Rating: 
Summary: Creative Does It Again!
Review: At first i was sorry that the old SoundBlaster Live! line of products was being phased out as I had become so very fond of them. But now that I have bought Audigy Platinum, I realize that Creative has just continued to improve their reputation with this exceptional product. There is NO problem when installing the card and Audigy drive even with Windows XP (I do advise downloading the latest drivers from creative's website to have them on hand for use after the hardware is installed. I have also installed this with Windows Me; no problems, just beautiful sound. It's nice to not need my external Dolby 5.1 decoder that also controlls my digital Cambridge Soundworks speakers, except unless I want to decode a movie from a set top DVD player.I heartily suggest that anyone wondering whether or not this card is worth it to just go ahead and buy it! But you DO need a quality speaker system as well. Thanks again, creative Technologies!
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BUY THIS CARD until Creative fixes the Volume setting
Review: Audigy Platinum sounds wonderful. Having the controls in the front is the obvious selling point, especially when you consider you get a free front 1394 port, BUT... I leave mine on mute at all times unless I want to hear something specific. The reason is that every time you reboot the Volume DEFAULTS TO THE LOUDEST setting, waking everyone in the house. Creative has no fix, only a "work around" that doesn't work. It is a pain to pay this much for a sound card and have to leave it off. Stick with what you have until they have a real fix.
Rating:
Summary: One excellent sound card for the money!
Review: Creative has produced on helluva a sound card with the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum. The card works great under Windows XP and there are downloads for the PlayCenter and the Creative software currently available. Even without the driver updates the card is stable and its audio fidelity is quite good. The included software package contains titles that most users may never use but it's good that Creative included them for the budding musicicans out there. Physically, the Audigy card is bigger than its Live! precessors but still only occupies a half-length PCI slot. The card also features a FireWire port on the bracket and another on the Audigy Drive, which mounts in a 5.25 inch external bay. You can't beat free FireWire! I highly recommend this card to all users looking to upgrade their existing audio solutions. They will not be disappointed with the power and stability of Creative's Soundblaster Audigy Platinum.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy!
Review: Creative said that if you want to use this in Windows XP with full functionality, then you must buy an upgrade CD that will be available soon, it's 2002 and it's still not available. Right out of the box, the remote won't work and the liveware won't install, but remeber on the box, it says nothing about working with XP. And the downloadable drivers are a joke, it will crash your system, leave it on and just wait, it will go down.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Had to get a soundcard for my new computer cause I didn't want to use the built in sound. I bought the Audigy because it was the newest thing out and was being touted as the best thing for audio since stereo sound. When I installed it though, the sound thru my 2 Boston Accoustics speakers was a joke. I had to turn them way up to hear anything at all. The sound was hissy and crackly. After I moved the speakers away from the monitor, the sound improved greatly, but I still have to have my system's volume turned up all the way to hear anything. I definetely expected more, but maybe if I got more expensive speakers, I might unlock the potential of this soundcard.
Rating: 
Summary: Audigy Platinum & Win XP go hand-in-hand
Review: Here is my experience installing the Audigy Platinum Soundcard on Win XP Pro upgraded from Win98SE:
Once I sorted through the many wires and adapters that came with the audigy platinum, and with a few brief glances at the Quick Start hardware installation guide, I had no problems installing the audigy soundcard and the internal drive. Once the hardware was installed, I turned on my computer and installed the drivers with no problems. When I rebooted, I heard glorious sound comming from my speakers! it was that easy and smooth. The drivers that shipped with the audigy worked fine on XP Pro until I changed the surround sound settings to use Dolby digital 5.1...XP crashed and I had to reboot. However, no serious harm was done. To correct this problem, I downloaded the XP drivers from SoundBlaster's website and installed them(note: this was reccommned from the beginning). Everything works great now. I have had no more issues using the software to control the audio settings and the cards special features. All-in-All, it took me about 15-20 minutes to install the hardware and 10-15 minutes to install the required programs and drivers only. Both hardware and software installation processes went very smooth.
Because there were so many mixed reviews concerning the success and failures of those trying to install this soundcard on an XP based machine, my success was an unforeseen but welcome victory. So to all XP Home/Pro users, do not be intimidated by the reviews denouncing the audigy as a suitable mate for your Win XP based machine. It installes like any other soundacard. Just be sure to download the XP driver updates.
Rating:
Summary: XP users: Don't worry!
Review: I am running Windows XP Pro, and I got a little frightened when I read a review here on Amazon from a guy with XP saying it wouldn't work right. Well, he was wrong. I got my Audigy Platnium, installed it, downloaded the XP updates from www.creative.com, and everything worked like clockwork. The sound is great on my Klipsch Promedia 5.1 system, and I have yet to encounter a problem. Although it is a little pricy for a sound card, I would highly recommend this card if you have a nice speaker system to take advantage of its features.
Rating:
Summary: Great Card at a Great Price
Review: I am running XP and had a SB Live card. The card has been great for about 2-3 years but I wanted something more. Even though some of the reviews I have read for this crad talked about install problems. I still got the Audigy Platinum card. All I can say is I had not one problem installing the card. It runs like a dream. I just got all the latest software from creative's site instead of using the install CD. The card is running strong and I am very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: great sound card!
Review: i bought the audigy platinum about a month ago and couldn't be more pleased with it. now i'm a little bit of an audio freak and know a lot about sound equipment and what to look for in a sound device. this card amazed me by providing excellent sound quality especially for its price. the amount of inputs was also great and i have had no problem with playing songs of any type with the audigy. i had an internet stream running, mp3, wav, wma, mpg, and ac3 (dolby digital 5.1) file all playing at once and it never skipped or stuttered. my configuration right now is an amd 900 mhz, 80 gig hard drive, hp cd-rw, nvidia geforce 2 mx400, linksys ethernet card, yamaha tss-1b speaker system, win 98 se, and now the audigy. i would definitely recommend the audigy to anyone looking for a new sound card.
Rating:
Summary: - Amazing equipment -
Review: I bought the sound card last night and I am sure it deserves writing a review. The installation was very easy, although I am not a computer specialist. Took me about 15 min. I read quite a few reviews that the card and software are not compatible with Win XP which now I know is completely false. After I turned the computer on, windows detected new hardware and asked for drivers. I entered the CD and in about 30 sec I was able to play mp3 files with windows media player through the front panel toslink/rear speaker/headphone connections. It is recommended though to update drivers from creative website, which I did. Software instalation was also flawless.
Now few things that I found really awsome on the card:
- Sound quality is unbelievable, be it MP3, audio CD or game. I did not hear any noise/clicks, and I listened carefully...
- Ripping speed is fascinating (for my "elderly" system)- one CD every 5 min, which is pretty much the time needed to read the cd
- Software is really easy to learn to use and I think I can probably uninstall windows media player now
- The remote control is probably the single best feature available. Before, I knew my computer lacks something but I didn't know what... Gives you full controll and more (shut down/start apps./etc)
- The eax sound effects are also incredible (although many probably not that usefull). Best are Advanced EQ and Audio cleanup
--- I still have to try the rest of the software and my dvd is broken so I don't know how dolby 5.1 works but only for above features the card is worth buying
Cons (so far): $$$.$$
Good job, Creative Labs!
My system: AMD 800Mhz, 384 Mb, 30Gb HDD, Phillips 4x4x32, Nvidia TNT2 16 Mb, Westell ADSL 1.5 Mb/s connection, Win XP Pro, Technics SA-DX1050 amp/ Technics RP HT700 headphones/ Technics SB CR77 speakers; TOS-link optical cable for connections.
|
