Sound Blaster ROAR: Boombox XXI Century
To be honest, this is one of the most difficult "reviews" that I have ever written. You just do not know where to start, because you want to tell about everything at once. And emotions are overwhelmed, and the voice of reason howls like a wolf, and in general "full pe".
SB Roar is, on the one hand, another representative of “mobile” audio devices, and on the other hand, a multimedia processor that simply, efficiently and tastefully solves the problem of “listening to music”. And with the third - perhaps ROAR - this is an excellent, albeit unconscious, attempt to resurrect portable audio centers, legendary for the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Everyone says that the appearance resembles a book: well, I will not be original, it is. The size resembles a volume of "War and Peace", the weight - too. In spite of the company's 100% Asian roots, the exterior turned out to be completely “European”. Neat lines, smooth curves, high-quality materials - it’s nice to see, to take and use.
')
The neat net closes the entire front-top part, the “control panel” is represented by a rubberized soft-touch surface that does not collect dirt and fingerprints, the side faces are also covered by a “mesh”, but of a slightly different design and size. Three speakers, two passive radiators, two separate amplifiers, a wireless communication unit and a control module for this piece of happiness are hiding behind this protection.
Actually, the column solves the problem of listening to music as efficiently and easily as possible: three ways to connect, the ability to work both stationary, from the network and in the field, the excellent sound quality (about it a little later) and even the ability to work without any connection at all or device.
By wire, you can transfer music through a classic minijack or (optional) via a USB 3.0 cable. In either case, you can (and need) install a column control panel on the computer (software is easy to find on the Creative website), after which the usual 2.1 system turns into a multimedia center with its own set of presets, equalizer and other post-processing delights .
Without wires - NFC + Bluetooth (or simply BT, if anyone Cook did not order to enjoy the benefits of progress in the field of wireless interfaces) with A2DP protocol and (optionally, if the device supports) the AptX audio codec (here iOS users, as far as I know, are also in the span, but for them the column is able to AAC).
In addition to the above methods of connecting to an audio source, you can insert a regular MicroSD card into the column, with which it will play the MP3 files itself. All the necessary control keys are located on the back of the device:
In addition, as you may have noticed, there are record buttons, as well as a "parent" USB-connector. No, unfortunately, you cannot combine 2 speakers into the audio system through it, but you can recharge the mobile device away from civilization from the built-in 6,000 mAh battery. And the record button is nothing more than a voice recorder. That is, it is quite possible to use the column as a universal “corporate” solution for audio inspecting discussions of working moments, and it works perfectly as a “headset” - the ROAR microphone makes sound much cleaner and more pleasant than the trash built into 90% of webcams and laptops. In skype, in general, everyone asked, “what are you, bought new headphones with a microphone”?
The controls are focused on two planes - on the “upper” face (where the power button is on), and on the back side (where the interface connectors are).
Buttons, as you can see, are signed, it is necessary to explain the work of only one of them - ROAR. She is responsible for the inclusion of some improvers (it is not clear whether she removes power save mode, or makes a correction to the amplifiers, or activates some additional equalizer preset), which clearly and completely recognizable make the sound “deeper”, “juicier , In the photographic language - expand the dynamic range. It is not clear why they made it a “button”, and not a sliding regulator at the back, but the effect is pleasant and understandable.
As I wrote a little higher, there are three speakers in the column at once: two “twitter” are directed forward (if you put it on with the power button up, as was intended by the authors of this device), the middle and subwoofer is pointing up, and the two sides have passive membranes that add some more low frequencies to the capabilities of this “audiobook”.
The sound ... the sound ... for the size of the source it is simply amazing. Volume reserve is indecent. Quality is also difficult to describe with censor words. All other mobile speakers, including BOSE Soundlink Bluetooth and Jawbones, either smoke aside, have a different form factor, or both. The tops are detailed and rosary, the mids are juicy and voluminous, and you just don't expect low frequencies from such a minnow. Not to say that you are drowning in them, tea, not a 20-inch subwoofer, but the depth of the sound is really surprising. No wonder they put passive radiators and bother with separate amplifiers. For sound (adjusted for size and mobility) - five with two pluses.
In addition to the sound reproducing part, from which surveyors and users have drool all over the Internet, the column is able to: work as an alarm clock (classical), play not only MP3 but also WMA / WAV from the card, record telephone / skype conversations (which pass), work as a siren (it’s not enough what happens at a picnic), work as a regular “alarm clock”, encouraging the owner with loud sounds at certain intervals, and, as a counter-measure, lull him to sleep. A special “good night” mode will smoothly reduce the playback volume, and then turn off the power of the ROAR itself.
Autonomous swimming on one battery charge, the manufacturer promises up to 8 hours, but I (using a couple of hours for several days in a row) did not charge the column from Monday to Friday, that is, the promised time is fully confirmed in practice, although for continuous playback with maximum volume, I think the results are somewhat more modest.
