Another kickstarter product showed up in my recommendations that looks very similar to Creative Labs' Sound Blaster: Reimagine. It's called Ultrabar X and it's a similar idea and form factor, a modular control surface with touch screens, buttons, etc, for automation of computer tasks: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ultrabar … hetics-function

There is difference in modular design. Whereas the Creative Labs has a fixed size based with controls that snap on via magnets, this Ultrabar device has individual pieces that connect together. This means the latter has variable physical size, unlike Creative Lab's product which has a fixed physical footprint.

Both products have similar pricing and have raised about the same amount of money.

Currently at 707 backers with 7 days left on this kickstarter.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-12-20, 02:04:

Currently at 707 backers with 7 days left on this kickstarter.

How sad would it be if most of the backers were just trolls that intended to pull support right before the campaign ended.

I do wonder if people will drop out once they realized stretch goals aren't being met.

A recent comment on the kickstarter was about the $500k goal not being met (the vertical base). Creative Labs' response was, "Still on the table as a stretch goal — and we’ll see what the final week brings. " That individual has since removed their pledge.

They're now down to 703 700 backers. That's 15 fewer than what they had on November 28.

Currently at 705 backers with 24 hours to go.

The kickstarter campaign is done and they finished with 700 backers and about $234k USD raised. That wasn't enough to hit any of their stretch goals.

Looking at the reward tiers, looks like they had a bunch left over at $299 and $329. I guess this means people in those lower tiers cancelled? Unless Creative Labs was increasing those tier levels as well.

Regardless, the last month of the campaign was clearly a bust as they had a net loss of backers over the past 4 weeks. I'm still surprised they didn't make more of an effort at advertising on social media, engaging with tech content creators, etc.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-12-27, 16:36:

The kickstarter campaign is done and they finished with 700 backers and about $234k USD raised. That wasn't enough to hit any of their stretch goals.

Looking at the reward tiers, looks like they had a bunch left over at $299 and $329. I guess this means people in those lower tiers cancelled? Unless Creative Labs was increasing those tier levels as well.

Regardless, the month of the campaign was clearly a bust as they had a net loss of backers over the past 4 weeks. I'm still surprised they didn't make more of an effort at advertising on social media, engaging with tech content creators, etc.

Hey, that $234,000 will at least cover a good chunk of the tariffs whenever (if) they finally build and import these things.

🤐

RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2025-12-03, 11:39:

Maybe we'll get lucky and Creative will go bankrupt, prompting Gabe Newell to buy up all the now-unused audio software patents they have and incorporate them into their own stuff. It probably won't happen, but it would be great if it would.

Aureal Vortex 3 = Half Life 3 confirmed? 😜

I'm not very familiar with the workings of Kickstarter. What happens now? Do they get to keep that money for the product?

The funding succeeded so, yes, they get to keep the money. Stretch goals are just a bonus.

Edit: really weird but fitting to how the campaign went, but no update yet on celebrating their win and future roadmap 🤷‍♂️

This really feels like a one-man project/idea inside the company.
-Hey boss I've got this product idea
-No way
-Ok can I try get the funding and run it myself?
-Sure do whatever

This, or the situation in Creative is far worse than we think.

konc wrote on 2025-12-28, 10:23:

This, or the situation in Creative is far worse that we think.

Based on their financials they're due to go bankrupt in a few years. I'm not surprised they turned to kickstarter to fund this latest project.

I am surprised they didn't do more advertising for it.

Aaaannnnd it's dead:

First and foremost, thank you. Your support for Sound Blaster Re:Imagine has reaffirmed that the Sound Blaster legacy continues […]
Show full quote

First and foremost, thank you. Your support for Sound Blaster Re:Imagine has reaffirmed that the Sound Blaster legacy continues to resonate, and that there is genuine excitement for what comes next.

Over the past several weeks, as we progressed through the tooling phase, we have been closely monitoring developments across our global supply chain and key component availability. Despite our best efforts to navigate these challenges, we have encountered a combination of extreme market volatility and critical component supply constraints that have made it increasingly difficult to proceed with the project in a sustainable way.

After much consideration, we have made the painful decision to cancel the Sound Blaster Re:Imagine project.

We’re truly sorry for the disappointment this may cause. Rest assured that all backers will receive a full refund of the amount pledged through the Kickstarter platform.

We will provide a further update once the refund process has begun.

Thank you again for your trust, support, and belief in this project. We remain deeply appreciative of this community and hopeful for future opportunities to build together.

The Sound Blaster Team

via https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soundbla … i/posts/4681224

Sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. What possible critical supply shortages could there be for what is basically a rasberry pi with and LCD screen and a plastic case?

They pivoted and pooped out a new PCIe soundcard instead, using an off-the-shelf DAC paired with their own software stuff.

Oh. Wow. I. Am. Surprised. That. This. Didn't. Work. Out.

They actually lost backers over the final month of the campaign. I'm not surprised they ultimately decided to cancel the thing. It was ill-conceived from the get-go.

I didn't know about this one. "Modular audio hub with AI" give me a break. This company deserves to die.

RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2026-06-10, 23:39:

They pivoted and pooped out a new PCIe soundcard instead, using an off-the-shelf DAC paired with their own software stuff.

Did checked the specs about AE-X when it came out and I couldn't find anything particularly interesting about its hardware specs...

And this thread on Arch Linux forum kind of revealed this being another USB audio solution masqueraded as discrete PCIe card, and of course, it doesn't work there at the moment.

So even their Sound Core3D (HDA-based IIRC) is no more...

They obviously don't have money to design a new sound chip.