Tag Archives: Creative

02Apr 2012

Creative EP-830 Headphones

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The Creative EP-830 is a mid-range price set of in-ear headphones. I’ve previously reviewed their Aurvana In-Ear2 which is at the high end so this will provide a useful comparison.

Unfortunately, between both reviews I have been spoilt by, what I believe, are the best headphones I’ve owned – the free set that came with my Samsung Galaxy S2. They lack higher end detail but have plenty of base and are ideal for music listening.

The EP-830 comes in a plastic box along with a very nice soft draw-string pouch, 3 sets of silicon ear-tips and a small booklet.

The cable on the headphones are rubber coated, giving a nice grippy feel. Unfortunately, the cables are flat, rather than round, meaning they are more easily tangled. The jack on the end is gold plated.

The earpieces themselves look very nice – certainly more professional that my Samsung’s, with a combination of black matte plastic and dulled chromed sections. The “down” section of them is long than I’d ideally like and offset the centre of gravity somewhat. They tips fit snuggling in the ear – in fact better than any other headphones I’ve tried. These are noise reduction headphones and sit somewhere between my Samsung headphones and the Aurvana’s – a lot of noise is blocked with just the occasional leakage. There is certainly little leakage of sound outwards, though, so they won’t bother fellow passengers on public transport!

In use, however, they are a little disappointing. I played my current fav album – the soundtrack to Tron Legacy (yes, yes, I am a geek). The high end is good and I could pick out extra detail quite easily. Not as brilliant as the Aurvana’s, but better than the Samsung’s.

Where is was let down, though, is the bass. Or lack of it. They, at least, have this in common with the Aurvana, but to a greater degree. The opening overture of Tron Legacy has an amazing last third but with the EP-830 it sounded lifeless and flat. Reviews on Amazon would suggest that everybody is experiencing the lack of bass but different people have their own thoughts on this – many quite happy with this with the improvement in detail. As with all things audio, it’s an individual preference.

The EP-830 has an RRP of £39.99 but can be bought from Amazon at the moment for just £11.47.

Summary of Creative EP-830 Headphones

A very good pair of headphones let down by a few minor details but, in particular, the lack of bass. In quieter sections, the EP-830 sounds excellent but as soon as the volume cranks up they give in. A shame.
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 2nd April 2012.

24Sep 2011

Creative ZiiSound DSx

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The ZiiSound DSx is a complimentary wireless sub-woofer for the excellent D5x speakers.

With a width and height of 22cm, a depth of 29cm and a weight of over 4.6 kg it’s not overly huge but, at the same time, will certainly remain noticeable.

In matt black with cloth speaker covers it’s understated. There are 2 circular cloths on the sides – these are the “pressure drivers” – and one square cloth covering the whole of the front (the “master driver”). There are few connections and controls on the back – a power connector (the power supply is inline), bass level control knob and a link button. The latter is for linking the DSx to other speakers (with up to 30 metres of range) and working wonderfully easily. Behind the main front cloth is a white LED that shows pairing and power status.

The DSx will power down automatically (there isn’t a power button) when the master speaker looses connection or is switched off. This means you can place it in the corner of a room and forget about it.

I had this connected to my D5x and it sounded amazing – the bass (which I only had at the default half-way setting) was superb and really added to the already excellent sound from the D5x’s. To achieve this Creative have introduced a technology that they call SLAM™…

Featuring Creative SLAM™ (Symmetrically Loaded Acoustic Module) technology, the compact subwoofer delivers a thunderous output. This portless design is extensively tuned and utilizes a master driver and dual pressure drivers housed in a highly compact inert enclosure. The end result? Quick transient response of a small driver together and high-output capability and deep bass extension of larger drivers.

As always with Creative the packaging is excellent with a thick paper manual accompanying it.

Disclosure of gift

The product reviewed in this article was given to me as a gift. However, this, in no way, guarantees the provider with a more-favourable review. Indeed, my reputation is important and I would not want you to think that any review has not been written with honesty and integrity.


Summary of Creative ZiiSound DSx

Just when I thought the ZiiSound D5x speakers couldn’t sound any better, they introduce the DSx subwoofer. Wireless, attractive and compact they are a brilliant accompaniment.
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 24th September 2011.

23Sep 2011

Firmware update for the Creative ZiiO 7

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Hots on the heels of the 2.2 update to the ZiiO, Creative have released a firmware update with various improvements and bug fixes.

Changes include…

  • Adds support to enable you to display ZiiO tablet’s screen on a TV or Display Monitor via HDMI.
  • Adds a feature to let you save contact information of friends and associates.
  • Includes function for Skype® voice chat.
  • Supports Creative’s Over-The-Air firmware update application that automatically pushes updates to your ZiiO via Wi-Fi.
  • Ability for user to format the on board memory (internal SD memory) in both Recovery Mode and also in the “Media & Storage” to ensure that it is FAT32.
  • Updates the Amazon Kindle® and Audible® application.
  • Improved microSD card compatibility.

It is also seems to include various graphical improvements (unless they came with 2.2 and I missed them) including some app launch animation.

Simply visit the firmware page from your ZiiO and install the update app. Reboot your ZiiO once done and the update is installed!

Also available is an update to the ZiiO optimised version of Flash.

12Sep 2011

Creative ZiiSound D5x

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The ZiiSound D5x is an enhanced version of the D5, which I reviewed last year. At the time I praised its sound quality and looks.

Well, with the D5x, none of that has changed – it looks and sounds just as good. What that extra letter on the end means, however, is that it now has an ability to link, via Bluetooth, to other D5x speakers and even to an optional sub-woofer (the DSx). In fact you can have 3 D5x speakers and the DSx connected together in total, allowing you to play back audio in a variety of ways – including using one as a centre speaker and then having separate left and right channels.

