Creative Xmod - Review

I do not know if I should believe the store manager at the Creative Shop at Plaza Singapura.

Let me tell you a story.

A Story
So I was walking around Plaza Singapura after dinner when I decided to check out the Creative Shop. I had recently thought of buying the Creative Xmod which is this nifty little gadget that can supposedly boost the sound quality of even the palest of mp3. And if the audiophile or purist in you thought that by listening to compressed music from CDs is a compromised, well, the Xmod can help as well. Ok, I'm a sceptic when it comes to such claims. Better than studio quality? You sure?



So I had to get one.

I am still deciding whether or not I should believe the store manager at the Creative Shop at Plaza Singapura.

Like "that which cannot be named"
Because I couldn't find the Xmod in the shop, I decided to ask the store assistant. She looked left and to her right before telling me in a hushed tone that yes, she has heard of the Xmod. Cool. Now I feel like a criminal for asking her if the store had the Xmod cause I saw it online. The Xmod came across like some piece of porn. I must have outraged her modesty by asking if she carries it. I meant to ask if the store carries it. Oh well.

She directed me to her Store Manager. He looked around, checked his six and, again in hushed tones, whispered that he was due to set up the Xmod and get it ready tomorrow. The proper promotion was going to start only on 12 Oct 06. A Thursday. Like a typical movie. Premiering on a Thursday. And that was why non was on display.

He went to the store room and brought it out. I was asking him if it was as impressive as was boasted on the website. He decided to risk it all by trying out a set. Damn, evil people. The laptop he was working on was already plugged into one.

The Review
I just had to use it immediately right? So in a rather un-expert manner, I decided to test the Xmod out using DJ Shadow's GDMFSOB featuring Roots Manuva. Deep bass with crispy hi-hats mixed in with spacey bits and bloops.

The Product
Let's take a look at the packaging and contents:

Le Box

Le Box de Inside

Le Contents Part Un

Le Contents Part Deux
(L - R: bag, Xmod module, supplied earphones, USB cable, manual)

The Basics
There is a Line In as well as a Line Out which means that the output can go to a pair of speakers (albeit through a 35mm jack). There is also the headphones Line Out.


The magic is in the X-FI 24-bit Crystalizer which restores vital elements of sound of CD and mp3 quality music. IT does this by analyzing the audio, identifying the elements that are restricted, damaged or diminished during the compression process and re-masters them by selective audio enhancement. The X-Fi CMSS24-3D works by artifcially expanding the soundstage and thereby creating a virtual surround sound setting. Voices are centred and ambient sounds spread across a wider soundstage.


Working with speakers, it'll be as if you're in the middle of a 5.1 surround sound system (almost lah) and the difference can really be felt using simple earphones. These features are not likely to be a favoured enhancements because it gives no control over the fidelity. Well, limited anyways. But to novice like me, haha, it's like an external soundcard.

The Sound
I am not sure how it works, but it does. I am no expert here. The Crystalizer and CMSS-3D can be customised to a level you want but turning the knob. The bevel-edge silver and chrome knob feels so good to use. If not for the weight (it's very light!), it actually looks like a piece of professional recording/playback equipment. Or at least how I imagined professional equipment should look. DJ Shadow's GDMFSOB starts to sound really really different. In fact when I turn the Xmod off to compare, I realise that the bass was actually rather murky and the treble was going off tangent in all directions. With the Crystalizer turned on, bass became deeper and tighter. The hi-hats were crisp and sharper.


Conclusion
Overall, go get this piece of silver-knobbed magic if you want to boost your compressed music. And it's going for only SGD$139. According to the store manager, there will be promotional discounts for i-trigue and other Creative speakers when you purchase an Xmod.

I can't believe it! I might be the first public owner of this wonderful gadget. Well, at least in Singapore. So I choose to believe the store manager, haha, no big deal actually....