Product Description
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS, the leading PC audio brand, is now available for your notebook. Dramatically improve your digital music experience. Enjoy movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 . Hear sound effects so real, you'll feel like you're actually in your games. Create studio quality recordings. And now you can enjoy this amazing audio experience at home or wherever you choose to go.
Customer Reviews:
When laptop speakers won't cut it.......2007-10-26
I've had this card since it was new to the market because my laptop is all I need as far as computing but those laptop speakers just don't cut it for my music passion. I bought some speakers that just plug into the computer but it just doesn't have the capacity to transmit the sound without error so I decided to buy this card and WOW ! it encodes the music into such a pristine state that I have actually had people compliment the sound of my music as better than the exact same CD they have. If you appreciate sound for music or games this card will complete your life.
Do you need an adapter?.......2007-10-23
I never got to use mine because I was unaware I needed an adapter to use it on my laptop. Be sure to check the specs. The adapter isn't cheap!
Creative PCMCIA Card.......2007-09-19
Great sound, fantastic features.I am using it with DVD playback on my Laptop. Eexcellent product.
Great addition to my notebook........2007-08-07
This card clears the sound right up on my new logitech z-2300's. Easy enough to install, and the audio software is easy to operate.
Incompatible.......2007-08-07
It is really a state-of-art SC, but it couldn't fit into the slit of my new DELL computer, so I had to turn it back. A friend of mine has the same one and is more than happy with it, but a piece of advice; before you buy it, make sure that it's compatible with the latest generation of your laptops!!!
Product Description
With the introduction of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2, Creative has once more raised the bar for PC audio, bringing to you the most definitive audio experience yet!Sound Blaster Audigy 2 delivers high-quality multi-channel recording and playback at up to 24-bit/96kHz and is the first PC product to offer playback of Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio at an astonishing 24-bit/192kHz with a stunning Signal-to-Noise ratio of 106dB, delivering spectacular audio quality that has now redefined PC audio standards. With EAX Advanced HD, 6.1 speaker support and Dolby Digital EX support, movies and games will be experienced with a breathtaking level of immersion and intensity, while SB1394 allows super-fast transfer of audio to external players.
Amazon.com Product Description
For the highest-quality audio experience, 16-bit is just not good enough. Step up to Sound Blaster Audigy 2 to hear the amazing difference that 24-bit Advanced HD makes. It delivers astonishing clarity and audio details that are inaudible on current 16-bit audio solutions, bringing your music, movies, and games to life.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 offers Advanced Resolution DVD-audio playback up to an astonishing 24-bit/192 kHz in stereo, and delivers an ultraquiet 106 dB SNR that's far superior to ordinary CD and MP3 playback. With 6.1 speaker support, your games and Dolby Digital EX movies will sound more encompassing than ever before. The new Creative MediaSource music player will revolutionize your MP3 experience with its intuitive interface and rich feature set, while the Audigy 2 chip with EAX Advanced HD support delivers awesome power for gaming. Get Sound Blaster Audigy 2 for 24-bit/192 kHz audio fidelity--it delivers simply the best audio quality for music, movies, and games. Nothing else comes close.
Customer Reviews:
Hardware is exceptional; drivers are abysmal........2006-12-30
I use a couple of Audigy 2ZS in my recording business. No other soundcard on the market, then or now, offers the flexibility and just great sound capturing capabilities of this card. Interestingly, all the later Creative products no longer support 192k/24 bit sampling, so this card is truly unique. The only other manufactured card supporting this brilliant sampling clarity costs US$250 more!
If you only get a hold of one of these cards to see how good audio CAN be on your computer, do it. It's jaw-droppingly good.
But I have to reinforce the driver problems described by others. I have dealt directly with the driver team at CL, and to say they are unhelpful is an understatement. Early drivers (e.g. those shipped on the CD) had some pretty bad flaws, but at least they allowed the card to work to its full potential (which is really astonishingly good!).
All the latest drivers (since late 2005) use the Creative "universal" driver model, which means they are designed to work correctly ONLY with the newer, low market level CL cards. All the new drivers have significant bugs and "showstopper" flaws, and completely prevent the card from being used properly (i.e. nowhere near it's actual technical specifications). Then there's a whole other discussion about CL supporting more than one card in any computer system. Old drivers worked beautifully with multiple cards, but new drivers just lock out inputs and confuse mixer settings and just don't work, full stop.
