Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB V2.0 Review

We get to sample a refresh of the Tactic3D Rage USB gaming headset from Creative that features 50mm drivers backed by SBX Pro Studio Technologies.

Product on Review: Creative Tactic3D Rage USB V2.0
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Creative
Street Price: £55-60

The Sound Blaster brand remains ever present in the audio market and their gaming headsets offer a wide variety of solutions to cater for every segment. We were thoroughly impressed with the EVO Zx and ZxR, however these were undeniably high end in regards to pricing. Moving towards the more wallet friendly entry-mid range, Creative have the Tactic3D series. This is a series of USB or Wireless headsets that feature SBX Pro Studio Technologies.

We are looking at the Tactic3D Rage USB V2.0 which is a versatile headset that is compatible with the PC, MAC, PS4 and XBOX ONE* (*with adaptor) through its use of fully modular cables and microphone. Powered by 50mm full spectrum drivers set in a headset with a SpringSteel core, the specifications look impressive, but the real party piece is that it is LED illuminated via USB which has customisable colour and effects.

Overview by Creative

USB Gaming Headset

If you’re a serious gamer and you need exceptional audio without breaking the bank, the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB V2.0 Gaming Headset is just what you need. With powerful 50mm drivers and SBX Pro Studio technologies, it delivers superior gaming audio that’s backed by decades of legendary Sound Blaster expertise.

Technical Specifications

General
Headset Connector Type: 3.5mm Stereo Input/ USB
SBX Pro Studio: Yes

Headset
Frequency Response: 20Hz ~ 20kHz
Sensitivity: 102dB/mW
Impedence: 32 ohms
Audio Drivers: 50mm FullSpectrum
Interface: Micro-USB plug
Analog: 3.5mm

Microphone
Microphone Type: Noise Canceling Condenser
Detachable: Yes
Frequency Response: 100Hz ~ 6.5kHz
Impedance: <2.2k ohms
Sensitivity: -40dBV/Pa

Software & Compatibility
Supported Operating Systems:
Mac OS X v10.8 and above
Windows® 8.1
Windows® 8
Windows® 7
Windows® XP with SP2 or higher
Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition
Windows Vista® SP1 or higher

Supported Gaming Consoles
PlayStation® 4

Additional Features
USB wired Audio: Yes
Analog 3.5mm: Yes

Packaging & Bundle

Packaging front

The front of the packaging is clear and aggressive with a list of features and compatibilty accounted for as well as a window cut out allowing the actual product to be seen

reverse side reveals information

At the back we get a diagram explaining the features in various languages as well as information about some eSport affiliations.

Included accessories

Inside the box we get a USB to micro USB cable that is 1.8m long as well as a 4 pole to 4 pole 3.5mm jack which can be used with mobile devices, or practically any other audio output including PS4 or even your sound card should you wish, however you would need a 4 pole splitter should you wish to use the microphone.

removable microphone

This headset is fully modular, meaning all cables and the microphone is removable.

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB

The headset itself is light and made from sturdy plastic with ample squishy pads on the earcups and headband.

Closer Look

Creative Sound Blaster

The logo is clearly embgraved into the headband with the ‘RAGE’ name written in red.

Side view

The side of the headset is adorned with a quality Sound Blaster logo backed by the darkend LED housing and surrounded by the signature metallic red.

Metal adjustable strap

Apparently using a ‘springsteel’ core which should allow for flexibility and robustness.

Tactic3D Rage I/O

Being fully modular we get a range of I/O ports as well as onboard control features, this includes a micro USB port, 3.5mm jack input, 3.5mm jack output (for microphone), as well as a volume dial and mute button.

Blues man chills out

The earcups are well padded however the space seems a little smaller than usual which may cause those with larger ears comfort issues.

The complete setup

Overall we came to enjoy the aesthetic of the Tactic3D Rage which has an understated aggressive gamer edge.

Software & Lighting

The software GUI is easy to navigate with its blades style browsing and comes packed with control features including the SBX features, scout mode, equaliser, voiceFX and the SB prism feature. During our testing, we always judge a product without any audio enhancements enabled, though we do test to see if it can be improved to provide further information about the product as a whole. During this testing, we encountered a problem with the software where any changes to the audio enhancement features in the SBX, equaliser or Voice FX settings resulted in zero change. At first I assumed it could be an audio driver clash with my sound card, and so I uninstalled it and tried again; no luck. I then installed the latest firmware and reinstalled all drivers but this again resulted in the same problem where Windows would report a problem and disable the audio enhancements. This is shame and it could be for various reasons on my particular setup which has various audio drivers installed which could be causing a clash.

