Features

• Superior quality 24-bit/192kHz audio, ultra-realistic game effects, and studio quality music settings
• Exclusive Creative THX Setup Console provides accurate audio calibration for a precise speaker listening environment
• The only available PC platform for Advanced Resolution 24-bit/96kHz 5.1 surround and 24-bit/192kHz stereo DVD-Audio playback
• Multi-Environment audio -- up to four simultaneous environments processed in real time, with Bass Boost, Multi-Band Graphic Equalizer, Audio Clean-Up and Karaoke
• Complete Cinematic Surround Sound with DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX Movies

Reviews (12)

More Boom for your Buck....
I bought this card as an upgrade for my default Dell system, having done a little shopping around for a good deal. I was attracted to this card for several reasons - A) It supports 5.1 surround sound (just got some new shiny speakers to play with y'see), B) I trust Creative to make a reliable and compatible product, since I'm not a computer whiz, and I don't have the time or experience to reconfigure stuff just to get it to work, and C) The price is just about right.

Installation was a breeze - like always just follow the instructions carefully and make sure everything is connected before you close the case - this model comes with a separate cable to link the sound card to the digital port on the CD drive. My XP system detected everything right away, and the software installed without a hitch. There's a few different programs bundled with the card, including EAX, THX and speaker configuration support, all of which is nicely presented and was helpful when setting up my speakers. The 5.1 surround support is just as groovy as I'd hoped, and the card software made it a breeze to adjust the levels, configure Winamp 5 to play through all the channels, and add funky effects. I don't really have much use for all the software included, but I can imagine if you were starting from scratch, or, conversely, quite an advanced user, you might enjoy the various different functions included here. I'm a bit middle-of-the-road to need all the bells and whistles, but I appreciate them being there.

So, easy to setup, easy to use, simmering with latent power and nicely priced. I admit that I was also persuaded to get this card for secret reason D) It came bundled with Raven Shield (and Angel of Darkness, but I'm treating that as a fancy test for my speakers rather than a 'real' game...I'm such a snob) which sounds awesome through this card. A great buy for a lower end user who wants to ramp-up their audio experience without breaking the bank (or an eardrum). Recommended.

Fine for PC speaker setup - Not for PC Home Theater
I recently connected my PC to my TV. (They are in 2 different rooms). The video runs via (5m) DVI cable and I was looking for a good way to connect the audio to the receiver-driven home theater 5.1 speakers. Silly me for thinking that a digital coaxial out from this card could simply plug into coax in on receiver and Dolby coding etc. would be recognized. (SEE other review regarding this below). So, after purchasing a 25' coax cable and miniplug connector, I was extremely disappointed NOT to have true 5.1 digital sound from my speakers.

Basically, I will have to run a bunch of (looong) analog connecting RCA cables to my receiver, instead of 1 digital coax - what a pain! Not to mention the headphone BS also mentioned.

Seems like they overlooked some very basic things with this card and focused on the the processing...

nice sound, nice price
I got this card a long time ago and could tell a major increase in my audio quality when I had my 5.1 high end speakers plugged in, but ultimitely you need nice speakers to experience the full potential of this card. It has no 5.25 inch bay adaptor like the Platinum does, and although it is old, it is the best for when you have a tight budget.

Underimpressed!
The following is an email sent to Creative Tech Support over three weeks ago. They have not replied so I am writing reviews as I told them I would. (Problem 3 below was somehow resolved after unchecking Synchronize with Control Panel in Speaker Settings and then rechecking it several days later.) My system is a Dell Dimension 8300, P4 2.6 GHz, 512 MB ram, nVidia GeForce FX 5200 video, 5.1 speakers, Windows XP.

I have over 20 years experience with PCs and I have been a studious learner during that time. I have installed many peripherals and add-ons in my own and machines belonging to others. But I have never had as many problems installing any of them as with this sound card, even in the days before plug and play!

I have installed the programs and drivers along with updates from your web site three times now because of various problems. The last installation changed my nVidia display card settings which caused a greenish monochrome color in DVD movies, but I reset them back. After much work I now have the most trouble free installation so far. The following problems remain however.

1. Opening THX Console resets the speaker level settings under the advanced tab of Surround Mixer and opening other settings programs causes those in THX Console to change. Prior installations also caused settings in EAX Console to change. Apparently one can use either THX Console and not the others, or the others can be used but not THX Console. Seems to me your documentation needs a better explanation of the interactions between these three programs and Speaker Settings and how to use them together.

2. When using SPDIF output from my DVD player application, some sounds aren't played during initial screens, menus and credits and there are occasional skips and faltering as some movies start playing. But playback of the same DVD is perfect when I set the application to decode sound rather than send it to the card to decode.

3. Volume of CD and DVD playback is controlled by the Wave slider in Surround Mixer instead of the CD Audio slider when digital output is enabled for the DVD player in Device Manager (the digital cable isn't connected between the card and the player). So my DVD player resets the wave playback volume high when it is started, and I then get blasted when a true wave file is played, if Synchronize with Control Panel is checked in Speaker Settings and I forget to lower wave volume after a DVD. Your documentation may also need more explanation of this to prevent confusion and endless experimenting.

Any help you can give will be appreciated. I am about ready to pull the card, revert back to the onboard sound, and start writing some bad reviews on web sites, which I have done only once before.

I frankly don't see how an average user could be satisfied with this card unless they are oblivious to its problems.

P.S. The card is installed in a Dell Dimension 8300 with plenty of resources, and I could find no info on your site that recommends a bios update as for some earlier Dell units. I have tried installing the card in two different slots in the computer. The card shares an IRQ with a USB Universal Host Controller. No other resources are shared.

No earphone internal connector !!
What's the use of a sound card that has no internal earphone jack? My case (Antec P-160 bought here in Amazon) has an earphone jack in the front panel and I need an internal earphone connector from the sound card to connect to the front panel of the case, but this card, despite all the fuss about it, has none. To be able to get one, you need to spend tens of dollars more to get the so-called hub, that I dont want because it makes the product more expensive and requires a 5 pol. slot from the case (besides, I already have the front panel from the case itself). It's an absurd, I don't want to have to make a hack from the connectors in the bracket just to get an earphone jack. I'm returning this product and I will stay away from Sound Blaster products for as long as I can. ... Read more

Features

• Music - Dramatically improve your digital music listening experience
• Movies - Enjoy amazing surround sound with headphones and 5.1 or 7.1 speakers
• Games - Hear sound effects so real, you'll feel like you're actually in the game
• Recordings - Create studio-quality, low-latency recordings with high-fidelity inputs

Features

• Superior Fidelity 24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio
• THX Certified Sound Card for Cinematic Audio
• Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio Playback
• Ultra-realistic EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD Effects
• Complete Cinematic Surround Sound with DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX Movies

Reviews (3)

Awesome value.... Can't beat the price and features...
I was going to pick up the regular Audigy 2 for about fifteen to twenty dollars less but when I looked at the bundle that came with this it was impossible to turn down.

