Creative Sound BlasterX Katana Multi-channel Gaming Soundbar Review

I have to admit the Katana setup looks pretty serious right out of the box.  The beveled shape of the sound bar provides the inspiration behind the Katana name.  The brushed aluminum finish would be at home in any setup.

Creative has kept the branding to a minimum with just the Sound BlasterX badging to confirm this isn’t your typical sound bar.  The sound bar is designed to tuck under any monitor with a height of just 60mm.

The Katana is powered by a powerful set of three amplifiers providing a total of 75RMS/150W peak power.  One stereo amp powers the upward firing midbass drivers, another stereo amp powers the tweeters and a third powers the subwoofer. Believe me the Katana can get loud with the best of them.

The front of the Katana is covered in a black mesh that conceals the two 1.3” (34mm) High-excursion tweeters angled slightly on each side.  The two 2.5” (63.5mm) midbass drivers are mounted behind more protective mesh.

A LED display can be found in the center of the sound bar to provide information directly from the device.  This 8 digit display makes it possible to change or monitor your settings independent of the software. Not so ironically this also makes the Katana a very easy to use as a home theater solution.

A set of 5 buttons across the top provide control: the power buton, volume up, volume down Source and a SBX toggle.  The power button can also be held own to activate Bluetooth v4.2 connectivity making the Katana a very competent Bluetooth speaker system.

Tucked away in the back are several connectivity options.  From left to right: Power, subwoofer link, microphone, headphone Aux in, optical in USB flash drive and the USB cable.  The ability to hook up a USB flash drive directly is an unexpected bonus.