All-in-one audio wonder: Creative's Sound Blaster X7

We first covered the Creative Sound Blaster X7 in an exclusive first-looks back in September last year, and you may recall that we were left duly impressed by the capabilities of this desktop USB DAC (digital-analog converter) and audio amplifier. Well, a couple of months have passed since, and we’ve finally been able to do a proper review of this incredibly compact system, and we focused largely in its music playback capabilities.

But first, a quick recap:

The Sound Blaster X7 is a high-end USB DAC that supports high-res 24-bit/192kHz, 127dB audio, and features a Dolby certified decoder (Dolby Decode 5.1) with a Class D amplifier that runs at a maximum of 80W with the provided adapter (40W + 40W @ 4Ω), and goes up to 100W (50W + 50W @ 4Ω) if you use the high-power AC/DC adapter (sold separately).

The X7 is designed to work as an audio hub for your home, and so features ports for analog cable speakers, optical inputs for connecting with televisions and other digital input sources, and a full set of line-out jacks with ports for a subwoofer and an additional set of rear speakers. It also features Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX for wireless connection with smart devices, and the switching between output devices can all be done easily through Sound Blaster Central, Creative’s smart device audio app.

Getting started

Getting the Sound Blaster X7 setup is a relatively painless affair. Simply site the Sound Blaster X7 near your audio source (in this case, a laptop), install the drivers and you’re good to go. The software will walk you through setting up speakers or headphones, checking if you’re using the high power adapter with the set and adjusting the power output appropriately.

Once installed, the Sound Blaster Control software gives you a range of options to further fine-tune your audio based on what you’re listening to. Take gaming, for example. The Sound Blaster X7 has a Scout mode that’s supposed to heighten the sensitivity of your headphones so you can hear enemies from further away. Likewise, options have been provided to calibrate your headphones or speakers, and you’ll find the usual mixer and equalizer options, as well as a set of profiles that have been already created to best match various situations.

For our testing, we opted to test the Sound Blaster X7 using headphones as the final output device, thus letting us pit the Sound Blaster X7 against the DAC of an iPhone 6, as well as that of the Sound Blaster E5.

Testing methodology

Starting with our basic iPhone 6 with no amplification as a baseline, we moved up to using our laptop with the Sound Blaster E5 as a source before shifting to the Sound Blaster X7 for comparison and conclusion. In all cases, we stuck with the Beyerdynamics DT 880 Pro headphones as our output, and kept to the same testing tracks to ensure consistency. In this case, we looked at our usual set of test tracks and added two high resolution recordings - Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem, and Ottmar Liebert’s Fireopal (the acoustic version).

The Sound Blaster E5 and the Sound Blaster X7 were both connected to our laptop via USB, with audio profiles left on neutral and SBX effects left off. These gave a better comparison of the differences the hardware made, and also provided for better performance overall as we felt the SBX sound enhancements (SBX Surround, SBX Crystallizer, SBX Bass) colored the sound more than we preferred.

iPhone 6

This might be surprising to some, but the iPhone 6 actually comes with a pretty good DAC, and so is a good way to do some baseline testing of the Beyerdynamics DT 880 Pro. One thing we must note is that the DT 880 Pro has a fairly high impedance of 250Ω, and so would normally call for the use of an amplifier, but in this case we resorted to pushing the volume of the iPhone up to about 80% to properly power the headphones.

Starting with a recording of Hotel California, we felt the DT 880 Pro exhibited a fairly good sense of imaging. Don Henley’s lead guitar had a nice, warm tone that was slightly bright but not too sharp, and Glenn Frey's 12-string rings out nicely too, with enough presence to give you a sense of dimension that lent to the atmosphere carried by the piece. One thing that quickly became quite obvious was that the sweet spots for this set of headphones seemed to be in the mid to upper ranges, as while the low end certainly extended down enough, we found it to be slightly on the dry side.

Next, we moved to a record of Buckethead’s Sail on Soothsayer. On this particular track, we found that the bass had just enough weight to draw you into the piece, but while we quite enjoyed the rendering of Buckethead’s guitar work, we did feel like the piece could have done with a bit more separation between the guitar work and the electronic effects to be more enjoyable.

With Melt My Heart to Stone by Adele, we again found the DT 880 Pro was able to pick up a good amount of detail, as we were able to hear almost every nuance of Adele’s performance - from her warm and smooth vocals to even the intake of breath between verses. Overall, there seemed to be good balance with the instruments, making for an enjoyable performance.

For the final piece of our formal test tracks, we moved on to Tiesto’s Elements of Life, a fast moving electronic piece that requires a good deal of attack and a nice wide sound stage to be perfectly enjoyable. On this piece, the DT 880 Pro felt slightly underpowered, struggling to keep up to the pace of the track somewhat. As before it did provide decent amount of detail with a nice bass line though, so we will say the track was still fairly enjoyable. The sound stage created was fairly wide, and there was a good sense of imaging.

Moving on to the HRA pieces, the two tracks gave the DT 880 Pro a chance to show how much definition it could resolve. On Fireopal by Ottmar Liebert, the quality of the recording was immediately made evident by the way the track had much more detail, along with the added depth in the bass notes. There was just a better sense of energy on this track, which really conveyed a sense of passion in the track. The same could be said with Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem, as Pidgeon’s vocals had a real sense of presence. Appearing slightly left of center, her voice echoes through the track hauntingly, perfectly complemented by the piano accompaniments behind.

