Creative Sound Blaster X3
The Creative Sound Blaster X3 tries to tackle multiple audio concerns at the same time.
Chances are, your Windows PC or Mac speakers come with middling, if not terrible audio quality. Or maybe they’re decent, but not quite good enough to truly enjoy what the music or games you spend time listening to.
Cue the Creative Sound Blaster X3, a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with a headphone amplifier that can produce virtual 7.1 surround sound, and offers a variety of ways to enhance the audio coming out of your computer or game console.
It’s like an external sound card that’s compatible with PS4, PC and Mac and has the added bonus of harbouring SXFI, Creative’s audio technology that simulates 3D sound in a pair of stereo headphones.
Creative found a way to keep things simple, yet provide different avenues to pursue all at once. The primary input is the large knob in the middle that controls a couple of different things, depending on setup. The three buttons laid out in front of it mute the microphone, change audio modes and toggle Super X-Fi on or off.
On the rear, there are no less than seven ports. USB-C is the power port, whereas the rest are all about audio variety. The Toslink optical output is there if you want to set up your TV or game console that way. A 3.5mm line-in port is perhaps the easiest and most common of them all. Then you have four line-outs for sound systems.
We didn’t find the Sound Blaster X3 difficult to set up, though we should also note that there are several different configurations and settings to note. You also need Creative’s Sound Blaster Command app on iOS or Android to help facilitate some of the features, especially Super X-Fi. For example, if you’ve never used Super X-Fi before, you would need to download that app to map your face and ears and create a personalized audio profile. If you already have a profile, it’s easy to link it to the Sound Blaster Command app, which then applies it to the X3.
From an audio perspective, the X3 can handle up to 32-bit at 192KHz, putting it above just about any pair of headphones you probably own (audiophile gear, notwithstanding). The amplifier inside is a nod to more discerning audio listeners, where Creative says the DAC and Super X-Fi are able to push out great sound to them.
We like Super X-Fi for the simple reason that it makes audio sound like nothing else does. Everything resonates and the wider soundstage is easy to appreciate. Sure, there is extra reverb that does sometimes make a studio track sound like it’s live, but we dig it anyway. Mind you, that’s not necessarily Creative’s intention. They want to emulate what a room sounds like, not a concert hall, and in that regard, we would say that results are entirely subjective.
“It’s like an external sound card that’s compatible with PS4, PC and Mac and has the added bonus of harbouring SXFI. ”