I have had the opportunity to play around with the new Aurvana xfi noise-canceling headphones from Creative. The model is the first headphones that carries the patented Xtreme Fidelity sound-enhancement features. The noise-cancelling technique blocks background noise with up to 20dB and the Crystalizer function adds details and dynamic range to compressed digital audio files.

The headphones feature 40mm Neodymium magnet drivers which will give you the same speed of sound as if you were listening to aluminum- or titanium membranes. They are comfortable to wear and you can easily wear them for a couple of hours without getting annoyed.

Apart from the noise cancelling function and the Crystalizer digital enhancement there’s another function in the headphones called CMSS-3D. This function is intented to be used when you’re watching movies and it is supposed to create virtual surround sound. It works pretty good and the sound field gets spread out and more distinctly separated – but turn it off while you are listening to music.

One of the cons with these built-in chips is that they consume power. A couple of triple-A batteries will give you 9-10 hours of listening time but you can of course use them the old fashion way without any effects if you run out of juice while you are on the road.

Creative Aurvana xfi is the top model headphone from Creative so expect to pay around $300 – but I definitely think they are worth it, especially if you listen to lots of compressed music as they will sound a bit better through these headphones.