Roar even louder: A first-hand look at Creative's new Sound Blaster Roar Pro and iRoar speakers

Sound Blaster Roar goes pro

It’s been barely over a year since the Sound Blaster Roar 2 was released, and back then we were duly impressed at how Creative managed to fit everything from the original Sound Blaster Roar into the smaller package without compromising on the sound.

Back then, we were told the impetus for the change was very much customer feedback: users wanted a smaller package, and the option of colors to choose from. Well today, Creative has once again responded to their customers with the launch of the Sound Blaster Roar Pro. In their own words, it's “a powerful, feature-rich, 5-driver portable Bluetooth speaker with next generation P.A. system.”

What does that mean?

The speaker itself looks very similar to the Classic Sound Blaster Roar, but to our eyes it seems very slightly wider. Indeed, the speaker measures 57 x 202 x 115mm and weighs 1.1kg, the same as the Classic Sound Blaster Roar. We’re told that following the launch of the Sound Blaster Roar 2, Creative received many requests for a version of the Roar with the ability to act as a loudspeaker. People loved the audio capabilities of the Roar, and wanted to have that same quality when projecting their own voice. So, Creative’s engineers went back to work to add those functionalities in, throwing in some added improvements along the way.

New with the Sound Blaster Roar Pro

This time round, we were first treated to an audio demonstration. Technical Marketing Manager Mr. Susimin Suprapmo played Get Lucky by Daft Punk on both the Classic Sound Blaster Roar and the new Sound Blaster Roar Pro, alternating between the speakers to give us a better idea of how the sound differed.

Both speakers were played at maximum volume, and it was immediately obvious that the new Roar Pro had better fidelity at louder volumes. It also went louder than the Classic Sound Blaster Roar, and had better clarity. We’re told the new speaker even delivers a full three decibels more sound with the Roar feature enabled - that's certainly a lot for a little speaker. While overall sound signature seemed to be the same, the new Sound Blaster Roar Pro did have a slightly wider sound stage, with a bit more robustness in the bass.

We’re told the Sound Blaster Roar Pro now comes with advanced high definition audio codecs with support for aptX Low Latency, and this allows for minimal delay even when streaming music wirelessly. TheSound Blaster Roar Pro also boasts a 10 hour battery life, up from the eight hours of the Roar 2, and this is due to improved electrical efficiency in the circuit.

Have it the way you like it

Also new is the inclusion of multiple audio profiles. While the Roar series has always had EQ adjustments via the app on your smartphone or computer, the Sound Blaster Roar Pro now allows you to easily switch between one of three profiles just at a flick of a switch. No more messing with sound curves!

The Sound Blaster Roar Pro comes with these three profiles:

• Warm - For soothing audio and “tube like” warmth with richness for instrumental and vocal pieces.

• Balanced - For a neutral sound signature that’s well balanced for all music types.

• Energetic - For added life and width that gives better definition on instruments.

There’s also a Bedtime mode, which plays files from the microSD card and gradually reduces the volume before automatically shutting down. Creative says you can use this in conjunction with the recording function to record bedtime stories for your children, but we think soothing music would work just as well for this purpose.

Loudspeaker enabler

This little device above is a big part of the developments that Creative’s engineers have been working on - the iRoar Mic Wireless Voice Projector. It’s a wireless microphone that has both a line-in port and a mic-in port, allowing you to connect anything from musical instruments to a head-worn microphone to the Sound Blaster Roar Pro or the Creative iRoar.

Why bring a traditional boom box when you can bring just the Sound Blaster Roar Pro and one of these? The iRoar Mic Wireless Voice Projector is very lightweight, features a unidirectional microphone and has up to 10 hours of talk time. More importantly, it features Creative’s proprietary Bluetooth connection which makes full use of low latency Bluetooth for a solid uninterrupted wireless connection.

This is what Mr. Susimin Suprapmo was using to give the presentation, and we must say the audio was certainly very clear. For wireless microphones, that speaks to the quality of the wireless connection as well as the quality of the internal microphone itself. While we’re not sure if people will really be using the Sound Blaster Roar Pro as a karaoke machine anytime soon, it certainly provides a good alternative to the traditional boom box for street performances or even presentations in the office.

