Creative’s lightweight black in-ear buds rival the sound reproduction of more expensive sets but need more fit options to truly compete. High and midrange sounds are reproduced well, and bass is solid. Creative includes several silicon earbuds, but we wish the package included foam and flanged silicon pads a la Shure’s E2c, although that set costs $30 more. This gripe aside, the price/performance ratio is pleasingly close to Zen.

With in-ear headphones all the rage now, it didn’t surprise us when audio-centric Creative Labs joined the fun with the launch of its own Zen Aurvana in-ear earphones. Already available in Asia a few weeks before their U.S. launch, the $99 “anti-iPod black” pair are extremely lightweight (0.46 ounces) and low profile, and they sound quite good–if they fit in your ears properly (Jasmine’s earholes are too small for the Aurvana).

For me, that’s not a problem. You get two pairs of three different-size silicon earbuds, the rubbery kind. Though I prefer foam tips, the medium size fit quite well, passively blocking ambient noise (by 90 percent, according to Creative) and delivering clean, balanced sound. Indeed, the high-end sounds come through crystal clear. The Aurvanas have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz and a sensitivity of 115dB and 20dB at noise blocking. Bass is surprisingly solid (for this listener anyway), and overall performance is good, or as good as a pair of $110 Shure E2Cs, which are bulkier than the Aurvanas. While we prefer the sound of the Shure E3cs, the Aurvanas cost half as much.

If you want a livelier and better-balanced sound and don’t mind looking a bit Frankenstein-ish, go with the Ultimate Ears super.fi Studio 3. If you are looking for serious bass, check out the Sennheiser CX-300. Aside from that, the Zen Aurvana provides a very good overall listening experience, with very good sound and lots of quieting, and in a very compact earphone. The cable thump and wind noise make these earphones more suitable for trains and planes than for walking around, but if you can find them for less than list price, I recommend these for their compactness and quieting ability.

Whether you’re a laptop user who’s fed up with the basic audio being pumped out by your machine, or a desktop owner with a lackluster sound card installed, this USB-based external solution is aimed at you. Creative has simply designed it to enhance the sound quality of music, games, and movies. Oh, and there are a fair few recording functions in there too, which producers and muso types will like.Billed by Creative as a “premium audio system for music playback and recording”, the USB Sound Blaster Digital Music SX offers a range of input and output connections for connecting all kinds of external audio devices, and it can even act as a pre-amp when your PC isn’t turned on.

With its 24-bit 96kHz audio quality and signal-to-noise ratio of 110dB, you can expect crystal clear sound quality (as by now we’ve come to expect from Creative’s kit). Should you want to record sound, WAV, MP3 and WMA formats are supported - just connect your tape recorder, MD player and LPs to the box using the SX’s RCA Line-in or Optical-in connections). The SX also serves to add Creative Multi Speaker Surround (CMSS) 3D sound to whatever audio you’re outputting.Additionally, EAX Advanced HD capability provides a chunky bass sound, SVM helps match volume across your tracks, while EAX Effects help bring your music an acoustic feel. On the software side, a whole host of stuff is included; Creative’s ‘Entertainment Center’ for example is kind of a ‘XP Media Center Lite’.

For the most part, you’ll be gaming with your multi-GPU system with a similar quantity of CPU cores and a couple of gigs of RAM and your nice TFT screen. But with the sounds coming from the OEM speakers you stole from an old shop-bought machine, you’ll be giving your eyes the lion-share of the entertainment while your ears are subjected to tinny, two channel sound.With nearly every motherboard, no matter how inexpensive, coming with upwards of 5.1 surround output, there is no excuse for using just the green jack. Step in Creative’s Inspire T7900 kit, featuring a gamer friendly price-tag, 7 separate speakers and a large bass unit with upmixing. Let’s see whether it’s right for you.

Creative® Inspire™ T7900 speakers deliver unrivalled 7.1 surround sound immersion in games, movies and music. When used with Sound Blaster® 7.1 sound cards they support the latest and most advanced standards for surround audio available today. The front satellites incorporate tweeters and mid-range drivers for detailed mid-to-high tonality, and the reinforced wood subwoofer provides dynamic bass. The front centre speaker has extra amplification for improved dialogue and effects, while its horizontal design enables it to be positioned for optimum results as a home theatre system. Versatile connectivity via the subwoofer and wired remote enables use with multiple sound sources, and Creative’s CMSS up-mix technology supports 7.1 output from 5.1 or 6.1 sound cards.

