Creative Sound BlasterX Katana: The soundbar finally makes its way to PCs

CONSIDERING THE BURGEONING popularity of soundbars in living room setups, it’s surprising they’re mostly missing in action on the PC side of things. By and large, the PC has stuck to 3.5mm input dual-speaker systems, occasionally with a subwoofer included. It’s strange for a few reasons:

1) Unlike TVs, monitors rarely ever come with built-in speakers.

2) Most dedicated PC speakers are terrible.

3) Desk space is often in short supply, and cable routing a pain.

But for some reason the soundbar hasn’t made its way to desktop PCs, even as it’s become a hit with everyone else. Razer sort of made an attempt with its Leviathan a few years ago, but even that was more geared toward the living room.

So Creative isn’t stretching the truth too far when it calls its new Sound BlasterX Katana () the first “Under-Monitor Audio System.” Sure, you could still use it in your living