On 3rd Dec 2018 another announcement from Creative Technology surfaced titled "Creative and POPULAR Announce Partnership To Bring Super X-Fi Products To Singapore Islandwide". This time I believe the reaction of the public to this piece of news is rather muted and puzzled as compared to the iVideoSmart partnership. Many would wonder who would go buy electronics gadgets from a bookstore. In actual fact, POPULAR has been selling Creative limited range of products like speaker, headphone, earpiece, etc on its chain of outlets for as long as I could remember so including the Super X-Fi Amp is just another additional item on the shelves that all. Creative used to have flagship store in Funan IT Mall but now if anyone want to buy Creative products, it can only be done either online or go down personally to its office if POPULAR does not have that product. Thus, the partnership opens up another channel for consumers to purchase the Super X-Fi Amp. I won't take that as negative news as through the partnership, POPULAR could in a way help in the marketing of the Super X-Fi Amp.
The above is the setup I have for my Super X-Fi Amp. An AUX splitter at the output end of the Super X-Fi Amp to allow for a wired output and a wireless output via the Bluetooth audio transmitter. As I only use the Super X-Fi Amp on my laptop or desktop for listening to music & songs while working and watching drama for entertainment, this setup is probably the best solution for me to enjoy both wired and wireless connection. The wired portion is being connected to Stereo Speaker while the Bluetooth transmitter is for wireless headphone.
While Super X-Fi is meant for headphone/earpiece, the effect it has on speaker is still a significant difference compared to without. For my setup, if I have a pair of Stereo Speaker that has some enhancement on the bass (must have enhancement) and in Windows/Mac I set the configuration to allow a 7.1 surround sound being output from the Super X-Fi Amp, the sound coming out of the speakers gives a feel like you are listening from a soundbar. A soundbar has a minimum 3 speakers to a maximum of 7 speakers in the unit plus a subwoofer but in my case I only have 2 speakers. Moreover, if without the Super X-Fi Amp, the sound being heard is like being punched out from the speakers to your ear. With the Super X-Fi Amp, that effect is gone and sound just reaches my ear naturally. This is due to the directional effect of the Super X-Fi.
The wireless connection is for sometime I wanted to enjoy the listening at a distance. In fact this wireless connection can also apply to wireless speaker (my Stereo Speaker has the bluetooth feature too and that pair of speaker cost me less than $100). Bluetooth audio transmitter (or transmitter cum receiver) with Bluetooth version 4.1 or 4.2 or even 5.0 supporting SBC, AptX, AptX Low Latency, AptX HD codec is easily available for sub $50. The key is must be able to support at least AptX codec apart from the de facto SBC and the wireless headphone must have the same feature too. This is to ensure you won't get the lip sync effect in the sound you hear from the movie or drama. For pure listening to music and songs, SBC codec is sufficient. This is also the case why Sony PS4 has disabled its bluetooth headsets feature to avoid the sound lag issue. The wireless connection terminology is quite similar to the SXFI Air which Creative is yet to launch (suppose to target iPhone users) but there is an actual difference. SXFI Air is processed the bluetooth transmitted signal to give user the holography effect. My setup on the other hand is the post processed holography data are being bluetooth transmitted. Microscopically, looking at the "1" and "0" of the data there should be difference as codec is not totally lossless. However, most people should not be able to hear the difference.
So why not just wait for the SXFI Air and don't need such a "complicated" setup ? Well that personal preference as I do not enjoy prolong usage of headphone/earpiece and at the same time I want to enjoy the Super X-Fi holography effect from speakers. Moreover, it is still unclear the exact technical specification of SXFI Air, will it support at least AptX codec ? If it does, I believe Creative has to license from Qualcomm and that could increase the cost of SXFI Air compared to without.
So what do the above test have on decision to invest in Creative stock for its Super X-Fi technology ? Well put it this way, the setup above affirm that the Super X-Fi holography effect is workable outside headphone/earpiece. This means opening up more options in partnership instead to just headphone/earpiece makers. Having the Super X-Fi technology inside a smartphone, a tablet, a game console, a TV set, a motherboard for laptop or desktop or even speakers are becoming feasible.
Now, with all these options, the success of Super X-Fi for Creative will boil down to the strategy the management going to take. I believe the management this time having learned the lesson from its past Sound Card and Zen MP3 player failure will not just sell the Super X-Fi products. It is licensing the technology or the solution to third party to avoid getting into the scenario that should the products sale fail, the decade long research & development will just go down the drain. This is similar to the concept of 孙子兵法第七篇军争篇 I believe.
Meanwhile, just have to wait patiently for other partnerships to materialize.
