Creating Clearer Sounds All Round

Following on from yesterday’s posts on consumer audio fidelity, I came across this review of Creative’s Xmod Audio Enhancer on the O’Reilly digital media site. Judging from this, enhanced audio quality certainly seems to be a bit of a runner at the moment. Basically, the Xmod is a mouse-sized USB box that uses DSP to either enhance certain frequencies of an audio input, or generate a virtual nine-channel surround effect on either headphones or speakers.

The device itself looks quite tidy, with a large dial for volume/setting control, and it may be of particular interest to those who watch DVDs whilst wearing headphones (for example, on a laptop). The unit can also be adapted to provide sonic enhancements and surround sound in your car.