Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't last long
Review: I bought this card in May 2002. My operating system is Windows 2000, and I had no problem installing it. However, after using it for 3 weeks, the card died. There was no sound. At first, I thought it was due to corrupted driver, so I tried to reinstall the driver, but the setup software kept saying "No audigy sound card is detected". I've tried downloading new drivers, swapping PCI slots, but nothing worked. At the end, I contacted Creative Support via email. Although I told them that I have already tried swapping slots and downloading latest drivers, the sluggish customer service asked me in their reply to "try downloading latest drivers and swapping PCI slots". These guys never bother to read what you wrote in your email. Anyway, after corresponding with them for over one month (they typically take more than a week to reply each email, using a one-line response), finally one agent told me I had a defective sound card, and authorized an exchange. Upon receiving the replacement card, everything worked fine. Installation was as easy as the very first time I'd installed it. But yesterday (March 09, 2003), my card died again. Exactly the same problem. The setup program cannot detect the card. It's still under warranty so I will ask for another exchange. This card has really disappointed me. My previous Creative products all worked very well, but now I must say that the Audigy is really bad in its design. Avoid buying this card by all means.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't last long
Review: I bought this card in May 2002. My operating system is Windows 2000, and I had no problem installing it. However, after using it for 3 weeks, the card died. There was no sound. At first, I thought it was due to corrupted driver, so I tried to reinstall the driver, but the setup software kept saying "No audigy sound card is detected". I've tried downloading new drivers, swapping PCI slots, but nothing worked. At the end, I contacted Creative Support via email. Although I told them that I have already tried swapping slots and downloading latest drivers, the sluggish customer service asked me in their reply to "try downloading latest drivers and swapping PCI slots". These guys never bother to read what you wrote in your email. Anyway, after corresponding with them for over one month (they typically take more than a week to reply each email, using a one-line response), finally one agent told me I had a defective sound card, and authorized an exchange. Upon receiving the replacement card, everything worked fine. Installation was as easy as the very first time I'd installed it. But yesterday (March 09, 2003), my card died again. Exactly the same problem. The setup program cannot detect the card. It's still under warranty so I will ask for another exchange. This card has really disappointed me. My previous Creative products all worked very well, but now I must say that the Audigy is really bad in its design. Avoid buying this card by all means.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I thought it would be
Review: I bought this card to replace my SB live card (which I loved), which suffered a premature death. The 5.1 is really cool, if you can use it, but I don't have a DVD player and the only AC3 songs I could find were the 2 on the install disk. Maybe the firewire port will come in handy, but for now, I don't need it either. So in that respect, I don't find this any better than the SB live card, which seemed to have a better mixer. I have maxed out all my inputs (being a musician) so I need the TAD input, but this in not on the mixer. And a can't pan or EAX analog inputs separately. Other than that it sounds great and I did not have any installation problems with WIN98SE. I wish they would "crowbar" the output when the computer is turned off; the floating inputs to the speaker pick up 60HZ hum and take a long time to turn themselves off. I won't comment on the included software, I see this has already been done.
Rating: 
Summary: Audiophile quality for an incredible price.
Review: I had no idea this card would make such an incredible difference than the factory card that was in my system. This is truly audiophile quality for those that really can't afford to be an audiophile. Creative claims that with their 24-bit/100dB SNR that you can listen to MP3/WMAs, CD's and any stereo music with high definition audio clarity surpassing high-end home theatre receivers and now I believe them. And for this price? It is incredible and most don't even know it exists. I bought a logitech z-560 speaker system and it sounded great with my system. Then a guy at a certain store that rhymes with gest guy told me that this would help the sound. What an understatement. It took a while to get hooked up properly (call creative and make sure all is set up right, they are very helpful) but when it worked I was flat out astonished at the clarity and power without hiss or ANY distortion. And all for less than a low quality home system amplifier by itself. This sounds every bit as good if not better than systems well over a grand. Toss out that old soundcard or even a new one and do whatever it takes to install one of these. It is certainly worth it.
