My Creative Christmas List
Every year around this time, both for work and out of sincere curiosity, I browse the consumer electronics world for interesting new products that might help me max out the enjoyment of my precious few entertainment hours. This year, I've been particularly interested in portable audio products: those that enhance the sound of music and movies on my PC or portable device. Strangely enough, many of the gift-worthy items that I would either want for myself or would recommend bestowing upon like-minded friends and family came from a single manufacturer in 2014: Creative.
To be fair, I've been covering their products since they were better known as Creative Labs back in the '90s, when all I knew from them was their Sound Blaster PC sound cards. Their offerings have evolved quite a bit since then, but these recent selections all provide the "Big Sound" that we take so seriously hereabouts, illustrating the company's deliberate and rather successful transition to high-end audio for a range of scenarios. Starting with...
Aurvana Platinum Wireless Bluetooth Headphones ($299.99)
Even if we don't fly much, noise-cancelling headphones are becoming more of a necessity in daily life, be it on long roadtrips or those interminable days in a hectic office without walls. Simply by providing a pleasant neutrality, they can make everything we listen to more enjoyable. And in this iOS/Android world of modern convenience, a wireless option is rapidly becoming the new standard. With that in mind, I gravitated toward the Aurvana Platinum, a full over-the-ear Bluetooth 3.0 headset, with the added ease of one-touch NFC (nearfield communication) pairing with compatible devices.
There are three active noise cancellation settings, for airplane, indoor (i.e. office) and outdoor situations. Extensive controls on the right earcup not only tailor the sound but manipulate music and calls. Also critical (and oft-neglected in my experience) is build-quality, for the frequent on-the-head/off-the-head grabbage, and as befits a flagship headphone, these are comfortable thanks in large part to the generous application of substantial memory foam, yet we can feel the durability underneath: solid without being noticeably heavy. And in an unexpected bit of technology, we can also pair a second Aurvana Platinum to the same Bluetooth source device, or pair two different devices to the same set of Aurvana Platinum cans!
But how do they sound? They pack 50mm Neodymium drivers, and the cushions do a fine job of isolating the listener even when we're powered off. The noise suppression is appreciable in all modes without being distracting, both wired and wireless (aptX and AAC standards are supported), with wonderful spaciousness and detail in my most challenging music tracks and true depth and cinematic presence on movies. The onboard ClearSpeech Engine also reportedly improves call quality. My string of demos didn't quite make it to the promised 15-hour mark, but certainly no recharge of the built-in battery was needed. A travel pouch and the expected accessories are included.
Where to Buy:
Sound Blaster E5 USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier ($199.99)
I've watched with fascination the rise of the audiophile-grade portable digital-to-analog converter. This growing niche is a testament to the simultaneous evolutions of music listening: an ever-more-portable, "lifestyle" form of entertainment, but despite the convenience of digital files, the technology exists to make it sound better than ever, and consumers who know the difference are demanding it.
Enter the Creative Sound Blaster E5 high-resolution (24-bit/192kHz) USB DAC and 600-ohm portable headphone amplifier. This is the top model in Creative's recent "E" line of headphone amps and DACs, bringing an audiophile upgrade to a variety of usage models, compatible with just about any headphones we would want to try it with. In addition to the Aurvana Platinum in the wired configuration, I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 475 on-ears handy at my desk for such auditions. A dual gain switch allows us to match up with either low-impedance or high-impedance 'phones.
Without getting super-technical, an outboard DAC like the E5 handles the essential process of converting digital music's zeros and ones to an enjoyable analog signal. A dedicated device beyond, say, the limitations of a wafer-thin smartphone, could theoretically do a better job, with specialized hardware inside for this very purpose. In this case, the goods under the hood are the Cirrus Logic CS4398 D/A Converter, CS5361 A/D Converter and the Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier, plus the proprietary SB-Axx1 multi-core DSP available at the touch of the SBX button.
