But another in a sea of iPod docks, the Creative Xdock Wireless looks to make them obsolete with the "X factor." What the hell is the X factor? Find out after the jump...

It takes stereo audio from the docked iPod or Zen and upconverts it through "Xtreme Fidelity" to quality that they claim is somehow magically better than CD, which can then be streamed wirelessly to X-Fi wireless receivers (sold separately, naturally). Moreover, it converts that audio into DTS surround sound, which can be fed into a theater system via the optical-out port, along with video into your TV via S-video or composite outputs. Verdict? While the audio sounded good, anything that's upconverted strikes me as fishy. Also, the "X" garbage is so mid-90s it hurts. That said, the wireless streaming and home theater hookup seemed to work well, making it more worthy than most docks. Part of the "Made for iPod" program (guess they are chummy post-settlement after all), it drops in spring for $200, or with the $100 X-Fi receiver bundled for under $300, so it's not exactly the cheapest option out there, either. I mean, for that much you could just get an AppleTV. Gallery after the jump.

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