So if you want one of the clearest, most flexible, highest sample rate cards ever on the PC market up to this year, get one of these if you can (I've bought 3 spare cards in case any of my current ones die, as CL no longer support the product at all). Just don't expect the latest "mass market", "cloth-eared consumer" Creative labs drivers to work properly, and don't expect CL to help you with any technical problems. Ever.
To be honest, my next card will be anything BUT a Creative Labs product. But for me, the Audigy 2ZS is the BMW of the older audio card market. Have a drive, if you can. You just probably wouldn't want to own one.
Frustrating.......2006-05-05
Alright...when I can actually get this darn thing to work right it is an EXCELLENT sound card..But over the past few years I've had this thing I have had to reinstall the drives numerous times....I mean...much more than I should have to...This program will only function right for me for about a few months before I have to reinstall it again. I have updated my drivers and I'm sure nothing is wrong with my hard drive, still get the same problem...suddenly something stops working right, this time it was the fact that I can only choose 4.1 speakers..not even headphones or anything else...I dont even have 4.1 speakers....I have 6.1...Last time I couldn't change the EAX settings from default, so everything sounded horrible, the time before that I couldn't even open the EAX console period, mostly it's just problems with their EAX software. Which if you dont use everything sounds much worse by the way. If you can look past that problem though....great sound card...creative just needs to learn how to program decent software, cause the drivers for this sound card are absolutely horrid.
Software was written by gibbon monkeys........2005-11-30
I have had this card for 2 years now and it has worked fine for me as long as I didn't play with Creative's drivers or software.
All of a sudden, sound quit coming out of my rear speakers ONLY in certain Creative applications, and the speaker calibrator quit putting out any sound. So I uninstalled the drivers and tried to reinstall them.
Be aware that -
1. Creative will NEVER offer a driver pack on its webpage. You MUST, I repeat MUST start with your original CD to load some drivers, and then you can get Creative's patches from their webpage. Now that my CD is 2 years old, there appears to be a conflict with *its* drivers and creative's patches. Apparently not enough bananas were bought for the gibbons, and they wandered out to the jungle in search of nourishment before finishing a full driver package.
2. There is a good chance that once you go to reinstall your drivers, you will get a "Hardware not found" message (see Creative's tech support forum) and not be able to install the drivers. Want another banana, Creative programmer? OOO OOO OO AHH AHHH AHHH!
My card is now a steaming pile of $100 poo since their driver system is not working for me.
Wish I had my old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz back.
No input.......2004-09-02
I had this card installed in my Dell when I ordered it and I will say it does sound great BUT there is one proplem with it that I need and that is the input will not work. I called Creative Labs, Dell and got no where. Now maybe not many people need to use the input jack but it is a must for me. My old computer had a simple card but it did work. So if you want just great sound, this card is good but if you need to record albums, etc. then forget it, this card won't do it, or at least mine won't.
Great-Sounding Stuff.......2004-02-05
To suggest that this soundcard is a dramatic improvement over on-board sound is a massive understatement. I recently purchased a new computer, one far more powerful and speedy than my old one, but I soon discovered that my media didn't sound nearly as good as I was used to hearing. I'd had a Sound Blaster Live card in my old unit, but I could not install that in the new computer: It was not compatible with Windows XP. Hence, I had to buy a new soundcard, not something super-fancy or compatible with speakers in 100 different rooms: Just something that kicks out good stereo sound for a good three-speaker setup, not to mention the ability to utilize more channels should I ever decide to go that route. The difference in the sound blew my mind: So much richer, deeper, more full in both lows and highs. This thing makes my computer sound wonderful, whether I'm playing it through my computer speakers or running it through my stereo. Helps with cd burning as well, as it allows for full-range copying of discs with 24-bit sound. Highly recommended!
