what's the catch? (audigy2 platinum eX)

marc2003

marc2003

marc2003

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right i'm fed up with my old sb 4.1's **** poor performance for games so i'm after a card which does hardware eax. am i right in thinking the audigy se's only do software eax? if so that rules those out. next up are

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 7.1 EAX Sound Card - OEM (SC-037-CL) £35.84

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX - Retail (SC-014-CL) £46.94

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value 7.1 PCI Sound Card - OEM (SC-027-CL) £34.02

after checking some reviews, it seems you get a lot more card for your money with the eX. so how come the price difference is so small between that and the audigy2/4 above? :)
 
i did get it. not much to say really. the only use i have for the breakout box is conveniently plugging my headphones into. no swapping cables anymore.... :cool: other than that it's completely wasted on me. :D feels nice and solid though which is good.

picture00011wy.jpg


there's even more connections on the back (midi in/mid out/spdif in/spdif out to name a few) but i don't need any of them. i'm actually connected to my stereo from the line out on the card itself. the 6.1/thx etc is wasted as i don't have the speakers. like i say i just got it because it was only a few quid more than the basic cards i mentioned above. :)

edit: forgot to mention the remote control. you can of course use to control the creative media software but that's pap. but you can find 3rd party plugins to allow it control winamp/foobar and a few others. i did have a play and got it working ok but decided not to bother as i'm sat my pc most of the time i'm in on my own anyway.... :p
 
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Cheers for the pic mate,looks good.Breakouts would be handy for me,just need a 7m optical cable now for my surround system.How does it run with games? (with oblivion for example)
 
Hmmm tell me if this will solve my problems.


I am setting up a home cinema in a big room. PC will be behind the seats.....this means that I have to get the front speakers to the front, wires, etc.

Can I use this card and put the external box at the front of the room (one long wire) and then connect all the speakers into this thing instead if having to move loads of bit of kit forwards?
 
Looks like the cable between the box and soundcard is properietary, so limited to whatever cable length is supplied with it.

You could just buy a AV amplifier, leave that on your table, single audio cable (optical/coaxial) from the PC to the AV amp.
 
luminous said:
Cheers for the pic mate,looks good.Breakouts would be handy for me,just need a 7m optical cable now for my surround system.How does it run with games? (with oblivion for example)
Click to expand...

i don't play oblivion but this card should play all the highest settings in game (eax hd and openal), unless the game has x-fi only settings? not sure on this really - still a relative noob. :D

Vanilla said:
Hmmm tell me if this will solve my problems.


I am setting up a home cinema in a big room. PC will be behind the seats.....this means that I have to get the front speakers to the front, wires, etc.

Can I use this card and put the external box at the front of the room (one long wire) and then connect all the speakers into this thing instead if having to move loads of bit of kit forwards?
Click to expand...

nope won't help at all. speakers are still connected to the rear ports on the soundcard itself sitting in the pci slot. the box is primarily for inputs although is does have optical and spdif out. :)
 
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