soundblasterx wrote on 2025-11-10, 12:50:

Dated 22 Aug 2025. Not true. They only used 12.2 mil cash but investments increased by 3.5 mil.

First column in FY2025 ending June 30, second column is FY2024 (prior year).

Don't just look at numbers. Read the paragraphs too.

I do read the F/S notes. Which would be relevant in cases where there are significant one-off transactions that require explaining. That's not the case here.

To put this in further context, their cash and cash equivalents was ~$108M back in 2019. It's now $29.8M in 2025 with the primary cash decreases coming from ongoing operations. Which again, is not a good sign for the long-term health of the company.

There is no positive spin for an established company that is continuously bleeding money through ongoing operations.

soundblasterx wrote on 2025-11-10, 07:47:

Can accept multiple USB c (audio) input, like G8. Amazon is helping them sell hundreds of G8 a month. […]
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Can accept multiple USB c (audio) input, like G8. Amazon is helping them sell hundreds of G8 a month.

Moldable/hackable includes root access for Linux. There is a huge community of coding experts to get on board. Just that the current wrong pricing plus lead time of 8 months will not get many on board.

It can be a standalone device for audio and video and more.

They are also considering adding dsp effects in. It will be cool: I am still using xmod. It does not need to install any drivers, cmss and crystalizer still works and there is also 5 channel virtual headphone surround in win 11. It can even power some passive speakers that even high end mobo (maximus xi/aorus x470) audio struggle to. Same for the more recent sxfi amp/x1.

Simply reciting features and specs does not address the issue of practical usage. What I'm interested in is what practical applications this has. What problems does it actually solve that are not addressed by existing options on the market (e.g. audio interfaces, control surfaces, or mixers/switches)?

Nobody seems to be able to answer that.

It is written clearly the losses include severance payment of 3.1 mil. This is one time.

With fewer headcount, the costs will only go down. They also trimmed director fees significantly.

No one can deny they have made strategic errors for the past few decades. Example, if they invested in real estate instead of betting big on zii platform and so on, they would have at least a billion NET assets now.

What they are doing now is rational and logical.

There is an easy way out, that is to privatize. If a bigger company takes over and privatize it, they can easily trim the general/selling/admin costs by half and do a one time write off. After that, they will be profitable.
But this is up to the substantial shareholders.

With 60% sxfi sale of 5mil, their balance sheet may decrease a little or increase a little for the current year.

This is assuming no improvement for revenue during the holiday season and no contribution from their investments.

The current CEO/CFO/directors are not the same as the previous decade's. They are no longer doing big gamble. They even sell 60% of sxfi (some like it for games and movies, some thought it is junk), go kickstarter to get good coverage and some revenue.

G8 dual usb input has its usefulness. It's all stated there, amazon reviews, youtube/reddit/forums. Hundreds are sold monthly in amazon alone not for no reason.

There isn't any <=$299 product that has ALL the listed features in the kickstarter. Of course if you remove those features you deemed junk, you can find cheaper alternatives.
But that is not their aim. And that is why they go kickstarter because this is not a mass market product. They just need thousands of users for the first year. After that if it grows, together with new products, they have additional revenue and should be enough to break even.

There is via tinkerer route like raspberry/rockchip/etc SOC but the costs can be higher and not factoring the time and back and forth effort.

Their current price to book is 0.7 and price to sales is 0.5.

The risk of privatization is much higher than them closing shop soon.

soundblasterx wrote on 2025-11-11, 04:06:

There is via tinkerer route like raspberry/rockchip/etc SOC but the costs can be higher and not factoring the time and back and forth effort.

Now come to think of it... I think this device is very likely powered by Rockchip's RK3588.

Here's a datasheet I found for RK3588. The specs (8-core ARM SoC, LPDDR4, 6TOPS NPU) fit it perfectly.

If it also features video output (e.g. HDMI) on top of the ability to connect keyboard, mouse or other peripherals, it's pretty good enough as a standalone edge-computing device for audio-oriented workloads. The SoC does feature some decent video output capabilities for running desktop stuffs.

At this point can't call it a "sound card" anymore.

Yes, that's what attracted many of the 626 backers. A few are so generous to back 379 instead of lower tier.

But it is RK3576.

soundblasterx wrote on 2025-11-11, 07:50:

Yes, that's what attracted many of the 626 backers. A few are so generous to back 379 instead of lower tier.

But it is RK3576.

The datasheet for RK3576 can be found here.

The overall specs are a bit lower than RK3588 but it's still very good, and cheaper.

soundblasterx wrote on 2025-11-11, 04:06:

It is written clearly the losses include severance payment of 3.1 mil. This is one time.

Severance payouts occur any time there is downsizing. They had a similar payout of $3M in FY2023.

This, however, doesn't account for the majority of the cash bleed which as I previously indicated has been going on steadily for at least 6 years now. And to the tune of an average of $13M per year.

Also to be clear, I'm focusing on cash flow and not income/loss. The latter can be misleading. Cash is what really matters as running out of it is what leads to bankruptcy.

LSS10999 wrote on 2025-11-11, 04:59:

If it also features video output (e.g. HDMI) on top of the ability to connect keyboard, mouse or other peripherals, it's pretty good enough as a standalone edge-computing device for audio-oriented workloads. The SoC does feature some decent video output capabilities for running desktop stuffs.