Average customer rating:
- Piece of JUNK
- Great sound card
- Beware
- significantly improving the sound quality
- Great sound but drivers and applications are a nightmare/buggy
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Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Internal Sound Card
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics
Internal
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Sound Cards
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Computer Add-Ons
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Computers & Add-Ons
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Categories
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Electronics
Accessories:
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![Microsoft Windows XP Professional Upgrade [Old Version]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00005MOTG.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Upgrade [Old Version]
Product Features:
- Superior quality 24-bit/192kHz audio, ultra-realistic game effects, and studio quality music settings
- Exclusive Creative THX Setup Console provides accurate audio calibration for a precise speaker listening environment
- The only available PC platform for Advanced Resolution 24-bit/96kHz 5.1 surround and 24-bit/192kHz stereo DVD-Audio playback
- Multi-Environment audio -- up to four simultaneous environments processed in real time, with Bass Boost, Multi-Band Graphic Equalizer, Audio Clean-Up and Karaoke
- Complete Cinematic Surround Sound with DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX Movies
ASIN: B0000CG4DI
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Product Description
The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS with THX certification is the perfect choice for high-impact surround sound up to 7.1. Its 24-bit ADVANCED HD engine delivers stunning 7.1 surround audio in games and movies and supports Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES. There's also the exclusive THX Console for precise speaker calibration. Music lovers will appreciate its compatibility with DVD-Audio at 24-bit/192kHz in stereo and 24-bit/96kHz in 5.1, with 108dB SNR on all channels, Windows Media 9 compliance and CMSS 3D, which up-mixes stereo audio to 7.1. The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS comes with Creative MediaSource 2 for digital audio playback, library creation and management. Musicians will also benefit from its true 24-bit/96kHz recording and low-latency ASIO 2.0 support.
Customer Reviews:
Piece of JUNK.......2007-02-25
the optical output only does 2.1 sound. If you want 5.1 to 7.1 sound then you have to use analog plugs on the back. Don't waste your money.
Great sound card.......2006-11-27
This is one of the best sound cards you can get for this price.
Using it will give you around a 10FPS boost when gaming as it has a very low cpu load (if you have a onboard sound card, the sound processing load is sent to the cpu but with this card, all processing is handled within the card)
It is great for working with audio editors and studio apps like FL studio as it has great asio support and can handle hundreds of sound streams at 1 time with out skipping and with out putting a heavy load on the cpu.
This card does wonders for music. using the eax console, you can make all music really sound 20-30 times better, the advance eq has a feature that will increase the detail of all audio making all music sound much better.
PS some people on many different forums have been able to use creative x-fi drivers for this card and enable x-fi sound features. (i don't recommend doing this unless your very skilled with regedit as theres a high risk of something going wrong and you will need to spend hours in the regedit tool in windows)
Beware.......2006-07-29
"Bait and switch... The amazon link showed a full retail box with included software. When the actual seller responded they indicated a "bulk" item. So what I got was not a retail box but a "baggie" with the card and a driver CD. I would consider another vendor..."
significantly improving the sound quality.......2006-02-16
I bought refurbished Audigy 2 (older version of Audigy 2 zs) from creative's ebay store. It significantly improves the sound quality of my Logitech z 2300. I really love Audigy 2!!
I found my refurbished Audigy 2 is very easy to install. I was really worrying about setting up BIOS as some one mentioned here before I bought that card. When I installed it, I just disabled the onboard audio through volume control. I found this is enough!
Great sound but drivers and applications are a nightmare/buggy.......2006-02-11
I would not recommend unless you are a hardcore computer professional who knows how to workaround this fix.
They got a great sound card, but the application was written by third grade s/w team.It is so buggy.
When you install this applications, please choose Analog as default, as otherwise you won't hear sound from the speakers.
Most of the time volume control will not show up on the taskbar. It took me a couple days to fix the s/w and drivers. Creative support is a joke.
I had a Turtle beach Santa Cruz and I never had a single issue so far. It was only supporting 5.1 but otherwise setup was so easy. Definitely would have rated higher except for the s/w applications. Otherwise, the sound is awesome.
Product Description
This external USB 2.0 ready sound system delivers high fidelity audio plus powerful features that will make you wonder how you put up with your basic PC or Notebook audio for so long! It delivers superior playback of many formats including DVD-Audio up to 24-bit/96kHz/5.1 and also WMA/MP3 music, while also catering for recording at up to 24-bit/96kHz. The quality listening experience is assured through the expert implementation of high-quality components plus advanced audio features allowing users to get a sound that only Creative can deliver! Audio Playback satisfaction is guaranteed through the advanced audio tools, such as SVM, Audio Clean-up and CMSS 3D that provide incredible control and interaction with any type of audio. The compact and stylish design even allows audio playback to be controlled from a distance using the supplied remote control.
