INTRODUCTION

   It's no secret that for most gamers audio usually takes second place to graphics and of course most of the time the same applies for casual users and even most professionals. In a way this is understandable, spending significant amounts of money on an audio card and speakers is not something many want to do and let's face it, onboard audio cards have come a long way and currently produce satisfactory results. Even so a quality sound system is always a good thing to have, not just for gaming but also for watching movies and of course listening to music. With the Sound Blaster Katana V2 Creative successfully managed to pair a soundbar with a USB audio card and the result was quite impressive, especially for its size. Still, some in the gaming community questioned Creative's decision to use a thicker subwoofer than what was shipped with both its predecessor the Sound BlasterX Katana and the Stage 360 and V2 models and the result of that is no other than the latest Sound Blaster Katana V2X model.

   Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for driving the multimedia revolution - which established a user base of 400 million - Creative drives digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions that include premium wireless speakers, wireless headphones, powerful audiophile-grade digital amplifiers and next-generation home-theatre systems. Aiming at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets, Creative continues to reinvent the Sound Blaster, with its ground-breaking Sound Blaster Roar series and USB-audio class of products such as the Sound Blaster X7.

   Just like with the Sound Blaster Katana V2 the Katana V2X consists by two rather compact parts, a soundbar and a subwoofer. Now even though both soundbars are very similar and so inside the aluminum and plastic housing Creative has once again placed the same USB audio card capable of outputting Hi-Res audio (24bit/96KHz) both in stereo and 5.1 virtual surround (with Dolby Audio and X-Fi support), the same dual beamforming noise-cancelling microphones (can be used as a speakerphone) and the same 4 drivers (2x63mm mid-range/2x19mm fabric dome tweeters with 50Hz-20KHz frequency response) its DSP-controlled tri-amplifier only delivers 90WRMS (180W PMPO – 50WRMS for the soundbar and 40WRMS for the sub) compared to the 126WRMS (252W PMPO) of the Katana V2. The subwoofer of course is the primary difference since due to its reduced length and thickness the one that gets shipped with the Katana V2X has an 133mm driver as opposed to the 165mm of the one used with the Katana V2. Of course, once again we find the same RGB lights underneath the soundbar and identical connectivity including Bluetooth v5.0 (support for A2DP/AVRCP - v4.2 for the original), HDMI ARC port, optical port (SPDIF), 3.5mm AUX input, USB-C and a 3.5mm headset output. So, time to see what you can expect from the latest Sound Blaster Katana V2X by Creative.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The box inside which the V2X arrived is similar to that of the V2 so once again at the front we see a large product picture right beneath the main product features and the company logo.

The bundle contents are printed on the right side of the box while on the left side we find the product specifications in 4 languages.

At the rear of the box, we find a product picture used to showcase the tri-amp setup and the product features again in 4 languages.

Both the soundbar and subwoofer are placed between several foam spacers.

Contained inside the box are the Sound Blaster Katana V2X soundbar with its subwoofer and AC adapter, two power cords (EU/UK), two piece wall mount with screws, optical cable, USB-C to USB-A cable, IR remote and the quick start guide.

THE SOUND BLASTER KATANA V2X

Measuring 600mm in length, 95mm in width/depth and 62mm in height/thickness the 1.52Kg heavy Sound Blaster Katana V2X is identical to that of the Katana V2 model.

Placing these two soundbars side by side reveals that even though they are identical in shape and size Creative used a metallic/silver color for the V2X model.

Once again at the front of the soundbar we find a long VFW screen, the two beamforming microphones (left and right from the screen) and the 3.5mm headphones port.

The media buttons are typically located at the top and include the on/off/bluetooth pairing, increase/decrease volume, source (USB/optical/aux/bluetooth/TV), mode (movies/music/gaming/effects) and SXFI buttons.

Each side of the soundbar has two drivers, one 63mm up-firing mid-range driver and a 19mm forward-firing tweeter.

