Creative SoundBlaster Roar: Big sound with a bagful of features

For anyone who’s been using a computer since the early 90’s, you’ll remember Creative as the company that pretty much wrote the ‘multimedia’ book. Their SoundBlaster series of sound cards were responsible for redefining how you played Wolfenstein 3D and Doom: no more tinny speaker beeps but full-fledged multi-channel soundtracks and sound effects.

A lot has happened since. Motherboard manufacturers pretty much steamrolled over them when they began integrating sound cards directly into systems. For a while they got into the MP3 player game with several pretty good devices like the Nomad Jukebox and the Muvo. But all this is ancient history. While they still do manufacture high-quality sound cards, these days they are more known for their speaker systems.

Which brings us to this little brick of a device they launched in the country recently: the SoundBlaster Roar. With the moniker being as presumptuous as it is, we were intrigued. There are tons of Bluetooth speakers available today across the price band--from the rarefied luxury audio brands to ones with manuals that are hilarious transliterations of Mandarin.

We first saw the SoundBlaster Roar at an unveiling in the city, where the demo consisted of a set of six of these speakers daisy chained to pump out sound. The sound was... big. If you’ve heard similar speakers from JBL and Bose, you’re likely to be prepared for the kick these little speakers are capable of delivering. But even when we auditioned this monolithic Bluetooth speaker system in isolation, we were pleasantly taken by its solid sound, clean and flat audio signature and the ability to push out belief-defying sound that enthusiastically fills even a large room.

We put it through a range of audio tests comprising music and movies, from the intensity of Dave Weckl’s jazz drumming to the soul of Andreas Bocelli’s mellifluous tenor to numerous movie clips playing from a paired Android tablet. It handled them all with no complaints. This unit has 5-drivers (that’s five speakers: bass and mid drivers radiating upward, left and right, and two treble drivers pointing forward), and a bi-amp construction (two amplifiers that split the work of driving the bass, mids and highs). All of this saw it sail through a range of audio demands, providing clean, crisp, and faithful sound.

The most obvious comparison to this speaker are products like the Bose SoundLink III and the JBL Pulse. The SoundBlaster Roar, we found, delivered a distinctly neutral sound with none of the undue bass accentuation, as is what some brands do to ‘add punch’ to the sound of their speakers. Even with the volume turned up the sound was balanced and unfaltering.

Unlike most Bluetooth speaker systems that do little else besides play music, this one packs numerous other features. Audio files can be played off a microSD card (upto 32GB) via its integrated card reader and the dedicated audio control buttons. There is no display however. The speaker is able to read MP3, SBC, aptX, AAC audio file formats, making for a better listening experience if you play back lossless audio files.

It can also be connected via USB, enabling you to bypass your computer or laptop’s own audio system and pipe digital audio directly to the speaker. This feature works with an audio control software (for Mac and PC) that offers control over various aspects of the speaker’s characteristics. The speaker’s built-in 6,000mAH battery also acts as a power bank that can be used to charge common USB devices. And it also has NFC for pairing with mobile devices that support the standard.

You can also pair a couple of these speakers in tandem: a special 3.5mm cable (optionally sold) connects the master speaker to another and splits the left and right audio channels for a true stereo experience. Apart from the ability to be utilized as a speakerphone (a button up top can be used to accept calls, after which it uses its own mic and speaker during the call). Also with a microSD card in the slot, you can record calls as WAV files to the memory card; useful for recording conference calls, for example. To wrap up this breathlessly long feature set, there is an alarm button that blasts a rather loud panic sound, should you need to use it.

This is a solid speaker; one that packs more than a few features with very decent sound quality. The only real disadvantage is that it doesn’t have any kind of water- or dust-proofing, so you’ll need to take care if you hit the beach with it.

The pros: Big and clean sound in a small package, acts as a power bank, integrated card reader, lossless file support, NFC support, good bang for the buck
The cons: No special water- or dust-proofing

Price: Rs 15,999