Audigy 2: My Captain, My King!
With its four analog outputs and its drivers, the Audigy 2 can decode DVD sound tracks encoded in Dolby Digital EX. You need a DVD playback software like Power DVD Pro or Win DVD. It is not needed to get the multichannel version of your DVD playback software as the Audigy 2 drivers will perform the decoding job themselves. If you have a stereo or a 5.1/6.1 version the setting is the same: just switch the audio configuration to "S/PDIF Out". By the way, it's a pity Creative Labs still does not provide the relevant software with its cards.
As we already said, a system that can decode sound in 6.1 or 7.1 is also good for playing DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1. Positioning is not as good as with EX sound tracks, but still effective. The surround sounds are spread over the three speakers so listeners are more fully bathed in sound. This should be avoided in some movies, however, because it reduces the force of the sound effects.
Test Configuration And Methods
| Hardware |
|---|
| AMD Athlon 1800 XP - 256 Mo PC2100 |
| MSI KT7 Master |
| Enceintes Megaworks 510D - 210D - Inspire 6700 - Logitech Z680 |
| DVD-ROM Toshiba SM1302 |
| ATI Radeon 64 Mo DDR |
| Drivers & Software |
| DirectX 8.1a |
| Windows XP Pro |
The Audigy 2 sound card was tested objectively and subjectively. The following software and DVDs were used:
- Right Mark Audio Analyser 4.2
- Audio Winbench
- Dungeon Siege
- DVD Test Platinum Series
- DVDs encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 and EX
- Windows Media 9
- Win DVD 4.0
- Power DVD Pro EX
- Creative Media Source