Moving at the rear we find the HDMI ARC, USB-A (SXFI output for use with USB headphones), USB-C, aux-in, optical in, sub-out and power ports.

At the base of the soundbar we find two rubber feet and a very long RGB LED bar (again there should be around 30 LEDs here).

The subwoofer used with the Katana V2X is made out of MDF and measures 423mm in height, 250mm in length and 116mm in thickness.

This time over Creative has used textured plastic for the vent port.

The 133mm long-throw driver is facing the right side of the subwoofer.

A comparison with the subwoofer of the Katana V2 is of course in order and here you can see both the reduced thickness and length of the one used with the Katana V2X (it is taller however).

As expected, the IR remotes are again identical between these two models (a short video of the soundbar should be up soon on TikTok and YouTube).

CREATIVE APP

The main control software is the Creative App so you will need to download it prior to using the Katana V2X (if you decide to use the USB audio function that is).

Worth pointing out is that you can add/remove icons on the main tab of the software as seen above.

From the main tab you can access and control most aspects of the soundbar including its preferred sound mode, Super X-Fi (you will need a separate app for this), acoustic engine (audio tweaking), crystal voice (microphone tweaking), equalizer, scout mode (emphasizes online gaming), lighting (RGB LED bar effects), Dolby Decoder, mixer and custom buttons (button customization).

Inside the playback tab Creative has placed just that, audio quality for both speaker and headphone use.

Needless to say, the same applies for the recording tab.

Last but not least from inside the settings tab you can check for firmware updates, reset the device, change the VFW display brightness, adjust subwoofer volume, enable/disable the energy saving features and enable/disable the HDMI CEC standby link.

CONCLUSION

   If you plan on using a USB headset with the Sound Blaster Katana V2X I strongly suggest installing their SXFI app via your smartphone (more on that here). With that out of the way just how does the Katana V2X compared to the Katana V2 model? The good news is that even though they have 36WRMS difference the end result doesn’t change that much. Allow me to elaborate on that a bit. With the Katana V2 model I hardly ever went over 15 in volume while gaming, watching movies and listening to music which is still nothing compared to the maximum of 50 that this soundbar has. Well with the Katana V2X that 15 translates to roughly 23 which is almost half its maximum volume. Yes, I do expect some people to go even higher and the V2 model clearly holds the advantage but I seriously doubt anyone can use it at maximum volume, at least not under normal scenarios (if you are 5+ meters away I guess anything’s possible). As for the sub I really don’t know what to say about it, I do realize that some people had issues with the previous ones due to their thickness and even length (still they weren’t large, on the contrary a lot smaller compared to the subs I have for my 5.1/7.1 surround systems) but this is quite taller than the others so that may also create issues for some buyers. That being said it does work almost the same as the V2 model so no issues here when it comes to performance. One of the things that the Katana V2X has different than the V2 model is start up time so whereas the V2 requires 12-13 seconds to turn on the V2X requires 7-8 seconds. Not a great difference I know but I was somewhat curious as to the why that is (lower tri-amp output?). Last but not least the color of the soundbar may also matter to some people. The dark gray/black of the Katana V2 is great but some may prefer the gunmetal gray/silver of the new one so it’s good to have variety.

   Retailing for USD279.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 309.99Euros inside the EU (Creative.de) the Sound Blaster Katana V2X by Creative lands very close to its more powerful brother the Katana V2. In the end it all comes down to the power output and the subwoofer so if you have room for the larger one, I do suggest going for the Katana V2 instead. If not however the Katana V2X is still a great gaming soundbar that has almost nothing to be jealous of its larger brother and that’s also why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Audio Clarity & Crispness
- 90WRMS Output (180W PMPO)
- Wired & Wireless Use
- 24bit/96KHz USB Audio Card
- Dual Beamforming Microphones
- RGB Lighting System
- General Connectivity
- Headphone Out with Super XFi
- Smaller Sub (Compared To The V2)
- Available Modes

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- No USB Audio Player
- Creative SXFI App (MS Store/Android/iOS Only)