[The Machine]

The Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum Ex has the best sound that I've ever heard. I could not believe the difference this sound card made.


Link to specs

 

[mikef]

Are the drivers typical Creative Labs? Ie. unexplained blue screens, irregular sound hiccups and the whole bit.

 

[The Machine]

Quote:

Originally posted by mikef Are the drivers typical Creative Labs? Ie. unexplained blue screens, irregular sound hiccups and the whole bit.

I've not experienced any of that.

 

[vfrjim]

I had the Platinum Ex and it got returned, drivers were bloatware, did not allow DTS cd's to pass (bit for bit) and it sounded no better then my SBlive 5.1, but then again, IMO.


Jim

 

[Goi]

I think the Audigy2 is much better than the original Audigy. The Audigy2 is widely regarded as what the original Audigy should've been.

 

[Gozer]

That's why it's called Audigy SP1


Still use the same DSP (10k2).

 

[KikeG]

Concerning audio quality, the M-Audio Revolution beats both them easily.

 

[Paul_Seng]

I don't know about the revo, but I have the audigy ex and an audiophile 2496. With either a Via or Intel chipset I have had the same problem with the 2496, audio dropouts (using digital out), using the newest drivers and following people here on this forum. Never had a problem with the audigy (using digital out only).

I now would like to upgrade to either the audigy 2 (so I can have both analog and digital out for WMP9, DVD, and DVD-Audio), or the revo, (to do the same things but I have heard the revo does not have the software ready for DVD-Audio. Who on this forum has actually tried both cards for at least 2 weeks in the same system? Please tell me what you think (not just sound quality, but also capability for the above apps and troubleshooting, if any)

 

[HoloDeck]

Paul:


I have both the Audigy 2 (6 months) and the Revo (2 months) in my HTPC. I use the Audigy 2 strictly for DVD-A because the Revo DVD-A software is vaporware at this point. I use the Revo in SPDIF mode for CD Audio (in WMP9) and DVD movies (in Power-DVD XP), mainly because the Revo does not re-sample CD Audio from 44.1 kHz to 48kHz as the Audigy 2 does. The improvement in CD sound quality is very apparent with the Revo. I can't really hear any difference between the two cards in SPDIF mode for DVD DD or DTS audio bit streams.


As far as DVD-A, the clarity and especially dynamic range, is a significant improvement over CD Audio although, the Audigy software, bass management, and speaker calibration leave a lot to be desired IMO. I don't think Creative has ever been known for strength in software or driver development.


I have never had any dropouts with either card but, I have noticed off-speed playback problems with DTS CDs. I have read that this can actually be fixed by using an older version of Winamp and bypassing the Windows kmixer.


My system configuration is a 1.4 GHz P4 running Windows XP SP1 and all current Hotfixes. Audigy 2 in PCI slot 1 and Revo in PCI slot 2.

 

[The Machine]

Oh well. I though the Audigy 2 Platinum sounded good.