MIDI Instruments
The General MIDI basic set of instruments loaded by the card amounts to 4 Mb and in fact corresponds to a SoundFont bank of the GM standard type. Suffice it to say that we were not seduced by the realism of its instruments; even if the MIDI pianos, basses and guitars are rather good, the strings and the brass have their difficulties, and the drums and percussion are not on best form. However, you can choose the 8-Mb bank provided which already improves the quality of the instruments a little. Even if the sounds turned out to be inadequate for musical use, one shouldn't forget that quality SoundFont banks exist, some downloadable for free on the Internet, others for money, and that these are a complete match for professional libraries like Akai. What's more, Creative provides a collection of SoundFonts with the card. If needed, it is thus possible to make up a palette of sampled instruments of irreproachable quality, which Audigy will read without difficulty. The Vienna software that comes with the card ensures the editing of the sound fonts in all their detail. The Audigy also uses the new SoundFonts 2.1 format, which adds the possibility of sound variation in real time.
Conclusion
The Audigy soundcards retain the versatility that has given the brand its reputation, while coming very close to professional audio cards in audio performance. Audiophiles and videophiles will be satisfied with the performance and the software. Gamers have been well provided for, especially if the developers support Advanced HD in the future. The FireWire port is a very useful supplementary present. For these uses, the Player / X-Gamer version at under a $100 really offers unbeatable quality for the money. If you want access to a mini-studio and the comfort of remote control, the Platinum version at just over $200 will be the right luxury for you. But it is the musician who gains the biggest advantage, especially with the Platinum eX version.
