Big Sound, Low Price: Creative Audigy

Optimal Compatibility

After its Live! series, people wondered what Creative would be able to do to improve its recipe. But the introduction of 24 bit quality, as well as new ultra-rapid, ASIO standard musical drivers and the FireWire interface reawoke the interest in this system, tested by the preceding generation. In fact, these cards will satisfy all types of PC users.

For those interested in games, the Audigy cards offer impeccable reproduction quality together with excellent conversion of digital to analog. In addition, the card is already in a position to cope with games that need more than 16 bit, 44 kHz quality. It manages its 3D sound on six channels, all the current norms, such as 3D and EAX, are supported, and the card goes perfectly with what according to Creative is the sound environment of the future: EAX Advance HD. Audiophiles will also find exactly what they need with the sound capacities of the card and an extensive software package. They will be able to encode to MP3, copy their audio CDs, and even digitize their old vinyl records while removing hiss and crackle.

Videophiles will be able to profit from Dolby Digital sound with their DVDs, because the Audigy card includes 5:1 decoding. And the Audigy will give experienced amateur musicians impressive sound capacity, along with the software they need. What's more, the use of the ASIO drivers reduces the latency time. The Audigy cards come in three versions in order to suit each user. First up is the Audigy Player / X-Gamer (available for under $100), a new 24 bit PCI card clearly oriented towards multimedia and games. The Player will be the name for Europe, and X-Gamer the name for the U.S.

In its Platinum version (around $200), the Audigy adds the Audigy Drive input/output rack and software that will interest gamers as much as musicians. Finally, the Platinum eX version (priced at $250 among some online vendors) makes it possible to place the rack far from the computer using an external cable two meters in length. As far as software is concerned, the eX version has the excellent musical software, Fruity Loops and Acid, which, combined with Cubasis VST, make a complete outfit for creating music. We tested the Platinum eX version.