Customer Reviews
Too much hype. 
2008-03-31
I had been looking forward to this product after being wowed by the demonstration on Creative's website. But unfortunately it doesn't do that well a job. It tries to enhance anything you're listening to, so alot of times it will try to make something out of nothing. They say it can make bad quality music into great quality, but it's just not happening. You can get lucky with some cd quality music, but don't think you're going to be able to watch YouTube music videos with greatly improved sound. I was thinking so, but it just distorts it, brings the wrong sounds louder, bass bigger, not really what the producer intended. The best pro I can find is that the unit itself is very good quality, along with the USB cable and pouch included. You can get lucky with some music, though. It's not always bad. If you can get one for cheap, go ahead and get one if you want, but don't pay full price.
You think your iPod sounds good now? Just wait 
2007-12-30
Earlier this year I bought a Creative X-Fi sound card for my desktop computer, and it made the sound quality exponentially better. Therefore, I began looking for a portable one for my laptop and iPod. It does EXACTLY what it says it does, it makes sound quality increase beyond belief. Not to mention, my laptop didn't get very loud through headphones, now I can't turn up past the third bar (out of over 10)! I only listened to my music (other than on my desktop) occasionally, now I listen to it all the time through headphones just because of this device. Personally, I only use the Crystallizer for music, but both for movies.
Now for the bad, I picked this up at Best Buy for only $34.99, not $71 like Amazon's current price. The ONLY other downside is that with iPod use, you have to be near a power outlet. However, I'm considering trying a USB Battery Pack such as this one Apple iPod / iPhone Portable Battery Starter Kit to see if the X-Mod can draw power (through its USB cable) from it so that it can be fully portable. It sounds like a lot of equipment but, personally, I think its worth it to listen in the highest quality possible.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY A A/C POWER ADAPTER TO HAVE THIS WORK WITH AN IPOD
The USB cord that comes with the X-Mod can be used with an iPod's A/C charger such as this one: Apple MA592LL/A iPod USB Power Adapter
I will recommend a good sound card instead 2007-10-11
I like music and so when I saw this product and some good reviews, I thought this will enrich my listening experience. Well, I am not disappointed with it but I thin k there are better options. The price for the product is too high on what it is suppose to do.
I tried Xmod on logitech 2.1, klipsch 2.1 speakers(good speakers) and bose headphones with and without the crystalizer and CMSS on Xmod. I tried variety for format and sources of music from PC and ipod. I got consistent results which I would like to share.
First, Crystalizer does improve quality, CMSS has no significant effect on sound. I found sound more lively always when crystalizer is turned on, so much so that I wonder why there is on/off button. After researching various music scenarios, I found that it depends on what kind of music you are listening and what your speakers/headphones are! I got the best results for Bose headphones with concert kinda music with lot of people singing and lot of musical instruments.
What the Xmod is doing is basically boosting some frequencies that it think it should. What they say 'restores audio elements lost during compression' is very vague. I was able to reproduce same effects with a good sound card (creative Xtreme music) setups. Even with Sony's audio studio there was so many custom things I could do to song much better than Xmod. So my question is why would you buy this if you can get some good music software or good sound card for less price. Yes, for listening from a source like ipod, it is an option. But then you loose portability. By the way, this is bigger than ipod and needs USB power source. You carry this on one pocket and ipod in other and carry laptop with USB attached to this, who wants to do that?
I don't know what creative was thinking when they designed this. I don't know why they gave headphones with this and not gave power source other than USB.
In short, I do not feel this very useful tool for music fans. It is certainly not for casual listeners.