I received the games (all full versions as indicated). The training tutorials on the game CDs are pretty good, which was a relief because as expected no manuals for the games.

Picked this up with a T7700 sound system and Far Cry (awesome game) if you have a very solid PC to run it... I am playing it at max settings with my new Geforce 6800 OC and the graphics are simply amazing.

By picking up the sound card, T7700 speakers and Far Cry I also get fifty later to spend on Doom 3 and a fifteen dollar rebate on the T7700 speakers...

Can't beat this deal and the whole package is a very solid deal for high quality sound...

good solid card though I did not get Jedi Academy
I have had little compatiblity problems with this card on games. Of course I have a top of the line computer from Falcon that is tweeked to perfection. On my other PC with the Audigy 2 I noticed that my 6.1 setting would revert to the primative 2.0 setting in some games, but that is no longer a problem with this card using the 6.1 speaker setting. I have not tried 7.1 yet as I am still raising funds for the Gigaworks speakers(aka robbing banks, bashing the heads of stupid rich people, steeling corperate info, ect.;).
This card does not come with Jedi Academy as the other reviewer said, however. I have been wanting that game and only wish it did! The only complaint I have with this card is that it does little to position sounds properly in some games. I cannot get the speech to come through the center speaker only other sounds but that is the game's fault I think. If you have EAX 3 on a game it will not position sound accurately, you must have an EAX 4 compatible game. Knights of the Old Republic does not position speech through the center channel for instance. My old card(Audigy 2) positioned sound perfectly.

Great deal! Great card!
This card includes 5 full version games (all prices are amazon.com prices as of 4/8/04)
1. Halo ($43.99)
2. Star Wars : Jedi Academy ($44.99)
3. Splinter Cell ($29.99)
4. Rainbow Six 3 : Ravenshield ($19.99)
5. Tomb Raider : Angel of Darkness ($19.99)

Just the games on amazon cost $158.95!! It also has built in firewire and 7.1 surround sound. Not bad for a card that costs 133.99! Excellent card all around! ... Read more

Product Description

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value Sound Card, PCI ... Read more

Features

• Internal PCI sound card for high-res PC/CD/DVD playback and recording: 24-bit, 192 kHz stereo playback, 24-bit/96 kHz recording
• Full EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD effects elevate your gaming experience to new heights; offers full support for Windows Media 9
• Supports DVD-Audio, Dolby Digital EX, and up to 7.1-channel surround sound; converts stereo sources to multichannel surround
• Offers analog and digital inputs and outputs
• Includes tons of software, including Creative's MediaSource Player with MP3/WMA ripping and a fresh, clean interface

Reviews (1)

Best cinematic surround, Great package
First i had creative SB live value sound card which is 4.1 i was really impressed with that product the sound quality and bundled softwares.
Recently, i upgraded my system then i purchase this card! Excellent product from creative this card support from 2.1 to 7.1 channels speaker systems and have ability to decode dolby digital signal for watching DVD movies one option i like most in card is audio cleanup believe it this will solve your many problems like pops sounds hiss either highor low the SB Audigy 2 can remove it This card has ulta reallistic sound quality . I suggest to use some speaker sets that works well in my thinking

1. Altec lansing MX5021 THX 2.1
2. Logitech Z-680 5.1
3. Creative gigaworks S750 7.1

I think that sound quality (not raw power i.e higher level of volume ) of all named systems are almost equal these three are top of the line of speakers system available which one system do you like u can play with SB Audigy 2 card for best sound environments around you. ... Read more

Features

• ? Entertainment Center and Remote - Easily Navigate through Movies, Music and Pictures with the Entertainment Center Software and IR Remote.
• ? Professional Quality DACs - Create Extremely Clean Recording with High Quality A/D Convertors and 10-Input Connectors on the External Hub
• ? Studio Quality Audigy¿4 Pro External I/O Hub - Studio quality I/O with analog stereo connectors for six channel input, optical and coaxial digital I/O, full-sized MIDI I/O, microphone with gain control
• ? EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD - Feel the Adrenaline Rush of Ultra-realistic EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD Effects in your Games
• 3rd party Games and Applications included

Features

• Superior 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio with easy USB connection
• Enjoy cinematic surround sound with 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems
• Experience concert quality audio with 24-bit DVD-Audio playback
• Improve CD and MP3 music with EAX Acoustic Enhancements
• Encounter audio realism with EAX ADVANCED HD game effects

Reviews (9)

good hardware, bad software
i bought this card because i have a dell laptop which has either a poor sound card, or its wiring is poorly shielded, resulting in noticable interference when listening. the audigy2 external sound card solves this problem--the sound is clear, crisp, and has no noticable interference. i have several issues with the software however. first off, once you'll install the software on your computer you'll have to download a plethora of software updates and fixes from creative's site. secondly, the software is poorly integrated with the hardware--on numerous occasions the software could not detect the sound card, and the 'diagnostic' utility that comes with it advises to reinstall the software, rather than fix the problem; geez, thanks. thirdly, often i had to manually shut-off my laptop because windows could not shutdown a background process--i never had this problem before installing this card. fourthly, sometimes the card is detected by the system, and sometimes it is not (this could be an issue with their hardware). overall, i have mixed feelings--sound is great, but it may be frustrating to get it.

Where is Coaxial In?
I recommended this product to my friend as an external decoder for DVD surround sound. As an upgrade from Extigy, this thing surprisingly doesn't have a coaxial in. So those who want to use it as a dolby surround sound decoder are pretty much stuck with DVD players that have toshlink out.
As for the sound quality ,it's actually not that bad for a creative product. Definitely a step up from average AC97 onboard soundcards. But I doubt how many people would want to spend over 100 for the difference.

Your ears will sing praise to you
First of all, you will hear the difference. I absolutely guarantee it. You're laptop (or default pc) audio cannot even begin to measure up to the awesome power of the Audigy. You will hear it the moment you plug this marvel into your USB port. Even your mundane and boring-to-the-death windows system sounds now carry a cadence that was simply not there before.

The sound card supports 7.1 speakers (for hardcore gamers) as well as the more pedestrian 5.1 setup (like mine). the handling of surround sound is superb. The availability of EAX (the patented SoundBlaster HARDWARE sound package) provides for seemless transitions, and the direct hardware equalizer and on the fly effects are a tremendous bonus if you are planning to use this second sound card's output for DJ-ing (like i am).

The fact that this has an independent power supply might seem inconvenient at first, and frankly... it is... There is a tradeoff, however... You will not believe how loud your speakers can actualy go now without distorting! Deafening. Almost like a pre-amp in that respect.

