High-End Audio: Creative and Terratec

Platinum EX, Continued

For outputs, there is a headphone socket on a 1/4" jack plug on the front, with volume control similar to that of general outputs. At the back, a 3.5 mm jack plug allows you to link Creative's special cable with a digital speaker system. The classic S/P DIF digital inputs and outputs are also present with two Toslink connectors on the front and two Cinch plugs at the back.

For the MIDI interface, Creative has wisely abandoned its use of mini-DIN. There are two classic DIN IN/OUT ports at the back. Finally, two FireWire plugs are available on the front and back. The second socket at the back is for a link to the PCI card, but it has no audio connection. CDs are normally played in digital mode, a logical choice for a card in this category.