With an abundance of image settings and software, the Creative Live Motion Webcam is aimed at a more sophisticated Webcam user. It features remote monitoring and motion detection for the security-minded and has the impressive ability to take panoramic photos. At $149, however, the Live Motion costs more than a basic Webcam, and it’s merely mediocre at its primary task of taking still photos and videos. If you need an inexpensive remote-monitoring system, the Live Motion is a practical solution. If you want a basic Webcam for shooting video and photos and using with IM clients, the less expensive Logitech QuickCam Fusion is a better option.Though it’s a fairly large Webcam, the Live Motion is surprisingly stable. Its versatile, clawlike stand can easily be perched on a desk, a CRT, or a flat-screen monitor, and the stand’s rubberized grips prevent slippage. The camera’s automatic pan and tilt offer a 200-degree horizontal and 105-degree vertical viewing area–an impressive range, considering that most Webcams, such as the Logitech QuickCam Fusion, offer only 90 degrees of vertical movement and must be adjusted manually.

Includes software for remote monitoring and managing photos and video; takes panoramic shots; good low-light performance; large viewable area.he Pan-n-Tilt features automatically follows their natural movements during conversations, so they don’t have to make constant manual adjustments to stay centred in the field of view. Users can select Smart Face Tracking so the WebCam Live! Motion follows the movements of one person, or they can use the system in standard mode to include a group of people and take advantage of the widest view available in a webcam. Ideal for broadband users, the Creative Live! Motion incorporates true high-speed USB 2.0 for crisp, high-resolution video at up to twice the video frame rates of USB 1.1 cameras. It also supports popular instant messaging services including MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger. The WebCam Live! Motion features a high-quality 640×480 CCD sensor for video at VGA 640×480 quality and software-enhanced still images of up to 1.3 megapixels. An ultra-smooth, exceptionally quiet precision motor enables the camera to track users without distracting motor noise. The WebCam Live! Motion looks great with any desktop or notebook monitor. Available in either pearl white or charcoal grey with a luminescent blue glowing ring on each side, the WebCam Live! Motion commands attention in any setting. The patent-pending Multi-Attach base easily and securely attaches the webcam to any flat panel, CRT monitor or notebook display.

The Creative CB2530 is powered with a total of three AAA batteries: one in the Bluetooth transmitter and two more in the headphone’s left ear cup. Creative quotes a 7-hour life expectancy when using alkaline batteries, and we found that claim to be fairly accurate. Just be aware that you’ll have to change batteries often; a rechargeable model would have been better in this case. The Bluetooth transmitter isn’t a whole lot bigger than its battery and comes with a 7-inch-long cable, terminating with a 3.5mm gold-plated miniplug; we were disappointed to find Creative doesn’t include a 6.3mm home adapter. The cable was too long for our tastes, plus it just dangles there, leaving us wondering where to put the transmitter after we plugged the cable into our iPod or MP3 player. The CB2530 uses Bluetooth 1.2 technology; its range is quoted as 32 feet, but our sample conked out around 20 feet.

To use the Creative CB2530, you must first pair the Bluetooth transmitter to the headphones. It’s a simple enough procedure: just hold down the transmitter’s power button until its blue LED indicator lights up, then flick on the headphones’ power switch. The headphones’ red LED illuminates, followed by the Bluetooth’s blue LED, then the sound comes on. Or at least it’s supposed to–there were times when we had to repeat the steps a few times before we got sound. When you’re finished listening, simply turn off the headphones, and the transmitter automatically shuts itself off.

The audio performance of the headphones themselves was also top notch, with quality bass and high tones that came through the 40mm driver unit strongly. According to creative, the frequency response for the headphones is 20Hz to 20KHz. It also offered higher volumes than many other wireless headphones, although the audio became decidedly muddy at high volume.

The headphones are not flawless, however. The design looks quite nice, in stylish black and with readily accessible volume dial, but the smallish cups will tend to sit on your ears rather than around them. The headphones aren’t heavy (203g with batteries), and the pressure on the ear isn’t great, but extended use might turn out to be uncomfortable for those with sensitive ears, especially given the relatively thin padding on the cups.

The Creative CB2530s are closed-back headphones that come complete with a Bluetooth 1.2 base station, powered by a single AAA battery. Plug the 3.5mm audio jack into your audio source, switch on the headphones (powered by a further two AAA cells), and then simply press the Connect button. The headphones themselves sound good rather than great, although there’s no apparent interference or distortion. The bass is controlled and there’s a reasonably clear high-end - they’re also fairly comfortable, if a little heavy at 203g. The range is enough to cover a room, or about 10m line of sight. You’ll be fine watching TV from the sofa, or on a trip from your desk to the photocopier, but sitting at the end of the garden will be a push. We can’t see many advantages to using the CB2530s routinely, but there is one major disadvantage: battery life. We matched Creative’s claim of eight hours, but it’s not long enough to stop even rechargeable batteries soon becoming tiresome. So while the CB2530s may come into their own occasionally, watching the clock rather spoils that new-found sense of freedom.