Gadgetory

does anyone else feel like speakers have been ignored lately with all the amazing headphones in the market right now outside of a few higher-end studio monitor options there really hasn't been all that much innovation or movement in the speaker space for some time now well things might be about to change guys meet the Sound Blaster ex katana from creative labs this is an under monitor audio system designed for gamers who want to experience the extra layer of sound immersion along with a few key features that might attract setup enthusiasts but first quick message from our sponsor this Black Friday ncx PC impact our gaming pcs featuring GeForce GTX 10 series graphics are an even sweeter deal with big discounts a free course avoid gaming headset a copy of watchdogs 2 plus even more swag click the link in the description to learn more the katana is priced at $300 that may appear high for a gaming sound bar however given the feature set and sonic elements it is fair before going too far let me backtrack my experience with desktop speakers my first pair was the e to fire s 330d it was a 2.1 speaker system and I absolutely enjoyed listening to them I then upgraded to the bose companion 20s which is a 2.0 speaker system and while audio wise it was a downgrade from my previous set I wanted to achieve a cleaner desktop setup and the Bose did look quite pretty and there were a much better fit for my setup let me tell you looking back and I think that's a perfect example of form over function I certainly don't have in a room for proper studio monitors so I was grateful for what I had then out of nowhere the katana shows up at the studio looking for a spot at my desk and at first sight I was a little intrigued by the form factor it's roughly 24 inches wide and it weighs about 3 and pounds which isn't too bad and it fits perfectly in confined spaces it's solidly built and the company has done a fantastic job of the compact but still great looking design now along with the sambar you do get a dedicated subwoofer that features a large five and a quarter inch driver housed in a wooden enclosure and this connects directly to the sound bar via a proprietary cable in terms of connectivity the katana is really flexible you get your standard power subwoofer Jack dedicated 3.5 millimeter headphone and microphone connectors an auxilary input optical in to take advantage of dolby digital audio a USB flash drive port that can play music directly from a flash drive and a micro USB port this micro USB is designed to transmit high res 24-bit 96,000 megahertz digital audio signals directly from a PC and my testing was done through this port bluetooth 4.2 connectivity has made its way to the katana in order to activate this you'll need to hold the power button for a few seconds and the integrated display will output the pairing mode and from there you're just a few steps away from connecting your smartphone to the system basically the katana is very very versatile when it comes to device compatibility while in control the source switch and lighting preset buttons are located right beside the power button the cherry on top of this is the inclusion of a dedicated remote that consists of all the basic controls you need the layout is fairly simple and easy to use you have the power button along with the mute button right beneath there is a base button that can be used to adjust base levels followed by media playback controls and volume adjust buttons there's also a dedicated button that cycles through different audio presets a separate display on/off button a lightening preset that cycles through different lighting effects that I'll talk about in a bit and finally you have the source buttons there are four drivers in total integrated inside the sound bar the top to upward facing drivers are dedicated towards mid-range and the last two tweeters are placed behind the speaker grille this follows creatives trying amplified design which basically consists of three amplifiers one dedicated towards higher frequencies one for the mids and finally one for the lows ie subwoofer in total you get a continual 75 watts of rms power and a peak of 150 watts feeding all of this is a propriety soundblaster multicore DSP and a certified dolby digital decoder this pairing is supposed to provide everything from fully customizable hardware powered audio restoration to real-time voice processing and 7.1 virtual surround sound 2016 is all about RGB and that has made its way to the katana there is a single LED strip underneath the device and what else can I say if you're interested in color matching your peripherals or your setup in general then this could be it there are sixteen point eight million colors to choose from and they can be configured to the driver software speaking of the driver software I found it to be a hit and miss while it kept crashing on my workstation PC every time when I tried launching the app my msi gt72 gaming laptop had no issues whatsoever remember I'm working with a pre-release driver software and the team over creative are hard at work making sure the actual release software is free from issues when the software did work it was extremely intuitive and allowed for a massive amount of customization taking a close look you're greeted with the dashboard tab that displays a brief overview of the lighting the EQ and the blaster X the acoustic sound engine setting now towards the left you'll notice a specific selection of pre-configured audio and lighting profiles that are optimized for certain playback needs for example there's a profile for gaming concert cinema and night mode which dynamically adjusts the volume to sustain that calm and relaxed listening atmosphere you'll also notice specific profiles for certain games like Battlefield 1 cod csgo and overwatch which is nice but I'm hoping future updates would expand the selection you can also create your own personalized sound profile by playing around with the EQ and the acoustic engine and that's something I ended up doing rather than relying on the handy presets there's also a scout mode that enhances footsteps speech and weaponry handling but unfortunately this beta version doesn't come with that option if you decide to connect the microphone to the katana there are a few features that might help streamers have some fun like noise reduction and voice morphing capabilities both of which are interesting additions just having these shows how much time and effort equative put into this product the lighting tab is pretty basic to work around with there are six different effects to choose from and you can adjust the color this depending on your preference do note that the direction can only be altered with the wave preset if you want to experience the full potential of the katana the driver software is a killer tool which could place it about other options in this category I can't in this review without talking about the most important factor of a sound system the sound if you recall the part where I talked about my experience with desktop speakers there was one thing in common among them and that was their price points this is a $300 system and honestly I was blown away with the sound quality coming out of the katana there's plenty of detail and the high ends are treated almost perfectly with fantastic definition I didn't notice any harshness or distortion at higher volumes and I'll caution you this system gets loud I mean really loud almost to a point where you can use this as your living room speaker to complement your TV the subwoofer handles bass really well and you can control the levels through the included remote control overall if I would have put the sound quality in simple terms it's just amazing I even thought to myself why didn't creative labs come up with the katana before I bought the bose companion toys and just to compare the two here's a sound test what was truly amazing was that even without the system at your level it still outperformed my expectations if you get a chance to listen to the katana in person certainly do so I had a great time gaming with the katana too remember it's targeted towards gamers but I enjoyed listening to my flak files and watching videos as well regardless it was an immersive experience playing battlefield 1 ambient noise along with vocals were well-defined and there's a good sense of positional awareness which is always awesome gunshots were powerful and explosions felt like explosions thanks to the subwoofer so overall i fairly enjoyed my time with the katana many other sambars from companies like vizio samsung and yamaha are meant to further distance listening however creative labs has managed to design a system that can function extremely well in close proximity for PC gaming and still not lose much definition when sitting on a couch watching a movie so I think it's safe to say that you can get a fantastic audio experience for $300 believe it or not I'm selling my bose companions right after this video goes live because the katana has taken a spot on my desk as my permanent desktop speaker or under monitor audio system if I were to put in technical terms it's compact well-designed and most importantly it sounds amazing I just wish the driver software worked with my workstation PC but I'm hoping the final release version could solve the issue RGB is a nice touch to the speaker and I think those who are interested would enjoy color matching their peripherals what are your thoughts on the Sound Blaster X katana from creative labs would you be picking this up for the holidays it's a great gift for gamers I'd leave over with hurricane axe thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one