Customer Reviews:
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX .......2006-12-05
Got it about 3 years ago. Works great and has lots of features. Used it for my laptop then I transferred over to a new desktop with ease and get better sound than with the built-in audio card.
The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because recently it started having power issues and now no longer works. Although the lifetime of it may be lacking, it is relatively cheap and has great quality.
Great product - while it lasts =/.......2006-10-09
I have owned one of these for 2.5 years, and until this last month, it worked fabulously. The only improvement would be if it could work as a stand-alone unit. Then all of a sudden this month, it won't power on anymore. Creative won't do anything for me or the countless other customers who are having the same problem. Go to their forums and search for "audigy 2 nx power" and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Overall I'd say its a risky investment. It will run great for a while, then die out on you and Creative won't do jack to help you.
Great product, does not work with Mac OS X.......2006-07-12
I have bought this product on eBay refurbished and it is a great value for the money. You cannot find a digital decoder for under $125 on the internet right now. I wish it would work as standalone without the conection to computer, connecting the input and outputs directly, but it does not. It does the conversions in software.
This product is missing drivers for Mac OS X and Creative does not plan to provide them. The usb-audio site does not support it either. So it is usable only with Windows. It does start play music in initialization phase for Mac, but then it finds out it is Mac it is talking to and stops. Strange.
I gave it 4 stars because it does not advertise working with Mac, but I didn't give it 5, because it just should not actively try not to work with it. Just complying with USB audio standards would be enough to do so.
superb sound quality.......2005-09-13
I got this Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX for my birthday
and it has pretty much been a blast. I say pretty much
because there were a few hiccups along the way. First,
my computer, a Dell Latitude D610, had problems recognizing the device even after I followed the directions to the letter.
Turns out I needed to install the newest Intel chipset drivers.
With that being fixed, I got a blue screen saying a driver
had crashed the system. Rebooted and never got it again.
My laptop still refuses to recognize the device after coming
out of hibernation. Rebooting the machine fixes that.
That's why I gave the device only 4 stars.
Now, on to the good stuff: sound quality. This thing rocks!
I'm currently listening to the DVD-Audio sample disk through
a long RCA cable to my NAD 2200 amplifier and hooked up to
a pair of JBL LX500 speakers. The quiet moments are really quiet
and the loud moments are very good. The NAD amplifier with its
large dynamic range is perfect for hooking up to this device.
There's one song on the sample disk, "Superqueen" by Jet 68, that
confirms the JBL's status as rock speakers. That's what the Audigy 2 NX does--it makes sure the source is pure as can be
so that the rest of the chain can work as they were designed to. It's 10x better than the onboard sound in my laptop and noticeably better than the Audigy card in my desktop machine.
5 stars for the sound quality minus 1 for the installation troubles. There's also the issue of finding the songs that Creative put on the demo CD.
They must've scoured the far corners of the Earth because I can't
seem to find them at all. If anyone has a clue, let me know.
Product Description
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro delivers the most comprehensive audio capabilities and connectivity for the PC! Featuring 5 stereo Inputs / 6 stereo Outputs, external I/O hub, and superior fidelity 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro supports simultaneous recording of six channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio with low latency ASIO 2.0 support. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro is also the only PC platform to deliver Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio playback in pristine 108dB SNR clarity across all channels. With the unique Creative THX Setup Console, you'll be able to create cinematic quality speaker surround with DTS-ES, Dolby Digital EX movies and 3D games!
