ASA Adjudication on Creative Labs (Ireland) Ltd

Ad

A commercial e-mail from Creative Labs, for the Xmod audio processing device for MP3s, stated "Creative Xmod - hearing is believing!". The e-mail included a bar chart headlined "An Experience Beyond Studio Quality" and further text that stated " ... For audio that sounds ever better than CD quality in seconds ...".

Issue

The complainant, an audio engineer, thought the claims:

1. "An Experience Beyond Studio Quality" and

2. "For audio that sounds ever better than CD quality in seconds"

were misleading, because he believed MP3s lost elements of sound quality through compression that could not be replaced by any subsequent processes.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. Creative Labs (Creative) said the claim "An Experience Beyond Studio Quality" clearly focused on the experience provided by their X-Fi technology. They pointed out that they did not claim to restore MP3 audio to an exact replica of the CD or studio master from which it originated, but that they intended to take music back to a natural listening experience.

Creative asserted that, in its unadulterated, live form, music delivered a full immersive experience to the listener. They said, in a recording studio environment, the natural immersion inherent in a live performance was down-mixed to stereo; the natural listening experience was therefore compromised. They added that, once studio masters were completed, they were down-sampled again to CD quality for commercial distribution. They said many users converted their CDs to low-quality compressed audio formats, such as MP3, for portability, which often greatly reduced the information included in the audio sample; they explained that this was known as 'lossy' compression, the dropped information being irrevocably lost.

Creative said their Xtreme Fidelity (X-Fi) technology, which was at the heart of the Xmod product, delivered a listening experience beyond the studio format by using two technologies. First, X-Fi 24-bit Crystalizer technology converted all content to 24-bit 96kHz, which was the same bit quality as studio quality sound; it then worked to enhance the audio by reversing the compromises that had affected the sound quality during the compression process, using Creatives intelligent algorithms to restore the lost dynamics. Second, they said X-Fi CMSS-3D technology up-mixed tracks from stereo format to surround sound, which centred the vocal content without affecting the left/right stereo balance, and used ambience extraction techniques to provide subtle but effective natural ambient surround, based on the inherent reverbs of the source material.

2. Creative said the claim "For audio that sounds ever better than CD quality in seconds" included a typographical error; it should have stated ... sounds even better ...". They argued that the claim " ... sounds even better ..." referred to the fact that compressed audio, when converted to 24-bit, enhanced with X-Fi 24-bit Crystalliser and converted to surround sound, was perceived by listeners as sounding better than CD quality sound, which operated at 16-bit, 44kHz and in stereo. They reiterated that they did not claim to restore sound that was lost, but simply provided an experience that sounded better than the CD format.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA understood that Creative had intended to convey that, whereas other portable formats used a lower bit size and frequency, the Xmod operated at the same bit size and sampling rate as studio quality sound and enhanced listeners' experience further by simulating surround sound. We understood that the Xmod operated at a rate of 24-bit 96kHz, which Creative had identified as studio quality sound, although we also understood from the complainant that most professional studios were capable of sampling at a frequency of 192kHz or above.

We noted the complainant's concern that the claim "An Experience Beyond Studio Quality" was inaccurate. Although we acknowledged that audio information was lost through compression in the standard MP3 process and could not be restored, we considered that the claim did not imply the product was able to restore lost audio content or deliver sound better than its studio master original, but instead referred to the listener's experience being enhanced by the product's capacity to simulate surround sound instead of using the stereo format of, for example, a studio environment. We considered that the claim "An Experience Beyond Studio Quality" focused on Creative's view of the listener's experience and noted it did not state that the product delivered sound beyond studio quality. We concluded that the claim was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated the e-mail under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 8.1 (Matters of opinion) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We considered that the claim "For audio that sounds even / ever better than CD quality ..." suggested that MP3 music, with Xmod, sounded noticeably better than CD quality. While we noted Creatives argument that the bit rate and frequency used by the Xmod were higher than that of standard CD quality, and the Xmod converted stereo audio to surround sound, we considered that the claim, unlike that considered in point 1, was objective and capable of substantiation. While we appreciated that the sound effect created by the Xmod might be preferred by some listeners, we considered that we had not seen evidence to show that the sound it delivered was better than CD quality.

On this point, the e-mail breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness)

Action

We told Creative to remove the claim "For audio that sounds even / ever better than CD quality ..." from future marketing and advised that it should not be used again without definitive evidence to support it. We suggested that they seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team before issuing similar material.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)