Introduction

As any semi-serious PC user knows there's a wealth of confusion to be found in today's PC hardware market. There's memory with specifications that remain unofficial, there's DVD writers that won't always read what their brethren have written, there are CPUs that won't fit your motherboard's socket despite the sales guy's oh so convincing rant about the supreme upgradeablilty of the modern PC. Amid all this madness Creative labs have continued to build on the standard they almost single handedly defined and have continued to be the de facto standard for both internal and now external audio solutions for the PC.

The original Audigy came in for some, perhaps slightly unfair criticism for its lack of certain high end features but Creative are a business and like AMD and Intel and NVIDIA and indeed all the other industry big hitters you don't reveal your hand all at once. There isn't the same revenue stream from sound cards as there is from many other products, the standards and the technology simply doesn't evolve quickly enough to constantly be releasing a new product and those who complain that other sound cards have managed to implement some supreme, high end feature should take a look at what that company are charging for the privilege.

Today I want to take you on a quick tour of Creative's latest creation, the Audigy2. With an incredible feature list a world first claim to THX certification you know it's going to be a bit special, but how much is marketing hype and how much is fairly earned kudos? Hopefully we'll have an idea by the end of the review.

Before I get stuck in I know some of you, okay, a couple of you, like to have a long hard study at the specs and with Creative having done such a beautiful job of laying them out here they are ripped straight of their site! Get comfy, there's plenty of them!

Audio Performance

• Signal-to-Noise Ratio with AES17 filter (A-Weighted)
  

  	2V Rated Output	1V Rated Output
  Stereo Output	106dB	102dB
  Front and Rear Channels	106dB	102dB
  Center, Subwoofer and Rear Center	~90dB	~86dB

• Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise at 1kHz (A-Weighted) = 0.004% (1V, 2V Rated Output)
• Frequency Response (+/-3dB, 24-bit/96kHz input ) = <10Hz to 46kHz (1V, 2V Rated Output)

• 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion during playback with sampling rates of 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz in 5.1 mode and up to 192kHz in stereo mode
• 24-bit Analog to Digital conversion during recording in 8, 16 or 24-bit at sampling rates of 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
• SPDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) input at up to 24-bit/ 96kHz quality
• SPDIF output up to 24-bit at 48 or 96kHz
• ASIO drivers for low latency (=2ms) multi-track playback and recording at 16-bit/48kHz)

• Creative Hardware synthesizer (2x16 Channels) with 64-voice polyphony featuring E-MU®'s patented 8-point interpolation technology for accurate sample reproduction
• Creative Software synthesizer - multi timbral wave-table (16 Channels)

• IEEE® 1394 / FireWire® / i-Link® compatible interface with up to 400Mbps transfer rate

• Line level out (Front / Rear / Center / Subwoofer /Rear Center)
• Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output)
• Line in
• Microphone in
• SB1394™/ FireWire® port
• Telephone Answering Device in
• Analog / Digital CD Audio in
• 15-pin MIDI / Joystick port extension header
• Internal SB1394 header to Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Internal Drive (Upgrade Option)
• AD_EXT extension header to the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Internal Drive (Upgrade Option)

• Headphone Out (1/4" Stereo Jack with Volume control)
• Line In 2 (1/4" Stereo Jack, shared with Microphone In 2)
• Microphone In 2 (1/4" Jack with Gain control)
• MIDI In (mini DIN)
• MIDI Out (mini DIN)
• Optical SPDIF In and Out
• Coaxial SPDIF In and Out
• Stereo Auxiliary In (2 x RCA/Coaxial Jack)
• SB1394 port
• Infra-red Receiver

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• Processor: Genuine Intel® Pentium® II, Celeron 350MHZ, AMD-K6® 450MHz or faster
• Motherboard: Intel®, AMD® or 100% compatible
• System RAM: 64MB for Windows® 98SE and Me, 128MB for Windows 2000 SP2 and XP
• Hard Disk: 600MB free space
• Operating System: Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 SP2, or XP
• Available PCI 2.1 compliant slot
• Available adjacent slot for Joystick/MIDI bracket (optional)
• Headphones or amplified speakers (available separately)
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive required for software installation
• Additional System Requirements for DVD Movies, DVD-Audio, DV Editing, Games and Internet Radio
• Available 5 1/4" PC Drive Bay for Sound Blaster® Audigy™ 2 Internal drive (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum only)

• Processor: Genuine Intel® Pentium® III 500 MHz or AMD 700 MHz or faster
• System RAM: 128MB for Windows 98SE and Me, 256MB for Windows 2000 SP2 and XP
• Hard Disk: 1.3GB free space (Disk Type: ATA-100, 7,200rpm)

• Graphics Card: DirectX® 8.1 and OpenGL® compliant 3D accelerator with at least 16MB of texture RAM

• Soft-DVD player: Intervideo's WinDVD® 2000 or CyberLink's PowerDVD® 3.0 and above recommended
• DVD Drive: 2nd generation 6X DVD-ROM drive or later for DVD Movie and Audio playback