The negative reviews for this card startle me. Jeff Rutsch is incorrect when he says the USB cable is short. Its 4 feet. Too long for me, actually... furthermore, if you want a 20 foot cable, go out and buy it! No issues whatsoever with magnetic shielding... Its a SoundBlaster for heaven's sake! I have also not had any problems with the installation (even though it took a good hour!) or recognition. It does help if you "Safely Remove" it and/or plug it in before booting up... Otherwise the remote does not always work properly. Also, talking about CD sound, Jeff (even if he is a computer guru, as he claims) did not do his homework. By default your CD-ROM drive converts the digital audio into analog for playback. If you do not adjust this setting, that is the way it will stay after you install the new hardware. Come on Jeff! That was both in the help file and the tutorial program! You should have read those!

Woody Jin's comments also amuse me. There apparently is a white noise that you can't really hear, but its there. What??? :| If you can't hear it.. its not there by definition... Right?

As a matter of fact my experience has been that my onboard laptop audio sounds like a woodsaw compared to this.... Actually the Audigy2 does not produce *any* background noise. At all...

My only "problem" with this device is that it almost neccecitates a speaker upgrade... I am eagerly awaiting my new set of speakers right now, in order to better experience the explosive sound of the Audigy2 card...

Not worth the purchase
This product is a waste of money and I can't strongly enough recommend users away from it. First, the sound quality is just not very high. I barely noticed an improvement from using the computer's on-motherboard sound. This product slightly, but definitely noticeably, gives off a clipped & distorted sound, like a poorly encoded MP3. In addition, this product isn't well magnetically shielded, and must be placed as far as possible from any other part of your computer - not so easy when it's packaged with such a short USB cord.

Playing a CD through my computer and this soundcard, vs just playing the CD from a Discman, showed a night and day difference - the sound from this product can't compare. Running this product through recording software, even with short shielded wires, showed me a background hiss of -55 dB. Most consumer electonics will have S/N ratios a few orders of magnitude better than that. You wouldn't want to record your LP collection using this product, which is part of the reason I bought it.

In addition, the product is buggy. It worked fine at the beginning, and then as I added to my computer and changed the system configuration, it would act very erraticly. If I plugged the device into different USB ports, it would have completely different behaviors, none of which were correct. The installation software is buggy, I've been caught it loops where trying to exit merely re-starts the installer!

Creative's Support was very quick and attentive, but not helpful. I know computers well, and I've worked with plenty of hardware, but I've never experienced such a buggy product. As the product is so mediocre even when it is working, I can't recommend this product to anyone.

Bad analog recording, Background noise for digital music
I purchased this product mainly for recording my LP collection into digitial format using my laptop. I thought that this could be a good product for that purpose, until I used it. This product could not record properly from analog input. It's even much much worse than recording using laptop's analog input. Not only the recording level was so low, but also the recorded mp3 or wma had so much artificial noise that it was unusable. I used USB2 connection all the time. It seems to me that USB2 doesn't help any better.
Playing digital music was relatively OK, except that it produced slight background white noise. Still directly connecting from my laptop to the speaker produced much better result.
I wonder what the purpose of this device might be ?
Not recommended. ... Read more

Features

• High fidelity sound system improves music through Bass Boost and Noise Removal
• Proprietary Smart Volume Management matches volume across MP3 tracks
• Make MP3s and personalized audio CDs in one easy step
• CMSS 3-D delivers virtual surround on stereo speakers and headphones
• Compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 SP2, or XP

Reviews (11)

the Zen solution for better PC sound quality
My Dell PC has an integrated soundcard, which provided mediocre-at-best sound quality whenever I tried to listen to Internet radio stations through my compact stereo system. I researched a whole slew of internal sound cards but read too many complaints about software glitches/slowdowns which made me balk at forking out $80 and up for them.

This USB external card does what I need perfectly: at a very reasonable price, I now get CD-quality sound from online music radio stations (the corporate FM stations here in Houston are just too pathetic for words) and without ever having to install any additional software on my PC, so zero noticeable resource drain. Sure if I ever decide to do surround sound (unlikely in my already-cramped home office) or do some cross-medium recording (unlikely due to my lack of time) I may regret not buying a more expensive card---but in the meantime I'm VERY happy with this sleek little baby. Simplicity, functionality, and cost-effectiveness...I couldn't ask for more!

And yeah, the sleek silver casing and flashing blue light are pretty cool too.

BTW, some awesome Net stations with zero commercials, awesome playlists, and free too: di.fm (the classical and modern jazz channels), kexp.org, radioparadise.com

Better Notebook Sound
Although not as good, as the Creative Labs USB Sound Blaster Audigy2 External Sound Card, it gets the job done. My only problem is the lack of a SPDIF output for speaker systems. If you have a receiever that supports optical or even speakers it does transform a laptop into a stereo system. For the price I like it.

Very poor sound Quality
I bought this to add to my laptop to connect into my HiFi, The sound quality using the line-in was excuricatingly bad...

I'm returning it!

good for laptops/notebooks
I own a laptop computer which has decent onboard sound capabilities, but I recently discovered that it only has one audio input -- a microphone jack -- which is mono, and therefore is not suitable for recording stereo sources. Due to the fact that there is no way to install a "real" sound card in it, I needed an external solution. This USB sound system from Creative fits the bill. It didn't make a dramatic -- or even noticable -- difference in the quality of the audio coming out of my speakers; however, it did allow me to digitize my old cassette tapes and vinyl records, which is the main reason I bought it. If your computer can't accomodate a real sound card and its audio abilities aren't good enough for what you need, this might be the solution you're looking for.

I Use it to Record Voice for Presentations
I use this adapter to record presentations through our P.A. system right to my laptop. You can run any audio through the RCA and it compresses and records directly to MP3. It's a great way to burn presentations right to CD. I haven't tried to use it to beef up my computer sound system, but for $40 it was well worth being able to record voices in a small file size. ... Read more

Features

• Studio Quality Audigy2 ZS External I/O Hub
• Superior Fidelity 24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio
• THX Certified Sound Card for Cinematic Audio
• Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio Playback
• Ultra-realistic EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD Effects

Reviews (5)

Hmmm...
It is not up to the expectation of that I have thought about this hardware but i will watch over this slowly.

interference problems
This card looks very fine on paper en sounds also pretty good.
The only problem is that the card is nor working properly in my system.I have four western digital 740 sata disks in my system
this sound card picks up noise when i reading or writing to the disks this is very disturbing. I replaced the card with another
simpler card and everything works oke.

great system
the two reviews below criticising this card are written by the same person. if you look around this person has written one star reviews of almost all new creative lab products using the same language, eg: "for crying out loud I am a computer engineer."

this is one of the best card combo's on the markjet and professional reviewers say so. if the person below is learnign how to use a computer and installing their first card (and that is clearly the case from the "format" comments), they should take a breath and think about their own issues, not those of creative labs.

