Home >> Computer Add-Ons >> Sound Cards
Home >> Computer Add-Ons
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Internal Sound Card (70SB035000003) | List Price: $199.99
|
Brand: Creative Labs
Binding: Electronics
Features: - Front Panel Audigy 2 ZS Internal I/O Drive
- Superior Fidelity 24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio
- THX Certified Sound Card for Cinematic Audio
- Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio Playback
- Ultra-realistic EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD Effects
Good sound, convenient I/O box, but still has problems [Posted on 2004-07-28]
The Good News: The hardware is all first rate. The I/O panel box is a wonderful and convenient. It looks good, and works very good.
The Bad News: Unfortunately, Creative clearly employs freshman software school engineers. In the more than two years that Windows XP has been out, Creative STILL has not figured out how to write compatible software and drivers for XP and SP1. It is maddening and pure frustration should your system crash or freeze after doing the creative installation. Calling Creative for support is useless, hopeless. They are truly helpless. They do not have a clue! If by chance you manage to get the system running, you will find the hardware functions extremely well and the sound is gorgeous. Creative should simply contract out the software engineering to a competant firm and be done with it.
Run Screaming in the Opposite Direction [Posted on 2005-01-08]
I thought this would be a nice upgrade from the SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 , which had good performance. Upon initial install None of the audio applications are finding the card. This includes the MediaSource that comes with the Card.Hmmm.. It seems that to really uninstall the SB Live! first you must follow a page long proceedure outlined in a service ID file at Creative Tech suppport but not mentioned in the install instructions...another hour and two more reboots, and now my Live Card and all its applications are really really gone from Windows. Unfortunaltely this did NOT fix the problem. SO my next bit of advice from Creative goes like this:
"advice you to uninstall all the drivers and applications of the sound card. Remove the sound card from the PCI slot. Update your motherboard BIOS to the latest updated followed by windows to latest service pack and updates. Download and install the latest Direct X. Now put back the card into the computer in another PCI slot. Install the drivers and applications from the installation CD than update your drivers from our support side."
Sounds fun, but I'd rather be listening to music!!!!
Great sound quality [Posted on 2005-10-31]
I don't watch movies or play games on computers. So this review is only based on my experience on listening to music through this sound card. To be more specific, optical output is the only thing I use on this sound card.
I had an old sound card (Hercules GameSurround II) that has an optical output connected to my receiver via a 12-ft cable. It's better than onboard sound, but I can hear the difference between that sound and the same CD played in the DVD player also connected to the same receiver via optical link.
This sound card replaced my old Hercules. Now the sound is more dynamic, with a more powerful and tighter bass, like it's being played out of the DVD player. I can now hear the different layers of sound and instruments in the background, which I couldn't do with more muddled sound of Hercules card. The remote comes handy. You can control the volume, mute, etc. But the play/stop/skip functions are only compatible with Creative's own music player software MediaSource. But the remote layout is kind of awful, especially if you have a big hand.
Having read all these troubles people have with the installation, I was being particularly careful during the installation. I downloaded the latest driver and programs from the website and didn't use the CD that comes with it. Then uninstall my old sound card software, power down, remove the card, power up one more time just to make sure the uninstall is complete, then power down, insert the new card, power up, cancel the automaic install, install the drivers. Didn't have any problem, probably has something to do with my old card being not a Creative product.
One complaint: They should have placed the digital outputs (optical & coaxial) in the back. Now I have a connector sticking out in the front panel.
Awesome Audio Card [Posted on 2006-07-18]
I use my computer to sing KaraOK. I upgraded the audio card from a integrated one to this Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum. The sound quality has been greatly improved as I listen to the playback: I no longer hear noise and the voice became more dynamic.
It is easy to install the card. Just disable the previous one, shut down the computer and install the hardware, start the computer, follow the instruction of the manual to install the software and then it worked great. P.S. my OS is Windows XP SP 2.
CONFLICTS CAUSE CRASHES [Posted on 2006-12-25]
This is the exact same card as the 2 ZS Platinum that I own (just without the front panel, so I am warning others about this card.
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!
Click here for more details and discount information...
|
){kind=link}