Xboxaddict.com Article
Creative Sound Blaster GS3 Soundbar Review
by Brent Roberts
FEATURES AND SPECS:
Speaker Configuration: Soundbar
Connector Type: Bluetooth, USB Audio, 3.5 mm AUX-in, Headphones-out
Dimensions: 410 x 92.7 x 73.7 mm / 16.1 x 3.6 x 2.9 inches
Weight: Soundbar: 1.037kg / 2.2 lbs
Cable Length (End-to-end): USB-C to USB-C Cable: 1.5m / 4.92 ft
Frequency Response: 65–20,000 Hz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 85 dB
Power Output: Soundbar: 2 x 6W RMS, Total System Power: Up to 12W RMS, Peak Power: 24W
Bluetooth Version: 5.4
Operating Frequency: 2402–2480 MHz
Operating Range: Up to 10m / 33 ft*, *Measured in open space. Walls and structures may affect range of device.
Wireless Codecs: SBC
PACKAGE CONTENTS:
1 x Sound Blaster GS3
1 x USB-C to USB-C Cable
1 x Quick Start Leaflet
As an audio producer, DJ, and XboxAddict audiophile, sound quality to me is paramount. I'm always interested in top quality audio and in fact still use Sound Blaster products to this very day. When I was given the opportunity to dive into Creative's Sound Blaster GS3 soundbar, I thought it was a great opportunity to see what Creative can produce for the budget friendly price of $39.99 USD / $69.99 CAD. Now, going into this I'm not expecting this to compete with my Klipsch home theater system or the audio system I have in my studio, but what I found was quite the surprise instead. Time to get some tunes ready, fire up the PC, Xbox and phone, and let's see what's under the hood of this SoundBlaster GS3 Soundbar.
First impressions were quite funny, as the shipping box this soundbar came in was twice the size of the actual box itself, so while it may have looked like I got a lightsaber in the mail, once the box was opened, this small soundbar just slid right out and that's when I first discovered how light the GS3 actually is. While most speakers can weigh a ton with their magnets, cabinets and components, this soundbar is incredibly lightweight and with its size, making it incredibly portable. Before hooking it up I decided to put it in my laptop bag and found that my laptop weighed almost three times as much, so adding the weight of this soundbar to the bag was almost unnoticeable. This means that carrying this around with you may not be ideal for some situations (airport gate waiting area, wedding reception), but if you wanted to carry this to your friend's house it was more than perfect.
This weight reduction is again thanks to its size which is about 16"x3.6"x3", so when you realize that your 17" laptop is wider than the soundbar itself you can begin to see how the weight begins to just shrink. But the weight diet isn't just because of the size of the soundbar, the plastic materials that are used shave even more weight. While I understood why the choice in construction material, it did make the unit feel cheap compared to wood, but given the $39.99 price point you can start to see where the corners would be for Creative if they hadn't started cutting them. This small enclosure also means that the speakers contained within are as small as my love for the Kinect peripheral which is almost microscopic to nonexistent. If you have a modern phone such as an iPhone or Samsung, then the phone itself is almost double in height if you stand it up next to the soundbar, so you now have to fit two speakers within the contained space so they must fit within the 3"x3" area.
What this means is that your sound is going to sound incredibly flat, thin, and unresponsive to low end frequencies. With only four buttons on the device (Power/Mute, Super WIDE, Bluetooth, LED) the operation of the speaker comes down to either how many times a button is pressed or for how long the duration of the press is itself. For example, if you press the LED button once it will take you through the selection options of the LED lights (Off, Chasers, Aurora, Peak Meter, Glow, Wave, Cycle). LED lights are a nice feature but do absolutely nothing to improve the sound quality. On the back of the soundbar you'll even see a port which normally would allow for deeper frequencies and resonance within the speaker itself and provide a rich sound quality. On the GS3 soundbar it acts much like the same of a decorative air scoop on a car. It looks the part but does nothing to improve the quality.
