Creative iRoar

amazon Creative iRoar reviews

Creative iRoar: Despite being a popular name in the PC audio industry during the last years of the twentieth century and the first few years of the twenty-first century, the leading audio technology company from Singapore Creative Labs became a bit out of place in the era of motherboards that integrated low-cost audio solutions from Realtek, which also made the name Creative, which once had a quality mark, becomes faint in the young heart gamers, new users.

This decline comes partly because many of its products can’t keep up with rivals when they have to face an unequal battle like the company’s Creative Zen music player model that was “crushed” by the company. Apple’s famous iPod models, or the company’s efforts to reach the professional market with the Creative Sound Blaster X7 discrete sound card model, were quickly beaten by a series of veteran names in this field such as Yamaha, Denon, or even the big Sony “blocking the way.”

Another part of the problem lies mainly in the market orientation and not paying too much attention to PC-based audio solutions, making its products “floating.” It is easy to see that music and movie enthusiasts will look for more professional solutions. At the same time, general users will be satisfied with the improved integrated solutions from integrated processor assemblies, sets of speakers, and cheap, mass-produced, and massively manufactured headsets from China.

However, this does not mean that Creative Labs’ products before the “survival” period of recent years are “poor”; there are still many “jewels” capable of conquering difficult user communities. Among them are Creative iRoar, an upgraded smart speaker from the famous Creative Sound Blaster Roar product line with many advanced technologies that even very few smart speakers have launched in recent years can be compared.

So what is this smart speaker model “equipped” with that appreciated by the test team?

When it comes to portable speakers, users tend to think of speaker models designed with 360-degree sound orientation and moderate power but possessing a battery that is “buffalo” enough for users to be with friends share. Still, Creative iRoar does not follow that pattern when using a directional speaker design with a speaker range of up to 3 speakers arranged in 2.1 formats and an acoustic resonator that directs the entire sound range in a single direction.

Creative Labs have used this design from the first version to the version Biareview considers the third-generation version with very few structural changes. Still, slight differences in the exterior design make the product look more “modern” and more fashionable.

Although the equipment is cumbersome, three large speakers and two resonance chambers are placed in different directions. Overall, this smart portable speaker is designed very neatly with a monolithic design, making this speaker model only slightly larger than the Western Digital My Book storage hard drive with only a little heavier weight.

The top of the speaker is equipped with a woofer with a diameter of up to 7cm, a speaker on/off button, and a Bluetooth wireless connection button with external devices, volume up and down buttons, and LED indicators. LED, omnidirectional microphone, and especially an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip allows users to connect “one-touch” with mobile phones, making connection operations simple and easy.

The speaker’s back is equipped with many connection ports, including a 15V power supply port, a Micro USB port to output signals from other music players. A MicroSD card slot that allows playing music directly on the card with two modes playback “mixing” (Shuffle) and “repeat from start to finish” (Loop). The popular 3.5mm Audio-in port, and most especially the Optical connection port that the writer will mention in more detail in the following part.

Creative iRoar also has a large built-in battery of up to 9000mAh. It also integrates a USB Type-A port, turning the speaker model into a backup battery pack for phones and other mobile devices when you need quickly charge your device.

Meanwhile, on the front-facing the user is two medium-sized speakers for the mid-range and high-range with the size of 5cm “hit” oriented towards the user; the remaining two sides are merely a steam outlet. The acoustic resonance chamber is the main factor that creates the “hit force” for the bass range with more force, a design that is quite smart and familiar with small portable speakers but still wants to own a wide and powerful bass range like on large speakers.

On the underside, Creative iRoar owns a control board with the same SB-Axx1™ audio processing chip as on the ambitious discrete DAC / Amp model to conquer the market of professional audio “players” Creative Sound Blaster X7 mentioned above. Not to say that the company used a different Amplifier circuit solution for two mid/high speakers and woofers to independently control each range’s sound quality without affecting each other.

Finally, the bottom of the portable speaker model is equipped with an expansion port, allowing pairing with a heavy-duty iRoar Rock cabinet, which further enhances the range. Bass and also do charging docks for speakers, turning the entire combo into a home entertainment sound system compared with many residential systems. Not simply bringing a little … “civil smell” on PC as with the small CREATIVE STAGE AIR model that Biareview introduced to readers.

Overall, Creative iRoar’s “monolithic” design can be seen as quite neat and beautiful compared to the “two-piece” design of the first two generations of Roar portable speakers, making the speaker model a should be more modern, more trendy. Besides, owning many different types of connections is also a plus when this speaker model can serve the diverse needs of users from simple to professional but without losing the “portability” needed. A must-have: easy to carry, easy to connect, easy to play, and easy to listen.

The writer’s first impression of Creative iRoar is that the volume of the speaker model is extremely large. At maximum power, the sound of the speaker can “fill” a room with an area of ​​​​up to 50 square meters, even if it is only a unidirectional speaker placed in the corner of the room, not a 360-degree speaker set in the middle of the room like many current portable speaker models.

However, the transmitted sound is still extremely clear at a high volume, with no distortion or timidity. It is possible that when you place the speaker on an unstable surface such as a wooden table, the high volume level can vibrate the table, creating unwanted background noise.

