W
e’ve never liked headphones that use active noise cancellation because
they simply mask environmental noise by generating background hiss. But
Creative’s Aurvana X-Fi headphones are almost good enough to win us over.
Donning the headphones and activating their noise-cancellation circuit
instantly silenced the background cacophony created by our building’s HVAC
system and myriad nearby computers—and we could barely detect the circuitry
used to accomplish the feat.
That’s impressive, but Creative has also taken two features from its X-Fi
soundcards and embedded them in these phones. We’re big fans of Creative’s
X-Fi Crystalizer because it adds a natural and pleasant sonic presence to both
compressed music (e.g., MP3s and WMAs) and songs played straight from CD.
We’re not so impressed, however, with Creative’s X-Fi CMSS-3D, an algorithm
that taps the onboard DSP to widen the stereo sound field.
Audio purists, of course, will cringe at the thought of using any of these
features because this processing alters what the artist has wrought. And as
much as we like the noise-canceling feature’s ability to isolate us from the
outside world, we did turn it off while listening to music because it adds a
harsh edge to midrange frequencies. We found this phenomenon particularly
noticeable while listening to the guitar and Linda Thompson’s plaintive vocals
on “Walking on a Wire” (from her collaboration with former husband Richard
Thompson, Shoot out the Lights).These headphones are clearly not designed for mission-critical applica-
tions such as monitoring mix downs. They also consume batteries at an alarm-
ing rate: Having neglected to turn them off before leaving for the day, we came
in the next morning to find their two AAA batteries completely drained (they
behave like normal headphones without power, so the lack of batteries doesn’t
render them useless).
As much as we like Creative’s X-Fi Crystalizer technology, as great as the
Aurvana X-Fi headphone’s sound, and as nonintrusive as their noise-cancella-
tion circuitry is, we still prefer the passive noise-blocking technology offered by
in-ear phones such as Shure’s SE530.
—Michael BrownCreative Aurvana X-Fi
Headphones
Sound Blaster maker delivers the sound of silence
T
he primary benefit of near-field studio monitors like KRK’s VXT 4s is that
they don’t interact with the room. And that’s exactly what you need if
you’re mixing down tracks in a sonically challenged environment such as
a home recording studio, which probably doubles as your bedroom, living
room, or garage.
But most desktop speakers are designed for near-field listening, so what
makes the VXT 4s worthy of their $300 (each) street price? They’re bi-amplified,
for one thing, meaning the woofers and tweeters are powered by their own
amplifiers, with 15 watts dedicated to the production of high frequencies and
30 watts to the lows. And unlike most other powered speaker systems, in which
one amp provides the power for the entire system, each VXT 4 has it own amp
inside its cabinet. This gives you the flexibility of starting out with a stereo mix
station today and expanding it into a surround-sound rig down the road.
The VXT 4s are the smallest speakers in the VXT line and draw their name
from their 4-inch Kevlar woofers. Kevlar’s strength and light weight—the same
material is used to manufacture bullet-proof vests—helps the cones resist
movement after they’ve been initially stimulated by the amplifier. These are
augmented by 1-inch dome tweeters woven from pure silk.
In an effort to reduce cabinet resonance, KRK fabricates its cabinets out of
ABS structural foam, instead of the more common medium-density fiberboard
(MDF). The base of each cabinet is padded to further isolate it from whateversurface it might be resting on, and there are threaded mounts on the bottom in
case you’d like to mount the speakers on a wall or a tripod.
Listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Say What!” (from Soul to Soul), we
dug how clean the music sounded, but we found ourselves wishing for just a
bit more bass. The VXT 4s produce an amazingly tight bottom considering their
tiny woofers, but anyone using them for final mixes will want to be careful not
to overdo it.
—Michael BrownKRK VXT 4 Bi-Amplified
Studio Monitor
These tiny tots delivery mighty sound
90 MAXIMUMPC december 2007
reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized
8
krk vxt studio monitors8
creative aurvana x-fi
$300, http://www.creative.com$300, http://www.krksys.comcreative’s aurvana X-Fi noise-canceling headphones are terrific
travel companions.KrK has packed a ton of pro features into the tiny VXT 4 studio
monitors.7.33”10.06”