Rating: 
Summary: Fine for PC speaker setup - Not for PC Home Theater
Review: I recently connected my PC to my TV. (They are in 2 different rooms). The video runs via (5m) DVI cable and I was looking for a good way to connect the audio to the receiver-driven home theater 5.1 speakers. Silly me for thinking that a digital coaxial out from this card could simply plug into coax in on receiver and Dolby coding etc. would be recognized. (SEE other review regarding this below). So, after purchasing a 25' coax cable and miniplug connector, I was extremely disappointed NOT to have true 5.1 digital sound from my speakers.Basically, I will have to run a bunch of (looong) analog connecting RCA cables to my receiver, instead of 1 digital coax - what a pain! Not to mention the headphone BS also mentioned. Seems like they overlooked some very basic things with this card and focused on the the processing...
Rating: 
Summary: Best on the market!
Review: I, like another reviewer, have a Dell system with an SB Live! card. The live's not bad (It'll get you by if you dont like nifty features) but, I loved the Audigy 2 much more. I had no system conflicts. Plus it even comes with cool music management and enhancement software! I am not saying it'll work for everyone, but it worked for me sure 'nuff! It is very reasonably priced for all you get; plus it was a snap to install!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Incredible sound, great features. Oh man, where to start. First off it is 7.1, 6.1, and 5.1 compatible I use 7.1 with the Creative Inspire T7700 speakers and it is amazing the difference you can hear in games. Also 24-bit audio, which can improve the quality of even regular 16-bit songs. It has every audio technology available, more than your home theater or ampliphier probably. DTS-ES, Dolby Digital-EX, THX, EAX, as well as a zillion software programs, and possible configurations and settings (you can make it sound like your in a cave or a concert hall, or add karaoke, what ever you want). This sound card is also essential for recordings. And for only $90 you'd be crazy not to allow yourself a little luxary for your pc experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Good If you understand basic internal computer structure.
Review: It wasnt easy putting in this card. I have a midsize computer case and although this card wasnt as much trouble as my new hard drive it still was a pain to do all of it in a timely fasion... All together it took me around 45mins -to- 1hour to get it completed and then 15-20 to install softwear.
The best thing about this card is the great sound quality, that I havent seen before.
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Easy Instalation Guide they dont tell you.
-Get all materials together prior, tools and hardware.
-Get Highly Caffinated beverage -Alcohol and computers dont mix-
-Sit in well lighted area
-Turn on computer and press your BIOS hotkey usually f1/f10 and change where it says audio codec <auto> change it to disable
-Exit and save changes then go to My computer, right click Propertys> Device Manager>Sound, Video, Game contorls. Disable SiS audio(or something like that) and all other disableable audio things EXCEPT LEGACY AUDIO DRIVERS-if its there- I did and it messed it up. /:
-Turn off computer and istall card make sure all parts are put in and connected right... Even that little thing they say is Optional connection, cause I didnt do it at first and it didnt work.
-Turn on computer and let it do the rest from there...
-Get good speakers you'll need them.
(READ ALL DIRECTIONS GIVEN WITH YOUR CARD. AND BACK UP YOUR SYSTEM-with system restore just incase)
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[...]
Rating:
Summary: Awesome sound!
Review: It's amazing the difference in sound that this gives me over the little onboard sound device I had. Yeah, I know, can't really compare the two, but if you want nice, clear sound for a good price, go with this soundcard. It's worth every penny!
Rating: 
Summary: Underimpressed!
Review: The following is an email sent to Creative Tech Support over three weeks ago. They have not replied so I am writing reviews as I told them I would. (Problem 3 below was somehow resolved after unchecking Synchronize with Control Panel in Speaker Settings and then rechecking it several days later.) My system is a Dell Dimension 8300, P4 2.6 GHz, 512 MB ram, nVidia GeForce FX 5200 video, 5.1 speakers, Windows XP. I have over 20 years experience with PCs and I have been a studious learner during that time. I have installed many peripherals and add-ons in my own and machines belonging to others. But I have never had as many problems installing any of them as with this sound card, even in the days before plug and play! I have installed the programs and drivers along with updates from your web site three times now because of various problems. The last installation changed my nVidia display card settings which caused a greenish monochrome color in DVD movies, but I reset them back. After much work I now have the most trouble free installation so far. The following problems remain however. 1. Opening THX Console resets the speaker level settings under the advanced tab of Surround Mixer and opening other settings programs causes those in THX Console to change. Prior installations also caused settings in EAX Console to change. Apparently one can use either THX Console and not the others, or the others can be used but not THX Console. Seems to me your documentation needs a better explanation of the interactions between these three programs and Speaker Settings and how to use them together. 2. When using SPDIF output from my DVD player application, some sounds aren't played during initial screens, menus and credits and there are occasional skips and faltering as some movies start playing. But playback of the same DVD is perfect when I set the application to decode sound rather than send it to the card to decode. 3. Volume of CD and DVD playback is controlled by the Wave slider in Surround Mixer instead of the CD Audio slider when digital output is enabled for the DVD player in Device Manager (the digital cable isn't connected between the card and the player). So my DVD player resets the wave playback volume high when it is started, and I then get blasted when a true wave file is played, if Synchronize with Control Panel is checked in Speaker Settings and I forget to lower wave volume after a DVD. Your documentation may also need more explanation of this to prevent confusion and endless experimenting. Any help you can give will be appreciated. I am about ready to pull the card, revert back to the onboard sound, and start writing some bad reviews on web sites, which I have done only once before. I frankly don't see how an average user could be satisfied with this card unless they are oblivious to its problems. P.S. The card is installed in a Dell Dimension 8300 with plenty of resources, and I could find no info on your site that recommends a bios update as for some earlier Dell units. I have tried installing the card in two different slots in the computer. The card shares an IRQ with a USB Universal Host Controller. No other resources are shared.
