This is the Creative SoundBlasterX Katana from one of my favorite brands. This is not a sponsored post, I won this set of speakers from a Facebook Contest held by Creative on their newly revamped Facebook page. I've featured this speaker in my piano cover Post Malone ft. 21 Savage - Rockstar Piano in hope to have a future collaboration opportunity with Creative.
I have been a Creative user starting with SoundBlaster 16 bit, around year 1993. From then, I've bought SoundBlaster AWE 32, SoundBlaster AWE 64 Gold, SoundBlaster Live! Platinum, SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum, SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Notebook, and almost a full range of their speakers. From then on, I've been following closely on their development.
The Creative SoundBlasterX Katana gives me a really fresh feeling. It targets both Audiophiles and Gamers. Perfect! It also doubles as an external USB Sound Card which supports a Virtual 7.1 surround sound at crystal clear 24 bit 96kHz audio fidelity.
I love the Creative SoundBlasterX Katana a lot but there are some features I wish it has too. Here's my Verdict :
PROS :
+ Sound Quality (I couldn't believe what I hear from this sleep little thing)
+ Near perfect Highs, Mids, and Bass
+ 16.8 million colors Aurora Reactive lighting system (Crazy!)
+ Doubles as a Sound Card (Takes some burden off CPU, optimized for games, accurate, and crystal clear)
+ Bluetooth 4.2 (around 10 meters of crystal clear connectivity, minimum interference)
+ Digital In (Optical)
+ Light!! (I could carry it around to parties)
+ Remote Control
CONS :
- I would appreciate a COAXIAL Digital In too
- HDMI is another important connection that is not present (Otherwise, this would be an amazing TV Soundbar too)
- I couldn't really hear the Virtual 7.1 (Can't compare to actual physical speakers)
- The Phone App is still at its infancy
- SoundBlaster Connect sometimes crashes. I was a little worried about the firmware when update hung at 100%
- Lack of Aurora Templates / Styles, with 16.8 million colors, there is a lot that can be done
- Since it can double as a Sound Card, I really hoped that it can double as a 7.1 sound card with speakers out (Digital <Coax Out or Optical Out> or Analog <Front, Rear, Center, Middle, Woofer>) which I can use the Katana as an amazing Sound Card and Center Speaker plus Woofer to be paired with my current set up (Dreaming)
- I also hope Creative would bring back their AMAZING MIDI capabilities
The Cons are mostly my thoughts on what can be improved. Otherwise, this speaker is already extremely astounding.
Here are some links for you to check it out :
Creative Malaysia :
https://www.facebook.com/CreativeMalaysia/
https://www.youtube.com/user/creativestores/
https://www.instagram.com/creativemalaysia/
https://twitter.com/CreativeLabs
http://bit.ly/CreativeMalaysiaLazada