Creative Aurvana X-Fi

The basics

The Creative Aurvana X-Fis are folding and noise-cancelling on-ear headphones with X-Fi circuitry to process digital tunes and add a virtualised 3D surround effect. The headphones have a 6.3mm adaptor, detachable cable and use two AA batteries. Weight is 245g.

The good

We would gladly forsake a lifetime of salt and vinegar pretzels and miniature bottles of gin if airlines handed out this noise-cancelling beauties at the start of a flight instead. Connect them to a music player and let the X-Fi gizmos squeeze every last byte from your music files, or plug into the in-flight movie and wonder where all the naughty bits went. The handy travel case includes a fat gold-plated 6.3mm adaptor and room for the detachable 1.5m oxygen-free copper cable. Battery life is excellent and the leatherette ear cups are nicely made.

The bad

Noise-cancelling isn’t as effective as the Sennheisers and Boses of the world, and you’ll either love or hate the artificial spaciousness of the X-Fi treatment (you can always turn it off it you don’t like it). Sound quality is great at the low end but less impressive for highly detailed pop or classical tunes. Big and heavy, too.

The bottom line

If you’ve got room in your holiday bags for a plastic sombrero, there should be room for the Aurvana X-Fi. A great commuting gadget too, especially if not all your MP3s are ripped at the highest quality.