with my PS3: I am able to add the Sound Blaster X7 as an bluetooth device to my PS3. But the second I go to "Audio Device Settings" on my PS3, the X7 disconnects immediately.
 
I'm wondering if the microphone works with the Xbone or the PS4. What's the point if it only works with PC? Another weird thing -- I can control the device via bluetooth using my phone, but not from the Mac control panel software via bluetooth. I'm assuming it only works via USB.
 
I *can* get bluetooth audio (at 44100Hz) from my Macbook Pro, which is great because it's just one less wire, and I only need stereo audio for music listening. Also, the microphone does seem to work via bluetooth with my Macbook Pro, which makes its PS3 incompatibility even weird.
 
Another weird quirk is that sometimes I have to unplug my headphones and plug them back in for audio to come through. Seems to be related to using multiple input sources or switching between them; I'm not entirely sure. I can actually get the device to process audio for e.g. bluetooth and SPDIF in at the same time, so I don't think the device is getting "confused" per se, it just stops outputting audio to the headphones sometimes.
 
I'm wondering if some of these things could be fixed in something like a firmware update, but is that wishful thinking?
 
Scout mode was pretty effective for me playing a few matches of Gears of War 3. Hearing enemy footsteps is a huge deal in that game, and I felt like I always knew when I wasn't alone and where enemies were relative to me.
 
Also I got a ton of cables. A few of them are for outlets that aren't used in the States, and then three others, two of which seem to be the same

 
Jumped on a X7 when I heard about it. 
Have had it a couple days.
 
The sound is quite good, and really love the scout mode.  (BF4 / PS4).
I do have the same problems as the quoted post above.
The most frustrating is the mic.  
When making the decision to get the X7 what put me over was the thought that it was an all-in-one box.
After researching a bit, Creative Labs says the X7 can't do vocal communication with gaming consoles??? (scroll down and look for the bold type slightly above the PRINT icon --- http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=124927)
If this is the case, it's getting returned.   Very possible I'm connecting something wrong too.  I admit, I'm new to this.
Anyone have any ideas?
 
 
 
Play FPS games primarily on PS4.
Old setup was AKG 702s w/ Modmic -> Schitt Magni -> Mixamp -> PS4
Sound was good (bit of fuzz in the sound at higher levels) and mic communication was good.