We have already talked to you in recent weeks about the importance of external USB DACs, and how comfortable and flexible they are in all variants and declinations. In a world where we are literally bombarded with multimedia content, video games, voice calls and video calls, it is not only the quality of the video signal that makes the difference, but also that of the audio.
Today we talk about Sound Blaster Play! 4 by Creative, a plug and play USB external DAC designed to be always carried with you. In fact, it’s so small and light (just 8.3g) that you can keep it in your pocket without realizing it. But small does not mean little capable, on the contrary. Play! 4 is a concentrate of technology that is in one hand, with many features designed primarily to improve the quality of conference calls and therefore is aimed at professionals who work a lot with these tools.
The device acts in practice as a DAC and external sound card and its two main functions are to improve the quality and volume of the audio in the headphones (or speakers), and to filter out all annoying background noises from calls, providing a clearer and more crystalline voice as possible both outgoing and incoming.
Let’s start with the product description, which comes with a small rectangular plastic body and rounded edges with a USB-C cable soldered to the base at the end and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other. On the base we find two hardware keys that give access to different functions depending on single, sequential or prolonged pressure. In detail, one key is used to turn the microphone on and off, and the other allows you to activate Dynamic Equalization or Bass Boost, as well as to alternate between the two modes of use: Mode1 and Mode2. In the package we also find a USB-A adapter.
Sound Blaster Play! 4 is compatible with PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Android smartphone and iPad. Most of the features are available on all platforms, but only on PC can we exploit all the potential of the device, in particular the 192 KHz, 24-bit and 110db SNR sound card specifications and the SmartComms Kit accessible through the Creative App.
It is a package of advanced features designed to improve the voice on call and filter it from unwanted surrounding noises, but its peculiarity is that it also improves the incoming audio, that is that of our interlocutor. In fact, it often happens that a professional works in crowded offices full of workstations, with obvious background noises from keyboards or whatever.
But going by extension, it is a situation that we have all faced in these two years of pandemic with smartworking, i.e. working from home while someone else “enters” the call with loud noises such as a loud conversation or housework at the wrong time. such as vacuuming.
This is a situation we wanted to recreate as a test for our review. So we set up a voice call via Skype from PC to PC and on both sides we purposely activated a hairdryer and a vacuum cleaner, to see how the filtering algorithms work.
Starting with the outgoing audio, we activated the hairdryer right next to our desktop station with headsets connected to the Play! 4, noise that was obviously perceived very loudly by our interlocutor. After that, we activated the Noise Clean-Out feature from the App. Well, according to the evaluation of our interlocutor, the noise has almost completely disappeared.
The same reverse test, with a vacuum cleaner activated at the home of our interlocutor, gave a very positive result by activating the Noise Clean-In. The annoying noise was totally cut down, remaining only in a very subdued way when not speaking for a few seconds. The surprising thing is that the volume and quality of the voice are not degraded, attesting to the good effectiveness of filtering based on the frequencies without touching those of the voice.
SmartComms Kit also allows you to automatically activate and deactivate the microphone with the Auto-detect feature. As well as the other two noise clean features, it can be managed automatically or manually adjusted by setting different factors as desired. Crystal Voice, on the other hand, allows you to cancel the echoes and activate the smart volume, or create nice effects with your own voice (a call from the infernal depths is not refused to anyone) while with Acoustic Engine and Mixer we have access to the classic parameters to adjust the audio. as per Sound Blaster standard.
Basically, Sound Blaster Play! 4 has two modes of use: Mode1 which should only be used on PC and Mac and Mode2 designed for all platforms. The former gives access to exclusive features such as 192 KHz and 24-bit audio. Since the activation of one or the other is via hardware, the device restarts at the change of mode and may not work at its best if you activate the “wrong” mode. The interesting thing is that on Android smartphones and iPads you have access to very high fidelity audio. But it is important to underline that even in Mode 2, the audio is still at 96 KHz, therefore much more faithful than that offered by the integrated DACs of many notebooks and smartphones, as well as consoles.
We obviously tested Play! 4 also in the field of gaming both on PC and on consoles and the results were satisfactory, especially on consoles such as PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The audio in the headphones greatly improves in clarity and above all volume extension: if you have headphones with generous drivers, the Bass Boost will literally make your ears tremble with every explosion in the game. The key to mute the microphone is very useful if your headset does not have it, but it is on PC that the device shines particularly, being able to access its complete set of features.
Even with listening to music we have had good satisfaction. The volume in the headphones increases significantly and does not distort even at maximum. Not having a very strong amplification, however, do not expect to easily drive high amperage headphones (i.e. 300 Ohm and up).
Obviously there are much more advanced portable solutions in terms of music and gaming and Creative itself offers several in various ranges, such as Sound Blaster G3, G5 or G6, or SXFI Amp, which depending on the case also give access to amplifications. more powerful and advanced features such as voice mix, Scout Mode or SXFI Battle Mode. But none of these solutions are as light and portable but above all technically advanced as the Play! 4.
This Sound Blaster Play! 4 can be a faithful companion for those who work a lot with audio and video calls, but also for those who play a lot online and want to improve audio performance and microphone capture without spending large amounts on more advanced solutions. The SmartComms Kit features have truly amazed us for their effectiveness in eliminating any annoying background noise, and the audio quality is also not bad, especially on PC. The USB-C connection is perfect for use on notebooks to improve voice in and out, while it’s a little more inconvenient for desktops. However, it must be remembered that for that area there are certainly more suitable products that we ourselves have treated.
At the price of 25 euros to which this is proposed Sound Blaster Play! 4 it is truly a must buy. Once you have tried it in the workplace but also in gaming, you will no longer want to part with it and given its negligible size and light weight, it will certainly not be a problem to always carry it with you even when traveling, perhaps associated with a laptop with poor audio capabilities.
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