Super X-Fi audio technology: how it works
According to Creative, the vast majority of audio tracks created today are designed to be played on external speakers, and as headphone users we listen to this type of content all the time. This means that the sound is pumped right into our ears, creating a claustrophobic soundstage where the sound seems unnaturally stuck in our heads, which is acoustically wrong, and according to this manufacturer, good headphone sound is assumed to be a mistake. …
How does Super X-Fi technology work?
In real life, the sound is spacious and deep; Everyone perceives sound differently, depending on the individual and unique structure of the face, as well as the shape of our ears. For a natural and expansive sound that is truly tailored to our individuality, sound must be played through headphones based on how each person perceives sound in real life.
To do this, Creative uses a sophisticated back-computation system to figure out what the audio signal from the headphones should be, and thus reverse the claustrophobic effect they are talking about, again outputting the signal source so that it sounds natural, as if in the real world. … In addition, Super X-Fi personalizes the sound in the headphones by relying on each user’s unique profile, taking into account the complex pathways of external sound propagation to the ears.
This is what they called holographic sound … Imagine listening to a high-quality multi-channel speaker system in the studio and recreating the same expansive experience – with the same original depth, detail, realism and immersion – in headphones. By matching the shape of the listener’s head and ear and converting the sound based on these parameters using Super X-Fi technology, the sound is perceived as if it came from outside the headphones.
Super X-Fi technology is based on computational sound using sophisticated algorithms and computationally intensive techniques to personalize sound for each individual person through a sophisticated head-and-ear mapping process. Indeed, as you can imagine, in order for this sound to become a reality, you first need to let the AI-powered software scan the shape of our head and ears first. How is this done? The easiest way: download photographs of our head in front and in profile and also one closer to one of our ears.
Hundreds of anthropometric parameters are extracted from head characteristics with high precision using a real-time image detection and analysis system. These parameters are then used by the artificial intelligence engine. along with the dynamics of the headphones used (since obviously not all headphones behave or sound the same, so the sound is also tuned for the headphones in question) and synthesizes, creating a multidimensional map of the desired acoustics.
Using this synthesized card, Super X-Fi technology then recreates expansive and natural sound for a “magical” (Creative) listening experience tailored to each individual user. For the end user, all this power is simple and easy to use, as everything is done through an app on a smartphone. It’s as easy as taking a picture of your ears and head and then choosing the headphones you are using; the software does the rest.
A chip specially designed for this technology
The first incarnation of this is a newly created chip called UltraDSP, tuned and specially designed for Super X-Fi technology. Designed for Super X-Fi audio processing, this chip has 5 times the processing power of most of the brand’s Sound Blaster chips while consuming less than half the power.
This integrated SoC which includes a huge cache memory, optimized to process audio at the highest possible speed, so that it is capable of encode and decode in 32-bit format up to 8 channels of high-resolution 24-bit audio at 96 kHz simultaneously. In fact, it even has an audiophile quality built-in DAC (analog-to-digital converter) that provides the best quality possible.
This SXFI chip can reside in the headphones themselves, although it also supports plugging it directly into amplifiers or any other audio device such as USB dongles for wireless headphones, or it can even be installed in smart TVs. Super X-Fi can also exist simply as a software technology, in this case using the CPU resources of the PC on which it is installed. This will obviously have the disadvantage that it consumes system resources, so ideally, of course, be able to have this UltraDSP chip directly in the audio hardware that will be used with the technology.
Later, Creative plans to make this technology available to developers so that they can implement it directly in their programs or even at the operating system level, as Creative’s goal is to partner with all brands and audio manufacturers to expand the technology. for the whole world (this means we will be able to see Super X-Fi technology integrated into third-party headphones, although they will certainly charge royalties for their use).