Rating:
Summary: This sux
Review: I have been using sound blaster live!! with no problem at all untill i started using this sound card. It just kills my Win XP. So if you have Win XP, watch out. Also Creative representative are not helpful what so ever. And the driver doesn't keep up to date. I just don't understand why a honorable company like creative can't even write a decent driver for WIN XP. I do not trust Creative no more and won't buy from them ever again.
Rating:
Summary: On drivers, XP, and other such nonsense
Review: I have had an audigy Platinum EX since right after it came out (it's the same, except for the break-out box), and I agree, the software is horrible. In fact, I threw away the CD's that came with it. The latest downloadable drivers, however, work perfectly on XP pro (and presumably home as well) and aren't bloated at all. I would recommend this card to anyone who is looking for a high-performance sound card. If you just want something that you can pop in and forget, and you don't care about accurate 3D positioning, or other such bells and whistles, I would suggest something more stable, and cheaper, like the soundblaster Live! value. Or, if you really want to skimp, many new motherboards actually have very good 3D sound onboard. Onboard sound really has a bad rap; but it's come a long way recently, and is actually quite decent for everyday use.
Rating:
Summary: On drivers, XP, and other such nonsense
Review: I have had an audigy Platinum EX since right after it came out (it's the same, except for the break-out box), and I agree, the software is horrible. In fact, I threw away the CD's that came with it. The latest downloadable drivers, however, work perfectly on XP pro (and presumably home as well) and aren't bloated at all. I would recommend this card to anyone who is looking for a high-performance sound card. If you just want something that you can pop in and forget, and you don't care about accurate 3D positioning, or other such bells and whistles, I would suggest something more stable, and cheaper, like the soundblaster Live! value. Or, if you really want to skimp, many new motherboards actually have very good 3D sound onboard. Onboard sound really has a bad rap; but it's come a long way recently, and is actually quite decent for everyday use.
Rating:
Summary: Bloatware
Review: I have to agree with some of the other comments about this product. The Bundled software is the ugliest and most unfreindly I have seen in years. My Dell PC with winXP is running half as fast since I installed it. By the way, Extigy has exactly the same software and the same impact on the system. Startup took 5 minutes this morning! Don't touch this product with a barge pole.
Rating:
Summary: Best Value, Best Results
Review: I initially bought this sound card because of its price. I also bought it because it comes from the renowned family of Sound Blaster Sound Cards. I am definetely not an expert on sound cards or computers for that matter but I can definetely hear the difference compared to my old PCI 128 card. Although, I'm sure there isn't a person out there who wouldn't hear the difference after such a drastic upgrade. Coupled with Creative Labs Inspire 5.1 (Analog) speakers, the sound is clear and very loud. However, if you are not playing music and are just browsing around your desktop applications, you will hear a slight buzz when you move the mouse around. This is only audible when you have speaker volume considerably up. It doesn't bother me because the only time I hear it is when the thing is not in use. Maybe digital speakers would void this little nuisance. I am not going to let it affect my rating. I have yet to experience EAX supported games but from the demos the package comes with, it seems like it really adds to the realism in terms of sound being effected by its environment (e.g. walking from one side of a wall, where there is a loud machine, to the otherside, where the loud noise is muffled by the wall). Lastly, I bought the MP3 version because the Audigy Gamer didn't have any games I'm interested in at the moment (the games don't even have EAX support) and because I'm into the whole digital music scene. However, the mixing software seems a bit weak in my opinion. I haven't really used it that much to tell you the truth. Overall, this is a great buy. This card should satisfy most people's need for clear and loud sound in a small to medium sized room.
Rating: 
Summary: XP Users Beware!
Review: I love Creative products and have always used their sound cards in my computers - never a problem and only superb sound. Enter the Audigy Mp3. Running a clean install of both Windows XP Home and Audigy...and it has been one problem after the other. Purchased specifically for Mp3 ripping, I've only been successful in doing so one time! Most recent patches and drivers installed, it still doesn't work correctly. Creative has been no/no help and keeps kicking out canned responses to my service requests. If I can sell it to someone I will, and go back to my good old SB LIVE!
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