Headphones
Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones review
By Darren Gladstone, PC World | Published: 09:00, 31 March 2008
The Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones block external noise and improve audio quality. But cheap they are not.
Noise-cancelling headphones prevent the roar of jet engines (or PC fans) from marring your listening experience.
Creative has now added X-Fi sound card technology to the Aurvana X-Fi noise-cancelling headphones. X-Fi technology promises to restore the original sound quality of music compressed into MP3 files and to convert stereo audio into 3D surround sound. Does it work? Well, yes and no.
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Two AAA batteries fuel the Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones. Flick the power on and select the X-Fi option, and the headphones improve most MP3 files. Both 128 kilobits per second (kbps) and 196kbps recordings of Green Day's "Minority" had distinctly heftier sound. In fact, X-Fi gave music a boost in any format, compressed or not.
We wish that X-Fi CMSS-3D, the 3D-sound-simulating component of Creative's X-Fi technology, worked as well as the compressed-music enrichment feature did. Unfortunately, most surround simulators fall flat - and X-Fi CMSS-3D is no exception, sacrificing sound quality just to trick your ears. Unless you enjoy listening to music through six tinny channels, forget about using CMSS-3D.
That gripe aside, we found plenty to love in the Creative Aurvana X-Fi. The solidly constructed cans felt good on my head. And although the noise-cancelling technology didn't fully silence ambient sounds, it did reduce the drone of a commuter bus.
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