The same apt-X Bluetooth connectivity is present too so you know that the audio being shared across devices will be high quality.

As always, Creative have gone to town with the high quality packaging of their product. A well made, embossed, external box is opened up to reveal everything nicely packaged inside in smaller boxes. Little details, even down to an embossed card with the product details on, make you think you’ve bought  a quality product. Included is a thick manual with plenty of walk-through assistance on pairing and connecting other devices.

It’s a lot more compact than other premium iPhone docs (the B&W Zeppelin, for instance) and, although somewhat bland in its black, angled, rectangular form, it has enough aesthetic touches to make up for it. For example, the ends of the ZiiSound are finished in a dark-gun metal material  and the volume is shown via a series of white LEDs. To adjust the volume you simply move you fingers across the touch sensitive panel on the top – it responds and looks superb.

For testing I took my daughter’s iPod Touch and connected the supplied Apple adapter underneath. This gives it apt-X transmission capability and it docks nicely in the top (charging the iPod as well). I also had the DSx subwoofer (I’ll review that later). The speaker was placed one side of the room and the sub-woofer in an opposite corner. The result was an amazing sound, with the only wires being present being connections to the mains (the D5x has an external power supply, I assume, to keep the size of the speakers down). There was no interference and I’d never have known the connection was via Bluetooth – although that’s probably a lot to do with the use of apt-X. The link between speakers has a 30 metre range (whereas the Bluetooth connection is 10 metres).

Using the DSx sub-woofer is how most people will want to connect it, and that’s when it really comes into its own. As with the D5 you can use an audio connector rather than Bluetooth and, along with the DSx, it makes an amazing sound bar for the TV – discreet but with an amazing sound. With most flat screen TVs coming with poor quality sound this works as a brilliant alternative – and much cheaper than many equivalent quality alternatives.

Visually, the only difference is the addition of an extra light and touch sensitive button on the front for the purpose of device linking. Otherwise it’s still the same wonderful looking unit it was before – all shiny blacks and metallic ends! But that’s not to say that’s the only difference as the D5x is a lot lighter than the D5 – it’s only around 60% the weight of the original!

Sound and Vision Magazine said…

… beyond purer sonics, what this system really delivers is surprising horsepower for its size.”Room-filling sound” is a phrase that gets tossed around quite a bit these days, but the D5x/DSx 2.1 combo really does have sufficient power for a party.

Summary of Creative ZiiSound D5x

If you have no intention of buying more than one, or the matching sub-woofer, then I’d stick with the original D5 which is currently £50 cheaper. Otherwise, this is a brilliant sound system, particularly with the DSx sub-woofer.
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 12th September 2011.

06Sep 2011

Creative ZEN Style M300

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The Creative ZEN Style M300 is the latest MP3 player from Creative. Boasting a small size, budget price but some big features, it looks to be a promising option for those who don’t want everything Apple branded.

The M300 is obviously competing with the likes of the iPod Nano for size, measuring a sleek 55.2 x 44.2 mm and just 12.6 mm deep. The screen is a 1.45″ TFT with 128×128 pixels and displaying 262K colours.

I have the white version (as pictured) but it’s available in red, black and yellow. Prices are £39.99 for 4GB, £59.99 for 8GB and £79.99 for 16GB.

The thick black band around the screen is there for good reason – it’s a touch sensitive control. Simply touch the outsides of the screen to move tracks, access options, etc. That works well but the small size and low resolution of the screen means that although text is readable, it’s not of the highest quality.

There is a volume control on one side and a micro SD card slot on the other – this slot allows for up to 32GB extra storage to be added to the 4-16GB default – along with the microphone. On the bottom is a reset “hole”, headphone and USB socket. On top is a sliding switch which controls power and the key lock.

It uses the standard Creative menu navigation system – it’s okay but not overly intuitive. There are a wide range of options available – a built in radio, voice recording, photo and video viewing, etc. There isn’t the wide array of audio enhancements that my previously reviewed Creative Zen X-Fi Style had, but it does have apt-X on-board and you can stream audio wirelessly using Bluetooth – an excellent feature. Indeed, there is no custom equaliser and you can only choose from a small number of presets.

However, even without all the bells and whistles, the M300 still sounds good. And getting music onto it is a breeze – it appears as a hard drive when connected to a PC so you can simply drag and drop contents. Otherwise, you can use Windows Media Player to synchronise to the device.

In the box you don’t get much – some average wired headphones, a neatly folded set of manuals and a USB cable. A 3-in-1 clip is available for nearly £20. It’s best that accessories such as this are separate because it can keep the price down for those who don’t need it, but at £20 it is a bit steep.

Reading reviews from users, the main issues appear to be the lack of ability to neatly sync playlists (documentation on how to do it can be found here) as well as the Micro SD option. From what I can tell – I’ve not tried it myself – the player can’t actually play the music from the card but has to copy it onto the internal memory first.

But these, and the lack of sound enhancements, are really quite insignificant when you consider that you’d be getting a Bluetooth streaming, full colour, 4GB, small MP3 player for less than £40.

One tip – make sure you have the latest firmware if you purchase this device. The latest version has some extra stability for the Bluetooth and adds compatibility with .m3u format playlists.

Summary of Creative ZEN Style M300

It lacks some options but gains in others. For a tiny bluetooth MP3 player you can’t go much wrong and at less than £40 for the 4GB model, it’s an absolute bargain
Star Star Star Star Star


Reviewed by David Artiss on 6th September 2011.

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