Creative's Super X-Fi™ Headphone Holography Wins Best of CES Award 2018

SUPER X-FI WOWS AVS FORUM EDITOR
Mark Henninger (Senior Editor, AVS Forum -- the world's largest AV-enthusiast forum site) spoke with CEO of Creative Technology, Sim Wong Hoo, and shared that he was blown away by the Super X-Fi demo, and that it was the 'Holy Grail' of headphone audio. The demo involved listening to a high-end 5.1.2 multi-speaker system in a room, then when Super X-Fi-enabled headphones were put on, listeners experienced the exact same audio soundstage as they had heard a few moments before, this time just from two plain headphone drivers.

Super X-Fi captures the listening experience of a high-end multi-speaker system in a studio and actually recreates that same expansive experience – the same depth, detail, soundstage, three dimensionality, immersiveness and realism. It's like the magic of 3D holography, but in audio – for the headphones.

Excerpts of Mark Henninger's interview with Sim Wong Hoo can be found at:

• https://youtu.be/mAidEm9_JYM
• https://www.facebook.com/CreativeLabs/videos/10156076014796882/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AlYKNRXS1Y

"We are truly honored to win this award. Super X-Fi has been a dream of mine since the 1990s, and has taken over twenty years of engineering sweat, tears and grit to realize this feat. And now to see how many have been blown away by its magical performance is something truly fulfilling for me on a personal level. I've never been so excited before in my whole life. What we are seeing here is life-changing," said Sim Wong Hoo, CEO of Creative Technology.

"We are on the verge of a universal game-changer in the way people experience audio in their headphones, where the audio experience is so expansive, immersive, and life-like, that it'll be the new norm of headphone-listening. Once you experience Super X-Fi, you won't want to go back to the old headphone experience. It's like after watching color on TV, you won't want to go back to black-and-white! This is the 'Holy Grail' of headphone audio which the whole industry has been searching for. I believe this is what every headphone should sound like. This paradigm shift will elevate mankind's appreciation of audio through this gift we call Super X-Fi."

RAVE REVIEWS
Other expert reviewers were also completely blown away. Here's what some of them are saying:

PCWorld Video Review

• "I just finished the best demo of the show. It's not a curved TV, it's not 8K, it is ... wait for it, Creative Lab's new Super X-Fi technology."  
  - Gordon Ung, Executive Editor, PCWorld
  Full Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO0kmiUYJlY&feature=youtu.be

PCWorld

• "The device also made straightforward stereo music tracks sound magical, as if you were in the room with the musicians playing live."
  - Michael Brown, TechHive Staff
• "As an audio engineer I readily claim that most 'virtual' surround sound applications are junk—until now. Creative Lab's Super X-Fi blew me away. The company's technology makes a stereo headset sound like a surround sound speaker set up in the room with you. This is an important technology used by professional applications, made into an easy-to-use consumer product. This demo stole the show for me, and had my colleagues floored as well!"
  - Adam Patrick Murray, PC World Staff
  Full Review: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3247654/ces/ces-2018-the-best-products.html

Tom's Guide

• "This Holographic-Sound Headphone Dongle Blew My Mind … This mind-blowing audio technology uses acoustic mapping and holographic sound to create a headphone experience that's nearly indistinguishable from what you'd get out of a dedicated set of surround speakers."
  - Michael Andronico, Tom's Guide
  Full Review: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/creative-super-xfi-holographic-sound,news-26441.html

TechHive

• "Super X-Fi Headphone Audio Holography demo blew my mind … If the shipping product is as good as what the company is demoing at CES, it will forever change your perception of headphones."
  - Michael Brown, Executive Editor, TechHive
  Full Review: https://www.techhive.com/article/3246194/ces/creative-super-x-fi-headphone-audio-holography.html

Mobile Syrup

• "If you're curious about what 'audio holography' is, Creative Labs has the goods with its Super X-Fi technology. I gave it a good listen at CES 2018, and it sounded glorious … After hearing the results, I was simply blown away. Even with all the audio products I've tested over the years, my ears were never subjected to anything quite like this."
  - Ted Kritsonis, Mobile Syrup
  Full Review: https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/01/12/creative-labs-holography-technology/

GameTyrant

• "I know, it's unbelievable that the little 'dongle' above can give you sound as good as a 5.1 dolby digital surround sound system, but it absolutely does …  If you have never been an audiophile you will be after using this device. Having used the device I finally understood what was meant by flat sound. When the device was turned on it suddenly sounded like I was in the music recording room with the artist."
  -  Rylind Corolis, GameTyrant
  Full Review: http://gametyrant.com/news/super-x-fi-living-sound

WHAT IS SUPER X-FI?
Imagine capturing the listening experience of a high-end multi-speaker system in a theater and actually re-creating that same expansive experience – the same depth, detail, soundstage, three dimensionality, immersiveness, realism and more. It's like the magic of 3D holography, but in audio – for the headphones.  

Leveraging on leading-edge precision technology that maps the distinct acoustics of an audio system projecting sound to the human ear in three-dimensional space, the Super X-Fi holographic audio experience intelligently translates that complex information into an identical breathtaking listening experience for the headphones.

SUPER X-FI PRODUCT RANGE
Super X-Fi will look to offer a full range of solutions:

• A premium flagship over-the-ear headphone with built-in Super X-Fi and additional virtual reality features (to be announced later)
• Over-the-ear and in-ear headphones with Super X-Fi technology built into tethered dongles
• Dongles with Super X-Fi technology that allow users to connect their own headphones – which will be available sometime in Summer 2018

To find out more about Super X-Fi, register interest in product availability, or sign-up for a free trial app (available soon) which allows you to have a taste of Super X-Fi, visit www.sxfi.com.

About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative drives digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions which include premium wireless speakers, wireless headphones, powerful audiophile-grade amplifiers and digital audio converters, and next-generation home-theatre systems. Creative continues to re-invent the Sound Blaster, which has a user base of over 400 million, with its ground-breaking Sound Blaster Roar and Sound Blaster X7 that aim at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets.

Beyond Sound Blaster, Creative has also unveiled X-Fi Sonic Carrier: a brand-new concept in hi-res audio and video delivery for home entertainment. This technology powerhouse hosts, bridges and enhances a multitude of state-of-the-art technologies and entertainment platforms, and personifies the Audio of Tomorrow.

This announcement relates to products launched in the United States. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Creative, the Creative logo, Super X-Fi, X-Fi, Sonic Carrier and Sound Blaster are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Creative Technology Ltd