Creative Labs revives Sound Blaster brand with modular audio hub — Re:Imagine is a tactile Stream Deck competitor, aimed at creators and audiophiles

The Sound Blaster Re:Imagine modular audio hub with AI
(Image credit: Creative Technology)

Creative Technology is bringing back its iconic Sound Blaster brand with the launch of a new modular audio hub. The Re:Imagine is designed for users who manage multiple audio devices, offering quick source switching and flexible configuration within a single setup. Currently listed on Kickstarter, the Re:Imagine is claimed to be an open, programmable platform that combines the functionality of a sound card and a stream deck, featuring broad audio connectivity and customizable controls.

The hub is powered by an octa-core ARM CPU with a dedicated NPU with up to 6 TOPS of performance, 8GB of LPDDR4 memory, 16GB of onboard EMMC flash storage and a microSD card slot for adding more storage. It features a hi-resolution 32-bit/384 KHz DAC and amp which can power headphones up to 300Ω as well as large desktop speakers. It also offers wide compatibility with devices including PCs, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, gaming consoles, headphones, speakers, mics, and music instruments. The company notes that it can be used as a standalone device as it comes with Linux or can be connected to your PC or laptop using USB to double as a control hub for activating macros on your computer. There’s even support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 meaning that it can connect to wireless audio devices.

The design is quite interesting as it seems to be inspired by Teenage Engineering, who themselves are inspired by Braun. The company plans to launch two base hubs that differentiate in terms of layout where each unit comes with a set of included modules including a smart screen, a set of four buttons, a knob, and dual sliders. Initially the Horizon Base Unit will be offered featuring a wide layout including a total of five slots where two are used by the Smart Screen and three are open for other modules. The Vertex Base Unit on the other hand offers a taller layout with a total of six slots, although this variant will only be available once the initial Kickstarter campaign funding goal has been met.

As mentioned earlier, users have complete control over its hardware with deep customization options available via the provided SDK and sample source code. This allows users to build their own apps and control connected devices with root-level access. Creative will also allow users to share their creations and benefit from tools and features developed by other users.

Additionally the Re:Imagine includes some built-in apps including a DOS emulator for retro PC gaming, AI-powered versions of Sound Blaster Parrot and Dr. Sbaitso, an AI DJ that creates music based on user-selected themes, and tools for one-tap audio recording and visualizations.

Currently the most affordable pledge tier for the Sound Blaster Re:Imagine starts at $329 where backers receive the core modular audio hub unit, and the above-mentioned four modules. It is important to note that this is a pre-order estimate and shipments are expected to begin in June 2026. If you are looking for similar modular control hubs, make sure to look at the Cooler Master MasterHub and various options from Elgato.

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Kunal Khullar
News Contributor

Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware.  He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.