It's all true...
The guy before me is completely correct. I received this card and installed it in my board, tried to load the drivers but I kept getting the "Blue screen of death." By this time I was thinking it must be win2k(BTW, I did have SP2). I formatted my whole hard drive and put XP Pro on with all updates SP1 and all. I loaded the drivers and everything was going smoothly, it recognized the card and said it was working properly. So I go to test and it doesn't work, at all. So then I formatted again to get a fresh start and the same exact thing happened. I have the Soyo Dragon Platinum MB w/ P4 2.4 GHz. If you have the same chipset I do or close to it, look elsewhere. The customer support is terrible and they make it seem like you're the idiot and didn't install it right or anything. A complete waste of time, I'm sending this nightmare back and getting a Hercules digifire.

Reformat
Junk, absolute junk. Don't even try to complain to Creative. Talk about a bunch of losers. If you have a soundblaster already installed, you might as well reformat to get the new one to work. I am a computer engineer for crying out loud. The soundblaster uninstall does not work, and you can spend forever trying to track down all the files that need to be deleted so that your new card will install correctly, but you will never find them all.

EDIT: To electronicsfan, I searched Amazon for every creative product that I had personally installed on my computer or people that I work with, and I wrote a review based upon my experiences. I have no affiliation with Greg. Search for my reviews on Creative speakers to find more truths about Creative products. To be fair to creative, they finally squared me away on the speaker issue (1 year later). However, I stand by my word when I say that if you have an older soundblaster installed, you will have to reformat to get an Audigy to work properly, if at all. After the hassle, it is a fine card. ... Read more

Features

• CD-quality audio with a fast PCI connection
• Based on the award-winning SoundBlaster 16
• 128-voice MIDI music synthesizer
• Plug and play
• Backed by a three year warranty

Reviews (21)

Bathtub
Essentially, this is the entry-level, 16-bit audio Creative Labs sound card. It has a built-in mock '3D' stereo effect, a 128-voice MIDI wavetable, and it can sample at up to 48khz in 16-bit stereo, and that's about all there is to it. Whilst it doesn't do anything wrong in itself (it's plug-and-play, so if you're using Windows it should work out of the box), the Soundblaster Live isn't much more expensive, and offers environmental audio.

If you only dabble with music and don't play many new games it's a perfectly adequate solution, however.

An effective basic soundcard
I keep a lot of computer equipment at home, due to the fact that I am an A+ technician working to complete my MCSE (microsoft certified systems engineer) credentials. I bought a pre-owned computer from ebay last month in order to practice setting up computer networks at home. This particular computer is a business-class desktop, designed more for the office environment rather than the typical entertainment PC that we would normally have at home. I decided to add DVD capability to this system, in order to enjoy a movie at my work desk whenever the mood strikes me to take a break from work (which happens quite frequently). I added a Sony DVD player, this particular Soundblaster soundcard, and a pair of Cambridge Soundworks speakers. Within thirty minutes, I was watching The Lord of Rings.

Now, about the Soundblaster. This is a very good Soundcard for its intended purpose. Which is to provide basic sound functionality to a desktop computer. The sound quality is good enough to enjoy listening to stereo sounds from music CDs and DVDs. But please, do not expect this card to provide you with theatre-like surround sound quality. This is definitely the wrong price range if you need that kind of quality.

I compared the sound quality of this office system to my primary home system. My home system is a Dell Dimension 8200, with a Turtle Beach Soundcard and the Altec Lansing surround system. I switched the mode of operation of the Altec Lansings from surround to stereo for comparison purposes between the two systems. Subjectively, you can definitely tell the difference between the two.

I can recommend this Soundblaster to anyone who is simply looking to add stereo sound to his or her desktop computer. It is inexpensive and easy to install. It will require the use of one of your PCI slots. For your information, I installed this card on an IBM 300PL desktop PC. The system has a Pentium III processor and 128 MB of RAM. It is running an evaluation copy of Windows 2000 Advanced Server. The DVD player is a Sony DDU1621 and the Monitor is a KDS 17 inch flat screen CRT. If you are interested, I wrote reviews on the KDS monitor and the Sony DVD player, here at Amazon.

Drivers are unreliable
I installed this card in a new home built computer. When I got Windows XP installed the sound came on and sounded fine with the generic drivers provided by Windows XP. I then proceeded to install the drivers that came with the sound card. After installing the Creative drivers I discovered the sound on some of my games was distorted. I rolled back the drivers to the generic XP drivers and the sounds returned to normal. The only problem is I have no access to the advanced features in the audio control panel. I can adjust volume control but I have no way to adjust the treble or bass or other effects. If I reinstall the Creative drivers those functions return but then so does the distortion.

Be careful what is written on the box
I purchased the Creative Sound Blaster 16 PCI card to replace my built in sound engine. The installation was simple, typical of a pci card. The inclosed directions to install the card were ample to do the job. They sell these items at Walmart so I took a look at the box before coming back to Amazon and buying at a better price. It does say on the box this card is Windows XP compatible. It will work but the drivers on the installation disk are not Microsoft "signed" which means you must force the driver installation. Again, not a big thing, Windows XP took the drivers and the card worked fine. Typical of using any software or hardware in Windows XP, it is a good idea to go online immediately for an XP compatable/updated driver. That I did, found one from Creative's website; downloaded and installed it. Here is where you must be very careful. My very latest version of Windows XP/SP1 loaded this latest driver and then the sound system promptly shutdown. No sound at all came from the speakers. I rebooted a couple of times thinking the reset would correct the problem. It didn't nor did XP indicate a problem with the hardware or driver in the system/hardware file. Fortunately XP allowed me to go back to the earlier driver and the sound was back on. So if you have Windows XP and this card, be sure not to destroy the installation cd because Creative's new driver does not work on XP, at least not on mine.

The sound from the card is just fine. I don't really see much of a difference between this card and my original onboard AC97 engine but I spent the money so I'll keep it. Maybe a new set of speaks will help.

Terrible performance! No way to uninstall!
Even though this is a very low end card, I expected performance at least on par with the integrated sound. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that the sound stuttered badly, especially in games and during playback with Windows Media Player. I wasn't upset, however, until I tried to uninstall the drivers (for the purpose of installing my higher end sound card), when I discovered that all uninstall efforts crashed my computer. I have tried to uninstall several different ways (with the help of 2 different Creative technical support folks and the Creative knowledge base), and the drivers are STILL installed! Needless to say, if I ever get these drivers off, I will be purchasing a sound card from a different manufacturer. ... Read more

Features

• Experience real-time digital audio & effects with head-turning 3-D positional audio from the EMU10K1 Digital Signal Processor
• Create CD quality MP3 or WMA files with a 320Kbps encoder & up to 9x encoding acceleration
• Surround yourself with theater-like Dolby Digital 5.1 audio in movies
• Easily connect to Cambridge SoundWorks DTT3500, DTT2200 and other Dolby Digital-ready 5.1 home theater systems
• Compatible with Windows 95/98/98SE/NT/2000/ME

Reviews (14)