So, from this set of testing we can conclude that the base characteristics of the DT 880 Pro are that it has more of an analytical sound signature, with a slight bias towards the midtones and the trebles. Bass extends down well to the lower ranges, but isn’t the most full and tends more towards being slightly dry.

Creative Sound Blaster E5

A baseline impression of the DT 880 Pro thus concluded, we moved on to testing it with Creative’s own Sound Blaster E5, a high resolution 24-bit/192kHz USB DAC and portable headphone amp that’s built on the Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC.

We ran iTunes on our laptop off the Sound Blaster E5 to the DT 880 Pro, and found immediate improvement. On Hotel California, the DT 880 Pro sounded much cleaner when it was fed by the Sound Blaster E5. The guitar notes had better tone on the high end, and the mids and bass felt much improved too. The bass sounded just a bit fuller, and there was slightly better separation between instruments too.

With Buckethead’s Sail On Soothsayer, you could again definitely see an improvement, with a better sense of stereo imaging and a larger soundstage overall. The audio was just cleaner overall, and we definitely got a better sense of pace and a more robust bass. Here is also where we noted that the Sound Blaster E5 was pushed to about 20% volume, showing that the Sound Blaster E5 was most definitely better equipped to feed the DT 880 Pro.

Oddly, the improvement wasn’t across the board, as moving over to Adele’s Melt My Heart to Stone, showed only a slight improvement. There was just a touch more separation between instruments, while the vocals seemed much unchanged. However, we did feel that there was again a bit more body in the bass.

Finishing off with Tiesto’s Elements of Life, the boost the Sound Blaster E5 was able to provide over the iPhone 6’s DAC was again evident, as we felt the DT 880 Pro picked up the underlying bass beat of this fast-paced track much earlier, giving it more body and impact. There was better separation between the main track and the underlaying percussion tracks. All in, the listening experience was definitely more enjoyable, especially towards the end.

Already we can see that adding the Sound Blaster E5 makes quite a significant difference to the audio characteristics the DT 880 Pro is able to present, and the same improvements again surfaced when moving to our HRA tracks.

Ottmar Liebert’s Fireopal for example, showed a much improved midrange, with the guitar play getting better definition and presence. Every notes seemed to ring out just that bit sharper and again we felt that the bass response was a bit rounder. Meanwhile, Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem also benefited from better detail and separation between instruments. Once again, there was a marked improvement from the DT 880 Pro with the inclusion of the Sound Blaster E5.

Creative Sound Blaster X7

So we’ve got a base understanding of the characteristics of the DT 880 Pro, and we’ve seen how much adding a quality USB DAC with amplifier can bring out of the headphones. Now, it’s time to compare it against the subject of this review, the Creative Sound Blaster X7!

Starting with Adele’s Melt my heart to Stone this time, we found that the Sound Blaster X7 picked up the track in some parts where the Sound Blaster E5 didn’t, toning down Adele’s sibilance slightly better and adding a warmer and more natural tone to her vocals. There seemed to be better separation between the instrumental accompaniments in the rear and her vocals, and we felt that the track had better balance overall.

Moving on to Hotel California by the Eagles, we again noticed improved clarity from the very first note. The sense of atmosphere was much improved, and we really got the feeling that we were actually at the concert. The bass had much better depth, and there was a real sense of presence to it now, which really helped to ground the track. If anything, we’d say that we detected a slight bit of echo on the vocals, but that could be a detail we simply hadn’t picked up before.

Next up was Buckethead’s Sail on Soothsayer. This piece seems to suit the DT 880 Pro quite well overall as the fast pace gives it a chance to show of its responsiveness. The piece certainly started off strong, with a wider sound stage and better depth to the bass notes thanks to Sound Blaster X7. As observed before, there was a better sense of separation and more detail overall.

With the aid of the Sound Blaster X7, the DT 880 Pro picked up some of the more minute details of Tiesto’s Elements of Life from the very start, which helped in giving the individual elements more presence. We got a sense of being enveloped with sound as the track picked up the paces, and again there were more depth and better body in the bass notes.

With all our regular test tracks thus far, we picked up more detail and better body in the bass. You might expect the same from the HRA tracks that we auditioned, but Ottmar Liebert’s Fireopal actually felt a little less bassy. There was improved clarity in the mids though, and a better sense of imaging overall, with better clarity on the strings in this piece. The same seemed to apply with Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem, with the strings sounding slightly cleaner and a very slight cutback on the bass overall.

Scoring 

Conclusions

At this point, we think it’s safe to say that the Sound Blaster X7 really does work as advertised, both in terms being able to adequately power your headphones and speakers, and in terms of being able to give you clean audio through its internal DAC. It also offers easy access to the op-amp chips in the base so that you can easily switch the sound to your preference by installing your own op-amp chips.

Bluetooth support means anyone can easily stream songs over to it, and there’s little setup needed to get you going. At just S$499 ($599 for the limited edition version) you get HRA support, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, Bluetooth 4.1 support for wireless playback, and support for two headphones plus an integrated microphone for calls, making it extremely great value for the money, especially if you take the opportunity to pick up a pair of Creative’s E-MU bookshelf speakers at the same time.

There really aren't many other products we can think of at this price point that offer the same amount of features - most desktop DACs will only support output to speakers through the audio jack, and lack the capability to drive passive speakers; especially if you're talking about connecting them directly via speaker cable.

In short, the Sound Blaster X7 is highly recommended.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.