Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar review – Simple setup, surprisingly powerful performance

REVIEW – The speakers on many TVs aren’t that great. They lack depth and often sound tinny, which may be fine when listening to voices or dialog, but for music and movies, they are pretty disappointing. But sometimes adding a speaker system results in more wires, more remotes, and more space. What does the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar offer in terms of sound for TVs, computers, or gaming devices? Read on to find out my experience.

⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $169.99
Where to buy: Amazon and Creative Online Store

What is it?

The Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar is a compact soundbar compatible with computers, TVs, mobile devices, and gaming consoles. It offers a separate, wired subwoofer.

What’s included?

• Creative Stage Pro
• Subwoofer with 2.0m Cable (attached)
• Quick Start Guide
• IR Remote (without batteries)
• USB-A to C Cable (1.5m)
• Power Adapter

Tech specs

Design and features

I had a speaker system previously, but once the subwoofer went out, I didn’t bother with the hassle of setting up another system. I did try a soundbar, but without a separate subwoofer, it just lacked any noticeable improvement over the stock TV speakers.

I wanted to review the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar because it was simple. A 2.1 system (soundbar+subwoofer) and didn’t have a bunch of cables and stands to be set up. Unboxing the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar proved that this was indeed a simple setup.

The Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar has the following ports on the back:

• 3.5mm Aux jack
• Optical Audio in
• HDMI ARC
• USB-C
• Power
• Subwoofer port
• **Although not a port, Bluetooth 5.3 is an option**

There is a light-up display (sort of a dot-matrix look) under the soundbar grill to indicate the port used, as well as settings such as volume level and feature settings.

I’m not a fan of the gold (or champagne) color accents, but that’s purely subjective.

Another thing to note, the 2 AAA batteries required by the remote are not included.

Assembly, Installation, Setup

Setup is straightforward, requiring:

• plugging the power adapter for the subwoofer
• connecting the subwoofer to the soundbar
• plugging the power adapter for the soundbar
• connecting the soundbar to the TV
• insert 2 AAA batteries into the remote

Performance

I was a little surprised about how well the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar sounded. I knew it would be better than the TV speakers, but for something this size and this simple, I just wasn’t ready for it. The 40W subwoofer provided plenty of bass for action movies and drum-heavy songs. And the “Super Wide” setting really changes the way I experience what I was listening to.

Our sectional couch is about 9 feet from the TV, and our kitchen area is another 6 feet behind that. All this to say that with the “Super Wide” setting at Far Field, the sound was very good. While up close (standing at the TV), the sound was muddled, and I could hear the sound coming from each end of the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar. But the further back I went, the sound just kept getting better. I would say the couch distance is the sweet spot for the Far Field option. For use with a computer that I sit closer to, the Near Field option worked better.

Before I share about the main challenge I had with the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar, I wanted to share my setup. I have an Apple TV 4K 3rd gen connected via HDMI to my Hisense 65″ TV. My Apple TV remote controls the sound as well as powering on/off both the TV and the Apple TV streaming box.

Okay, now I’ll introduce the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar into the setup. At first, I used the HDMI connection from the soundbar into the ARC port on the TV. My Apple TV remote still worked to control the volume….but for every increment I changed the volume on the Apple TV remote, the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar changed by 3 increments. I would press the volume up button once, and the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar would jump 3. As you can imagine, fine-tuning the volume was nearly impossible. After a few hours of research, I found that this is a known issue and I could not find a fix.

Well, the fix was not to use HDMI, so I ordered an optical cable and used that connection. First thing I noticed, my Apple TV remote would not control the volume anymore. This is expected behavior, as most volume 3rd-party remotes don’t handle optical audio very well.

I tried various settings on the TV, and eventually found a setting on the Apple TV that allowed the Apple TV remote to learn the volume buttons specifically from another remote. So now, watching TV was back to only needing one remote to control the Apple TV, the TV, and the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar!

Final thoughts

Once I was able to figure out how to circumvent the known HDMI ARC volume adjustment issue, and still only use one remote to control everything, I was pleased with the performance of the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar.

I think for an office, used with a computer, or in a den, the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar is a great choice. For those bigger rooms or with TVs larger than 65″, I would say the Creative Stage Pro 2.1 Soundbar looks a little out of place and may not fill up larger rooms with immersive sound.

As an older guy who remembers Creative sound cards and media devices from the “way back times”, it’s good to see the brand still providing good options and performance for computers as well as TVs!

What I like about the Creative Stage Pro

• Compact
• Full sound
• Noticeable bass

What needs to be improved?

• HDMI ARC connection – volume increments

Price: $169.99
Where to buy: Amazon and Creative Online Store
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Creative. Creative did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.

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