Creative Sound Blaster X7 and E-MU XM7 Speaker Review

All of the different found with the Creative Sound Blaster X7 require a more specialized hardware set than what you find with a typical sound card.  Following the lead of audiophile grade DAC devices, Creative has compiled things into a unique external hardware package that simply cannot be mistaken for anything else.

The Sound Blaster X7 measures in at about 5.75 x 6 x 6 inches and weighs about 4.8 pounds. With the optional headset stand attached the height jumps to about 14 inches. The overall shape is striking but definitely not designed for any stacking of components despite the possibility of running the X7 as a preamp. The front surface is dominated by the shiny volume knob.  Working our way down we have the tastefully simple Creative logo then a mesh opening that conceals the dual beamforming microphones.

Next we find a row of three buttons.  From the left we have the Power/Bluetooth button/indicator, DolbyDigital indicator and SBX button/indicator. 

A set of three audio I/O ports round out the front: a 3.50 mm Mic-In jack, a 6.3mm (1/4 inch) Headphone jack and a 3.5mm (1/8 inch) Headphone jack.  The X7 provides support for studio grade headphone support up to 600?.

On the left side we have a USB Host port to connect your favorite mobile devices for streaming.  This port also acts as a USB charger.

We will get to the back in a minute!

The Sound Blaster X7 ships with a variety of cables and adapters listed below.  The included power supply with our Black X7 is an AC/DC power adapter rated at 24V/2.91A.  As mentioned above a high-power adapter (24V 6A) is required to bump the power up to the often advertised 100W+ specification.  I looked for a Creative branded power supply with no success but Amazon did offer a third party solution for about $100. Ouch!

• Sound Blaster X7 Device
• Quick Start Leaflet
• WW Warranty Leaflets
• 24V/2.91A AC-DC Power Adaptor and cable
• RCA to 3.5mm Stereo Cable for Front Out
• RCA to 3.5mm Stereo Cable (Female) for Line-In
• MicroUSB Cable 1.5m
• Headphone Stand

For such a small box the Creative X7 has a pretty good selection of connections. Passive speakers can be both 4? and 8? thanks to the impedance switch providing for a wide variety of speaker options. The 4 speaker output terminals are color coded and clearly labeled though no opening for a banana clip is present until the rubber cover is removed. To the right we have the DC-In power input for the supplied AC/DC power adapter.

Across the bottom we find most of the connectivity options.  As with the Creative iRoar, the X7 supports simultaneous playback.  This means the X7 will play any active input at the same time.  This is both a nice feature and something that takes some getting used to if you have music running and a game or Bluetooth phone for example.

Connections are as follows: A set of color coded RCA Line-outs, a set of 3.5mm line-out jacks to support your surround speakers and a subwoofer, a set of color coded RCA Line-ins for line level devices like a MP3 player, a set of optical S/PDIF jacks for recording and playback devices using optical connectivity and a USB port for audio streaming via the included Micro-USB cable.

The USB connector is recommended for PC connectivity and allows the X7 to be controlled through the Sound Blaster X7 software.  It is important to state the X7 can be used without a computer or smart device as a sound processor and a preamp.  You just won’t have all the cool software tools to tune things.

More on that in a minute.