List Price: $101.47 Our Price: $39.92 You Save: $61.55 (61%)

Product Description

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

Customer Reviews:

• Does the job for streaming radio
  I purchased this unit because my $89 MP3 player sounded so much better than the audio from my desktop RCA jack, which is the primary way which I access my music. I have a compact desktop, and can't find an audio card replacement that fits. The audio out is also dead on my laptop, so USB is the only viable option.
  
  The real gains are from internet radio streams. I used to avoid Pandora, because of the muddied audio, but this unit makes it a pleasure to listen to. The effect is less pronounced for 192 Kb MP3s from CD's, but there are also some gains here, though the "crystallizer" makes the music a little bright for my taste when listening through my Sennheiser headphones. It is easy to switch off through an external switch; much nicer than having to use software, but of course raises the price of the unit.
  
  This is an extremely well built, sturdy unit. The large external volume / mute control is very handy and easier and faster to use than the software volume control on your audio application or system volume. Great for your home office when you get a phone call. The unit also has headphone and line out outputs, so you don't need to change the cables, which really adds to the life of the unit if you do it often.
  
  The only downside is the price. You can get a cheap external USB audio unit for $10 or less (including postage), and they sound pretty good, but fall apart in no time and stick out awkwardly and risk damage to the USB port. I've had two that both broke within 3 months. I got a deal on this unit for about $30, a refurb direct from Creative, and it was well worth it. $80 is too high for me, even though I use it 6 hours a day. On the other hand, I am a cheapskate. ...more info
• Pretty pointless
  What seemed like a pretty neat idea just falls flat on the floor. The Xmod incorporates two features from the X-fi series. Just two, thats it, nothing else, from what I could tell, it doesnt even have an amp, even if it does, its pretty bad.
  
  The "crystallizer"(the first feature) is like using a winamp plugin such as 'enhancer', which is good no doubt, but u can do it at the software level and get a much cheaper solution like Turtle beach Audio advantage micro for less than half the price (which has a digital pass thru and 10 band EQ also).
  
  CMSS(the other feature) has been around for a while now, and I am not a big fan of this virtual surround business. If you have 2 speakers, u are gonna get stereo sound, if you want surround just get a 5.1 set. Infact for a little more money you can get a good 5.1 soundcard and half decent 5.1 speakers.
  
  Then comes the "killer" feature of them all, the LINE IN. The whole point of using this with portable players is defeated when you bring an AC adapter into the picture. To make things worse, it doesnt come with the bundle, u need to buy it seperately. Seriously, who wants the ultra crap creative headphones in the bundle anyway? I wonder if those are a selling point at all.
  
  The only good use of this device would have been to enhance the mp3 players sound like plugins do for winamp and such, but then whats the point if you have to sit next to a wall outlet to be able to do that? Are we missing something here creative??? Wasnt portability the whole point of the mp3 player?
  
