Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy Review :: Features

The chip on the Live! product is the EMU 10K1. The Audigy uses the latest chip, the EMU 10K2. The question is: Why should you change from the Live! card to the new Audigy?

Feature Comparison	Live!	Audigy
Synthesizer Chip	EMU 10K1	EMU 10K2
Max. Playback Depth	16-bit	24-bit
Max. Playback Rate	48 KHz	96kHz
Effects Engine	N/A	32-bit
Signal-to-Noise Ratio	>96 dB	100dB
24-bit DAC (Digital to Analog Converter)	N/A	Yes
24-bit ADC (Analog to Digital Converter)	N/A	Yes
Firewire Support	N/A	Yes
ASIO Support	N/A	Yes

We can quickly see the main differences in the above table.

• Now it can process 32 bits, which means it can handle several sound sources with many effects at the same time. This dramatically improves 3D Engine for multi-environment and sound positioning.
• New ADC/DAC Converter make its possible to create 24 bits at 48 kHz in real time.
• New games programmed for the Audigy card can take advantage of the sound positioning and filter effects for a more realistic and immersive game experience.
• Less clicks and noise, less stress.
• Firewire port. Known as IEEE1394 or i.LINK as Sony calls it. You can even connect two PC's with the new utility called Firenet 2.0.
• ASIO Support. They finally decided to ship ASIO drivers as a standard component. ASIO drivers are necessary drivers to use it with professional sound software like Cubase. Low Latency (2ms) ASIO drivers are for professional multi-track recording. For Live! Cards we know that there is a hack (http://w1.910.telia.com/~u91003452/live/) for ASIO support but we cannot guarantee the stability. May be you cannot even find it there by the time you are reading this.

It really looks like Creative competitors must think again. Nvidia and other manufacturers are coming up with new products.

EAX ADVANCED HD AND GAMES

This is third generation of EAX. The improvements are about environments, barriers and the nature of these barriers. For example, the same noise sounds different not only depending on the nature of the room you are in but is also affected by the location it originated in and the areas it must pass through before it reaches your ear.

Hearing a monster walking down a stone corridor sounds different if you are in the same corridor or if you are in a room off the corridor, or different again if you are outside the cave the monster is walking in. Creating a sound for these kinds of environments is like rendering a textured shiny surface with lighting and anti-aliasing. This Audio Processor is for these kinds of situations. We played Deus Ex included our package and it was amazing.

CREATIVE PACKAGES

Creative offers three different packages to choose from depending on your needs. For Audiophiles: Audigy Mp3+, for gamers: Audigy X-Gamer, and for musicians: Audigy Platinum and Platinum Ex.

The X-Gamer and MP3+ offer no hardware changes just the software packages are different. The Platinum and Platinum EX adds the Audigy Drive like good old Livedrive! and the software packages are different.

The difference between the Platinum EX you can put Audigy drive out of the case as an external drive. So there is an additional connector on the add-on Midi card for this drive. You can use this drive internally as well. But for Platinum you can install only internally.

We reviewed the Audigy Platinum. But we will compare it with other packages as well.

The Card

On the card there are seven connectors. CD In for CD Rom. Digital In for DVD Drives. TAD In is for internal voice modem connections or other Telephony Audio Device connections. MIDI Connector is for the connection to the add-on midi-joystick card. These connections couldn't fit so there is a separate card for that. And the Audigy Drive con-nector is of course for the Audigy Drive front panel connection. When we look at the back panel side of the card there are six connections.

The first one is the Digital Out, which provides 5+1 Channel AC3 Digital Audio. The second one is Line-In. We can connect any audio device such as Stereo Radio to listen or to record. Third one is Mic-In for microphone input. Fourth one is for stereo output such as headphones. If you have a four-speaker system this one is for front speakers. Fifth one is for rear speaker. And there is the new firewire connector. There is no need for a fire-wire add-on card for Video Camera enthusiasts anymore.

You may connect two PC's with a firewire cable and share gaming fun with the Firenet 2.0 software supplied in the CD. All of the connectors are gold plated. I prefer this to PC99 colored plastic connectors. Hitting a little bit powerful to a connected jack may harm the card with plastic connections. Sometimes we have to carry the PC or move it around, so damage can happen. And gold plated connections "sound" better.

And the famous Audigy Drive. Now it's better than ever with a 5 ¼" rack drive which you can install on the front of the PC Case preferably distant from noise generating devices. Just For Platinum Ex you can connect the drive externally to the add-on Midi-Joystick connector card. There is an additional connector. That's good for the musicians who want the connectors near them. On the Audigy drive there are 12 connections 2 radio type buttons and one Infra Red "eye" for the remote Control.

The first two connections are RCA SPDIF-In and SPDIF-Out Connections for front digital RCA Connections. And there are Optical IN and OUT connections. Front Optical IN and OUT connections are especially useful for MD connections. There are 2 ¼" Stereo Jack connections. One of them is for headphones or Line-Out the other one is Line-In/Microphone Shared Jack. Each of their volume level is controllable by knobs. There is one 3.5 mm to 1/4" jack adapter supplied in the package.

There is one 2xRCA stereo in jacks. One mini MIDI DIN-In and one Mini DIN-Out jacks is also there. Mini DIN to Standard DIN adapter cables are supplied in the package. These connectors are for MIDI Keyboard Connections and the famous firewire connection. You can connect but if you buy a separate cable, which is not included in the package. You can understand the connections easily from the scheme I scanned from the manuals.

The remote control is for the Creative Play Center. It's like Windows Media Player's Creative edition.