Creative Zen Hybrid Pro SXFI | Premium LE Audio Gaming Headphones with ultra low latency

[@NJ-wb1cz]

Thanks for the review! The demos with ANC are _extremely_ useful

[@thenewshoppingchannel]

A long one! 😄 Thanks for another great review. Surprised at how good the microphones sound!

[@ReganCipher]

Me too! Even in the busy scenes

[@_-Z-]

Thank you for another great review! 👍

[@ReganCipher]

Thanks Z! 🙌

[@i-am-your-conscience]

You can plug in the dongle also in your Smartphone, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, XBox and so on - then you have all features.. This is a workaround, until Android fixes their problems with the modern BT 5.3 with all the features the headset provides. You can expect that everything works a few months from now or on new smartphones. But it is impressive how well the dongle works with game consoles and smartphones out of the box, at least

[@ReganCipher]

Very true. The dongle is much more stable after recent firmware updates and definitely a workaround for now and even a solid long-term solution for non-portable devices in particular

[@vahimamca]

super review thank you so much!!

[@ReganCipher]

Thank you! Glad you found it useful 🙌

[@paultijgers]

Wow... I just examen the (Creative - Zen Hybrid Pro Classic) headphone and found a absoluut satisfaction with the (ULL) the Ultra Low Latency where i was looking for. Most of the time i use my headphone to listen at preachers on KZbin where the audio quality is very different than the other youtube video and i must say..... the Lip-Sync is wonderful. Even when i switch to other preachers. In a short time i did examen the Technics EAH-A800E and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra and the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay HX and the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 and the Epic Air Sport ANC But this one from Creative is the absoluut King 🔱 And i have to be honest about using these other headphones without the correct codecs because my Pc only had LDAC, and only after my last headphone this from Creative has this Bluetooth Audio Transmitter with the supported codecs for this function i was looking for. But the sound quality is very very good with music and very loud too with the use of the Creative App on my Pc where you can adjust some settings and audio levels. It was a world of difference from when i first listen without this App on my Pc. For the users with the question about the L / R ears..... Yes you can adjust the the L/R sound balance in Windows while using dongle. This where you have to do is the section where you set these changes for the speakers. Check these speakers where the creative BT-L3 ''in my case'' is showing alongside the name of your speakers. Just go to ''settings'' - ''sound'' and choose the speakers whom are connected with this creative software. The section to adjust the volume and balance is where you can adjust the balance from these speakers that adjust this for the headphone. Try and you will see ;o)) Ok... i was the guy last week with the disapointed and sad comment ''ahw again nothing about the latency'' But i removed this comment. Thanks for the great review and help.

[@ReganCipher]

Great feedback, I'm happy you like them and happy you found a solution to the latency problem. Thanks for sharing! 🙌

[@cameroncameron6800]

the microhpone samples don't sound like it was conducted using the donlge (i.e. using LC3/LC3+ codec). Can you confirm the samples were conducted with the dongle or via a different codec? LC3 is supposed to provide a high quality microphone return channel and it just sounds compressed and bad in the samples.

[@ReganCipher]

Without the dongle. I couldn't get the headphones to work with the dongle on Android, and the mic samples are recorded using my Android phone

[@Stallnig]

Can you connect them with cable too? Can you use it while charging?

[@georgepierre3594]

can you turn off the leds? I wear them at night, and someone sleeps beside me

[@ReganCipher]

Yep, you can toggle it in the smartphone app on the main screen 👍

[@necipfazilaskar]

thank you I just want to know if there is acoustic engine option available in pc beside sxfi. I see there it is. no one talking about deep settings. you are the only one truly review thsi sxfi model

[@ReganCipher]

No problem, thank you so much for watching! 🙌

[@Uthur]

Looking for a hybrid headphones I can use for gaming and then we'll also just look like everyday headphones. The RGB lighting on the sides is it turned off? I don't want that on if I'm out and about not gaming

[@ReganCipher]

Yeah you can turn it off

[@fangzhouyu9916]

😢mine charging LED never turn green after charging for 2 days..

[@ReganCipher]

Open a case on the Creative website, their support is very good

[@vindra4713]

I would like to buy those headphones for gaming on discord, but i don't like how the mic sounds, is it possible to improve through the settings?

[@ReganCipher]

You might find it performs better with the dongle and using the LC3 codec. At the time, I wasn't able to test it or record it unfortunately. There are no additional settings to improve the mic

[@Mask242]

Why use harman 19 in-ear v2 curve as reference, and not OE 18?

