Digital audio player and accessory maker Creative has launched its Xmod Wireless system in the United States, letting users bring music out of their PC and into any room of their home using the company’s X-Fi technology, which purports to make MP3 audio sound better than standard audio CDs.
The Xmod Wireless system connects to a PC via USB with no driver installation. Then, users just hook up the included X-Fi Wireless Receiver to any speaker or audio system in any other room, up to 100 feet away. Users can then stream music from their PC to the remote speaker system wirelessly. The system relies on 2.4 GHz radio frequencies to stream the music; although in theory that makes the system vulnerable to interference from some cordless phones and Wi-Fi hardware, Creative is downplaying the possibility.
The Xmod Wireless system incorporates two Creative audio technologies designed to improve the music experience: Creative’s X-Fi Crystalizer makes MP3s “sound better than CDs” by analyzing the MP3s for compression artifacts and restoring frequencies lost in the compression process. X-Fi CMSS-3D creates a surround sound simulation through speakers or headphones.
The Xmod Wireless system comes with two remote controls (one to keep, one to lose?), and can handle up to four X-Fi Wireless Receivers if you want to stream audio to more than one location: a zone mode enables users to independently turning them on and off.
Creative’s Xmod Wireless (with one X-Fi Wireless Receiver) is available now for $199.99; additional X-Fi Wireless Receivers are $99.99 each. The system requires Windows XP/Vista.
