Creative refreshes the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage series

Creative today silently updated its Sound Blaster Tactic3D USB and Wireless gaming headsets with a V2.0 version that promises compatibility with the Playstation®4 via USB. The new version also includes Scout Mode which will work in both Windows and Mac OS. 

As both versions are priced identically to Version 1.0, it is likely that Creative will progressively phase out the older models to continue selling the new ones.

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D range is designed to make PC/Mac gaming affordable and feature pack and its good to see Creative updating the product to support cross platform. In case you missed it, read our Sound Blaster Tactic3D USB review here.

Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB Review

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB gaming headset is Creative's answer to an affordable gaming headset with superior audio. There is also a wireless version available which is the Tactic3D Rage Wireless.

The headset features two 16 million-color illuminated ear cups, 50mm FullSpectrum drivers and 3D Surround audio which is beyond the 7.1 audio standard.

Beyond the hardware specification, most of the audio enhancements are driven by Creative's SBX Pro Studio software. This includes the SBX Surround, Crystalizer and Bass. I will take more about each of them in detail later.

Here's what included in the package:

A closer look at the ear cup of the headset. The built-in volume control dial allows you to conveniently and accurately adjust the volume of the headset.

Comes in the box is the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB headset, a detachable microphone, quick start guide, micro USB cable and a 3.5mm  audio cable. 

The headset is enforced with a steel core to ensure durability. 

The foam cushion on the headset allows you to game comfortably for extended period of time.

All the controls are located on the right ear cup. You can attached the detachable microphone and mute it with the mute button. You can choose to input the audio through the USB cable or via the 3.5mm audio jack. 

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB headset with the detachable microphone intact. 

The detachable microphone's 3.5mm gold plated connector.

The 3.5mm Aux-in cable, for you to connect to your other audio devices while the headset is connected via USB.

The provided micro USB to USB cable for charging and data transfer.

One of the greatest selling point of the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage headset is the software. Powered by the SBX Pro Studio suit of audio technologies, you get to customize and enhance your audio for music listening, movie watching etc. You can download the Sound Blaster Tactic(3D) Control Panel for free from the Creative website here. The file is about 93MB and takes roughly 15 minutes to download.

For the Sound Blaster Tactic(3D) Control Panel, you would need to plug in your headset or USB dongle for the wireless version. (Do note that the software will only work with the Sound Blaster Tactic3D range of gaming headsets.) Once the control panel is active, you will be brought to the SBX Pro Studio panel to customize your Crystalizer, Surround, Bass, Dialog Plus and Smart Volume level. The SBX Pro Studio demo reel is played on loop to help to hear the difference in audio enhancements real time. 

SBX Crystalizer	Similar to the previous X-Fi Crystalizer, this helps to enhance the dynamic range of your low quality, compressed audio to give you a more realistic experience.
SBX Surround	A set of algorithm that increases and expands the virtual surround spaciousness to give you an all round 360 surround experience.
SBX Bass	SBX Bass fills extends the low frequency tones and gives the extra impact for a dramatically improved sound experience.
SBX Dialog Plus	SBX Dialog Plus enhances the voices in movies for clearer dialog, allowing the listener to hear the dialog over the rest of the soundtrack and over ambient noise in the listening environment.
SBX Smart Volume	SBX Smart Volume addresses the problem of abrupt volume level changes during playback and between songs by automatically and continuously measuring volume, and intelligently applying gain and attenuation to compensate for those changes.

With the Sound Blaster Tactic(3D) Control Panel, every aspect of your audio can be customized. In the Equalizer panel, you can choose from 10 defaults EQ or save a customized EQ settings which you like. I found that the 10 defaults EQ would probably have a setting for everyone - from the bass to vocal lovers. 

One of the most fun feature of the Sound Blaster Tactic(3D) Control Panel is arguably the Voice FX effects. At this panel, you can morph your voice on-the-fly to one of a demon, elf, orc, robot and many more. You can also adjust the pitch and quiver of each effect. That's alot of customization for one single feature!

SB Prism allows you to customize the color of the 16 million-color illuminated ear cups. Some of you might encounter some difficulty in getting the ear cups to change color like me. To solve this problem, close the software and re-run it by right-clicking on the icon and "Run as administrator". 

"Look ma, it glows!"

