Creative’s Sonic Carrier megasoundbar was the most impressive tech at E3

Gaming is reaching a point where its most bleeding edge technologies are challenging to demonstrate to a remote audience. At last week’s E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo gaming trade event) in Los Angeles, PlayStation VR and the Xbox One X’s 4K HDR gaming struggled to translate to gamers watching livestreams at homes. But that’s the kind of problem that has frustrated audio companies for years.

That’s why I was glad that I checked in on Creative (the Sound BlasterX gaming-audio company) at E3, because its new X-Fi Sonic Carrier audio system was by far the most impressive new technology I experienced at the show. And it’s something I wouldn’t have understood without seeing it live. This new device is an all-in-one entertainment system with mind-blowing audio and a built-in Android media browser. It looks like a soundbar that is hooked on growth hormones, but it is so much more than anything else in that category. And it should be because Creative is selling it for $5,800.