Shootouts

The Creative Sound BlasterAxx Speaker Family - Heralding a New Era for Creative

By Kenny Yeo - 17 Sep 2012

Using CrystalVoice

Using CrystalVoice

Apart from audio performance, we also tested and tried out the Sound BlasterAxx’s other features. Since the Sound BlasterAxx is also positioned as a hands-free calling device, we tested the call qualities of the Sound BlasterAXX.

With the Sound BlasterAXX, Creative has introduced their CrystalVoice suite of technologies. One of the primary aims of CrystalVoice is to improve the quality of conversations and so one of the features of CrystalVoice technology is noise reduction, which helps eliminate background noises such as passing vehicles; and also acoustic echo cancellation, which reduces echoes. We found that the noise-canceling capabilities of the Sounder BlasterAxx was pretty much a hit and miss affair. In one instance, we left a vacuum cleaner on in our surroundings and we found that the Sound BlasterAxx did well to reduce the racket it caused; but at the same time, we could still hear some echo in our calls.

The Sound BlasterAxx Control Panel lets users tweak voice calls too. You activate (and deactivate) noise reduction, acoustic echo cancellation, VoiceFocus and also VoiceFX to change your voice into that of someone or something else.

Moving on, one of the more interesting features is what Creative calls VoiceFocus. With it, the Sound BlasterAxx creates a zone and suppresses any noise outside of this zone. However, this feature is available only on the larger SBX 20 and SBX 10 models. In our testing, we found that even if you move out of the zone, the microphone will still pick up your voice if you are close and loud enough.

Another benefit of CrystalVoice is Smart Volume. With Smart Volume enabled, the Sound BlasterAxx automatically adjusts your volume to maintain a consistent level so even if you move away from the Sound BlasterAxx, you needn’t have to raise your voice to be heard. While this certainly sounds good on paper, in practice, we found that Smart Volume doesn’t work too well. We found that the voice would get softer as you move away from the Sound BlasterAxx, though not to quite the same extent as it would have if we had disabled Smart Volume.

Lastly, CrystalVoice also includes sound effects that lets you alter your voice. It can change your voice from male to female or vice versa, give you an abnormally deep voice, or make you sound like an orc, robot or alien. The feature works well enough and we think it could be fun to use it on pesky telemarketers!

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