The GS3 though does have a nice little ace up its sleeve. Most speakers have only 1 way to connect to an audio source, however this soundbar has several. Using the AUX in cable, you can connect an outside audio source directly to it (you will still need to use USB-C to power the speaker though). Or use a USB-C cable and power the speaker while delivering the audio signal on a single cable. Finally, this soundbar can connect via Bluetooth, and it was this application that had me trying it everywhere, including my car. There is also a headphone jack on the side of the unit where you can use your cans and send the audio through instead.
Starting out, I fired up my computer in my studio and played something that I thought provided a nice tranquil platform to begin the tests, and that was Metallica. Going through songs such as Turn the Page, Enter Sandman, and Wherever I May Roam, I was immediately hit by the low quality of audio until I hit the "Super WIDE" button, and then the speakers seemed to come to life. I started thinking then "why even have the button to begin with? Why not just make the sound quality good to begin with?". It really did make no sense to me. If you asked someone which, would you rather listen to, thin audio that sounds muffled and unresponsive, or dynamic audio that sounds clear, bright and lively, I would be hard pressed to find someone that said "nah, give me the bad sounding music please". So, while this may seem like a great add on to the speaker and a selling point, I view it as providing lackluster sound quality with an option to make it better. It's because of this that I never turned off Super WIDE for the rest of the examination.
The drums and bass guitars were sounding incredibly underdeveloped so I thought I'd put on some classic Rap and Hip Hop and see what I could get out of that. Vocals were clear as day and some of the synths and horns were very bright, however again, the low range was pulling a Waldo and couldn't be found anywhere outside of a thin "tap" sound that was the most this GS3 soundbar could produce. I then thought I would dive into some of my music that I play when I DJ. Knowing that the bass wasn't going to be what I was looking for going into it, I wanted to see how clear the sounds and vocals can be, and I was again shocked at just how clear this little soundbar was. It wasn't window rattling bass that would have the neighbors upset, but that Super WIDE soundscape that they generate with this speaker will easily make your mid-range to high end frequencies crystal clear.
Shifting now to some movies and gaming, I fired up some Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back and that's when this speaker really stood out to me. While dealing with the music it was clear as day that the bass wasn't going to be "great bass" as described on Creative's website, but in the movies, you don't really need to focus on that. The dialogue and ambient scene noise were remarkably warm and crisp, and the sound effects from blaster fire and lightsabers were resonating with incredible clarity. I did experience some downside when the Millennium Falcon was flying and normally you get that "bass" feeling from the ship's engines, but that wasn't the case with this speaker. I do have to point out that the John Williams score absolutely sang when playing through the speakers though. From the opening title and crawl to the credits, the entire musical score sounded amazing through this GS3 soundbar.
After the movie was over it was time to dive into some gaming so I loaded up Elden Ring and went to see what this soundbar could provide. First and foremost, the musical score and ambient sounds of the game really stood out to me far greater than any music or movie I tried previously. I went into the round table and the dialogue with the different characters showcased their unique vocal ranges in a very dynamic fashion. Heading then towards the Haligtree area and throughout the combat I was quite shocked at how responsive and clear this soundbar was. The swings of my Nagakiba sliced through the speakers with ease, and despite the small size of the speaker, delivered a gaming experience that was quite large. It was during the gameplay that the realization of this finally hit me. This Creative SoundBlaster GS3 soundbar would be good in a couple of situations.
First, if you were using this as a dedicated center channel then I could see this being a nice, compact component that would allow the speaker to focus on the high and mid-range frequencies and not try to push all frequency ranges through such incredibly tiny speakers. The other scenario would be if you are using basic laptop or monitor speakers, this would be a dramatic improvement and step up for it. If, however, you're thinking that you're going to experience some incredibly enveloping sound fields that will fill your ears with high dynamic audio, then you would sadly be mistaken. Is this worth the $40 price tag? Only if you have no other audio outside of basic laptop/monitor speakers.