Try some winamp plug-ins before spent your money 
2007-09-25
This product is beautifull and can help you to clean your audio, but there are better and chepest options to increase the quality of your MP3 as some winamp plug-ins
What a difference!!! 2007-08-31
I have been using on-board sound from my laptop for a long time without thinking about sound card because I think it's still useful and producing good sound. However, I just want to try something new like external sound card that is less than 100 bucks. When I just use crystalizer, I am totally surprised about the sound quality. What a difference!! Only using headphones that come with the package is still good. When I use my PortaPro, oh my god, the sound is quite great for me. It's really easy to setup. I just plug it and Windows XP can find it automatically. Then you just change audio device to Xmod and that's it and ready to rock. In my opinion, the sound range is quite wider than it used to be. It means I can hear some lower and higher frequencies clearly. I'll try to use cmss-3d later for movies because I don't have DVDs that have 5.1 channels audio output yet. However, I tried with VCDs with stereo sound, it sounds quite good. Finally, if you want to improve your sound quality using sound card, I recommend you Xmod instead of your old on-board sound.
wow ...it works! 
2007-08-21
Turn your MP3s into your own personal concert. Hear your movies in virtual surround sound over stereo speakers or headphones. Plus the Creative Xmod Module for PC & Mac is truly plug-and-play. You can use it right out of the box-no software installation needed. X-Fi 24-bit Crystalizer Restore the details and vibrance your music and movies lost during compression. X-Fi technology intelligently enhances the highs and lows so you'll hear it all-crisp cymbal crashes, wailing guitar solos, screeching tires and booming explosions. Slip on your headphones and X-Fi technology moves the sound away from your ears into the space around you. You'll feel like you're sitting in with your favorite band or in the best seat at the movie theater. Connect the Creative Xmod to your USB port and speakers to start listening to your music in seconds. There are no drivers to install for both PC and Macintosh. Restore the details and vibrance that your music lost during MP3 compression
I Love It! 2007-08-20
I've had this since last December. It is going into an IBM t43 laptop. It is connected to an input of my preamp, going thru my stereo (which includes $2000 PSB speakers.) I subsribe to Rhapsody and Live365. I'm not a kid, and I'm not into hyperbole...but the xmod makes these appys sound almost like cd's. I don't use the 3D at all (it justs adds distortion.) But the Crytalizer is unbelievable. I agree with other folks who say that it doesn't do anything for music above 128k, but for typical 32-128 streams, I couldn't live without it!
Great sound card! 2007-08-15
Xmod shows its greatest strength when it plays a low quality recorded music, especially when you play midi music files with the basic soundfont in DirectX. It plays midi music making no diffence from 34 mb soundfont midi playing. It did not reach my expectation when I played 128 kbps MP3 files though it performed well its fuction at 64 kbps or 32 kbps files.
Generally, Xmod is a great sound card. I recommend it.
Great to replace on-board sound 2007-07-31
I was looking for an external sound card for use at work (since I don't want to install anything internal) since my onboard sound has a humming background noise effect+probably doesn't deliver the sound quality that I could get from a dedicated sound card. I realized it would be too cumbersome for a full blown external and came onto this device.
I think I paid around $60 shipped for it. Worth every penny. Let me elaborate.
I run these through a great set of Sennheiser 280 Pros, and previously HD590s. The 3d effect does not do this device any wonders; when you listen through good headphones, you hear high pitched noises since they pick up all the detail.
However, the x-fi crystalizer effect is EXCELLENT. Although slightly harsh at times, it does wonders to open up and make music sound "full". Again, if you don't have quality headphones, you aren't going to notice as much. I listened to the same music through one of my co-workers crappy cans and it sounded NOTHING like it did on my audiophile grade phones, and it did appear to make little difference when on or off. Additionally, I hear complete silence when I mute my sound, no static or noise whatsoever so I know I'm getting a good quality signal.
So, to that effect, I would say pass on this if you are expecting wonders out of your $15 set of headphones; you will probably be very disappointed. But for those that are serious about getting a very portable improvement to their sound, and have the headphones to back it up, this device will awe and amaze you.
Big sound from a little controller 2007-07-14
Frustrated with the earphone jack on my laptop, I decided to give this a go. the Xmod delivers awesome sound, even on my 10 year old computer speakers. I'm getting a new computer and speakers next week and can't wait to use the Xmod with it.