Product Description
Enjoy an audio experience that's just not possible with basic motherboard audio. Sound Blaster Audigy SE features high-quality audio that dramatically improves MP3 music listening, support for EAX Advanced HD 3.0 effects that make PC games come alive and multichannel 5.1 or 7.1 sound for immersive surround sound in music, movies and games. When it comes to PC Audio nothing compares to Sound Blaster! Main FeaturesManufacturer: Creative Technology LtdManufacturer Part Number: 70SB057000000Manufacturer Website Address: www.creative.comPackage Type: RetailProduct Type: Sound BoardAudio Processor: Creative Audigy SEHost Interface: PCI Sound Channels: 7.1Interfaces/Ports: 1 x Audio Line-in - (Front / Rear / Side / Center / Subwoofer), 1 x Audio Line-in - (Microphone), 1 x Audio Line-in - (Auxiliary), 1 x Audio Line-out - (S/PDIF)Standard Warranty: 12 Month(s) Limited
Product Description
When it comes to PC game audio, there is really only one name to know - Sound Blaster! With full EAX 4.0 advanced HD performance, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value will take your gaming experience to a new level. Give yourself the competitive edge with compelling 7.1 surround sound. Plus advanced music tools, Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio playback, and Dolby Digital EX support, makes Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value an awesome audio upgrade!
Customer Reviews:
Loyal cystomer for years.......2006-03-17
I've had Creative Labs sound cards since the SB16. Creative makes the best sound cards, Nvidia makes the best graphics. Everyone knows this, especially gamers.
So far, so good...and on a budget!.......2006-03-14
Ten minutes to figure out how to remove the aol icon and/or program? It sounds like you're exactly the sort of customer AOL should be targeted at. I downloaded the software from creative.com and didn't have anything else install.
As for A/V cables -- what cards DO have this type of input as a standard? Uh...like none. Get the platinum cards if you want that type of thing, obviously the "value" model isn't going to come with all the bells and whistles.
Installation was a breeze once I realized I had to disable the "PCI Bridge" in my device manager to turn off my onboard sound. Also, I immediately noticed the complete lack of feedback out of my idle speakers. Don't know what I'm talking about? Turn your speakers all the way up without anything playing and you'll probably hear static or crackling. This junk is decreasing the quality of your music and games! With this card everything is SILENT until I want it to be. Just make sure you mute line in.
For just over forty bucks this card is an amazing value. Get one if you're on a budget and want something competitive.
Product Description
The PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook opens a new era of possibilities for the notebook user. It delivers features previously only available to PC users but now available to notebook users (even those that are highly mobile). This is achieved by combining ultra-high quality audio with advanced, hardware-accelerated features all in a tiny PCMCIA format card! For instance it delivers THX certified 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio quality playback with incredible 104dB SNR, allowing the highest resolution audio playback with support for DVD-Audio at up to 24-bit/192kHz and Windows Media 9: 24-bit multi-channel audio format.The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook also provides encompassing 7.1 surround sound for Dolby Digital EX as well as DTS-ES supported DVD movies; any DirectSound3D games and CMSS 3D virtualized 7.1 stereo music. Gamers will love the hardware accelerated EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD that not only brings games to life, but delivers maximum performance! Musicians will also enjoy true 24-bit recording and low latency ASIO support for the ultimate audio recording platform. Notebook audio just got very, very interesting!
Customer Reviews:
Some minor issues.......2007-08-01
This card has some problems with certain chipsets, but updated drivers fix them, and Creative has good solutions in their knowledge base for most of them.
That aside, this card is the best investment I have made for my laptop computer. Mp3 playback for instance, now takes almost no cpu. I can run 3d games, with the creative audio playback, which uses the chip on the card, rather than the system cpu to play audio, and it only takes about 1%.
The jacks are sturdy, even though the attachment feels a bit cheap, it is sturdy because I have had full size logitech gaming headset fall off, with the cord wrapped around it, and it didn't bend the connector.
The card is dead silent, which means there is no whisper when recording "what you hear", or directly from the card.
The MIC however, is crappy. Even at full boost there is an annoying buzz underneath your voice, to the point people on Ventrilo complained while I was gaming. I simply started using the mic input on the laptop instead, and it worked.
Don't buy this card for the microphone input. Otherwise it absolutely rocks, and If anything happens to it, I am buying another one.
This card DOES NOT WORK in an express card slot.
compact, yet super efficient........2007-03-10
Prior to having this sound card, I had the comparably quite huge sound blaster extigy, which is an external USB sound card, about the size of a hard cover book. This tiny card is barely noticeable coming out of my laptop, sticking out barely an inch.
The main reason I wanted this card was to have my computer send out an optical audio signal which could be plugged into my external 5.1 speakers.
The three slots in the card are audio out, some kind of composite audio out (with front LR, rear LR, and Center/Sub woofer jacks, and audio in/mic. Both audio out and in accept optical as well as regular 'metal' cables.