Using Creative iRoar for the main purpose of the speaker set is listening to music. It must be said that the writer was extremely excited when the company equipped the product with a “dedicated” Blaster X Acoustic Engine to control two range speakers mid-high front. Hence, the performance of the speakers with vocal and acoustic music genres is extremely impressive.

where can you get a Creative iRoar online

Creative Iroar Go Intelligent Splash-Proof Portable 5-Driver Bluetooth Speaker with Superwide Technology: Buy it now

Creative iRoar Mic – Wireless Voice Projector For Creative iRoar and Sound Blaster Roar Pro Bluetooth Wireless Speakers: Buy it now

Creative Iroar Rock Docking Subwoofer: Buy it now

The mid-range (mid) can express clearly and distinctly with a warm sound, showing all the “god” of the voice, while the high range (treble) is also clearly defined without grating ears. That shows the ability to control the sound range very well by sound engineers from Creative Labs within the scope of a set of portable speakers, making the quality in the album See Sing-Share 2 that much better. The test writer showed it to be extremely smooth and worth listening.

But when it comes to the bass range, Creative iRoar brings a lot of sound quality in terms of “quantity,” but it is very difficult to control in terms of “quality” due to some technological limitations. At first glance at some bass-rich music or some action movie trailers with explosion scenes on Youtube, the bass range’s first impression is a very strong, very vibrating force. Even at high volume, the bass range of the explosions in movies and games can “shake” the screen on your desk.

But when it comes to details, the bass resonance through the two sound chambers helps “explode” a significant amount of steam in the opposite direction to the outside, creating the intense power of the bass range. Still, it also makes for bass that is “excessive” but lacks solidity. That is also a common drawback of portable speakers that use resonator technology to enhance bass, such as the cheap or genuine Anker Soundcore, on par with Creative Labs’ product, Harman Kardon Onyx Studio, very suitable for fans of the shabby EDM genre.

Perhaps because of the technical limitation, it is difficult to provide a well-controlled bass range in quality and quantity with a fairly small size driver that Creative Labs engineers have “brought” the sub-set. iRoar Rock event “own plot” enhances the bass range, providing a more comprehensive sound range for users. The writer also looks forward to experiencing this accessory shortly and sharing it with readers.

As a company with a “senior” experience in developing today’s leading audio processing chips, Creative Labs brings you a set of portable speakers of the “unique” type like the Creative iRoar when reproducing position the sounds in surrounding space in front of the user. So you can completely use this portable speaker model to play games or watch movies on your desk, then take the speaker out to “party” with friends or cater for long trips.

It must be said that the sound reproduction of the speakers is as impressive as the carefully arranged 5.1 speakers. Players can easily distinguish the opponent’s footsteps above or below, far or near, just by listening to the speakers without wearing headphones. The writer had the opportunity to test the speaker with the Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Warzone was completely satisfied with the product model when it accurately reflected 80% of this position of the sound in most CQB (Close-Quarters Combat) “close-quarters” situations between players. Except when there are too many complex sound sources that make the players themselves “disturbed” and difficult to distinguish object.

Experimenting with the movie Bird Box on the Netflix platform, the writer can hear and feel the sound directions coming from the front and sides most clearly, followed by the sound “hit” up from above with a couple of pairs. A bit fainter than the sound coming from the front or the sides, but the picture is still quite good, especially with the scene of people running on the wooden attic that gives the correct impression to the user.

However, to “enjoy” all these features, users should use a Micro USB connection to “take advantage” of the audio processor equipped on the speaker and reduce the latency to the lowest possible level. Maybe, because the Bluetooth chip on the speaker is only in version 3.0, it supports many high-end CODECs with low latency, such as aptX-LL or AAC. It also brings a certain delay, and the sound quality is also poor than when used via a Micro USB cord.

For smart TV systems or PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, users can connect to the speaker using the Optical port to use this portable speaker set with the lowest latency.

Being “assigned” with I in front of the Roar speaker line developed by the company from 2007 onwards. Creative iRoar owns many different smart features, such as connecting to a mobile phone program to control EQ (essentially changing the parameters of the two built-in electronic Amplifiers) to produce other “sound qualities.”

Users can even take calls and chat through the built-in microphone on the speaker, with its impressive ability to filter out noise from the outside environment. Not to mention that users can also use this microphone to connect with the virtual assistant on their mobile phone to turn the speaker into a true “smart” speaker.

In general, Creative iRoar can satisfy fastidious users in terms of sound quality or built-in technology even though it is “several years old” and lacks a few new features of a “true” smart speaker like modern speaker models released in the past year.

As an “aged” speaker model, Creative Labs products will not possess some new technologies on the market, such as using the speaker as a central system to control smart home devices or simply a chip. Older Bluetooth consumes too much energy, making the speaker only run for about 17 hours of continuous operation at 40% volume despite being equipped with a battery pack nearly three times larger than some newer models on the market.

In addition, with the design of the “durable” type, this speaker is still quite heavy (1.1kg), equivalent to some other portable-plug-in speaker models on the market today. So moving the device is not easy in the “pocket” style like some small portable speaker models. On the contrary, according to the writer’s feelings, Creative iRoar is more suitable for “laying down” on the user’s desk and occasionally taking it out to use rather than for those who often have to move.