Actually, in addition to the device itself, which I had on the test, I had the good fortune to communicate with several acquaintances who had acquired such a thing as ... an audio system in the car. It plays loudly, works with a smartphone, without wires, and even at work / at home can be used for its intended purpose. The question “why?” Was usually answered with something like: “to buy a head + a normal sound into a car costs 20, this thing costs 9 and is used in three places at once”. Not that I'm against it, but why not?
The clear winner in quality, quantity and duration of positive emotions among mobile speakers. Suitable for home, and for the office, and for a picnic, and in the car, and in general. It is perfectly collected, perfectly works, an excellent set of pleasant trifles in very compact case and with quite reasonable price tag. The column, by the way, won the 2014 Ret Dot Award .
Creative Soundblaster in the Yandex market is offered at a price of 9,000 rubles.
Competitors can be selected in two ways: the same price and the same quality. Let's start with the quality.
Beats Beatbox Portable
The price is around 13 thousand rubles , the weight is 4 kilograms. Not a competitor in form factor, one and a half times more expensive.
Beats Pill XL
Price - all the same 13 thousand , weight - 1.5 kilos, “tablet” design. Again, almost half as much.
BOSE SoundLink Bluetooth II
Stunning appearance, high-quality sound, everything is just 1.3 KG and the average price on the Yandex market is around 16,000 rubles.
BOSE SoundLink Bluetooth III
The third version also looks good, sounds great, and costs the same 16,000 .
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker
11 thousand rubles . Great appearance. But it sounds worse than ROAR, at least in my (and not only my, foreign reviewers also think so) subjective opinion. And the volume in it is less.
Jawbone big jambox
Excellent, loud and lightweight speaker, which is not very convenient to move (the sharp corners in the backpack - that's just my dream). I have nothing against it, but the design and the price tag - an amateur. And still ROAR, nevertheless, plays louder, even a little.
On the market asking in the region of 11.5 - 12 thousand rubles. Already closer.
Well, what you can buy in Russia for the same money as ROAR (the list is large, I don’t see any reason to bring it here) either plays worse, quieter, deafer or just “depressing” or has a completely different form factor. Competitors in terms of (quality + size + weight ~ 1.1 KG) / price - simply absent. Well, if anyone had experience with ROAR and did not agree with me - let the first person throw a stone at me in the comments. ;)
SB Roar is, on the one hand, another representative of “mobile” audio devices, and on the other hand, a multimedia processor that simply, efficiently and tastefully solves the problem of “listening to music”. And with the third - perhaps ROAR - this is an excellent, albeit unconscious, attempt to resurrect portable audio centers, legendary for the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Appearance
Everyone says that the appearance resembles a book: well, I will not be original, it is. The size resembles a volume of "War and Peace", the weight - too. In spite of the company's 100% Asian roots, the exterior turned out to be completely “European”. Neat lines, smooth curves, high-quality materials - it’s nice to see, to take and use.
')
The neat net closes the entire front-top part, the “control panel” is represented by a rubberized soft-touch surface that does not collect dirt and fingerprints, the side faces are also covered by a “mesh”, but of a slightly different design and size. Three speakers, two passive radiators, two separate amplifiers, a wireless communication unit and a control module for this piece of happiness are hiding behind this protection.
Interfaces
Actually, the column solves the problem of listening to music as efficiently and easily as possible: three ways to connect, the ability to work both stationary, from the network and in the field, the excellent sound quality (about it a little later) and even the ability to work without any connection at all or device.
By wire, you can transfer music through a classic minijack or (optional) via a USB 3.0 cable. In either case, you can (and need) install a column control panel on the computer (software is easy to find on the Creative website), after which the usual 2.1 system turns into a multimedia center with its own set of presets, equalizer and other post-processing delights .
Without wires - NFC + Bluetooth (or simply BT, if anyone Cook did not order to enjoy the benefits of progress in the field of wireless interfaces) with A2DP protocol and (optionally, if the device supports) the AptX audio codec (here iOS users, as far as I know, are also in the span, but for them the column is able to AAC).
In addition to the above methods of connecting to an audio source, you can insert a regular MicroSD card into the column, with which it will play the MP3 files itself. All the necessary control keys are located on the back of the device:
In addition, as you may have noticed, there are record buttons, as well as a "parent" USB-connector. No, unfortunately, you cannot combine 2 speakers into the audio system through it, but you can recharge the mobile device away from civilization from the built-in 6,000 mAh battery. And the record button is nothing more than a voice recorder. That is, it is quite possible to use the column as a universal “corporate” solution for audio inspecting discussions of working moments, and it works perfectly as a “headset” - the ROAR microphone makes sound much cleaner and more pleasant than the trash built into 90% of webcams and laptops. In skype, in general, everyone asked, “what are you, bought new headphones with a microphone”?
