The Creative iRoar Bluetooth speaker is a ridiculously powerful and full-featured box o' sound.
This is a booming speaker with 5 drivers. Lay it on its side for maximum sound, with dual 2" high-frequency drivers facing out the side, an active 2.75" bass driver directed upwards, and two side-firing passive radiators on the ends to enhance the bass and widen the soundstage.
Yes, it is not petite at 8.8 x 4.7 x 2.2 inches and 2.5 lbs, nor is it inexpensive at $369.
But it really delivers as a powerful and portable speaker for use indoors or out, as demonstrated when it provided the music for the recent "Dinner Under The Stars" event as part of our town's 125th Anniversary celebration -- a three-hour outdoor gathering with seating for 125 people.
"The sound was terrific," reports the celebration's chair. "For such a small unit the depth and quality of the sound produced was amazing."
"We played a variety of mood music to allow for conversation during the cocktail hour, and then switched to background music during dinner. The speaker handled the various volumes and quality we needed beautifully."
"All in all," she concludes, "I would highly recommend this unit for both indoor and outdoor events due to the high quality of the sound, the compact size, and long battery life."
Find the Creative iRoar on Amazon.com
iRoar Features and Fun
The Creative iRoar is a major enhancement to the previous Sound Blaster Roar 2 (see earlier post), especially with stronger sound, longer battery life, optical input, and context-sensitive touch controls.
Plus press the ROAR button to apply digital signal processing to boost the loudness, depth and spaciousness of the audio.
For listening, the iRoar is a Bluetooth speaker, of course, providing wireless playback alternating between up to two mobile phones or other devices.
It also works as a wired speaker, for boosted audio playback from your PC via USB, or for analog audio via the 3.5mm AUX-in port, or for digital audio via the S/PDIF optical input.
Plus it's a stand-alone jukebox, with a microSD card slot to play stored music files in MP3, AAC, and WAV formats.
Beyond music, the iRoar also is a flexible speakerphone, with beamforming microphones so you can either capture all surrounding sound, or focus on an isolated acoustic zone.
Which also means it can be a personal recorder, saving audio to the microSD card.
To manage all these features, the iRoar provides Intelligent Touch Controls, with button areas along the top of the case that light up to show the available controls for the current context.
To personalize your music, use the iRoar Dashboard app to adjust the sound and voice, with audio profiles for music, games, cinema, base, and even night mode for low volume. It's free for iOS and Android.
And use the Remote Assistant app to control playback from the microSD card.
And there's more -- Add the iRoar Mic ($79) to use the iRoar as a wireless personal PA system, enhanced with various voice enhancement effects. And you can do wireless karaoke using music from the iRoar, or from the Line-in jack on the iRoar Mic, or even from an external microphone using the Mic-in port. It weighs 30 grams and has a battery life of up to 10 hours
And add the iRoar Rock ($149), a docking subwoofer for the iRoar to enhance the sound from the 3.75" driver. As a bonus, it also recharges the Roar.
For on the go use, the built-in 9000mAh Li-ion battery provides up to 20 hours of playtime. Plus you even can use the iRoar as a portable battery to charge mobile phones and tablets quickly with a 1.5A output.