By: Aaron Lai
December 27, 2024
If you have ever met me in person, you know that I would not classify myself as tall. According to Statistics Canada, the average measured height of an adult male aged 20 to 39 is 177cm or 5' 10". I am below this mark, which means I look up to most other people, at least in a physical sense. Being short can be annoying, as it takes extra effort to reach up high. When I was younger, I would get teased for my lacking height. Now, it means those younger than me are mostly taller than me. In crowds, it is also easier to lose people. However, one place where it is nice to be shorter is on a plane. When I was traveling for work, all my co-workers were a lot more uncomfortable sitting still for three or more hours, while I felt fine. I shared a similar feel when I flew to and back from South Korea, as many of my fellow flight mates needed to get out and stretch their legs. Thankfully, stretching my legs in any economy airplane seat is a matter of stretching out as far as possible, haha. Being closer to the ground may be inconvenient for most of my life, but there are still benefits to existing in a shorter package. In a similar fashion, we have the Creative Sound Blaster GS3, which is a compact soundbar. With its small size, Creative says this will still offer immersive audio that "stretches audio beyond the limits of conventional acoustic design laws". Marketing aside, how well will this diminutive-sized soundbar sound? Will it truly push the boundaries? Let us read on to find out!
Today's unit of the Creative Sound Blaster GS3 arrived from a logistics company called Kerry Logistics, located in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. This was shipped via their own internal shipping and arrived in excellent condition at our APH Networks location in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There were no signs of damage on the outside to indicate internal problems. There is quite a bit of packaging paper inside to protect the two products inside. Along with the Sound Blaster GS3, we also received the Pebble X Plus, which was reviewed by me last month.
The retail container of the Creative Sound Blaster GS3 is short, although this is obvious for a compact soundbar. The front shows the Creative logo with its original orange banner. Underneath, we have the product name. To the right, we have the Sound Blaster GS3 in its scaled down look and illuminated. Around the back, we have a bit of information about the box contents and regulatory information, but the whole thing is kept clean overall.
Before moving on, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your perusal:
Speaker Configuration: One-piece, Soundbar
Connector Type: USB Power, PD Adapter, USB Audio, 3.5 mm AUX-in, Headphones / Headset Port, Headphones-out
Operating Temperature: 0—45°C
Recommended Usage: Gaming
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
Profiles: A2DP Wireless Stereo Bluetooth
Operating Frequency: 2402–2480 MHz
Operating Range: Up to 10m / 33 ft
Wireless Codecs: SBC
Color: Black
RGB: Up to 16.8 million colors
Out of the box, the Creative Sound Blaster GS3 comes packaged in a plastic bag and sandwiched between two egg carton sides. In a separate resealable bag, there is a rubber USB Type-C to Type-C cable measuring 1.4m in length. It is a thick cable with a large ferrite bead on one end. Finally, there is a quick start pamphlet that shows you all the functions, buttons, and inputs of the Creative Sound Blaster GS3.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
