Customer Reviews

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Sound Card

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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.

Do you remember the first time you heard a cd? How much better the sound quality was compared to cassette? Well, it has happened again. The sound of DVD-audio on the Audigy 2 gives that same feeling only better. I only have one DVD-Audio disc after spending all my excess on the audigy 2 card, dvd-rom, and 6.1 speakers. This new format totally imerses the listener in sound. You here distinct sounds coming from all different directions.

The sound card itself is superior in sound quality than the Sound blaster live. Mp3's unfortunately will not give you the distinct 5.1 channel output, but this card still improves on the predecessor (sb live).

The front panel of the Platinum edition gives addtional inputs to the card. Anyone who wants to be able to record form almost any source imaginable, should skip the basic and get the platinum. The remote control that the platinum edition adds is almost worth the price of admission alone.

If you are in the market to upgrade your sound card, this is the one. You will not be disappointed.

heres what ive come to expect from creative labs. very very wonderful products, but you have to figure them out on your own. as youve heard, the customer support is nil, so if you're not good with computers, and willing to get in there and get your hands dirty as it were, go find another company.

i got my sound blaster up and running in my computer in about an hour, starting from when i opened the package and ending after i had installed the drivers and tested it out.
ive only had it for a day, and i have yet to use it to its full potential, but i will. and i have no doubt i'll have a blast with it.

im sorta wishing the remote would work other programs, like WinAmp, so i can get a web radio station at the push of a button, but thats a small gripe, and its in Winamps court to solve that one! <crosses fingers>

all in all a very nice soundcard. it ACTUALLY MAKES YOUR SOUND BETTER. when you play around with the settings it can give a nice little subdued reverb that adds to the atmosphere. great stuff. my little 2.1 speakers have been given some new life.

anyways, i'm off to find a good 5.1 speaker system. gotta try the DVD Audio next. I hear they're rereleasing Dark Side of the Moon in 5.1.... THAT will be something to write home about.

The new audigy 2 is a great product. Listening to sound on this card is like re-discovering music all over again. Things definitely sound nice, but of course, you will also need some at least decent speakers. Nevertheless, the remote is a really cool part too since you can program it to control your computer's dvd player, mp3 player, even internet explorer!! It's a great product.

My only gripe is Creative's customer support. They don't have an 800 number so you'll have to call long distance to get in touch with them by phone and the only other way to get customer service is through email, but it seems that they aren't prompt with the email part. It took me nearly a week to hear back from them and their advice on my problem did not help at all. After one month of this emailing back and forth, I finally figured out the problem myself (with the help of forums), rather than through Creative's tech support.

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!

I love this sound board. It works great. Just a little problem finding Win 7 software, but other than that, no complaints. I bought this board to use with guitar lessons. I can plug my guitar in and play along with the lesson dvd and use my earphones so I don't disturb the family. I can even use special sound effects on the guitar without affecting dvd or cd sound. Cool.

The shipping and handling were prompt, which is normal with Amazon.

FOR THE TIME I DID HAVE THIS SOUND CARD IT WAS GREAT. IT WORKED GREAT FOR OVER 3 YRS TILL I HAD MY COMPUTER REPAIR GUY PUT IT IN A NEW CASE THEN IT BROKE SHORTLY AFTER. FOR THE PRICE ITS GREAT. I GOT IT FOR MY MUSIC TO TAKE SAMPLE AND RECORD VOCAL BUT USED IT FOR MUCH MORE.

GREAT FOR ANY START STUDIO

C. Gerale Hendricks

Have this sound card on my other computer also. It's greatg. Easy to work with and best of all a front panel with input/output, so I don't have to pull my tower out and search for a place to plug in.

Look. This card and most of Creative sound cards are hit and miss...some of them work, other times hey crash. This time I got one that crashed.


The creative software tried to take over my computer, crashed my computer, and gave me a crackling sound that affected my DJ performances. Will never buy one of their cards again.


If you buy your taking a 50/50 risk on this on this junk.