Creative Technology today unveiled a limited edition of its latest Sound Blaster X7 at CES 2015. The feature-packed Sound Blaster X7 which is an ultra high-resolution external USB DAC and powerful audio amplifier now comes in an exclusive pearl white color, includes a 144W power adapter that is capable of delivering up to 100W output to passive speakers, and has a very low headphone amplifier output impedance of 1 ohm to drive even the more sensitive in-ear monitors (IEMs) on the market.

The Sound Blaster X7 is designed to connect with a range of gaming and entertainment systems as an ultra high-end external Sound Blaster audio solution with a 24-bit/192kHz high-resolution 127dB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a powerful 100W audio amplifier.

The 144W (24V 6A) power adapter bundled with this limited edition Sound Blaster X7 is capable of harnessing the full potential of the built-in Texas Instruments TPA3116D2 Class-D amplifier inside to deliver up to 100W (2 x 50W RMS @ 4Ohm) to passive bookshelf and tower speakers.

Coupled with Sound Blaster's multi-core DSP, the SB-Axx1, and other high-end audiophile-grade components, such as the Burr-Brown PCM1794 127dB DAC, Nichicon "Fine Gold" capacitors, and the Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier that can support up to 600Ohm headphones, this Sound Blaster X7 will enhance audio quality.

Using one of the lowest-rated impedance IEM in the market with the limited edition Sound Blaster X7 at 1 ohm headphone amplifier output impedance, the Shure SE846 IEM which has a rating of 9 ohms at 1 kHz is able to achieve one of the most linear frequency responses ever. With a small overall variance between +0.5 dB and -1.0 dB, the Sound Blaster X7 is able to reproduce audio almost faithfully. Compared to a typical headphone amplifier using the standard reference design of the Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 headphone amplifier chip at 10 ohms output impedance, one can see from the graph that the frequency response is non-linear with a significant variance between +2.25 dB and -3.8 dB. The frequency response fluctuation shows an increase in low frequencies and loss in mids at 5 kHz which results in coloration of sound when used with low-impedance IEMs like the Shure SE846.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Output 5.1 Channels
• Audio Processor SB-Axx1
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) 127dB (DAC)
• Connectivity Options (Main) microUSB
• Microphone :
  • Built-in Stereo Mic
  • 1 x 1/8" (3.5mm) Mic In
    
• Line / Optical :
  • 1 x RCA Aux/Line In
  • 1 x TOSLINK Optical In
  • 1 x TOSLINK Optical Out
• Speaker :
  • 2 x Binding Post Passive Speaker Out (L/R)
  • 1 x RCA Line/Front Speaker Out
  • 1 x 1/8" (3.5mm) Rear Speaker Out
  • 1 x 1/8" (3.5mm) Center/Sub Speaker Out
• Headphone :
  • 1 x 1/8" (3.5mm)Headphone Out
  • 1 x 1/4" (6.3mm)Headphone Out
• USB HOST :
  • 1 x Type A USB Host Port - Device Audio Stream & Charging
  • Headphone Amp Up to 600 Ohms
  • Max Channel Output 5.1 Channels, Stereo Amplified