With the Aurvana Ace 2 in-ear headphones and their little sister Aurvana Ace, Creative not only has high-quality companions for music lovers in its portfolio, but also relies on pioneering connection technology with LE Audio. Introducing the Creative Aurvana Ace 2.
Creative Aurvana Ace 2: Technical details & commissioning
Shop recommendation
Advantages Extremely clear, detailed sound Elegant design with translucent black and copper High level of comfort Disadvantages LE Audio has so far only been possible with an additional transmitter Battery life with active ANC is quite short
Technical details
Construction: closed, in-ear
Connection type: Bluetooth 5.3, LE Audio
Driver: xMEMS and 10mm dynamic
Frequency range: 5 Hz – 40 kHz
Audio-Codecs: LC3, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX, AAC, SBC
Impedance: n.a.
Microphone: 6 microphones for telephony and ANC
Connection (charging case): USB-C
Battery pack: 6 hours, up to 24 with case (wireless charging possible) IPX5 Water resistant
Weight: 4,7 g (Buds), 37 g (Ladecase)
Miscellaneous: Qualcomm AptX Losless, ANC (Adaptive Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation), Ambient Mode
Scope of delivery: ATH-SQ1TW, charging case, USB-C to USB-A cable, ear tips in 4 sizes
Creative's Aurvana Ace is positioned almost identically. The slightly cheaper price of the little headphone sister is due to the lack of Qualcomm AptX Losless and the Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation. The Aurvana Ace also has a black case.
Installation
The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 arrive with around 70 percent battery charge. So whether you want to use it immediately or fully charge it depends on your personal needs. The in-ear headphones are designed for this purpose USB-C to USB-A cable at. This means you can use the charging cable with any power plug you have available. To charge the headphones, you have to put them in the Ladeetui – when charging for the first time, you need to remove the plastic strips that are between the earphones and the charging contacts for delivery.
The charging case is a special eye-catcher because the inside shines in shiny copper, which fills the otherwise translucent black case. Very elegant and definitely a bit extravagant.
There is also an app, the Creative App. In this you can create the Aurvana Ace 2 and make a few individual adjustments: setting the equalizer profile, distributing the touch gestures and activating the various environmental modes. That's not too much, Creative doesn't put a long tap in the app before enjoying music. There are also occasional firmware updates via the app.
What is LE Audio?
LE Audio is the latest standard from Bluetooth and is still extremely new. It wasn't long ago that Bluetooth completed the standard and made it freely accessible to the technology industry. But it is already clear that LE Audio is the Bluetooth of the future. On the one hand, LE Audio delivers ultra-low latency, which of course makes it particularly excellent for gamers, but also makes it a further improvement over Bluetooth when watching films or in a completely different place, namely medically, for example in hearing aids. No loss of time, no loss of quality.
The second extremely interesting point about LE Audio is that it will make it possible to pair more than one audio device with one output device. You know how it is, you can only connect a pair of headphones to your tablet via Bluetooth and the kids in the back seat are fighting over the tablet because everyone wants to watch a movie – or you're doomed to listen to Fireman Sam the entire car ride . Parents understand the dilemma. With LE Audio, all children will be given headphones and everyone will be able to watch the same movie on the same tablet.
You may notice: We write in the future tense. LE Audio still needs a while to arrive and unfortunately cannot be brought to your current smartphone via a software update. The technology requires a compatible chipset on the hardware side. The connection can sometimes be established using an LE audio transmitter (USB-C dongle). The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 are basically ready when things really get going and are ideally positioned for the future.
(Source: PCGH guide)
Creative Aurvana Ace 2: Sound quality
Our first thought: Oho! What crystal clear definition! With these in-ear headphones you can almost SEE every single note of every single instrument in your mind's eye. So if you're looking for headphones that deliver extremely detailed and absolutely neutral sound, you've come to the right place.
At the same time, the Aurvana Ace 2 are able to produce an excellent spatiality of sound. The chimes from the left, the voice from the right and at the very back of a virtual room a die falls onto a board – as if you were standing in the middle of the song.
Two drivers per earphone are responsible for the excellent sound at all heights of the frequency range. One is the xMEMS, which takes care of the high tones, and the other is a 10 mm driver (dynamic), which perfects the bass and mid-tones. The finishing touches are then provided by Qualcomm's AptX Losless, which, as the name suggests, ensures lossless sound. The listening test delivered what the technology promises; the sound quality of the Aurvana Ace 2 is excellent.
ANC, ambient mode and normal
The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 offer the user three options for matching the listening experience and environment. On the one hand, the completely normal mode, which of course offers the best quality music experience. This mode is ideal for at home or in an environment that is not too loud or that you would like to be able to perceive to some extent – for example, when you are out on foot or doing sports and want/need to hear the most important things.
The Qualcomm CVC noise cancellation technology, the so-called adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation, influences the sound to such a small extent that you only notice it if you have a trained ear and are actively paying attention to it. The noise cancellation is actually pretty good. We tested it outside while walking, in the S-Bahn and in the subway. The noise of the trains was almost completely hidden, and people's voices were only slightly audible when they spoke louder. The announcements on the trains could either not be heard at all or could only be heard very quietly. This applies to the moments when the music was quiet. Once the music was at normal volume, there was rarely any sound from outside reaching our ears.
The only moment the ANC couldn't cope was the light wind outside. If anything, it was reinforced. In the ANC off mode, however, the wind could no longer be heard.
Ambient mode puts the music in the background and puts a crystal clear focus on the surroundings. This means you can have a conversation with another person without having to take out the earbuds. A good thing in the workplace, for example.
Creative Aurvana Ace 2: comfort
The Auravana Ace 2 comes with a total of three pairs of ear tips in sizes S, M and L. This should give them a good grip in most ear canals. In addition, the earbuds fit very well and showed no signs of falling out. Even after an hour there was no unpleasant feeling in the ear canal or any pressure. In this respect, we rate the wearing comfort of these in-ear headphones as high.
thanks to the IPX5 certification The Aurvana Ace 2 are “jet water protected”. This means that even heavy rain, sweat or pouring water over your head while jogging cannot harm the headphones. But you shouldn't jump into the water with it.
The assignment of the touch gestures can be set in the app.
Everything is very clear and there are few bells and whistles: the Creative app. (Source: PCGH guide)
Creative Aurvana Ace 2: Controls and Telephony
The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 rely on touch control. This means that if you want to use the in-ear headphones for making phone calls and controlling music, you have to remember a few gestures. Of course, you can also adjust the volume of the music on your smartphone, fast forward or rewind the songs or change the ambient mode using the Creative App.
All gestures and the option to set them individually can be found in the app. In the test, the reaction to the gestures was not always perfect, but was usually successful on the second attempt.
The Aurvana Ace 2 are also well suited for making phone calls. There are three microphones in each earphone, which use Qualcomm cVc (Clear Voice Capture) noise cancellation technology to continuously work to filter out noise from the conversation. The voice quality is very good.
Test result Creative Aurvana Ace 2
Excellent, neutral and crystal clear sound. LE Audio as a future-oriented connection technology. Elegance and high wearing comfort. The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 were convincing across the board and received the full 5 stars from us.
CREATIVE Aurvana Ace 2
Shop recommendation
Advantages Extremely clear, detailed sound Elegant design with translucent black and copper High level of comfort Disadvantages LE Audio has so far only been possible with an additional transmitter Battery life with active ANC is quite short