Big Sound, Low Price: Creative Audigy

The Connections, Continued

In the Platinum and Platinum eX versions, the Audigy card is accompanied by a 5.25" rack. It is intended to be placed either at the front next to the computer's CD-ROM drive, or externally at a distance from the noise of the central unit and interference from the monitor, which microphones and electric guitars don't really like.

It is thus connected to the sound card either by an internal ribbon cable, or by using a two-meter cable, which allows the musician or singer to get nearer to his/her instruments and sound system while having direct control over the recording level and headset volume. Even Home Cinema users will appreciate being able to position the infrared sensor of the rack right opposite the sofa where they have settled down comfortably with the remote control.

This rack, cream in the Platinum version, a sober black in the eX version, provides the equivalent of a mini mixing desk: a digital, coaxial input/output and another optical one, an analog stereo line level input with an RCA cinch and a mic/line-in input for a jack, accompanied by a potentiometer for regulating the volume. A second potentiometer regulates the headset output, which didn't seem to us to be of phenomenal quality, but will be enough for most uses.

This output can also be used as a line-out that is easily accessible from the front of the computer. A FireWire port and a true MIDI interface (with female plugs) complete this well-designed rack. Some musicians will regret the lack of an XLR microphone input with 48V power feed for studio mikes, but to get a result worthy of a condenser mike it is better to use an external, separate preamplifier.