[@ReganCipher]

I think my OE 18 file was corrupted, tried selecting it in Squig and it comes up 'not found'. Then I forgot to take IE out FML apologies!

[@Arccai]

How much latency are you getting with these on PC? less than 100ms?

[@breakuptap]

Good review for creative hybrid headphones explaining every detail . It was super useful for me. Thanks !

[@ericheinz7375]

Thank you, these look interesting. I have had problems with all of the LE audio earbuds I've used, some haven't connected, some I can't control the volume

[@ReganCipher]

Same. Also had that issue with controlling the volume, you have to use the touch controls instead of your phone. That wasn't Soundpeats Air4 by any chance was it?!

[@ericheinz7375]

@@ReganCipher Yes, soundpeats and I also had problems with earfun

[@sharingwisdom4380]

Can i adjust the the L/R sound balance in Windows while using dongle? Bcoz one of my ear is weaker so I need to ensure this feature is available to balance L/R volume

[@Dai1ylif3]

I have the same problem! Can Regan advice on this?

[@ReganCipher]

I'll try and find out....I don't have the dongle at the moment 😭

[@paultijgers]

Yes you can. For the users with the question about the L / R ears..... Yes you can adjust the the L/R sound balance in Windows while using dongle. This where you have to do is the section where you set these changes for the speakers. But i will change for the headphone. Check these speakers where the creative BT-L3 ''in my case'' is showing alongside the name of your speakers. Just go to ''settings'' - ''sound'' and choose the speakers whom are connected with this creative software. The section to adjust the volume and balance is where you can adjust the balance from these speakers that adjust this for the headphone. Try and you will see ;o)) (Update) Also i saw in the Creative App on your PC when you go to the ''Mixer'' part you can see a little balloon on the rght side of the volume slide. This balloon alows you to adjust the L or R ear

[@paultijgers]

@@Dai1ylif3 You can. Read my comment here below 👍

[@paultijgers]

@@Dai1ylif3 Also i saw in the Creative App on your PC when you go to the ''Mixer'' part you can see a little balloon on the rght side of the volume slide. This balloon alows you to adjust the L or R ear

[@the_yellow_king]

Do you know if there is any meaningful way to have some kind of side tone with the Zen Hybrid Pro? You can activate the mic input in the Creative App but it has a huge delay...

[@ReganCipher]

Side tone ... Do you mean transparency mode?

[@tapirath]

can you use it while charging?

[@ReganCipher]

I don't think so, but I sold them months ago so can't say for sure

[@versaleszett4781]

Thanks for the review! One important question though: Have the microphone/call samples been recorded using a regular BT Classic connection, or with the LE Audio dongle and LC3 codec? Given that call quality is severely handicapped by the SBC Headset profile, I have high hopes for better call quality with BLE Audio and LC3.

[@ReganCipher]

Thank you! The samples are using the standard codec, unfortunately I couldn't get the dongle to work properly with Android so no LC3 unfortunately 😭 I'll try and do a separate video at some point if they resolve the issues 👍

[@versaleszett4781]

@@ReganCipher I don't know about your setup, but shouldn't it work on Windows out-of-the-box? Using the headset with the dongle in Teams, Google Meet or Zoom should give you the same situation as an Android call.

[@ReganCipher]

@versaleszett4781 it works on windows OK, but when I tried recording on Zoom I couldn't get it to record for some reason. I have tried LC3 on the Aurvana Ace 2, and to be honest it didn't really make a great deal of difference

[@versaleszett4781]

​@@ReganCipher I've tested them myself using the BLE Audio Dongle on Windows 10. I didn't perceive a difference in audio quality for the microphone itself. However, the sound quality while in a Teams call (former Headset profile) is superb. It's the first time ever that I didn't notice a difference between a Bluetooth and wired headset anymore. Clear speech, virtually no delay, and no difference whether the microphone is active or not. This BLE Audio thing pretty much feels like the future of Bluetooth audio that was always promised, but never delivered until now.

[@ReganCipher]

@versaleszett4781 good to hear it, thanks for sharing!

[@vyzius1539]

hi ! thanks a lot for the review !! Do u think i could use the normal version and buy their bt w5 adaptator to use ULL ? or otherwise could i buy the adaptator bt l3/4 separately ?

[@ReganCipher]

Thank you! Good question. I think you almost certainly could, but let me check with Creative to make sure. I have found the BT-L4 a little temperamental but the latest firmware update seems to have resolved it. I am 95% certain the headphones throughout the Zen Hybrid Pro series are all the same, the only difference is the dongle, so no reason why it shouldn't work theoretically!