Review HomeStudio 2002
Sytem: Dell 4500, 1.8 GHz cpu, 256 M ram, 40G hard, windows xp.
Use: musical creation using voice, guitar, bass, and midi keyboard.
Unless u are experienced with this stuff (I am a newby) read the book 'getting started' and do the tutorials. right from tuturiol 1, could not get midi output setup using a dell 4500 with analog device soundmax integrated digital audio card. after reading manuals and faq on and off line got no answer. long wait to get tech support on phone. once there he stepped me thru quickly (it starts with options-audio-advanced-check mme) .found tutorials are good, but need more subjects covered, such as how to use the drum machine, etc. in covering subjects, had questions and emailed for tech support and after couple days, per inquiry, got good support for answers.
Wanted midi input which soundmax integrated card could not do, so upgraded to soundblaster live 5.1. somewhere along the way audio files were corrupted, evidenced by delays and then sort of echo pulses on the audio tracks. it took another call to tech support to have him talk me thru the fix. I think I have the bugs worked out now.
Recording capabilities of software are phenomenal when compared to the analog tape tascam porta 05 studio which has been only other recording experience. The speed of actually getting recordable material is a quantum leap above the tascam. Abilities to patch in a wide range of instruments, sounds and sound effects from a midi keyboard are a stand alone piece of equipment in themselves. Precision editing capabilities are superb.
Give it 5 for capabilities and 3 for tech backup for overall of 4. Highly recommended and as I see it, the best bang for the buck for someone like me who wants to record his own music, but be prepared for some startup pains.

Grat all-around card
I got this card to go with my Creative 5.1 speaker system (5200). This card is great! I can hear no crackles or extra noise. If you are going to use yours with DVD's than this is the card for you. It takes you right into the action especialy with movies that are 5.1 compatible. Games sound great. I especily like playing around with the included software. It comes with Creative play center but you don't have to use it (I use WMP). The only thing i don't like about the SB Live! 5.1 is I can't get the center channal to work, mabey i just don't have it set-up right.

If you have the $ You should upgrade to the Audigy series. but the SB is still good all-around.

Okay with Intel but you can do better
The SBLive works fine on my P4. Do get the latest drivers from the and don't use those on the CD. Things never worked out on the AMD machine, I finally went to a Turtle Beach card there, and it was very straightforward. Creative's tech support was not friendly, unhelpful ("Windows is corrupted, you need to reinstall your OS"). Okay if you don't have anything to do for two weekends (one waiting for tech support to respond (for want of a better word) to your question and another to reinstall the OS. Formatting and reinstalling does fix issues but life really shouldn't be this hard. The product *is* adequate if not stellar but tech support is unavailable, unfriendly, and unhelpful.

Problems with motherboards with VIA chipset
It seems that this is a real problem. This card doesn't work with most VIA chipsets (that means AMD processors). My computer freeze often and only the reset button is available :).
I tryed all the drivers found on Internet. The results are negative. So, there is anybody who wants to buy a lazy soundblaster? I think this is the worst soundblaster I had.

This card sucks
Don't waste your money, this card sucks no matter what angle you look at it from. My major problem was...well lets see it's probably the fact that after a week of usage i baught a new mother board cause my other one was broken. And low and behold with my luck I transfer the sound card and i start up the computer install windows and it don't work. It tells me it's not there even though it is, i've tried it in all my PCI slots and even in some other computers and it's just broken. So i turned to the tech support and they didn't help one bit, they gave me stupid reasons and obvious things that I already did and checked. It's like they know absoloutly nothing about computers over there. They tell me to change slots and make sure it's plugged in all the way, things any computer user would check and do first. I mean tech support is supposed to help you with things that are really messed up, not give you easy answers anyone would have tried right away. So in conclusion I say this card is poor quality and the sound ain't that great in the first place, SAVE YOUR MONEY! ... Read more

Features

• High Fidelity Sound
• Quality Noise Cancellation Headphones
• USB Powered and Portable
• Easy Connection to Notebook or PC
• Premium Stereo System on the Road or at Home

Amazon.com Product Description

The Sound Blaster PCI 512 is an entry-level Environmental Audio solution for gaming and multimedia applications. Delivering accurate 3-D positional sound for two, four, or FourPointSurround speaker systems, the PCI 512 re-creates multidimensional environments for realistic gaming experiences. With onboard hardware acceleration and hardware support for Environmental Audio (EAX), the PCI 512 features the patented EMU10K1 audio and effects processor. With 32-bit, 48 kHz digital signal processing and patented eight-point interpolation, the EMU10K1 produces clear and precise audio fidelity.

The Sound Blaster PCI 512 comes with a one-year limited hardware parts-and-labor warranty. ... Read more

Features

• Environmental Audio support
• Sound Blaster PCI compatibility
• Plug and play
• Hardware acceleration
• 3-D audio in real time

Reviews (5)

sound blaster pci 512
This is the best card for your money the pci 512 is a real sound blaster not like what the guy said below there. I a beta and benchmark tester for games ive tested lots of games bottom line the 512 works real good with most and all most all games. I have tested games with diff sound gards sb live 5.1,pci 512,pci 128.between the sb live and pci 512 the is not much difference just in looks. so i highly reccomed this card but if you can put in just 10 buck get the sb live 5.1

Quality sound card., great tech support.
I have to say, the comment about tech support would ordinarily imply that something "happened" that required my calling them. Rest assured, it didn't. My archaic computer (Compaq PResario 5070) has its sound card built into the motherboard, and I was told by the store guys that since i couldn't pull it out I would need to go into the BIOS and reconfigure them and disable the original drivers and such in order for the Sound Blaster to work. Well, not knowing anything about my computers BIOS, I called tech support and they were very friendly and helpful. The card is working great, and has all these cool 1/8 inch input jacks that I never had before on my old soundcard. Line in, Mic, front speakers, rear speakers... I don't do any gaming, I mostly got it for home audio recording, and as you can see from the actual hardware, it's been really helpful. Great product.

soundblaster that isn't
I have had this card for too long. I bought it when I upgraded to a Pentium 3 (that processor does not like ISA cards). I had upgraded from the AWE64 which was an awesome card in its time.
This PCI512, it is not a Soundblaster chip. Its made by a company Soundblaster bailed out of trouble or something. Anyway it does not share 100% compatibility with soundblaster drivers. If you can afford a new sound card, you can afford to pass this one up. It doesn't work very well in all situations. If you are like me, you buy Soundblaster because they set the standards for compatibility. Atleast before you buy this card go to the soundblaster website and look for yourself what support you cannot get for it. I found very, very little. In fact, it had to be from another source that I found out that my gaming problems was because the PCI512 is not a Soundblaster chip. Soundblaster never comes out and says publicly that you are not buying an original SB design.
Bottom line? This card almost works. Probably that is why SB felt safe to market it under their own name.
I rate it one star because for the money you can do ALOT better. All of the SB PCI series are like this from what I am told.

