Creative Labs iRoar Bluetooth Speaker Review

Speaker testing can be one of the most challenging things we do in the lab.  It is always subjective and precise testing of frequency response or sound field requires equipment far beyond what we have in our humble Hardware Asylum labs.  I will focus on some of the ways I used the Creative iRoar and my thoughts on each. 

Here is a quick look at my current setup.  That red cable is the fast charging cable and puts out a solid 1.5A output for device charging. This will charge your devices even when the Creative iRoar is on battery power.  To the right is my friendly new Amazon Dot.  My Samsung Galaxy S5 in front for Bluetooth playback and such.  Not pictured are my PC with a MSI X99A Gaming 7 motherboard (see the cables?) using the solid Audio Boost 2 engine with Sound Blaster 2 Cinema 2 support installed and my Denon AVR-4520CI receiver chock full of top Dolby magic.

When I first unpacked the Creative iRoar I was immediately impressed with the possibility of taking the show on the road thanks to the built in 9000mAh Li-on battery. I charged things overnight just to be safe and pared it up to my S5.  I did use the full color manual to help with triggering NFC paring.  It turns out you simply place the phone on top.  Manual paring is as simple as holding down the power button.  The iRoar tells you it’s paring in a polite voice and you finish up on your source device.  Easy!  In seconds I was streaming from Pandora and Amazon Prime Music.

The iRoar supports Bluetooth aptX Low Latency codec in addition to AAC, which are advanced HD codecs that deliver high quality audio for Bluetooth transmission. These codecs - supported by branded Android phones and the iPhone, are crucial for great wireless audio and they are not even found in many premium wireless speakers.  It also supports Creative Multipoint7 to let you multi-task with up to two devices connected simultaneously.

I may have a bit more eclectic taste than most but I ran through a gauntlet of music from the likes of Pink Floyd, Enigma, Bach and Dj Aoki. No question the iRoar is easy to use for streaming and sounds great even with the default Blaster X profile enabled.  The soft carry bag had me packing things up and taking them to work the next day.  In cubical land the Creative iRoar is definitely king of the hill.  I almost couldn’t get it quiet enough to fly below the radar and frankly worried it was at risk of getting claimed by the boss!  Back to headphone I guess but not without some sad faces from the neighbors.

Creative claims the iRoar can make a solid replacement for your PC setup. I normally have my PC hooked to a good set of surround sound headphones and currently go back and forth between review units (like the current GSkill RipJaws SR910 set) and my Sennheiser PC363D headset.  I do have a set of Logitech Z506 surround sound speakers installed and pared with a Buttkicker BK-GR2 Gamer for that extra bass but rarely get that setup fired up.

I installed the Creative iRoar via a nicer TOSLINK Cable to carry a pure sound signal.  The iRoar can also attach via the included red cable as an Asynchronous USB Audio source.  I found the TOSLINK sounded fantastic and left the USB port open for charging my phone.

Ok, I have to admit I am a bit of a surround sound snob but the iRoar held its own nicely.  During a Doom session I found the Gaming mode provided better than 2.1 positional sounds and the bass was much nicer than any headphones in my current arsenal.  I fired up a Blu-Ray copy of Deadpool and turned things up to rattle the monitor levels with no distortion at all.  Next it’s back to Battlefield 4 for some immersive surround style sound.  Score points for sound quality and bass once again.  Everything comes alive and the positional sound does a solid job of creating a 5.1 like sound stage. 

It won’t replace my trusty Sennheiser earphones for long gaming sessions but the Creative iRoar easily puts my Logitech setup out to pasture!

One of the more intriguing features of the Creative iRoar is its ability to act as your primary audio source for TV viewing.  I hooked the iRoar up to my Denon receiver via the audio output and fired up some Fallout 4 via the PS4.  Wow, better than expected sound when placed positional below my TV.

The Creative iRoar does a GREAT job taking on my PARIDGM CC-370 SPEAKER and fills the surround stage much better than I expected.  That’s tough competition for a Bluetooth speaker.  Frankly I would have laughed at the thought if I didn’t try it myself.

It does get better.  Creative has built in to the iRoar a mode called MegaStereo.  With MegaStereo you can connect two separate iRoar units together using a special MegaStereo Cable6 (sold separately).  In this mode your set of Creative iRoar speakers will work together to provide a wide stereo sound stage.  This can totally replace your need for a sound bar setup and add a ton of additional functionality. Yes, I am totally onboard with a set of iRoar speakers for my second TV setup.