Control
The controls are focused on two planes - on the “upper” face (where the power button is on), and on the back side (where the interface connectors are).
Buttons, as you can see, are signed, it is necessary to explain the work of only one of them - ROAR. She is responsible for the inclusion of some improvers (it is not clear whether she removes power save mode, or makes a correction to the amplifiers, or activates some additional equalizer preset), which clearly and completely recognizable make the sound “deeper”, “juicier , In the photographic language - expand the dynamic range. It is not clear why they made it a “button”, and not a sliding regulator at the back, but the effect is pleasant and understandable.
Audio features
As I wrote a little higher, there are three speakers in the column at once: two “twitter” are directed forward (if you put it on with the power button up, as was intended by the authors of this device), the middle and subwoofer is pointing up, and the two sides have passive membranes that add some more low frequencies to the capabilities of this “audiobook”.
The sound ... the sound ... for the size of the source it is simply amazing. Volume reserve is indecent. Quality is also difficult to describe with censor words. All other mobile speakers, including BOSE Soundlink Bluetooth and Jawbones, either smoke aside, have a different form factor, or both. The tops are detailed and rosary, the mids are juicy and voluminous, and you just don't expect low frequencies from such a minnow. Not to say that you are drowning in them, tea, not a 20-inch subwoofer, but the depth of the sound is really surprising. No wonder they put passive radiators and bother with separate amplifiers. For sound (adjusted for size and mobility) - five with two pluses.
Non-audio features
In addition to the sound reproducing part, from which surveyors and users have drool all over the Internet, the column is able to: work as an alarm clock (classical), play not only MP3 but also WMA / WAV from the card, record telephone / skype conversations (which pass), work as a siren (it’s not enough what happens at a picnic), work as a regular “alarm clock”, encouraging the owner with loud sounds at certain intervals, and, as a counter-measure, lull him to sleep. A special “good night” mode will smoothly reduce the playback volume, and then turn off the power of the ROAR itself.
Autonomous swimming on one battery charge, the manufacturer promises up to 8 hours, but I (using a couple of hours for several days in a row) did not charge the column from Monday to Friday, that is, the promised time is fully confirmed in practice, although for continuous playback with maximum volume, I think the results are somewhat more modest.
Unusual yuzkeys
Actually, in addition to the device itself, which I had on the test, I had the good fortune to communicate with several acquaintances who had acquired such a thing as ... an audio system in the car. It plays loudly, works with a smartphone, without wires, and even at work / at home can be used for its intended purpose. The question “why?” Was usually answered with something like: “to buy a head + a normal sound into a car costs 20, this thing costs 9 and is used in three places at once”. Not that I'm against it, but why not?
Verdict
The clear winner in quality, quantity and duration of positive emotions among mobile speakers. Suitable for home, and for the office, and for a picnic, and in the car, and in general. It is perfectly collected, perfectly works, an excellent set of pleasant trifles in very compact case and with quite reasonable price tag. The column, by the way, won the 2014 Ret Dot Award .
Price issue and competitors
Creative Soundblaster in the Yandex market is offered at a price of 9,000 rubles.
Competitors can be selected in two ways: the same price and the same quality. Let's start with the quality.
Beats Beatbox Portable
The price is around 13 thousand rubles , the weight is 4 kilograms. Not a competitor in form factor, one and a half times more expensive.
Beats Pill XL
Price - all the same 13 thousand , weight - 1.5 kilos, “tablet” design. Again, almost half as much.
BOSE SoundLink Bluetooth II
Stunning appearance, high-quality sound, everything is just 1.3 KG and the average price on the Yandex market is around 16,000 rubles.
BOSE SoundLink Bluetooth III
The third version also looks good, sounds great, and costs the same 16,000 .
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker
11 thousand rubles . Great appearance. But it sounds worse than ROAR, at least in my (and not only my, foreign reviewers also think so) subjective opinion. And the volume in it is less.
Jawbone big jambox
Excellent, loud and lightweight speaker, which is not very convenient to move (the sharp corners in the backpack - that's just my dream). I have nothing against it, but the design and the price tag - an amateur. And still ROAR, nevertheless, plays louder, even a little.
On the market asking in the region of 11.5 - 12 thousand rubles. Already closer.
Well, what you can buy in Russia for the same money as ROAR (the list is large, I don’t see any reason to bring it here) either plays worse, quieter, deafer or just “depressing” or has a completely different form factor. Competitors in terms of (quality + size + weight ~ 1.1 KG) / price - simply absent. Well, if anyone had experience with ROAR and did not agree with me - let the first person throw a stone at me in the comments. ;)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/229391/
All Articles