Good alternative to more expensive cards
I chose the Sound Blaster PCI 512 sound card for use with a low power, 5 speaker surround sound system (Cambridge/Creative Labs.) I mainly use this card for gaming and listening to music.

The card has separate front/rear channel plugs for surround sound speakers, a microphone plug, and comes bundled with a decent amount of software. The control software contains controls for "Environmental Audio", which applies different affects to audio output. The most entertaining component of the bundled software has to be the keyboard, which lets you play with a few hundred different instruments and effects- very fun if you don't have a real keyboard to play with.

I have not noticed any flaws in this sound card's performance, and I have not encountered any bugs in the drivers or control software.

This is a great card for anyone looking for a simple, affordable option for gaming and music. Without a high-quality speaker system, you will probably not notice the difference between this sound card and more expensive ones such as the Sound Blaster Live!

Very good card
This is a very nice card, espically for games n' such, nice upgrade from my old SB16 card. And since it's from Creative you know it works. Overall a great card and I recomend it. ... Read more

Product Description

Creative Labs (70SB053000012) PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (clamshell). Sound Blaster ... Read more

Features

• Fits PCMCIA PC-Card Notebook Expansion Slot
• Connectors - Headphone/Optical Out jack / Microphone In/Line In/Optical In jack / ? Multichannel Speaker Cable Jack for Line Out for 5.1 surround

Features

• Uses Creative's Audigy chip
• EAX Advanced HD offers 3-D audio performance
• Built-in Dolby Digital decoder for true 5.1 multi-channel playback
• External Audigy Drive offers accessible connectors
• Includes wireless remote control

Reviews (5)

open purchased computer hardware at the store or immediately
I did a great amount of research on sound and video cards, be-
fore I purchased this product at compUSA. I did not immediately
open it, as it was factory sealed, and I did not intend to install it for a while, because I was going to use it with the
computer I was building. Imagine my surprise whe I did open it
and discovered that the "external drive" advertised on the box
was missing. CompUSA refuses to issue a refund or exchange, and
I have contacted creative labs to see if I can get the drive,
but they have not responded as yet. Will contact them by phone next. I plan on posting my results with creative labs by the end
of July.

Music Creators Rejoice
With the newest audio processor since the days of the Live, Creative has once again outdone itself. With all the power of professional souind boards at hundreds of dollars less. There is no background fuzz while recording from a MIDI input (unlike SBLive!), and the ability to record dual tracks simultaneously makes this board the music creators paradise.

It also sounds remarkable. I hooked up my DVD player, XBox, and even a simple portable discman to the external drive and enjoyed the quality of sound. The DTS decoder works well too. I noticed no distortion after hooking up my Klipsch Pro-Media 5.1 (6 piece) surround speaker set, despite the sound information running from my DVD player to PC, then from PC to Speaker system.

Gaming sound effects are awesome as well. Previous games like McGee's Alice and Deus Ex being high up on the list of games that sound totally awesome. Unfortunately there aren't many games that can fully utilize the new EAX HD capabilities, but the standard regime of FPS games sound great.

This card is by far the best thing to happen to sound cards since the first release of SBLive! Great for making your PC the new household hub for entertainment centers.

It works fine if you use your noodle
Yes, the card doesn't work with XP when you install it. It's not brain surgery; In fact, it's rather easy, and you will be up and running in no time. Also the second card isn't supposed to fit into the PCI slot the same way the other cards there do since it does not have a PCI connector! Unlike the main card it does not actually go in the PCI slot.

Great Card but many bugs!
I bought this card in November because I recently purchased the Klipsch Promedia 5.1 speaker system. At first I was kind of intimidated with all the cables and connections for this card, but after reading the instruction's manual it was pretty straight foward. I was also confused about the PCI connection for this card since it has three slots instead of two, like a typical PCI card, but it fits fine. When the card was perfectly setup inside my PC I proceeded to install the software and drivers provided on a Cd-Rom by Creative. I installed the full version with all the add-ons provided. Then I proceeded to download the Windows XP drivers from the Soundblaster's website. When I was all done I decided to try my speakers with this top of the line card, but my PC froze every time after just a few seconds I started playing a track. Afters many hours of rebooting and brainstorming this problem, I arrived to the conclusion that it was the Creative Playcenter that wasn't holding up on Windows XP. So a word to the wise those who have XP do not install Creative Playcenter or you will suffer the consequences.

Besides this problem, the card works perfectly. The external drive fulfills every music lovers delight. Wether its karaoke or hooking up your TV to your card, it is make this card worthy of its price. My pleasure was hooking up my Playstation 2 with a Toslink fiber optic cable to my pc speakers. Fiber Optics is the way to go, its the neatest sound you will ever experience. The only problem is that my center speaker is not working during DVD play with my PS2, thus the 5.1 experience is ruined. In conclusion, the audigy platinum Ex card is simply for hardcore musicians that use their PC's has home studios or just hi-tech lovers that simply want the best.

Very Pleased
It wasn't extremely easy to install -- there is a daughter card that doesn't properly seat in the PCI slot, and several internal ribbons that don't work too well in my case. But well worth the hassle! I love the external "drive," which makes access to many ports & controls easy. Hooks up to a wide variety of peripherals, speakers, etc. Great sound, especially with digital speakers. Well worth the money. Let's hope that Creative does a better job than it has over the last few years fo keeping up with the drivers -- "liveware" never lived up to its promise. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

excellent sound card
The Audigy card produces excellent sound, if at a fair additional cost over the Live! series. This card has been gone over well under Audigy Gamer in terms of its gaming capabilities, (the Gamer and the MP3+ are virtually identical cards with differing software packages) so I'll talk more about the MP3+ here and its music software... While I haven't had much experience with EAX games, some of the ambience effects (called "Environment" effects in the Surround Mixer, including concert hall, theater, etc.) when used with music are actually realistic and useable in certain situations (unlike many of the ambience effects included on your average stereo minisystem..). More often, though, you'll use the Advanced EQ effects (Rock, Techno, Classical, etc.), not the Environment effects, for listening to music. In general, I've found these to be appropriate for the genres they describe and better than some equalizer presets given with other software; I've disabled the Windows Media Player equalizer and use the Creative one instead. I believe the mixer with all the effects is the same on the Gamer and the MP3+.

While I don't have a whole lot of experience with different mixing software, Mixmeister is excellent and useful, while Mixman seems to me more like a toy. Mixmeister is great for mixing party music-- you can make the transitions sound surprisingly professional. Put two songs next to each other, turn on beat mixing, perhaps fine tune its automatic settings somewhat (very easy), and have the computer slightly speed or slow the two songs so that by the time they overlap their beats are synchronized, so people don't need to adjust while dancing. You can also use it to speed or slow whole songs-- add a little more energy to a song by speeding it up a few beats per minute. The Audigy chip on the card handles this, I believe; at any rate, I've noticed no slowdown on my computer with any dynamic tempo shifting.

Mixman allows you to remix music yourself, techno style, and record your work as MP3, but in my opinion it comes with too few tracks and effects to really be useful, and it seems to me you may only be able to do 20 MP3 exports; I haven't checked with Creative Labs to see if there is something you can do to lift this limit, but frankly I haven't once thought it worth my time to do so, either.

I don't know if the rest of the player software that comes with the Audigy MP3+ also comes with the Audigy Gamer, but in general, it's hit or miss. Creative PlayCenter is harder to use and less attractive than Windows Media Player or RealJukebox; Oozic player is even harder to use, and while 3-D visualizations are far cooler than anything WMP or Winamp can do, I wouldn't switch for them, and they need a pretty fast video card to play without having skips in the video. IMRadio is by far the best internet radio app I've seen, but it is also a free download from the internet.

To comment on the sound quality of the actual card: Very impressive. When hooked to a Klipsch Provision 4.1 audio system, even at the highest levels, there was a very slight hissing, but that was all (and with a Klipsch 4.1, if any sound signal ever did play with the system on max, expect your ears to fall off in protest). The sound card will also play without skipping regardless of how much you run on the system-- at least, i've never run into a problem, which i used to do with my old Montego II OEM version.

Overall, extremely high-quality card, and a worthwhile upgrade. I've been critical of the software, but you're getting the card for the card's sake. The Audigy card is one of the best, and both versions come with an excellent mixer app. When deciding which to get, Gamer or MP3+, if you like the games that come with it, get a gamer. If you want to change song speeds (more fun than it sounds), get an MP3+. If neither, flip a coin.

Not as good as I thought it would be
I bought this card to replace my SB live card (which I loved), which suffered a premature death. The 5.1 is really cool, if you can use it, but I don't have a DVD player and the only AC3 songs I could find were the 2 on the install disk. Maybe the firewire port will come in handy, but for now, I don't need it either.

So in that respect, I don't find this any better than the SB live card, which seemed to have a better mixer. I have maxed out all my inputs (being a musician) so I need the TAD input, but this in not on the mixer. And a can't pan or EAX analog inputs separately.

Other than that it sounds great and I did not have any installation problems with WIN98SE. I wish they would "crowbar" the output when the computer is turned off; the floating inputs to the speaker pick up 60HZ hum and take a long time to turn themselves off.

I won't comment on the included software, I see this has already been done.

Just AWSOME!
This card rocks 100%!

As compared with high end graphics cards that can now be OVER 500$US, a high quality sound card is only like 79$ now. The best bang for your buck!

Although they created the audigy 2, which is still very cheap, and offers a "few" more features, sound quality is basically the same. So, if you have no need for the THX certified or the 6.1 surround sound, the audigy card will be right for you!

First off, the software is a waste.... there is no need for it. I currently have nothing BUT the driver installed in my computer. If you have to choose between the audigy gamer and mp3, just get what ever is cheaper. Also, if you can find a place that sells the OEM version, thats your best bet, because it will no doubt be cheaper.

As for installing it, flawlessly. Being very computer savey, i had no trouble what so ever. Drivers work fine.
Note: there are some reviews that say they needed to go and edit the BIOS and that the software makes their computer very slow. I have a 3 year old dell with windows XP pro, and have had no problems.

24 bit sound quality RUELS! These produce awosme sound quality even with programs like winamp. I have been listening to my computer now with the audigy sound card using Sennheiser HD590 headphones for over a year. If you demand high quality sound from your computer, this card delivers!

Hope this helps!

Doesn't last long
I bought this card in May 2002. My operating system is Windows 2000, and I had no problem installing it. However, after using it for 3 weeks, the card died. There was no sound. At first, I thought it was due to corrupted driver, so I tried to reinstall the driver, but the setup software kept saying "No audigy sound card is detected". I've tried downloading new drivers, swapping PCI slots, but nothing worked. At the end, I contacted Creative Support via email. Although I told them that I have already tried swapping slots and downloading latest drivers, the sluggish customer service asked me in their reply to "try downloading latest drivers and swapping PCI slots". These guys never bother to read what you wrote in your email. Anyway, after corresponding with them for over one month (they typically take more than a week to reply each email, using a one-line response), finally one agent told me I had a defective sound card, and authorized an exchange.

Upon receiving the replacement card, everything worked fine. Installation was as easy as the very first time I'd installed it. But yesterday (March 09, 2003), my card died again. Exactly the same problem. The setup program cannot detect the card. It's still under warranty so I will ask for another exchange.

This card has really disappointed me. My previous Creative products all worked very well, but now I must say that the Audigy is really bad in its design. Avoid buying this card by all means.

On drivers, XP, and other such nonsense
I have had an audigy Platinum EX since right after it came out (it's the same, except for the break-out box), and I agree, the software is horrible. In fact, I threw away the CD's that came with it. The latest downloadable drivers, however, work perfectly on XP pro (and presumably home as well) and aren't bloated at all.

I would recommend this card to anyone who is looking for a high-performance sound card. If you just want something that you can pop in and forget, and you don't care about accurate 3D positioning, or other such bells and whistles, I would suggest something more stable, and cheaper, like the soundblaster Live! value. Or, if you really want to skimp, many new motherboards actually have very good 3D sound onboard. Onboard sound really has a bad rap; but it's come a long way recently, and is actually quite decent for everyday use. ... Read more

Features

• Utilizes Creative Lab's Audigy chip
• EAX Advanced HD offers 3D audio performance
• Built-in Dolby Digital decoder for true 5.1 multi-channel playback
• Full bandwidth and 96 DMA channels
• Includes wireless remote control and front panel Internal Audigy Drive with accessible connectors

Reviews (24)

creative does it again
i must say that i am very impressed with the amount of quality and features that creative put in this sound card. first of all it's powered by an e-mu chip, which is used in many high-end audio workstations and digital processor units. it also has the ability to output the digital output signal at 24 bit/96 kHz which dramatically improves the sound quality (compared to a cd's 16bit/44.1 kHz sound quality) the audigy drive is another helpful feature which allows easy access to spdif digital in and out, optical in and out, headphones out, mic in, analog in, 2 midi ports, firewire, and the infrared receiver for the remote. speaking of the remote it is one of the nicest features included with the audigy platinum. with it you can easily play any song in your mp3 collection (or wav,etc.) with the receiver. while many people claim that the processor is the same as the one in the sb live series its not. this processor has well over twice the power of the sb live series chips. while the included software with the sb audigy platinum wasn't that great the features and quality of the card easily make up for the high price. also i don't know what these people are complaining about it not working in win 2k or xp. i have had no problem with it in either of these os. sure there is a little tweaking to do in BIOS but it's easy enough (mostly disabling your motherboards built in sound card if it has one). so for anyone looking for a new sound card look no further than creative's sound blaster audigy series.

Creative Labs has yet to fix their driver problems....
Most of the published reviews for the Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum are bunk. Having chatted with numerous end users and techs since initial purchase, my findings have proven common place. Creative Lab's failure to address documented problems dating back to the AWE64 is reprehensible.

Strengths:
Easy installation, front access controls are very nice (especially the addition of a firewire port), sounds are rich, remote control is cute. The command bar up top can be hidden.

Weaknesses:

The card may cause some games to crash resulting in a hardlock.

Summary:
This card replaced an aging PCI 128 Creative Labs. Installation was very simple. The Audigy only takes up an additional slot if your case does not sport a joystick mount.

I first installed the card into my main 1.8GHz P4 Win98SE gaming computer residing in a 19" rack; but sacrificing one of the few external drive slots became a problem as well as crashes and intrusive noises (pops, chirps, etc.). The card was moved to an AMD 600MHz Win2kPro IBM Aptiva tower.

Would I purchase another? If/When Creative Labs updates the drivers to address some game crashing and bothersome noises, possibly; however I am now strongly considering Turtle Beach.

Creative Does It Again!
At first i was sorry that the old SoundBlaster Live! line of products was being phased out as I had become so very fond of them. But now that I have bought Audigy Platinum, I realize that Creative has just continued to improve their reputation with this exceptional product. There is NO problem when installing the card and Audigy drive even with Windows XP (I do advise downloading the latest drivers from creative's website to have them on hand for use after the hardware is installed. I have also installed this with Windows Me; no problems, just beautiful sound. It's nice to not need my external Dolby 5.1 decoder that also controlls my digital Cambridge Soundworks speakers, except unless I want to decode a movie from a set top DVD player.

I heartily suggest that anyone wondering whether or not this card is worth it to just go ahead and buy it! But you DO need a quality speaker system as well.

Thanks again, creative Technologies!

Great Card at a Great Price
I am running XP and had a SB Live card. The card has been great for about 2-3 years but I wanted something more. Even though some of the reviews I have read for this crad talked about install problems. I still got the Audigy Platinum card. All I can say is I had not one problem installing the card. It runs like a dream. I just got all the latest software from creative's site instead of using the install CD. The card is running strong and I am very happy with it.

One Of The Best Consumer Audio Cards on The Market
Want truly superior gaming, audio playback, and recording sound? Do you record audio to you computer? Do you play video games? This card will rock your world with it's hardware sound effects and multiple level EAX environments that create a virtual world only the Audigy Platinum 2 can beat. With Dolby DTS and 5.1 codec, and multiple audio inputs and outputs with the live drive, you won't ever buy another brand! Turn your computer into a complete recording studio in minutes! Want to sound like you are recording live? choose from different accoustical environments to suit your sound. The hardware is quiet and packs 100 db s/n (signal to noise) ratio and 24 bit encoding and up to 96 kHz sampling (better than CD). With awesome technology like this, you can become a pro DJ, Track Master, or warp to the world of your video game with one great card. Now all you'll need is a bigger hard drive to store all of your music and games on! ... Read more

Features

• Utilizes Creative's Audigy chip
• EAX Advanced HD offers 3D audio performance
• Built-in Dolby Digital decoder for true 5.1 multi-channel playback
• 24-bit multi-channel performance and 100db SNR for high-definition audio
• Bundled with Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Deus Ex

Reviews (25)

Pretty sweet! No Linux support though...
The Audigy X-gamer is an awesome card. I've had mine for over a year now and it is still pushing out my movies, music and games with impressive power!

Still, as I tend to run Linux (as I'm studying for multiple Linux certifications), I like being to listen to music. Linux' base for sound-card drivers is so far behind it's sad. If you're planning on running this card on a Linux system, you better be familiar with compiling your kernel, and making sure you have the latest driver downloaded (which is NOT provided by Creative).

With the Audigy card, if you pick and choose what you want to install at the start (Usuaully, I skip things like the IMtuner, oozic player, and Demo package as it really just takes up space for me...) it doesn't take as long as it would otherwise. Also, you'll run into less problems.

The install for me took about 15 minutes (Creative Labs Jukebox and the drivers), including the restart.

Excellent New Sound Card
My motherboard has problems with many sound cards. I was expecting to have problems with this card too; but luckily, I was wrong. I popped it in and WindowsXP automatically found and installed drivers for it just fine. I decided to 'stress test' it by playing an MP3, RA file, MPEG, virus scan, and a few other programs at the same time. I've had some cards that would hiss and skip if there was any stress on the system. Amazingly, this card played everything beautifully.

As you may know, Phillips new sound card allows for adding different effects to sound. I.e. you can have everything sound like it's coming from underwater. The Audigy allows for the same type of effects. The Audigy doesn't have as many effects as the Phillips card, but the effects are more useful. You can turn male voices to female voices, change the pitch of the sounds, make it sound like an alien is speaking, etc.

The sound processor is four times faster than the Live! line. In addition, this card comes with a 1394 (firewire) connector, so you can plug in digital cameras, or network two PCs together through it. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds cool. I just have to talk my friends into buying this card ;-)

I doubt there will be any games that support this card's new effects for several months. So if you already have a Vortex, Live!, or other good card, there is no reason to run and buy this. If (like me) you need a card right now, or you're still using a 16-bit card, there is no reason not to get this. Low memory systems might not be able to use all of the programs the card comes with. Many of the want to run all the time and are real memory hogs.

All in all, an excellent card.

Audigy Gamer
Audigy Gamer is a good sound card. It works very well with XP windows. I have a hp computer with XP windows. I put the card in my computer and then loaded the drivers and restared my computer and it worked great. The card came with 2 games they are ok but you have to use a mouse for them I wish you could use a joy stick it would be a lot more fun. Both games work ok on my computer. If you have only 2 speakers you should get the 5 to 1 speaker set. It would work alot better for you.

Not Worth the Trouble
I have purchased a lot of electronics in the past, often with minor quirks I had to work through, but the level of problems with this product is absurd. I read all of the Amazon reviews plus reviews from other websites, and I thought I could overcome the problems. That was then, this is now.

I purchased the card not over a week ago and installed it in my machine. I am on the verge of upgrading my CPU along with my software, so I purchased this card to work both in my old 400 MHz Pent. II machine running on Win98(first edition) and to work on a new XP system I'll get in the near future. The box, description, and tech support people ALL clearly assert that the software and the card work with Win98 first edition. THEY DO NOT.

DO NOT BUY THIS CARD IF YOU STILL OPERATE ON WIN98 FIRST EDITION.

Here is why: When attempting to load the software, the autoload program will give you an error telling you to upgrade your system. Dumb, huh? Yup, in a leap before you look move, Creative has started shipping retail versions of this product, each clearly stating they work with WIN98 First edition, with CD's that don't contain the proper software.

But that's not all.

After calling tech support, I was told to "explore" the CD and install each program