At U$79.99, the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB cost as little as the Razer's Kraken Pro, yet provide a complete suit of software and illuminated ear cups for full customization. Even when not connected to a PC or Mac, the Rage headset also works as a passive headphones via the included 3.5mm audio cable (without the audio enhancement of the SBX Pro Studio of course). There is little to dislike about the headset but if I really needed to nit pick, more could have been done to increase the comfort of the headset. Wearing it for a prolong period of time would cause your ears to heat up. 

There are also many nice touches done in the packaging like the red velvet tray that holds the headset firmly in the box and the red beaded cable that is tangle free and doesn't feel as cheap as the normal bundled ones. 

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB gamin headset is now available from the Creative Online Store.

Why you should give a damn about the Sound Blaster EVO series

Once upon a time, Creative's sound card dominated the PC market by being the de facto standard for PC audio. In 2005, Creative introduced the X-treme Fidelity (or X-Fi) audio processing chip, which was the most powerful at the time of its release. The technology was impressive and the company did attempted to bring X-Fi into a variety of products including the Xmod, Xmod Wireless, Aurvana X-Fi, ZEN X-Fi, ZEN X-Fi2 and the latest ZEN X-Fi3. While most enjoyed moderate success, they all had one point in common: they did not have a physical audio chip in it. Most of the X-Fi enhancements were instead driven by software with the audio algorithm developed by Creative. It seems that amount of powered needed by the X-Fi chip is too great for a portable device.

Fast forward to May 2011, Creative is ready to introduce its new generation of audio processor - the Sound Core3D (also known as the SB-Axx1 chip). The low power, "multi-core" processor manages to merge both the audio and voice components of the chip giving it an advantage in size. The new SB-Axx1 chip is so small (as compared to the X-Fi chip) that Creative has to dress it up with a fake heatsink to make it look better on the product.

With a smaller audio processor that consumes less power, for the very first time, Creative was able to implement real hardware acceleration with its portable products. We have already seen this being implemented in the Recon3D USB sound card, Sound BlasterAxx series of portable speakers and more recently, the Sound Blaster EVO series of headsets. 

For the record, the Sound Blaster EVO Zx and ZxR would be the first true, hardware accelerated headsets powered by Sound Blaster. Simply put, it's having a dedicated sound card built right into your headset. While there are 4 variants in the EVO series, only the EVO Zx and ZxR are worth looking at (provided budget isn't a concern for you). Both the headsets work with your PC/Mac/iPhone/iPod/iPad/Android phone and tablet. Creative really nailed the connectivity portion by focusing on the needs of modern day users (people who can't leave home without their phones or tablets) with the inclusion of NFC, Bluetooth, USB and Aux-in.

If you're using the EVOs on your mobile devices, you will be able to customize your audio via the Sound Blaster Central app that is available free on the Apple App Store or Google Play. With the app, you can make full use of the SBX Pro Studio (an advance version of the late THX TruStudio) and CrystalVoice settings (for voice calls). In the app is also a music player and alarm option which is really just a good to have.

Here's a comparison chart on the 4 variations of the EVO headsets

We have yet to see any reviews on the Sound Blaster EVO series yet, but personally I would think it is pretty promising. We can't wait to get our hands on these, in the meantime, enjoy this demo video of the Sound Blaster EVO ZxR!

Creative intorduces the Sound Blaster Rage gaming headset - in wired and wireless flavors

Creative is expanding its line of Tactic3D gaming headsets with the new Rage series. Available in both wired and wireless, the Sound Blaster Rage gaming headset is one of the most affordable wireless gaming headset introduced by the company or dare i say in the market.

The Rage looks identical to the previously released Wrath headset but seem to enjoy some minor technical and technological improvements:

Sound Blaster Rage headset features:

- 50mm FullSpectrum drivers for all the bass you would ever need

- 16 million color illuminating earcups  

- SBX Pro Studio allows you to customize your audio the way you want it

- 16 hours battery life

Creative is expected to ship these headsets in end October, just in time for Christmas we think :)

Link

Sound Blaster Tactic 3D headsets for true 3D gaming experience

Creative has introduced 2 new gaming headset - the Tactic 3D Sigma (USB) and Alpha. Both headsets incorporate THX TruStudio Pro technology for true 3D gaming audio, a first for any gaming headset in the world! The headsets also come with a detachable mic which features the THX TruStudio Pro Dialog Plus technology for clear gaming communication. To be launched in September, the Tactic 3D Alpha will cost $59.99, while the Tactic 3D Sigma will ring up for $89.99 (USD)

[Tactic 3D Microsite]