• Operating System: Windows 2000 SP3 or XP SP1
• Processor: Genuine Intel® Pentium® III or AMD Athlon™ 1GHz or faster
• System RAM: 256MB
• Visit www.soundblaster.com for updates on other OS support

• Internet: 56kbps modem or faster and an active Internet connection

24-BIT/192kHz DVD-AUDIO WITH PURE 106 dB SNR FOR PLAYBACK, RECORDING AND 6.1 SURROUND GAMING With the introduction of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2, Creative has once more raised the bar for PC audio, bringing to you the most definitive audio experience yet! Sound Blaster Audigy 2 delivers high-quality multi-channel recording and playback at up to 24-bit/96kHz and is the first PC product to offer playback of Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio at an astonishing 24-bit/192kHz with a stunning Signal-to-Noise ratio of 106dB, delivering spectacular audio quality that has now redefined PC audio standards. With EAX Advanced HD, 6.1 speaker support and Dolby Digital EX support, movies and games will be experienced with a breathtaking level of immersion and intensity, while SB1394 allows super-fast transfer of audio to external players. "The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 not only propels PC audio forward; it drives a new standard of quality for all audio. As we have done many times in the past, Creative has established yet another new platform for the PC with Sound Blaster 24-bit ADVANCED HD™ audio. With the introduction of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2, we are setting an audio standard for the PC that is currently emerging in consumer electronics." - Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo

ADVANCED RESOLUTION™ DVD-AUDIO The only PC-based solution to enable the Advanced Resolution™ era of 24-bit music fidelity with 192kHz in stereo and 96kHz in 5.1

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 brings you the purest music listening experience on the PC with support for the music industry's latest high definition format - DVD-Audio, which reproduces music with greater brilliance and clarity compared to audio CDs, whilst preserving the depth and warmth of the original recording. More Information

SOUND BLASTER 24-BIT ADVANCED HD AUDIO The best Sound Blaster clarity ever, rivaling home-theater audio quality for music, games and movies - vastly superior to host audio

Sound Blaster 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio performance at 106dB SNR in the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 delivers up to eight times better clarity than host audio. The new Audigy 2 chip, premium quality 24-bit/192kHz Digital to Analog Converters (DACs), and a true 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio path ensure "hiss-free" audio fidelity and exceptional clarity of 106dB SNR. Powerful Audigy 2 processing enables full 24-bit/96kHz audio resolution in discrete 5.1 surround sound with playback of Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9 Professional, the Web's first digital 5.1 surround sound audio codec from the new Windows Media 9 Series. More Information

THX®-CERTIFIED Sound Blaster Audigy 2 is currently the first and only add-in sound card to be THX®-Certified.

Being THX®-Certified means that the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 has passed the most stringent and rigorous audio quality and performance tests set by THX, the audio experts in the movie industry, so you can be assured that the awesome THX audio experience you've enjoyed in the cinema will be reproduced faithfully on your PC. More Information

6.1 SURROUND SOUND Experience superior multi-channel audio from MP3s, CDs, DirectSound® 3D games and Dolby Digital® EX movies with a rear center speaker

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 enhances immersion with improved directionality and ambience perception delivered through an additional rear center channel on 6.1 speaker systems, bringing vivid and intense realism that will thrust you right into the heart of your favourite music, games and movies. More about 6.1 Gaming | More about Dolby® Digital EX

CREATIVE MEDIASOURCE™ The most exciting features yet with library search, automatic playlist volume control and hiss removal for MP3s

Creative MediaSource provides you sophisticated and intuitive control over your entire MP3 and music library. Its intelligent search engine helps you quickly locate songs. SVM™ (Smart Volume Management) helps you maintain a balanced playback volume level across your entire playlist so you won't have to adjust the volume between songs. Audio Clean-Up gives even your old music collection a facelift by removing hisses and clicks from recordings of old cassette tapes and vinyl records. More Information

24-BIT/ 96 kHz RECORDING The purest commercially available recording path captures the quality and subtle details of your audio creations

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 lets you make rich 24-bit recordings to your PC with an unprecedented 24-bit/96kHz recording capability, while ASIO support allows compatible music creation software to link directly to ASIO compliant hardware, allowing multi-channel recording simultaneously at 16-bit/48khz at ultra low latency of <=2ms. More Information

EAX® ADVANCED HD™ GAMING The ultimate platform for delivering unparalleled audio realism from the hottest gaming titles

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 gives you the ultimate game audio realism with its built-in EAX ADVANCED HD technology, which delivers accurate reverberations, seamless audio transition between environments, effects processing power capable of simultaneously processing multiple environment effects and more. All of which can now be enjoyed in over a dozen premier game titles including Unreal Tournament 2003, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Neverwinter Nights, Hitman 2, and Soldier of Fortune 2. More Information

A Closer Look