[@vyzius1539]

@@ReganCipher i think it need the dongle to work with ull, and the bt-w5 dongle don't propose lc3+ so i would need to wait for a lc3+ dongle ^^

[@ReganCipher]

@@vyzius1539 yep, you need an LC3+ compatible dongle, I should have stressed that. The W series only support up to 'high quality' aptX-adaptive and normal low latency mode (up to 50ms plus source latency). For LC3+ it's L series only. I am waiting for Creative to confirm that you could use the standard Zen Hybrid Pro with BT-L4 or BT-L3 - I'm confident it would, but let's see what they say. BT-L5 would be good!

[@vyzius1539]

@@ReganCipher fr ! thanks for the answer !!

[@Yahya-X]

Does the SXFI battle mode work with PS5?

[@ReganCipher]

Good question! I don't think it does as I think you need the app, I'll check with Creative to confirm though 👍

[@Yahya-X]

@@ReganCipherWhat a shame. The SXFI on my GC7 on PC works great as intended. Creative spent $100 million developing this and they don’t even work to support other platforms like every other major headphone manufacturer. Where is the return of investment?

[@ReganCipher]

@@Yahya-X yeah I saw some comments on Reddit saying as much. I'll put it to Creative and see what they say, unfortunately I don't have a PS5 here to test it otherwise I would 😢

[@NJ-wb1cz]

The video still stuck and doesn't play for me... come on youtube, work already. What's the point of youtube sending out notifications if it doesn't yet finished processing the video....

[@ReganCipher]

It's playing ok here now. But yeah I think they send the notification too early. I meant to upload in 1080p, I forgot and uploaded 4k so it's been processing for the last two hours 😭

[@NJ-wb1cz]

​@@ReganCipher yeah, I was just boosting engagement while waiting :) your videos have criminally low amount of views despite quality

[@ReganCipher]

@@NJ-wb1cz thank you! Much appreciated 🙌 in December I only had 1k subscribers 🤣 one of my shorts managed to get around 100k views which brought lots of new subs but they come here expecting short form and get long form instead, which maybe screws with the algo a little bit 😭

[@zernex115]

Are the earcup hinges metal?

[@ReganCipher]

Plastic, but I haven't noticed any durability issues

[@shem44]

Problem with all these cheap headphone is that they use fake leather on the cushions and they wear out bad after a year of use....They should come out a version with real quality leather.

[@ReganCipher]

Yeah, or maybe use a standardized sizing so you could add third party leather cups. I don't wear them enough to ever wear a set out but I could imagine that would be frustrating. Thanks for watching and commenting 🙌

[@nastybadger-tn4kl]

All i want simple thing. LIGHT WEIGHT VIBRATION HEADESET

[@ReganCipher]

I'm not really a gamer, but I could get on board with that. Invent one!

[@nastybadger-tn4kl]

@@ReganCipher There was one. Instead of improving it they cancelled it. It was version tech 7.1 model. I should have bought 10. it wore out because it was light but it was best headset for 35dollar ever. Worth in gold because it was super light

[@nastybadger-tn4kl]

@@ReganCipher Even if anyone makes it its too heavy. What ever version tech did , they could upgraded midrange driver on it to make supreme

[@imonutiy]

Really nice review, this mic tho is very mediocre.

[@ReganCipher]

Thanks! I thought the mic was OK for Bluetooth headphones, but then that's not really saying much. Apparently they got LE audio sorted now so the mic should be better, but I sold them now so can't check for certain

[@Deriathan1]

I dont think the used video color grading is the right one for a product review.

[@ReganCipher]

🙄 buy me a new camera then

[@ericheinz7375]

😁 @@ReganCipher thanks for easily the best review of these headphones on youtube but i'm going to dislike it because there's too much contrast 🙄

[@ReganCipher]

@@ericheinz7375 lol. He makes a good point - I'm not happy with the colour grading, mostly from the camera, but to improve it I'll need a better camera and probably learn Adobe Premiere. Since I make zero money from KZbin, that's a cost on top of the binaural mics, lighting and measurement tools I already spent a lot of money on, let alone the earbuds themselves. Basically, if I do all the stuff I'd like to do creatively, I'd have to sell out. So if people want pretty pictures go to Gamesky, if they want detailed reviews with proper mic, ANC and sound samples they can come to me