Creative Aurvana X-FI

sound, design, comfort, noise isolation, price

durability, portability, reliability

75% of the reviews on Amazon.co.uk give this product a positive rating.

design, sound, usability, price, noise isolation

reliability

61% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Improve quality of MP3 files ; Fit comfortably

Expensive ; Surround-sound feature doesnt work well

The Aurvana X-Fi is not inexpensive. But the nearest competitor, Bose's QuietComfort 2, costs just as much and offers half the features. Which would you rather have--headphones that merely block noise, or headphones that block noise and improve your...

Pleasant audio performancemuch better than Bose's Quiet Comforts. Excellent noise cancellation. Well-defined bass. More powerful output than the Quiet Comfort 2's. iPhone-compatible extension cable.

Cable fits awkwardly into headphones. The X-Fi 3D special effect isn't great. Set is less comfy than Bose's Quiet Comfort 2.

These chunky headphones from Creative could be a bit more comfy, but they eliminate as much noise as the Quiet Comfort 2, sound much better, can operate passively, and can play more loudly.

Full, rich sonic performance. Superb noise canceling thwarted ambient sounds, even when the music stops. Hard shell carrying case protects phones from drunken post-club smashing. Lookout, Frodo! 3-D effects do a great job of simulating surround sound....

Expensive! Two seconds of silence when switching on effects. Surround effect more like echo chamber when listening to acoustic or acappella music

Comfy memory foam ear cushions ; X-Fi Crystalizer function improves music & podcasts ; Effective noise-canceling

Expensive ; Bulky & heavy full-size headset

Many of you audioholics out there are chomping at the bit to jump all over me about the poor quality of MP3's and the seemingly contradictory discussion above of improving the fidelity with processing, etc. To you I would say, lighten up. Take it all...

Active noise-cancellation works well; good sound

Active noise-cancellation still detectable; harshes midrange tones; drains batteries

As much as we like Creative’s X-Fi Crystalizer technology, as great as the Aurvana X-Fi headphone’s sound, and as nonintrusive as their noise-cancellation circuitry is, we still prefer the passive noise-blocking technology offered by in-ear phones such...

The Creative Aurvana X-Fi headphones are a mixed bag of interesting and lame. We liked the ability to choose to apply different playback augmentation tools, and we’re sure mainstream consumers will as well. The audio quality was pretty average,...

Overall, we'd recommend the Aurvana X-Fi Noise-Cancelling Headphones as a very good option for their $300 asking price-superior in sound, though not comfort or battery life, to the Bose QuietComfort 2s-and to the extent the Boses are never discounted,...