At this point can't call it a "sound card" anymore.

This is why I'm still struggling to understand what this thing is supposed to be and what sort of problems it is intended to solve. Especially since it lacks the necessary I/O to be a proper audio interface.

349 is finishing. Let's see how to move to 379.

Currently at 632 backers.

They seem to be averaging maybe 10 a day (or less) right now?

Creative seems to be underselling the "DOSBox console" functionality of the Re:Imagine in favor of its use as an audio hub, but the former arguably has more appeal to a retro-focused crowd. Cheaper DOS-gaming solutions certainly exist, but the Re:Imagine adds some aesthetic and physical control appeal.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-11-11, 13:21:

This is why I'm still struggling to understand what this thing is supposed to be and what sort of problems it is intended to solve. Especially since it lacks the necessary I/O to be a proper audio interface.

Yeah I don't get it either, and I'm the target audience I assume. Older male with very fond memories of my first sound card (Sound Blaster) and DOS gaming. I have a gaming PC and an audio setup with multiple inputs, and I have money to burn on cool gadgets. But I've just re-watched the kickstarter video again and it's left me feeling confused and annoyed - none of the vague features described are of use to me. Why would I want to switch the buttons and sliders around? Why would I bother to write a macro to launch a game from a button when I could just double click the icon on my desktop?

My involvement in this thread proves that I have an interest in a new Creative Labs product, but I can't think of anything they could do better than the amazing hobbyist projects that already solve the retro gaming sound problem.

badmojo wrote on 2025-11-12, 06:54:

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-11-11, 13:21:

This is why I'm still struggling to understand what this thing is supposed to be and what sort of problems it is intended to solve. Especially since it lacks the necessary I/O to be a proper audio interface.

Yeah I don't get it either, and I'm the target audience I assume. Older male with very fond memories of my first sound card (Sound Blaster) and DOS gaming. I have a gaming PC and an audio setup with multiple inputs, and I have money to burn on cool gadgets. But I've just re-watched the kickstarter video again and it's left me feeling confused and annoyed - none of the vague features described are of use to me. Why would I want to switch the buttons and sliders around? Why would I bother to write a macro to launch a game from a button when I could just double click the icon on my desktop?

My involvement in this thread proves that I have an interest in a new Creative Labs product, but I can't think of anything they could do better than the amazing hobbyist projects that already solve the retro gaming sound problem.

I've gotten the impression that Creative expects the older audience to fund the project yet the device itself is for a younger generation. However I consider myself young and still don't really see a use for the device haha, or as it's already been mentioned there are cheaper and / or more effective alternatives. I think Creative is also missing the trend I've seen especially recently where people my age and younger are preferring to hunt down actual vintage hardware. I mean for 300ish and less you can get a full system with an actual Sound Blaster. So I mean while I wish Creative some success, I really just don't see this being what the company needs...

If they'd created a DOSBox console complete with proper emulation of various Sound Blasters (including AWE32) and maybe a wavetable header for MIDI, that would have been something interesting. And it would have made much more sense to lean into the nostalgia/retro-gaming marketing.

Also looking at what they've raised so far, it's not looking good for those stretch goals. They're currently sitting a little over $200k USD. I was also doing some math and they need about 17 backers per day (average) to get to $500k USD, which they state is needed to produce the vertical base. Right now they aren't hitting that average and given they've burned through the cheaper tiers for backers, there is even less incentive for backers to jump on board.

Doesn't look like they'll get anywhere close to the $1M for the mystery goal.

Unless they get a major marketing boost, they'll probably finish somewhere between $300k to $400k $200k and $300k.

I have encountered poor SB emulation in dosbox. This is something SB Re:I must address.

Trends towards steam machine or equivalent can actually help boost their existing and new products sales.

Kickstarter is not the only avenue for SB Re:I to sell. There is a also an option to extend or offer late pledge. It can be regarded as a Linux console. They have good distribution channel worldwide. It is whether they can implement the software to enable all the features and SB emulation before next July.

Meanwhile, it is just short seller narrative.

Currently at 650 backers. Only 18 new backers in the last 48 hours.

3 new backers in the past 24 hours bringing the total to 653. At this rate, I'm wondering if they'll even reach $300k USD.

So, how is this going to work? They set the initial goal extremely low and pretended it was a huge deal that they were getting support and they could now produce it... that original $15K probably didn't even cover the marketing campaign for it.

The issue is, at this point it doesn't even matter if it is absolutely not worth investing the rest of the time and energy into mass producing this thing... they already owe 655 people ~$214,000 worth of products... eventually. Are they just going to drag it on forever and hope to file bankruptcy before they have to produce a product that no one wants (mostly being sarcastic... mostly... 🤣 ) or were they already producing the first run of them regardless of the campaign?

Option two seems slightly more likely. They were going to make this no matter what, but a campaign generated some buzz and was guaranteed to lock in some buyers at a high price with no way to back out or get a refund. Wouldn't surprise me if this thing hits retail, doesn't make a big splash and then the MSRP is dropped to like $179 within the first year.

They're now up to 666 backers. The $349 tier is sold out, so all that is left is the most expensive $379 option.

By this point they've raised about $218k USD.