The value of a good portable DAC and amplifier is self-evident, even if it's for a task as mundane as boosting volume levels in noisy locations, and the E5 also packs two headphone jacks, providing a high-quality splitter when we're on-the-go with a companion. There are actually four different ways to connect with wires, plus Bluetooth 4.1 with NFC for wireless. The best way to connect is directly via USB and we can even do this on a fair number of Android and Apple phones which support "USB Host" capabilities using a special USB OTG cable. A list of compatible devices can be found at creative.com (scroll down to the section "For Quality Digital Audio On-The-Go!"). This enables a pure digital audio signal to go from the source to the E5, which handles the decoding duties for us. It will drain your phone battery pretty quickly though, as the phone is also powering the DAC, so be prepared for that.
The Sound Blaster Central App for iOS/Android lets us get the most out of the connected DAC/amp. It can also plug into PC or Mac as a high-performance external DAC/amp on the desktop. A mini-Toslink cable, a desk stand and even a couple of elastic bands--to lash the E5 to our portable source device--are included, among the other accessories.
I've heard my go-to FLAC tracks sound fantastic and sometimes they can be just okay, depending upon the playback equipment, but with the E5 I'm happy to report the former: unbridled sonics with an expansive soundstage, excellent detail and vast dynamic range.
Where to Buy:
Sound Blaster Roar Bluetooth Speaker ($149.99)
The Bluetooth speaker landscape is growing ever-more cluttered, but the cream rises, certainly: The Sound Blaster Roar is already an entrenched bestseller on Amazon, for a variety of reasons. It's a five-driver--with an active built-in subwoofer, enhanced by passive radiators on each end--Bluetooth speaker with NFC, and that combination makes pairing to compatible devices wicked-fast and nigh-automatic: just tap, listen and we're live.
Roar plays loudly, with interesting features like an eponymous Roar Mode for even louder loudness, and TeraBass bass boost for low-level listening. (Low end is respectable if not reference-quality.) In any number of situations though, this bi-amplified brick (one for lows and mids, one just for highs) will pump out audio levels that won't be ignored. And when one is simply not enough, we can link two for an even wider, more powerful soundfield via the optional MegaStereo Cable. At 2.2 x 7.9 x 4.5 inches and 2.5 pounds, it's portable but also eminently parkable at home on a patio or coffee table.
Feature-wise, the Roar approaches outright nuttiness, going far beyond the wireless playback of music or turning our phone into conference-ready speakerphone. Creative also saw fit to make this thing a portable charger, since it has a more-than-ample 6000 mAh Li-ion power cell of its own within, plus it's a microSD card reader, so it can play back loaded MP3/WMA/WAV files as well as record audio to said card. And if we plug it into our PC, our computer now has its own outboard digital-to-analog converter. There are multiple options for wired connectivity, too, especially surprising for a Bluetooth device! Yeah, this one is something of a sonic Swiss Army knife.
Where to Buy:
Sound Blaster X7 ($399.99)
This last item is difficult to categorize, but I'll give it a go. Creative describes it modestly as an "Ultra High Fidelity Digital Audio Superhighway," but surely this distinctive-looking desktop/bookshelf gadget is one of the most impressive products they've ever made. I'd call it a "decoder/amplifier," but I don't want to sell it short. Many of the features discussed this far can be found here too, but takes them further: The Burr-Brown PCM1794 127dB DAC supports high-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit 192kHz (for PC/Mac) including 24-bit 88.2kHz and 24-bit 176.4kHz. We're AptX wireless-ready again, this time as part of the Bluetooth 4.1 support. There's a Sound Blaster X7 Control App to go with it, and custom Sound Blaster X7 Control software for the computer.
In short, the X7 is a very funky extension of the Sound Blaster family, a name once used to designate those PC sound cards I mentioned earlier. It can be easily connected to the computer, or a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. The 100-watt stereo amp for 4- or 8-ohm speakers (an optional AC adapter is required for full power) also proffers a satisfying, compact home theater solution, thanks to its onboard 5.1-channel discrete Dolby Digital decoding. Digital optical audio input and output are provided, along with L/R passive speaker binding posts, shared eighth-inch center/sub and surround speaker outs, eighth- and quarter-inch headphone outs (appropriately, a headphone stand is included) as well as a USB Host port. I can't say that I've tried every possible configuration of this versatile beast, but I will say that the X7 is a remarkably high-end (gold capacitors! user swappable op-amps!) solution to a variety of everyday audio needs.
And it will look great too, under the tree.
Where to Buy:
