Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (standard, internal) - Great sound.
Written: Aug 17 '03 (Updated Oct 22 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Awesome sound, fantastic low noise.
6.1 channel output. Creative Labs name.
Cons: Small input/output jacks
The Bottom Line: I'd say it's a great sound card all in all. Good for high-end computer user or music/sound enthusiast. Great value for the quality with 6.1 channel sound.
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| dominiko's Full Review: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card |
I bought this card for my new computer 3 months ago. I put it together myself out of chosen parts and the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 was one of them. I am a closet musician (fretted strings - mainly electric/acoustic guitar and bass, mandolin) who likes to record music. I also have a huge MP3 collection and so much of my music listening is done via the computer in the lounge room. There is a lot of music effects/recording/editing software available on the net at the moment. My old Yamaha 4-track tape deck that I used to use for recording was starting to look old and outdated. To be able to record and listen at the same time, the sound card needed to be full duplex (2-way). I decided it was time to try out what the computer could do for recording and improved (lounge room quality) sound quality for listening too. After researching quite well I decided on the Audigy II internal because it fitted all my requirements for recording, quality and budget.
As far as the output sound quality goes - its flawless. If you want a sound card that does a really clear 6.1 channel output this is it. I'm currently only using 5.1 speakers (no rear centre channel) but this works fine on the system. No reason to believe the extra speaker will sound anything but better. I'm thinking of getting rid of the other stereo unit in my lounge room now - if it weren't for the tape deck in it that I barely use, I would. My PC with this sound card sounds heaps better - even through the same stereo speakers! The signal response and clarity is really good - I'm hearing subtle little things in music that I hadn't heard through my old systems.
The original Sound Blaster Audigy boasted a 100DB (decibels - a noise RATIO) clarity. This is the kind of noise ratio that high end stereo systems have. This was deemed doubtful by users and reviewers that I had researched a while ago when the Audigy 1 was still hot news. The reviews and opinions later said that the Audigy II absolutely lives up to its claims of 106DB rating. This doesn't sound that much better but actually it is supposed to mean that it is 6 times less noisy than the Audigy 1.
Now that I'm using it, I can see it must be true. I can crank my 600-Watt speaker system all the way to maximum and I can't hear a single thing. Not a buzz, a hum, or a hiss. In fact I often scare myself silly sometimes after I've been listening to something really loud and then forget about it, only to click on something later and have it go DING! at me with volume at 10. The "old-way" of thinking was that if you wanted that kind of low noise from your computer sound card then you'd have remove it from the system completely - move the sound hardware away from all the interference of power cables and other cards/devices inside your computer. Hence the "external" Audigy models. Somehow though, Creative Labs have overcome this problem very well with the Audigy II internal.
For recording it has been fantastic. I have achieved great quality with the 96Khz recording quality. Far better than the old 4-track ever did. I've been having a lot of fun with it. I am wishing I'd just coughed up the extra cash for the Platinum, then I could just plug the guitar straight into the panel! If you can afford the Platinum model and would like the extra panel - I think it would definitely be worth it. Currently I need to make do with a "big-to-small" jack to convert my guitar lead or effects output to the computer which works OK - it's just a hassle.
That being said, there are input and output jacks for everything I need (and more) only they're the small headphone style jacks.
One strange thing though, when I view MPG movies (but not DVD's - they're fine) on my computer I get a crackling noise just at the start of the movie sometimes. I don't know why this is although I haven't tried very hard to fix it yet. It could just be the mpg video software or my hardware setup. Other than that, no unwanted noise at all.
This card is heaps better than any inbuilt (on motherboard) sound I've ever heard. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to upgrade they're current sound card or inbuilt sound with a low noise and high quality sound card. Most PC users won't need sound quality this good but if you've read this far, you're obviously still interested.
UPDATE: MPG/DVD crackle fixed with new Media Player and DVD software install. This was not a problem with the sound card at all.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 130
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Epinions.com ID:
dominiko
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Mild mannered software programmer by day, lounge-room guitarist and web surfer and by night.
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