  Stay away, unless u r really rich and want to waste money, even then, you can probably find better things to waste it on....more info
• Great sound card!
  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. ...more info
• wow ...it works!
  Not a placebo, this dude works .Decompresses the fidelity that I wasn't aware I was missing
  as a Mac guy , I never had Creative sound cards. I do have a a couple of higher end components though. Adcom 5801 amp + GPA 750 preamp + Energy veritas 2.1.. and a Bryston 3Bst w/Parasound 3B preamp and Boston acoustics V500 sub with exl 16 energy's
  (Now playing w JBL mini monitors). Most I picked up used . These are very quiet ,dynamic
  components, but the Ipod / Creative Labs Xmod combo lights these systems up. Always account for volume differences when a/b testing + + a little noise. But that
  little machine really amazes me. Quasi audiophiles have to fault everything. Not here brother. Whatever makes you dance Rates an "a". Detail is back with a hand full of cables..and I'm not using the 3d imaging function...well made and the best money I've spent on gear in years. Just plain fun.
  ...more info
• Xmod Excellance For Your Tunes
  I purchased the Xmod for my Ipod. It worked wonders from the very beginning. I placed it between my 80GB Ipod and any speaker system. I even use it in my car with astounding results. It brings all of my MP3 tunes right back to life. I get a rich full sound at home, from my computer or from my Ipod to my home theater sound system. I also get this same outstanding sound in my car. All the amazing deep lows to the highly defined highs are your with this amazing product from Creative...
  Dan-N-Oregon...more info
• Microsoft Plug-N-Play is Evil
  I listen to live streaming audio from several radio stations around the country while working at my desk. This little beauty turns internet audio streams into pleasant listening experiences. Once in a while some error happens (A BUG IN WINDOWS?!!!) and the Xmod goes away. I have to either restart my computer (not likely while working) or unplug my headphones from the Xmod and switch to raw soundcard output. Going back to listening to what sounds like a transister radio playing underwater makes me sad. It was a pain trying to get it installed on Windows XP. Creative's help desk helped me to install it. I blame Windows for the sound not going to the Xmod sometimes. I've had the same issue with other devices/software. I had to be persistant and use the information I got from Creative to get it working consistantly. 5 stars minus 1 for the headaches getting it working.
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  ...more info
• Does most of what it promises
  I got the Xmod because the line-out jack on my Mac was busted, so I needed to get sound out of the computer using the USB port instead. For this purpose, this device worked perfectly. I just plugged it in, set the Mac's sound output to be this device instead of the line-out, and it worked! As advertised, there are no drivers or other programs to install. It's also nice to have a system volume control knob on the Xmod instead of needing to go through the system sound preferences. The MP3 Crystallizer does make my music sound better (more dynamic), especially the MP3s that are recorded at 128 kbps or lower quality. However the "CMSS-3D" virtual surround makes the music sound terrible (distorted, hollow, and weakened vocals) even through my high-quality stereo speakers. Luckily it is easily turned off with a switch on the device....more info
• Try some winamp plug-ins before spent your money
  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...more info
• XMOD's a must have if you listen to music/movies on your PC or Mac
  I've had my XMOD for over a week now and I've been very pleased with my purchase. I saw a demo of this at my local Best Buy store and was immediately impressed by how simple it was to use. I mainly purchased it to improve the sound of my MP3 music on my Dell notebook and it does a great job of that. There are settings you can tweak, but I just turn both sound improvements on and leave it alone. Every song I play through it sounds better. I kept turning it on and off at first to hear the difference, but after a day or so I just left it on all the time. It's hard to describe what it does exactly, but basically my music sounds cleaner. The songs have more punch and crispness. I mainly use headphones and I especially like how it makes the headphones sound like a speaker a few feet away from your ear. I've also played one DIVX movie (Matrix)that I have and it sounds really cool too. You get a real sense of surround audio. When you go back to the movie with XMOD turned off, it sounds flat and boring.
  
  Installation couldn't be easier. I plugged it into my USB port on my notebook and it just worked. You play your music from your PC with XMOD on and it just sounds sweet. It would be nice if Creative included what you need to use this with a portable MP3 player, but for the price I guess I can't complain. I wish the control knob was a bit flatter also. It would fit in the carrying bag better. The one nice thing about the knob being large - it does make a great easy to reach for mute button for when you need to quickly mute your audio.
  
  Overall, XMOD is highly recommended if you listen to a lot of music. It would also make a nice gift. My nephew already came by to check it out and he wants one. Give it a listen and you'll get it....more info
• I Love It!
  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!...more info
• Useful little gizmo
  Installation was a breeze, no CD or drivers needed. Difference is huge with all 128 Kbps mp3's. Gives you a feeling like listening to a CD ripped at 320 Kbps. Mp3's encoded at a higher rate (192+) sound a bit too artifical. If you are using Media Player, setting 8 and 16 Khz values to -4 and -7 solves that problem....more info