Artistic made a modular sound card that is completely wild — it is designed to be the best audio hub to attach all of your gear

Artistic’s Sound Blaster collection of sound playing cards dominated the trade within the ’90s and ’00s, and I received my begin with the model’s merchandise in 2008 after I arrange a gaming rig throughout school and slotted in a devoted sound card. Artistic is now aiming to reboot the Sound Blaster collection in an enormous approach: meet the Sound Blaster Re:Think about, a module sound card designed for the trendy age.

To begin with, that is far more than an everyday sound card; Artistic dubs it an audio hub to attach all of your units. If something, the design and modularity appears to be like like one thing made by teenage engineering, and I am instantly within the product.

Artistic offered over 400 million items of Sound Blaster playing cards over the a long time, however for this product, it’s taking the crowdfunding route. The Re:Think about is now listed on Kickstarter, and Artistic says it’s doing so to interact with its userbase to grasp what they want out of a sound card. You will have to shell out $349 to get your arms on the sound card, and as of writing, the mission has $202,000 price of pledges.

The Re:Think about hub has an built-in 32-bit/384kHz DAC, and the amp drives headsets with 32Ω to 300Ω with none points. It really works with Home windows, macOS, Linux, PS5, Change, and all Android telephones, and curiously, you’ll be able to run it in a standalone mode — it is powered by Linux, and comes with 8GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage and an SD card slot.

The important thing attract (for me no less than) is the modularity, with the Re:Think about that includes distinct modules: there is a rotary knob, mixer-style slider, buttons, and a 3-inch panel. The Horizon Cluster unit that Artistic is promoting features a base unit alongside certainly one of every module, with the modules attaching magnetically to the bottom unit. On that word, the bottom unit accommodates all of the connectors, together with 3.5mm out, line in/out, optical, USB-C audio in, and connecting to USB-C hosts.

The buttons are programmable, so you’ll be able to customise actions or assign macros when related to Home windows. Artistic is bundling a collection of enjoyable utilities that may be accessed by way of the 3-inch panel, together with an AI-based music generator (clearly), music visualizers to actually make issues nostalgic, and even a DOS emulator.