Rating:
Summary: Underimpressed!
Review: The following is an email sent to Creative Tech Support over three weeks ago. They have not replied so I am writing reviews as I told them I would. (Problem 3 below was somehow resolved after unchecking Synchronize with Control Panel in Speaker Settings and then rechecking it several days later.) My system is a Dell Dimension 8300, P4 2.6 GHz, 512 MB ram, nVidia GeForce FX 5200 video, 5.1 speakers, Windows XP. I have over 20 years experience with PCs and I have been a studious learner during that time. I have installed many peripherals and add-ons in my own and machines belonging to others. But I have never had as many problems installing any of them as with this sound card, even in the days before plug and play! I have installed the programs and drivers along with updates from your web site three times now because of various problems. The last installation changed my nVidia display card settings which caused a greenish monochrome color in DVD movies, but I reset them back. After much work I now have the most trouble free installation so far. The following problems remain however. 1. Opening THX Console resets the speaker level settings under the advanced tab of Surround Mixer and opening other settings programs causes those in THX Console to change. Prior installations also caused settings in EAX Console to change. Apparently one can use either THX Console and not the others, or the others can be used but not THX Console. Seems to me your documentation needs a better explanation of the interactions between these three programs and Speaker Settings and how to use them together. 2. When using SPDIF output from my DVD player application, some sounds aren't played during initial screens, menus and credits and there are occasional skips and faltering as some movies start playing. But playback of the same DVD is perfect when I set the application to decode sound rather than send it to the card to decode. 3. Volume of CD and DVD playback is controlled by the Wave slider in Surround Mixer instead of the CD Audio slider when digital output is enabled for the DVD player in Device Manager (the digital cable isn't connected between the card and the player). So my DVD player resets the wave playback volume high when it is started, and I then get blasted when a true wave file is played, if Synchronize with Control Panel is checked in Speaker Settings and I forget to lower wave volume after a DVD. Your documentation may also need more explanation of this to prevent confusion and endless experimenting. Any help you can give will be appreciated. I am about ready to pull the card, revert back to the onboard sound, and start writing some bad reviews on web sites, which I have done only once before. I frankly don't see how an average user could be satisfied with this card unless they are oblivious to its problems. P.S. The card is installed in a Dell Dimension 8300 with plenty of resources, and I could find no info on your site that recommends a bios update as for some earlier Dell units. I have tried installing the card in two different slots in the computer. The card shares an IRQ with a USB Universal Host Controller. No other resources are shared.
Rating:
Summary: Best Soundcard Out There
Review: They say that the quality of onboard sound has improved to the point where buying PCI soundcards is unnecessary, but this card proves them wrong. If you have a nice set of speakers, this card is an absolute necessity. The quality of the sound is superb, and the software packaged with it gives you all sorts of nice options to tinker around with the settings. Also, if you play video games, the EAX is really noticible and significantly improves the overall gaming atmosphere.
Rating:
Summary: Audigy 2 ZS questions answered...