Creative iRoar - New-found intelligence

Next up was the new iRoar - deemed by Creative to be the “most intelligent speaker on the planet”. How is this so? Because the iRoar actually gets the same SB AXX1 digital audio processor that’s found in the Creative SBX family of speakers, allowing the speaker to handle advanced processing. This allows the speaker to do things like adaptive and real time adjustments to the audio, letting it provide good bass energy even at lower volumes, and even things like dynamic range expansion, where some of the audio lost by compression is restored.

The iRoar features a whole new set of drivers, with a new monocoque Endoskeletal chassis, improved 2” high and mid-range drivers, a new 2.75” subwoofer driver and matching passive radiators. Neodymium technology is used this time round along with more efficient magnets to allow for a footprint that's still relatively small, and the typical NFC spot has been replaced with a fairly large ring in the center of the speaker to allow for frustration-free pairing.

The intelligent microphone has now been replaced by a microphone array like what’s found in the Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200, and the microphones perform active environmental analysis to intelligently adjust the level of noise reduction. Also, the speaker now features about 20 hours of playback time thanks to the inclusion of an additional battery cell and the improved efficiency of the new amplifier.

New updates

According to Creative, the iRoar is designed from the ground up to take full advantage of the newer technologies that have now become available, and as a result of this the speaker now goes two times louder with twice the battery life. There’s now also a High-res 24-bit/96kHz optical input jack for TV connections, USB 24-bit asynchronous audio support for jitter-free playback, and of course aptX low latency support for optimal wireless streaming, so you’re guaranteed quality transmission of your audio source no matter the connection.

Gone are the buttons that line the top of the previous Sound Blaster Roars. These are now replaced by adaptive, context-sensitive touch controls that change to match the mode you’re in. An icon at the top left of the speaker shows you exactly which mode that is, and there are already a number of features you can add to the speaker by downloading them through the app. Creative says that’s the power of having an on-board processor, and it means that you can potentially add or remove features as required.

The audio experience

We were treated to a recording of Just like Me by Betty Who, and were impressed by how punchy the bass from the iRoar was. It certainly was louder than any other Roar we’ve heard to date, and what was more impressive was that we hardly noticed any break-up in the audio. There was good body in the bass, and very good dynamics overall. Jazz at the Pawnshop by 3 Good Vibes was played next, and this fast moving instrumental piece was rendered expertly by the speaker. We did feel it might have been a little on the bright side, but overall the speaker was more than capable of handling the pace and the capturing the details both in the louder tones as well as the softer ones.

When placed on the iRoar Rock, an external subwoofer dock that’s one of the first accessories for the iRoar, the system produced a much larger sound that easily filled the meeting room we were in. In fact, when pushed to maximum volume we’d say the volume levels were almost to the limits of comfort! The good thing though, was the fact that the audio didn’t show any signs of cracking at all.

We were played the sandstorm chase screen from Mission Impossible: 4, and it was evident that the iRoar Rock added significant body to the already rich sound of the iRoar. Sound effects and vocals remained crisp and clear, while the soundstage was definitely improved. While we personally think you’ll still get better surround effects from a full surround speaker setup, we must say what this two piece combination is able to achieve should be more than enough for today’s living rooms.

The iRoar Rock also acts as a charging dock for the iRoar, so you can bring the iRoar out with you for listening on the go, then come home and plug it in to use with your television as your entertainment system while recharging the battery so it’s ready to go the next day.

Welcoming the new generation

So there you have it, the newest additions to the Creative Sound Blaster Roar family, and already you can see how they are moving forward. To us, the iRoar is a really intriguing product, as adding the ability to handle real-time processing of audio should certainly lead to better sound, and when you add in the potential expandability of a dock system, who knows what can come next? Maybe a future 5.1 system with an iRoar as the main control system that you control through an app on your phone? Whatever it is, it’ll definitely be most interesting to see.

The Sound Blaster Roar Pro will commence sales at this week’s Sitex 2015 for S$249 (after the S$100 Sitex voucher), and resume sales at all authorized Creative resellers later for S$349. The Creative iRoar will also be sold at Sitex in very limited quantities at S$349 (after the S$100 Sitex voucher), and official sales will start early next year. The RRP for the Creative iRoar is expected to be S$528.

All purchases above S$99 at the Creative booth during Sitex 2015 will entitle you to a free pair of headphones worth S$89 (while stocks last), so we’d certainly recommend heading down to check both speakers out in person. No release date or pricing has been announced for the iRoar Rock.