The sound it delivers to my 5.1 speakers is pristine, a lot better than what my internal sound card could ever produce.
This hardware comes with a LOT of additional software. Even the basic software is pretty complex, with widgets like Audio Console, Diagnostics, EAX console, Graphics Equalizer, DVD Player, Smart Recorder, SoundFont Bank Manager, Speaker Calibrator, Speaker Settings, Surround Mixer, THX Setup Console, Wave Studio, ..... and more. Anything you can think of doing, you can probably do with this software/hardware combination.
Things to be wary about:
1)like many PCMCIA cards that perform a lot (such as USB 2.0 adapters and wireless cards,) if you have two slots in your computer, this card will BLOCK access to the second one. Thus if you were planning on using another one along with this card, you have to make a choice which one is more important.
2)If you have an external dolby digital or THX decoder, and you want the optical signal to go to your decoder straight through without being interpreted by this card, good luck. It is possible, but I remember spending many hours searching through all the possible configurations. Finally what I found out works for my computer, is in my DVD player, I chose to send the sound through SPDIF and have some kind of 'pass through.'
great soundcard.......2007-03-09
I bought this for my laptop because I listen to music a lot at home and while traveling. It really provides a much higher quality sound out from your computer even with headphone. I wouldn't say it is at audiophile level but great for MP3. I'm using Sennheiser HD580 which is a high impedance headphone and this soundcard has no problem driving it while providing enough "juice" to the can. However, be careful with its software. My computer crashed when I installed the softwares provided. Hence, I just install the driver.
Awesome Sound Card.......2007-01-03
I mostly use this for First Person Shooter gaming and sometimes for music. For me it's an awesome sound card for both purposes.
Games:
1) much better directional indication in games...even forward and backward indication using normal headphones.
2) echo effects
3) sound clarity
Music:
1) sound clarity. I can hear stuff in music that I couldn't before and string instruments come through with a lot more detail.
Great product good price........2006-11-10
Very nice for notebook as most of the time notebooks have lousy on board sound card. This is quite good and reasonably priced. I received it in perfect condition and within 4 days. Very good service.
Average customer rating:
- CONFLICTS CAUSE CRASHES
- I Am So Disgusted
- Made by Satan!
- WIRELESS
- my last review
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Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Sound Card
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics
Internal
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Sound Cards
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Computer Add-Ons
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Computers & Add-Ons
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Categories
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Electronics
Accessories:
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Creative Labs Inspire 6600 6.1 Computer Speakers (7-Speaker, Black)
Product Features:
- All the analog and digital ports you'll need for simple desktop connectivity including a super-fast SB1394 FireWire port
- The only PC solution to enable the Advanced Resolution era of 24-bit music fidelity with 192 kHz in stereo and 96 kHz in 5.1
- The best Sound Blaster clarity ever, rivaling home-theater audio quality for music, games, and movies
- Experience superior multi-channel audio from MP3s, CDs, 3-D games, and Dolby Digital EX movies with a rear center speaker
- The most exciting features yet with library search, automatic playlist volume matching, and hiss removal for MP3s
ASIN: B00006RVQL
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Product Description
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum has just redefined quality audio for high-end music lovers and gamers. It offers expanded front-panel connectivity with infrared remote control and is the only PC solution to enable the Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio era with 24-bit fidelity playback at 192kHz-stereo and 96kHz-5.1. With 106dB SNR, 6.1 speaker and Dolby Digital Surround EX support, this is the home hi-fi that outperforms domestic audio packages and carries the THX quality stamp to prove it! For MP3 enthusiasts, Creative MediaSource offers exciting features like Library search, SVM automatic volume matching across tracks and Audio Clean-Up for noise removal, while SB1394/FireWire allows super-fast transfer of files to devices or PCs. Finally with the power to enable EAX Advanced HD and 64 3D hardware voices, it delivers the ultimate in-game audio immersion, while bit-true 24-bit/96kHz recording and ASIO support make it the ideal all-round solution.
Amazon.com Product Description
Experience world-class audio! Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum gives you the ability to record audio at an amazing 24-bit/96 kHz quality and comes complete with a convenient internal Audigy 2 drive for easy front-panel access to an expanded array of all the connectors you'll ever need.