Regardless, the SB Prism feature worked perfectly and I could customise the LED colour and speed which it pulses at. There is also a sweet ‘pulsate with tune’ feature where the LED would flash along with whatever you are listening to at the same time. The effect which the LED covers cause creates quite a sweet look too. Below is a short demonstration of the colour cycle with the pulse disabled allowing you to see all the colour variations.

Scrolling through colours

Performance Testing

Setup, Design & Observations
The headset is a modular design so you use whichever cable you require, if you need to use the microphone, plug that in too. Using the USB will result in proprietary Plug ‘n Play drivers installing, alternatively you can download the drivers from the Creative website. Other than the issues we mentioned previously on the software page, the GUI is simple to use and includes various saved profiles used by various pro gamers.

The headset itself has a moderate squeeze strength and those on the larger side may find issue with it, however I found it light and confortable with an ideal grip strength. This allowed for hours of use without issue, though those who wear spectacles may find that the padding isn’t so forgiving when it presses the frames into the side of your head. Overall comfort is good, but this may not be true for everyone.

The build quality seems good, with quality plastic and finish making for an attractive aesthetic. The headband is said to have a ‘SpringSteel…TM’ core, whether or not this actually means it is using ‘real’ spring steel or not (a mid to high carbon steel alloy with trace silica and/or nickel and/or tungsten which creates a ‘positional memory’ that it springs back to when bent or deformed to extreme levels) is a different matter. Regardless this should add robustness and strength to the product. Though it is a shame that this robustness isn’t transferred to the thin plastic on the earcup to which the headband connects to, seems like a weakpoint in construction. The volume dial and mute button are easy to access on the left earcup and respond well.

Multimedia
I spent a while listening through to some favourite music tracks as well as listening through to the latest album by Sabrepulse, Blood Eagle. The Tactic3D Rage handles bass very well and gets the mids clear too, however the highs seem to dip off a little. This was a trend that many gaming headsets adhered to for a while though this could be due to the lack of software features functioning as the crystalizer in the SBX tends to sharpen the highs, also I couldn’t test how well equalisation could balanced the audio signature. Overall it made listening to bassy music enjoyable, though the lack of definition in the highs was noticeable. Running a full frequency sweep from 10Hz to 21KHz, the audio seemed to start dropping at around 6-8KHz, and significantly by 12-16KHz (higher than this is negligable as it is, fortunately, beyond the hearing of most)

In gaming I was unable to test the SBX Surround feature, though this didn’t stop the Tactic3D Rage from giving some enjoyable booming impressive audio, showing signs of strength in COD:Advanced Warfare and in DOTA2.

Microphone
In conversation I was told that my voice sounded a little quiet at first, once maxing out the sensitivity I was told it sounded clear, though a little low in tone. There was little background noise reported too which is good, maybe the DSP was working afterall?

Conclusion

The Tactic3D Rage is certainly a looker with some power to it, the customisable LED lighting looks lavishly good while the comfort and nice bassy audio pwoered by those 50mm drivers will certainly please gamers. Another thing that is great to see is that this is a fully modular headset, allowing maximum versatility across all your platforms.

The ideas presented in this headset by Creative represent everything good in a headset, though there are a few areas that need improving. Firstly, despite my best efforts I couldn’t get the software to give any real benefit, losing out on ‘supposed’ technologies. This could be down to a one off or setup issue, however, considering that it took a fair while to locate and download the said drivers, it became fairly tedious to trial and error every possibilty. Also, while we found the Rage comfortable, this may not be true for others, considering the design does seem to be a bit of a hand-me-down from the Recon3D series, all these great features could do with a remodel or repackage to take further steps in the refinement process (is that not what the EVO series should be doing?).

Finally, the actual audio signature itself seemed reminiscent of days long past and many similarly priced headsets of late offer some outstanding performance in comparison. Though on a good day, there is no reason why this one can not serve your gaming audio needs.

The Sound Blaster Rage USB V2.0 has attractive customisable lighting that can pulsate to the sound of your fragged enemies dying, how cool is that?

Pros.
+ 50mm drivers
+ Customisable LED lighting with variety of modes
+ Fully modular
+ Good bassy gaming orientated audio

Cons.
– Potential software driver issues
– Questionable robustness
– Strong competition