HEADPHONES
ISSUE386|COMPUTER SHOPPER|APRIL2020 79
HEADPHONES
CREAAATIVE’SSXFIAIRheadphonesarethe
firsttousethecompany’sSuperX-Fi
techhhnology.Instead of settling foraregular
twooo-channelstereosignal,SuperX-Fiuses
acooousticmodellingtosimulateamulti-
speeeakersurround-soundexperiencebyusing
jusssttwo50mmneodymiumdrivers.The
reeesult, Creative says, is atangibly three-
dimensional listening experience.
It’s quiteaclaim, but with some clever
tttechnicalwizardry–setupinvolvescreating
wwwhatareessentiallydigitalmapsofyour
ears,theheadphonestailoringtheirsound
outputtofitthem–Creativemakesitwork
astonishinglywell.YoucanevengetSuper
X-Fiworkingthroughathumb-sizedamplifier
forAndroidphonesandtablets,intowhich
yousimplypluginyourownheadphones.
TheSXFIAir,however,haveitbuiltin,which
soundsabettersolutionifyou’regoingtobe
carryingaroundheadphonesanyway.
CHUNKYBEAT
Theobviousdownsideisthatthesearealot
less portable,not just than an amplifier,but
compared to quiteafewother over-ear
headphone sets as well. The SXFI Air weigh
338g, 88g more than the Bose Noise
Cancelling Headphones and 83g more than
Sonnnyyy’sssWWWHHH- 111000000000 XXXMMM 333 ,aaannndddttthhheeeiiirrrbbbuuulllkkkyyy,
all---plastic design is alittle clunky, with
no option to fold or swivel the sizable
earrrcups.Still,thelargeearpadsare
breeeathableandhaveplentyofpadding,
meeeaning they’re not unpleasant to
wear in general.
Colour-wise,the SXFI Aircome in
eithhherblackorwhite,withacircularRGB
lighhhtstriponthedriverhousing,which
cannnbe customised through the SXFI
AIRRRControl app.This is simple,but it
wooould have been neater to integrate
thisssintothe main SXFI app,which
isuuused to set up Super X-Fi.
Built-in touchcontrols on
theeeleftearcup let you
connntrol media and answer
calls, although we found
theeetouchpad somewhat
unrrresponsive,and had to
forrrcefully move one or
twooofingers across the
plaaastic pane to activatea
commmmand. Along the left
edggge, there’s aprotruding
NanoBoom microphone,
which can optionally be
remmmoved and replaced with a
plaaastic cover.There’s also a
CREATIVE SXFI Air
★★★★★
£150•FFFromuk.creative.com
VERDICT
Theseheadphonesuseinnovativetechforathrilling
3D effffffect,thoughitdoesn’tworkwitheverything
Bluetoothpppairingbuttonand
adedicatedddSuperX-Fitoggle.
Yougetttplenty of
connectivitttyoptions,too.
TheUSBTyyype-Ccharging
port can also be connected
to aPC, Maaac,PS4or
NintendoSSSwitch, while a
3.5mm jackkkletsyoulisten
toanaloguesoundsources
andamicroooSDslotenables
standaloneeemusic
playback.NNNaturally,there’s
also Bluetoooothfor
wirelessstrrreaming,butit’s
disappointiiing that this is
limited tottthelowest-quality
SBC codec,,,especiallysince
Creativeitssselfofferscheaper
headphoneeesthat support both the
higher-quality AACand aptX codecs. When
using Bluetttoooooottthhh,yyyooouuucccaaannneeexxxpppeeeccctttaaarrrooouuunnnddd 111000
hoursofplaybackonasinglebatterycharge.SUPERPOWER
SuperX-Fiiseasilythemostinterestingthing
about these headphones, but it’s not exactly
plug-and-play. Once you’ve downloaded the
SXFI app,created an account and paired the
hhheeeaaadddppphhhooonnneeesss,yyyooouuu’llllllnnneeeeeedddtttoootttaaakkkeeettthhhrrreeeeeeppphhhoootttooosss
of your head,sothe headphones can
process and model the sound
appropriately.The best results are
achieved if you can get someone elseee
to take them. If you wish to share
your headphones with another
person, you’ll need to set them up
with aseparateprofile and their
own head map.
The fuss is worth it, however.
Super X-Fi is an immediately stunninggg
achievement: on songs where we
were used to hearing certain
vocals or instruments at
the centre of avirtual
soundstage, with the SXFIII
Air theysounded as
though theywere being
played right in front of
us. It’s an astonishingly
well-realised effect,
and unlike anything
else we’ve heard
from otherwise
similar headphones.
It can give even old
favouritesongs anew lease
of lifecompared to any regulaaar
stereo headphones, and thatiiinnncccllluuudddeeessseeellleeeccctttrrrooossstttaaatttiiicccaaannndddaaauuudddiiioooppphhhiiillleee---gggrrraaadddeee
open-backmodels.It’slikehaving7.1or
Dolbysurroundsoundinagamingheadset,
but without any perceptible loss of quality
or frequency response.Somehow,Creative
pulls this off.
It must be said that the effect doesn’t
work in all scenarios. When using them to
watch avideo podcast, forinstance,the odd
reverb and echo didn’t match the presenters’
voices, and there were also some lip-sync
issues, where the audio wasn’t perfectly in
time with the video.SPECIAL FX
If you come across such aproblem, you can
always switch back to astandard stereo
presentation at the press of abutton.
However,inthis mode,the SXFI Airaren’t so
impressive.All the space is instantly sucked
out of songs that sound lively with Super X-Fi
enabled, with recessed vocals and abloated
lowend. We also experienced some songs
dipping in the upper mids. Forregular stereo
listening, the Sony WH-1000XM3, Bose Noise
Cancelling Headphones and Bowers &Wilkins
PX7 all do abetter job.
You’d expect that, however,considering
that all three are significantly more expensive,
and in any case it doesn’t change the fact
that Creative’s Super X-Fi processing is
something special. If you want asmarter pair
of headphones that provide atruly unique
listening experience,these will fit the bill. For
more general-purpose stereo performance,it’s
worth paying more forthe WH-1000XM3,
especially if you want to block out ambient
noise with ANC.