Creative Sound Blaster Roar
The New Creative Sound Blaster ROAR, a portable Bluetooth wireless speaker is not just yet another speaker to be reviewed. This speaker at first glance may fool you, but as you will see this wireless speaker absolutely has so much to offer. This little marvel is a #1 Best Seller in just a couple months, has stellar near perfect reviews, and honestly we could not wait to get our hands on our very own. Read our review and we will share why the Sound Blaster ROAR is king of the wireless speaker jungle right now.
Table of Contents
Portable or Bookshelf
This is a portable speaker, solid, built to travel much like adding a book to your backpack or travel bag. This speaker also has big, big sound so it could also be used on the bookshelf as well. The speaker is a sturdy 2.5 lbs.
Power Source/battery life
This speaker has a built in 6000mAh Li-ion battery that is good for 8 hours. It can also be run on AC power, comes with adapter. You can also charge your smartphone or tablet if needed.
Wireless Standard: Bluetooth 3.0
Supported Codecs are AAC, aptX, which enables the speaker to have a higher quality wireless audio
Also uses Near Field Communication.
Can connect to two devices simultaneously.
The unit has Link Security (Bluetooth Connectivity) modes for different user access scenarios
LS2 is for a single user with 2 or less bluetooth devices. The speaker will be secure to those two devices only
LS1 friendly access mode, the speaker will initiate pairing to speakers that have been previously connected, 2 or more devices that may want to share music
LS off mode is for easy access, leaves the unit in easy discoverable mode, even with one device connected already. great for music sharing
Controls
The Controls are on the top rear of the speaker for simple easy one touch use, like power, volume up and down, bluetooth pairing, speakerphone, and the ROAR button, there is also a mini control panel on the back to control the many features. power, AUX in, USB to connect to PC or MAC, min USB, micro SD slot, recording audio, payback controls for microSD card music, link security modes, Tera Bass button, and Alarm
Speakerphone
Yes, takes smartphone calls for a hands free experience.
You can also record audio and phone calls directly to a microSD card
Ease of Set-up
Turn on the power and this device easily, quickly pairs up to your device, plus having the micro SD card slot enables you to listen to music without a separate device.
Stereo Separation
Stereo separation is merely the the separation of sounds through a left and right speaker. When listening to the music you may hear the drums through the right speaker and the guitar through the left, this separation mimics the spatial separation within the studio where the music is recorded. The stereo sound is not missed as you are immersed in the wide sound field. You can also pair this speaker with another Soundblaster ROAR for a wider stereo sound field.
Wireless Range
The Bluetooth range is 30 feet from your device to your speaker.
Creative Sound Blaster ROAR Design
At first glance, what is on the outside is a safe, simple, precise design. A low profile, very solid, you can almost feel the quality when you pick it up. It looks fairly boring and very much like many of the other offerings as you see the front and top. Then when you see all the controls on the back, you have a sense that this speaker is different.
The speaker is recognized for the stunning engineering and design by winning the prestigious International Red Dot Award 2014
As for what is on the inside, we love that Soundblaster is very prideful and transparent about what is inside. Many wireless speaker manufactures give very few details about what is inside. Aside from the many features, it is the fantastic design that gets such positive results in the way of sound quality. This speaker boasts 33 Watts of power. A Whopping 5 drivers powered by two separate high performance amplifiers, one dedicated to high frequencies and the other to the low frequencies. The left-right channel drivers are 1.5″ high frequency drivers and they face the front. The 2.5″ heavy duty midrange bass driver is on the top pointing upwards. Then you have passive radiators on each end pumping out bass. This allows for a wide sound field that captures the full spectrum of frequencies to reproduce a fantastic listening experience.
Soundblaster has a fairly detailed White Paper that goes into much more depth about the engineering of this little marvel you can see it here.
Sound Quality
Nothing short of simply amazing……It looks a bit like the Bose SoundLink and it sure sounds every bit as good if not better. For a small speaker the pure power and clarity is really surprising. So far we have not seen a speaker this size with such beautiful sound. Clear, crisp, detailed, and you can certainly appreciated the power coming from this speaker.The music we listened to, we cranked up the tunes on this page, and everything sounds great. I especially love the live stuff, and the tracks on Eric Clapton’s live acoustic CD is better than fantastic.
The ROAR mode is simply for loudness, such as if at a party or outside, it surely works to fill up a room with sound. The digital signal processor kicks in to provide more spaciousness and depth.
The Terabass is a neat function that enhances the bass sound at lower volumes and when the unit is playing at louder volumes, or in enclosed spaces you may want to back off on the boomy bass sound, you simply turn it off.
Dimensions
H: 2.2″
W: 7.9″
D: 4.5″
2.5 lbs
Creative Sound Blaster ROAR Features
Bluetooth Multipoint: Allows for two bluetooth devices to be paired at the same time
HD Audio Codecs: Supports aptX and AAC for higher quality audio streaming
Speakerphone: hands free smart phone calls
Integrated MP3 Player: Enjoy your music using the microSD card, without having to use your phone or other device
Dual Purpose Battery: You can charge your smartphone or tablet and still get 8 hours of listening
Bedtime Mode: gradually lowers the volume, then automatically shuts down for the night
Link Security: Allows for different pairing modes
NFC: Easy Bluetooth connectivity, simply tap an NFC enabled device to the Sound Blaster ROAR
MicroSD Card Reader: browse or modify contents of any SDHC microSD card up to 32GB when connected via usb to PC/Mac
Voice Recorder: records audio and calls directly to a Micro SD Card
Soundblaster USB Audio: can function as a external speaker for your PC
Siren: one touch, get attention when you need it
Sound Enhancements: Terabass for bass control, ROAR button for extra loudness boost
Megastereo experience: join two Sound Blasters together for wider stereo sound
Accessories
1 Micro USB Cable
1 Power Adapter,
2 Interchangeable adapter plugs
Pros
fantastic design quality, this is a feature rich speaker, the sound quality is unmatched for speakers it’s size or price point.
Cons
no aux cable included, no track selections on the speaker when using phone or device, but there is when using the microSD card, 8 hours of battery life is on the low side, but the power needed for the quality sound is a fair trade off, no carrying case included, can be purchased separately.
Creative Sound Blaster ROAR Consumer Reviews
This is a hot selling, very popular wireless speaker. The price point is excellent as this speaker is as good if not better than competitors like Bose SoundLink or Jambox, it certainly has a few more features and the quality is never in question here as the Soundblaster ROAR gets a strong 10.0 out of 5…..yeah we like it that much, no actually we love this speaker, and so does the over 600 reviewers…..you will see the “love” word used a lot! This speaker is also one of the highest rated wireless speakers as well, with near perfect reviews….many happy listeners!
Price
We are actually surprised and pleasantly pleased that this gem is priced as is. Don’t even fret over it and grab yours today. Creative has set the bar with this speaker.
There is a Creative Sound Blaster Roar Carry Bag
