This is a soundbar with a variety of connections (USB, analog, optical, and Bluetooth), which is accompanied by a small subwoofer for enhanced bass. It was first released in 2016 and its price ranges from 200-230 euros. Creative often offers discounts, so you might find it for less than 200 euros.
What's Inside the Box
Inside the small box that contains the soundbar and the woofer, you will find a power supply with an output of 22V and a maximum power of 55W. Obviously, another manufacturer made it on behalf of Creative. There are two USB cables inside, one long and one short, for connecting the Katana to the system, a wireless remote control, two wall mounts for placing it on the wall, and some leaflets including the user manual.
Who is it for?
It is for gamers who want top-notch sound and a plethora of settings to easily control their opponents' movements, as well as for users who want something decent to listen to music and watch movies on their computer. It is not for large spaces, but for small and medium-sized offices, where the sound of the Katana will easily fill the room.
External Design
Let's start from the beginning. Having heard so many positive comments all this time about the Katana, especially about its performance, I expected it to be larger, both the soundbar and the woofer. Compared to the Logitech Z623 that I have on my main PC, the Katana's woofer looks childish. However, the design of the soundbar is very beautiful and its RGB lighting adds a lot of points to its appearance, even though I'm not a big fan of RGB in general. Additionally, the soundbar has a relatively small height (and width), so it won't force you to raise your screen high to avoid being bothered. If you want, you can remove the feet of the bar to lower it even more. Finally, the build quality seems good, at least externally.
On the top, there are five buttons that don't provide a good pressing sensation, and on the front, there is an LCD screen to provide you with basic information. On the front and bottom of the soundbar, there is also a series of RGB LEDs, the lighting of which you can fully control through the Creative application. The Katana also comes with a small remote control, which looks and feels very cheap. They should have equipped it with something better. The button feel is terrible and overall it resembles a 30-40 euro speaker system remote, not a 200 euro one.
Internal Components
Inside the soundbar, there are two small, 34mm speakers on the edges for high frequencies (tweeters), and right next to them, two 63.5mm midbass speakers that face upwards. Finally, inside the woofer, there is a larger 133mm speaker for low frequencies. It is a 5-driver system.
Overall, the amplification system of the Katana can deliver 75W RMS or 150W Peak power, which is more than enough for a small-sized space (15-25 square meters). The digital sound processing circuit of the Katana is powerful and supports sound with a resolution of up to 24-bit. Additionally, it supports Dolby Digital for virtual 5.1 surround sound. With a USB connection, you can have up to 7.1 surround sound and 24bit/96KHz audio, which is of top fidelity. You won't need anything more for this particular sound system.
Connection to the System
Here things are easy since the Katana has all possible connections (USB, analog, optical, and Bluetooth 4.2). If you don't want to deal with cables, go for Bluetooth, which works well. If you have a high-end sound card, go for analog connection to process the sound through the main sound card. If you have an onboard sound card, go for optical or USB connection for the Katana sound card to take over the processing. Through USB connection, you will also have control over the RGB lighting. The only thing that bothers me about the USB connection is that it doesn't use a Type-C connector, which is more durable.
Speaking of USB connections, there is also a port for USB flash drives at the back, so you can listen to music without using a computer. Additionally, the soundbar has ports for headphones and a microphone. Since it has a sound card, it makes sense for it to be able to accept a microphone.
Sound Connect & BlasterX Experience Profiles
Apart from the sound performance, the Katana offers a nice appearance due to its beautiful design and the RGB lighting it has, which is fully customizable through the Sound Connect program. From the latter, you can adjust the sound through many options and tailor it to your liking. If you don't have the necessary knowledge to do this or simply don't feel like it, Creative provides a solution by offering many ready-made SBX profiles that you can download and replace the default ones with. You will need to deal with the Creative tuning program because it can truly transform the sound produced by the Katana.
Mentioned Issues
Before I proceed to the test results, some users report some issues related to crackling/popping sounds, especially when the PC is under high load, regardless of the connection. I encountered this problem with a G5, but ultimately it was the PC's fault and not the sound card's. During the testing period with the Katana, I didn't notice anything after countless hours of listening and with the PC under load at times, so it couldn't reproduce this specific issue. If you encounter something similar, you should try the soundbar on another PC to make sure what the problem is.
Real Life Tests
I tried a list of tracks recommended by Cambridge Audio's sound engineers for speaker testing, through Spotify to ensure good quality, and I must say I was impressed. It may be small in size, especially the subwoofer, but the sound it produces is accurate and powerful. Don't expect to throw a party with this one, but for a sound system that is less than a meter away from you, it will do a very good job. With the Cinema option enabled and several changes, the sound it produces is warm, and even at maximum volume, I didn't notice any distortion or annoying crackling from the Katana.
Tests with OmniMic
In the Sub Bass range, from 20 - 60 Hz, things don't look good as we start from very low frequencies. However, in the main bass range, from 60 - 250 Hz, the situation changes. I would like to remind you here that the more straight the frequency response line is, the better, but that is practically impossible.
In the other frequency ranges, the Frequency Response is satisfactory, especially for a soundbar of this price. There is a significant drop at around 15 KHz, but most of us don't even hear these frequencies. Another observation regarding frequency response, according to the results of Omimic, the right channel seems to have better response than the left, but this happens because I took these specific measurements with the microphone closer to the right side of the bar.
Conclusion
It doesn't show its teeth at first glance, but once you connect it to a system, you will immediately notice the difference. It may not have the power of the more economical Logitech Z623 with its 200W RMS, but the Katana offers a warmer and overall better sound fidelity. It has a plethora of connections, including Bluetooth, and through SB Connect, you can adjust everything. Let's not forget, it also has RGB lighting! It is a sound system that will fit perfectly for gamers and users who want to listen to their music through something of quality from Spotify. The volume is sufficient to fill small rooms. If you want something for pool parties, it's better to look for something more powerful. Personally, I am completely satisfied with the Katana and kudos to Creative! Now I am waiting for its successor, which is coming.
Pros
• Quality sound
• Plenty of connections
• RGB lighting that can be turned off
• Compact dimensions
• Very good DAC and amplifiers
• Software with many capabilities (Sound Blaster Connect)
Cons
• Cheap wireless remote control
• Supports only (Advanced audio coding) AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs
• Micro USB connection instead of the more durable Type-C
The review can be found here: https://youtu.be/aRsck4_wuGU