You can hear the amazing difference that 24-bit Advanced HD delivers through high-fidelity audio playback and full Advanced Resolution DVD-audio support in up to 24-bit/192 kHz resolution. And with 106 dB SNR, you'll experience audio clarity in games, movies, and music that's impossible on 16-bit sound cards. In addition, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 offers 6.1 speaker support in the latest Dolby Digital EX movies, DirectSound 3D games, and stereo music content with the CMSS 3-D up-mix feature.
Get Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum today and experience the incredible quality of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card with the added connectivity of the Audigy 2 drive for the best possible 24-bit Advanced HD experience.
Customer Reviews:
CONFLICTS CAUSE CRASHES.......2006-12-25
I, like another reviewer, figured a problem wouldn't happen on my computer - WRONG! This card has many great features. I can't rate it at 0, but can't rate it at 5 either. After having it crash my system on numerous occasions while gaming on-line I did some googling. Creative seems to have a MAJOR flaw that only the best techies can correct through a lot of tweeking and changes being made to their system (something we average Joes can't do nor want to attempt by messing with internal settings). I bought this card with the intent of its' major use being for gaming purposes. When I originally installed it I was enthralled by the sound and other capabilities. I eventually got around to going on-line for gaming and ... CRASH! (Does not occur when playing games off-line). Was only then I found out that this seems to be an issue with many and Creative has no solution (at least no solution I could find if others comments at having to deal with Creative were any indication). If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't. I'd do more research and probably went with another manufacturer. If Creative doesn't come out with a fix of some kind I will chaulk it up to an expensive lesson learned and place Creative on my "Never Again S#!@ List." You've been warned!
I Am So Disgusted.......2003-09-18
This is a tragedy. I've been a staunch supporter of Live! cards since they came out but their quality and support went down the drain. The Audigy 2 Platinum is not plug & play compliant. The end user shouldn't have to install the card and adjust the BIOS and hardware configuration to get the card to work. All this card gives is loud pops, skipping and computer lockups. A reinstallation of the operating system didn't help. There aren't any IRQ conflicts either! Tech support was useless, they don't have clue. The sound of the card is great but that means nothing if there is popping and skipping in the music.
I wasted $165 and i will never buy another Creative product again.
Made by Satan!.......2003-09-02
Well ok, after building my own "Dream System 4" I decided to go all out, even on the soundcard. Going by the specs with this card it was second to none. Going by the other customer reviews I read, it made me think twice about getting it judging by a lot of the problems that were addressed. But, I decided that "none of those will happen to me, it will work fine" WRONG. First off for a brief hardware setup. I installed it on a Athlon XP 2800 powered system with dual 80MB 7200 ATA 133 drives, 1 Gig RAM and an Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4800 8X AGP Video with the Logitech X-680 surround speakers.
Now for the problems. That's all I had. All that system robbing software (reminds me of AOL), system crashes, hung installations, more system crashes, numerous calls to both Microsoft AND Creative only to get stuck editing my registry (always a treat) and downloading numerous "patches and updates", all being a waste of time. After downloading the "updated drivers" the problem only worsened. System crashes, hangs and even more system crashes.
Sooooooo after 3 months of beating myself up (I REALLY Wanted this thing to work properly) I YANKED IT! Time to end the headaches! I went out and picked up the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card and it has worked FLAWLESSLY!
Maybe someday (if I don't throw it on Ebay first) when Creative actually gets creative with there software so it will work correctly, I will put it back in. But for now, it will sit in the box and collect dust!
WIRELESS.......2003-07-22
I heard that wireless keyboads and mice are incompatible with the audigy 2. Is this BS?
my last review.......2003-06-05
i looked around, and WinAmp CAN support the controller, although it takes a bit of working with it to get it going, but if you're familiar with sound blaster products, having to work on something to get it working should NOT be a new concept for you.
anyways, yeah, it can run winamp, powerdvd, etc.
again. i'd go with it again if i had the choice.
happy shopping!
