Creative Stage 360 2.1 Soundbar with Dolby Atmos Review

It’s been a wild 18 months with Covid, and all of the staying home. And now with Delta, many of us are saying not again! Well, there are some great home audio products to help with our binge watching. Creative is well known for their line of Sound Blaster soundcards for computers. Next came a great line of computer speakers. They have used their heritage in audio, and now have some great sound bars. Up for review is their Creative Stage 360.

 

Features and specs:

Dimensions

Soundbar: 565 x 75 x 88 mm / 22.2 x 2.9 x 3.4 inches, Subwoofer: 115 x 422 x 250 mm / 4.5 x 16.6 x 9.8 inches

Cable Length

Subwoofer Cable: Approx 2m; tethered to subwoofer, Power Cable: 1.5m (59 inches), Optical Cable: 1.5m

Weight

Subwoofer: 3.4 kg / 7.5 lb, Soundbar: 1.7 kg / 3.8 lb

Operating Temperature

0– 40°C

Power Output

Soundbar: 60W RMS, Subwoofer: 60W RMS, Total System Power: Up to 120W RMS (Peak 240W)

Drivers

Soundbar: 2 x 2.25″ x 3.85″ Racetrack Driver, Subwoofer: 5.25″ High Excursion Driver

Frequency Response

50–20,000 Hz

System Configuration

2.1 system

Bluetooth Operating Frequency

2402–2480 MHz

Operating Range for Bluetooth Devices

Up to 10 meters / 33 ft, (Measured in open space. Walls and structures may affect range of device.)

Bluetooth® Version

Bluetooth 5.0

Bluetooth Profile

A2DP (Wireless Stereo Bluetooth)*

*Stereo Bluetooth or A2DP profile enables wireless transmission of full stereo sound to other Bluetooth devices. To determine whether your device (notebook, PC or mobile device) is equipped with A2DP-enabled Bluetooth technology, refer to your device manufacturer's documentation / website for more information.

Supported Codecs

SBC

Connector Type

Optical-in (Toslink), HDMI-out (HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2, ARC), HDMI-in 1 (HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2), HDMI-in 2 (HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2), Subwoofer-out, AC-in

Color

Black

 

The Creative Stage 360 came in a great looking color printed box, with photos of the product and its specs. Opening the box revealed a well-protected product held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in the construction was mostly plastic with some metal in the soundbar, and engineered wood with black veneer for the subwoofer. Quality of materials used was very good, as was the fit and finish. Also included was the power cords, optical cable, and quick start guide.

 

I like the design of the Creative Stage 360. The soundbar uses a high-quality pair of racetrack drivers. The front also houses an LED to show status and volume levels. The top holds a few buttons for power, source, + and -. The back panel holds the subwoofer input, USB service port, and inputs with optical and HDMI. Then there’s the Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity. It’s a minimalistic design that’s efficient. One thing missing that I would have liked to see: built-in bracket on the back, so it could be wall mounted under a TV that is wall mounted.

 

The built-in software and remote is also great. There are DSP sound modes of Movie, Night and Music. And Dolby Atmos provides a nice surround sound effect, with adjustable settings for near-field or far-field. The remote also worked really well, giving you full access to all of the settings and full control, right at your fingertips. Installation/set-up was very simple. Now let’s see how it sounds.

 

Nat King Cole- LOVE: vocals were silky smooth like honey with very good texture of the timbre.  Cymbal and top hat were crisp and clean. Piano sounded natural. Trumpet was crisp with very good harmonics without being too brassy. The very good imaging surprised me, as I wasn’t expecting it.

Destiny 2- Storm the Keep: bass was very dynamic and had nice tone of the strings as they were plucked, cymbals were crisp and clean, as were the horns. Vocals were smooth with very good harmonics. Violin had nice texture from the strings. Drums had nice tight impact with very good dynamics.

Seatbelts- Tank!: Bass had nice definition of the plunking of the strings, with good definition of the midbass. The congas had nice definition of the pads. Trumpets were silky smooth and not overly brassy. The sax also had great harmonics. There was some extremely fast tonguing of the reed for the notes, and the Creative Stage 360 picked it up well. And what surprised me was the depth of soundstage that the Creative Stage 360 also projected.

 

The Creative Stage 360 unsurprisingly proved to be a great performer. The built-in Dolby Atmos provided a fun surround sound effect. And the sound was significantly better than the speakers built into the TV. Vocals tended to be nice and smooth, drums were dynamic and the highs tended to be crisp and clean.  The Dolby Atmos did work well, giving a seemly wider and deeper soundstage, giving the perception of some surround sound. I was impressed with the subwoofer.  It uses a small driver, so while it does not get very deep, it was dynamic and played with very good authority for the size. And be careful with the volume control, as it can get extremely loud!  I wasn't expecting the amount of volume that it has on tap!

With an MSRP of only $229, The Creative Stage 360 a big bang for the buck. This upgrade from TV speakers is a no-brainer. It does what it was designed to do very well.  And the build quality seems sufficient to give you years of use.  

Based on its design, features, quality and performance, the Creative Stage 360 has earned our Highly Recommended Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.us.creative.com.