Creative revives iconic Sound Blaster brand with modular audio hub

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: The team behind the original Sound Blaster audio card has turned to Kickstarter to fund their latest project. Sound Blaster Re:Imagine is a modular audio hub designed to simplify device management, function as a programmable stream deck, and so much more.

At the heart of the Re:Imagine is an octa-core Arm-based SoC paired with 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 16GB of eMMC flash storage. There's also a 6-TOPS neural processing unit and a studio-grade DAC and amp that delivers high-resolution playback up to 32-bit / 384 kHz with the ability to power headphones / large speakers up to 300Ω.

The platform operates as a standalone unit running Linux OS, or can be connected to a PC via USB. The team is initially offering the kit with a horizontal base that accommodates five modular slots (two for the display, the other three for components like buttons, knobs, or sliders) although a stretch goal with six total slots in a 2x3 pattern is also in the works.

All of the unit's buttons and switches are programmable, allowing users to perform functions like muting a call, launching a game, or starting a recording with a single action. More advanced users can leverage the included SDK to create their own apps and control devices in new ways thanks to root hardware access.

You don't need to be a programmer to extract value from Re:Imagine out of the box, the team notes. The unit will ship with several pre-loaded apps including a DOS emulator for on-device retro gaming, an AI DJ that can automatically generate music based on prompts, and one-tap visualizers. There are even new AI-powered versions of classics like Dr. Sbaitso and the Sound Blaster Parrot.

The Creative team has already smashed their modest funding goal with more than $87,000 pledged from 277 backers as of writing, and 57 days remaining. Early bird pricing starts at $329, which includes a horizontal base, a smart screen module, a dual slider module, a buttons module, and a knob module. The first wave of units are expected to ship out in June 2026.

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Creative revives iconic Sound Blaster brand with modular audio hub

 

[Theinsanegamer]

A multi million dollar company launching a kickstarter to "gauge interest" after abandoning their existing products is just sickening.

 

[PXAbstraction]

I get that Creative isn't what it used to be and they've been losing money for years because of failing to innovate, but this feels very weird. This product looks super sick and they probably do need investment to make it viable given their current state, but if their idea was this good, they couldn't find private investment to help fund it? Kickstarter was originally supposed to be for small creators to fund projects they couldn't otherwise, not for publicly traded companies to take pre-orders.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Creative who?

 

[NumberNine]

The lack of shame to launch a kickstarter is hilarious.

 

[ZeronicDeThunder]

What make this even worse is Sound Blaster doesn't even sound good anymore. I've got a Merlin DAC that blows every Sound Blaster card and Audio Device out of the water for almost the same price.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Just keep in mind that Creative is losing $10M a year and they currently have less than $20M cash: https://investors.sgx.com/market/security-details/stocks/C76?from=/market/securities

 

[amghwk]

Final effort to try to save the face before being obsolete?

Going to Kickstarter, for once, a powerhouse computer audio giant is saying a lot, of how times have changed.

May be karma? For buying and killing E-mu and Aureal3D?

And as for the new product itself, I see it's going nowhere.

 

[OortCloud]

I'm not sure why you would hate on them for using Kickstarter. They are a struggling company trying to survive. Seems a perfectly reasonable move to use Kickstarter in this circumstance to raise some funds to get this product out there - as long as they actually produce what is funded.

 

[Xenocea]

Just keep in mind that Creative is losing $10M a year and they currently have less than $20M cash: https://investors.sgx.com/market/security-details/stocks/C76?from=/market/securities

$29.8m as of now.

https://www.alphaspread.com/securit...sheet/cash-equivalents?utm_source=chatgpt.com

 

[Thrackerzod]

I'm not sure what you mean by revives. They have never stopped making Sound Blaster products.

 

[Kashim]

I'm not sure why you would hate on them for using Kickstarter. They are a struggling company trying to survive. Seems a perfectly reasonable move to use Kickstarter in this circumstance to raise some funds to get this product out there - as long as they actually produce what is funded.

You're not sure why people are hating on them for using Kickstarter? It's literally in the name: kick-STARTER. It was meant to be for new startups not multi-million dollar companies who fell on hard times.

Why is it reasonable for a company like Creative to unload the risk of their new idea for a product onto someone else? Basically, if this works out then the rich made money off the poor. If it doesn't work out then the poor paid for another failed Creative venture. This is reasonable to you? Other big companies have fallen on hard times before and they will in the future. Should they all go to Kickstarter? Can you imagine if Intel's next product was asking for money on Kickstarter?

 

[JC Smith]

You're not sure why people are hating on them for using Kickstarter? It's literally in the name: kick-STARTER. It was meant to be for new startups not multi-million dollar companies who fell on hard times.

Why is it reasonable for a company like Creative to unload the risk of their new idea for a product onto someone else? Basically, if this works out then the rich made money off the poor. If it doesn't work out then the poor paid for another failed Creative venture. This is reasonable to you? Other big companies have fallen on hard times before and they will in the future. Should they all go to Kickstarter? Can you imagine if Intel's next product was asking for money on Kickstarter?

That all may be true, but this is the free market where we choose to invest or not. I wouldn't say the people putting up their money here, would be contributing their last dime to this project. I'm sure they're well aware of the risks and can afford to lose that capital.