Product Description
The PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook opens a new era of possibilities for the notebook user. It delivers features previously only available to PC users but now available to notebook users (even those that are highly mobile). This is achieved by combining ultra-high quality audio with advanced, hardware-accelerated features all in a tiny PCMCIA format card! For instance it delivers THX certified 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio quality playback with incredible 104dB SNR, allowing the highest resolution audio playback with support for DVD-Audio at up to 24-bit/192kHz and Windows Media 9: 24-bit multi-channel audio format.The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook also provides encompassing 7.1 surround sound for Dolby Digital EX as well as DTS-ES supported DVD movies; any DirectSound3D games and CMSS 3D virtualized 7.1 stereo music. Gamers will love the hardware accelerated EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD that not only brings games to life, but delivers maximum performance! Musicians will also enjoy true 24-bit recording and low latency ASIO support for the ultimate audio recording platform. Notebook audio just got very, very interesting!
Customer Reviews:
Not for you if you have Vista OS.......2007-10-17
This card is handcuffed by Vista OS. Few of its cool features work with Vista OS. The Creative web site says it's compatible but in the fine print describes the "Vista" known problems. From the Creative web site:
"Drivers updated from the web will comply with UAA standards. However, due to Microsoft's new Windows Vista(tm) architecture, some features may be lost. Please refer to the Web Release Notes (WRN) found with the new driver downloads for details. In addition, the Creative Speaker Settings will not automatically synchronize with Windows Vista(tm) Speaker Settings."
"Known issues(with the Vista download):
Applications from the original Sound Blaster Audigy CD will not work with this download. Users are advised to use Audio Console included in this download to change speaker configurations.
This driver does not support the following:
--Decoding of Dolby® Digital and DTS(tm) signals
--DVD-Audio
--DirectSound®-based EAX games
--Gameports
--6.1 speaker mode.
--SPDIF passthrough is supported on Vista 32-bit only."
"Known Incompatibilities:
There have been reported compatibility problems with PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook and the PCMCIA controllers listed below...
--ENE Tech CB1411
--Ricoh R5C476(II)
--Ricoh R5C475(II)
--TI PCI-1520"
Creative Labs PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook ( 70SB053000012 )
It always worked for me.......2007-06-09
I like the simplicity of this card and the great sound it has. I have been told that it does not work in all computers and you would have to test it. In mine it did but in a friend's compaq laptop with very similar carachteristics as mine it did not work. So watch out and make sure you can return it. For the ones that work, you are in for a great experience with many different audio options.
Great specs, sounds great but crashes computer when ..........2007-05-20
Would give it a higher rating but crashes the Dell Latitude (Win XP) when you stop the device (as recommended) and remove the card! Bought it to use the laptop for Software Defined Radio, where the higher bandwidth would be very useful and a stereo sound in is required (most laptops have mono-in). If you don't try to stop or remove the card then everything works really well. Quite a bit of the software that comes with is pretty badly implemented - sucks up processor power. Hopefully the crash issue will be fixed.
Great for some things, only so-so for others.......2006-09-18
The analog output was always a little noisy when my laptop was charging.
Creative also fixes their digital outputs so that they only output at one word length and sample rate, (in the case of this card 24-bit, 96 Khz) and I could never for the life of me get them to sync properly with other digital equipment.
Great for musicians who want to record their playing.......2006-07-03
I have bought this card for the purpose of recording my guitar into mp3 files. I have gotten way more than I asked for.
My integrated soundcard was awful when it came to recording my gutiar. The microphone volume had to be adjusted perfectly to the sfx my guitar was using through my pedal. The recordings sounded cheap, staticy, poor, and homemade. When it came to recording with accompanying mp3's to accompany my guitar playing, it would be a big mess because the guitar or the mp3 would override one another.
But the Audigy 2 ZS fixed all those problems. The software that comes with it can do an analysis of your playing to determine what the microphone volume shoudl be set at and will adjust so it doesn't distort. It can even automatically play an mp3 once you hit the record button so the accompanying mp3 and instrument are synchronized.Not to mention, the recording interface is extremely simple but yet amazing, and the recording quality is amazing.
Some really cool features about this card is it can change the key of any mp3, but can only go up or down 4 semitones. It sounds amazing to hear a song you've heard forever in the key of E instead of the key of D. Also, it has a playback cleaner that takes the hissing and popping out of any song while its playing. It supports up to 7.1 speakers to create a THX surround sound experience.
There's a whole bunch of bells and whistles, but I think the highlights of this card are the recording and mp3 playback capabilities. I give it a 5.
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