VC squatting winamp-ass energy.

also "the original creator" is buried by this point.

Anyone have any thoughts about the number pad + screen thing they're showing? Is that an existing device of theirs, or some kind of hint to the probably-lame product they are going to announce? I have a hard time picturing anything I would want that would be game-audio related that would have number buttons and a screen on it.

It's probably some late-to-the-party streaming control device.

Ironic to hear Creative Labs, the legendary Sound Blaster giant, going to Kickstarter to get support for making it's next card.

My guess is, the current CEO is not interested or not sure of the profitability in funding this project, and the old timers there decided to ask for funding from outside, and the CEO maybe okay with that.

Namrok wrote on 2025-09-16, 14:54:

There is something really ominous about a fallen 90's hardware brand using Kickstarter to fund a project. On top of the typical sketchiness hardware kickstarters usually suffer from.

Perhaps, but with the direction computer sound hardware has gone these days there is room for understanding the need to gauge potential demand in advance.

Looking up Creative Lab's financials over the past 5 years, they've been posting continual losses and bleeding cash in the process. At the rate they are going, they'll be out of cash in a few of years.

Doing a Kickstarter allows them to raise project funding while passing the financial risks to the consumer. No doubt CL doesn't have the appetite to take on those risks themselves.

Shponglefan wrote on Yesterday, 17:57:

Looking up Creative Lab's financials over the past 5 years, they've been posting continual losses and bleeding cash in the process. At the rate they are going, they'll be out of cash in a few of years.

Doing a Kickstarter allows them to raise project funding while passing the financial risks to the consumer. No doubt CL doesn't have the appetite to take on those risks themselves.

That's pretty much my feeling as well, as I had previously mentioned. This smells a bit of desperation, TBH.

Shponglefan wrote on Yesterday, 17:57:

Looking up Creative Lab's financials over the past 5 years, they've been posting continual losses and bleeding cash in the process. At the rate they are going, they'll be out of cash in a few of years.

Doing a Kickstarter allows them to raise project funding while passing the financial risks to the consumer. No doubt CL doesn't have the appetite to take on those risks themselves.

Creative Lab still produces and sells the Audigy RX, which is based on the CA10300-IAT chip, first introduced in the Audigy 2 Value 20 years ago.
The entire Recon3D/ZXR/AE line is based on the CA-113 chip(15year ago) , which cannot transmit clock rates higher than 96kHz over the digital interface (I2S).
If ESS hadn't released top-end SABRE DACs that don't use this signal pin, AE sound cards wouldn't exist. 😀

Given the level of inventory planning we have (they produce chips once every 20 years), I'm surprised they've lasted this long.

EAX may be old, but what else is there to have?

UCyborg wrote on Today, 15:43:

EAX may be old, but what else is there to have?

A3D, Sensaura? But seriously: by the time Windows 7 rolled around serious gamers were expected to have their PCs hooked to surround sound setups, abolishing the demand for simulated spatial 3D. Real story is more likely Creative found it too inconvenient to support and looking for excuses to ditch it, but if that is so it is all the more likely EAX (and its competition Creative consumed alive) is dead and never coming back.