Review: This is going to be a long review because I just purchased this and I want to answer some questions that I couldn't find answers to before I purchased it. If you want the 1 word summary, it's "INCREADIBLE"!! I was upgrading from a Fortissimo 1 sound card. I understand that this is not a great card, however I was using the optical out to connect to a DTS receiver. Essentially the sound card was doing nothing but transferring data and my nice receiver was doing all of the work. This made me apprehensive about upgrading to the Audigy 2 because I wasn't sure if I would notice a difference from my optical card. (pause for a quick side note) You can NOT hook this card up digitally to a receiver. I LOVE this card, but I feel this is important for customers to understand this fact, and very deceiving from Creative. The digital output on the card uses a proprietary digital signal. For the techs out there, a normal (electrical not optical) digital signal is a sine wave. The crest of the wave registers as "on" and the bottom of the wave registers as "off". The creative digital-out uses 8 points on the sine wave to create the signal. 1 point for each audio channel. This will only work with computer speaker sets designed for this type of proprietary signal. It will not work with home theatre receivers because it is not a standard digital signal. (now back to my review) With the Audigy 2 ZS I would need to hook everything up using analog THX certified monster cables. Essentially it boils down to weather my receiver will sound better decoding the digital signal (old card), or if the Audigy 2 ZS will sound better decoding the signal and then passing it to the receiver for amplification. I honestly could not be happier with the results. The Audigy 2 ZS sounds 10 times better than my old setup. Everything is MUCH more crisp and well defined, and the low end sounds AMAZING. I'm not talking loud bass, I'm just talking really really tight and smooth. I could not recommend this card more. It is THE BEST upgrade I have made to my PC in years. I also wanted to touch a bit on the setup, because I couldn't find any reviews anywhere that explained how to hook up the analog outs to a home theatre receiver, and Creative made it a little tricky. First, the 8 channels use only 3 mini plugs as connectors. How you ask? The first connector is an easy to find cable. It's a mini -> 2 RCA. This is the same cable you use to hook a Discman up to your receiver. The other 2 are weird. They are mini -> 3 RCA. The only use I've ever seen for a cable like this is hooking up a DV camcorder to a TV. If you are using monster it is called a CAMAV cable. The first plug feeds your front right and front left speakers. The second plug feeds you rear left, rear right, and side left speakers. The third plug feeds your side right, center, and sub speakers. I could not find that info anywhere before buying and experimenting. I use a double receiver setup with two 5.1 receivers. The second receiver has some unused channels, so later I can expand as far as 10.2. I highly recommend this setup. I also HIGHLY recommend this card. Like I said before, I am blown away by the sound quality. I've never heard a computer sound so good.
Rating:
Summary: Audigy 2 ZS questions answered...
Review: This is going to be a long review because I just purchased this and I want to answer some questions that I couldn't find answers to before I purchased it. If you want the 1 word summary, it's "INCREADIBLE"!! I was upgrading from a Fortissimo 1 sound card. I understand that this is not a great card, however I was using the optical out to connect to a DTS receiver. Essentially the sound card was doing nothing but transferring data and my nice receiver was doing all of the work. This made me apprehensive about upgrading to the Audigy 2 because I wasn't sure if I would notice a difference from my optical card. (pause for a quick side note) You can NOT hook this card up digitally to a receiver. I LOVE this card, but I feel this is important for customers to understand this fact, and very deceiving from Creative. The digital output on the card uses a proprietary digital signal. For the techs out there, a normal (electrical not optical) digital signal is a sine wave. The crest of the wave registers as "on" and the bottom of the wave registers as "off". The creative digital-out uses 8 points on the sine wave to create the signal. 1 point for each audio channel. This will only work with computer speaker sets designed for this type of proprietary signal. It will not work with home theatre receivers because it is not a standard digital signal. (now back to my review) With the Audigy 2 ZS I would need to hook everything up using analog THX certified monster cables. Essentially it boils down to weather my receiver will sound better decoding the digital signal (old card), or if the Audigy 2 ZS will sound better decoding the signal and then passing it to the receiver for amplification. I honestly could not be happier with the results. The Audigy 2 ZS sounds 10 times better than my old setup. Everything is MUCH more crisp and well defined, and the low end sounds AMAZING. I'm not talking loud bass, I'm just talking really really tight and smooth. I could not recommend this card more. It is THE BEST upgrade I have made to my PC in years. I also wanted to touch a bit on the setup, because I couldn't find any reviews anywhere that explained how to hook up the analog outs to a home theatre receiver, and Creative made it a little tricky. First, the 8 channels use only 3 mini plugs as connectors. How you ask? The first connector is an easy to find cable. It's a mini -> 2 RCA. This is the same cable you use to hook a Discman up to your receiver. The other 2 are weird. They are mini -> 3 RCA. The only use I've ever seen for a cable like this is hooking up a DV camcorder to a TV. If you are using monster it is called a CAMAV cable. The first plug feeds your front right and front left speakers. The second plug feeds you rear left, rear right, and side left speakers. The third plug feeds your side right, center, and sub speakers. I could not find that info anywhere before buying and experimenting. I use a double receiver setup with two 5.1 receivers. The second receiver has some unused channels, so later I can expand as far as 10.2. I highly recommend this setup. I also HIGHLY recommend this card. Like I said before, I am blown away by the sound quality. I've never heard a computer sound so good.
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