Creative Sound Blaster Audigy DE
Movie Playback
Using The Matrix as a test disc, we tested the ability of the card to cleanly decode and steer the 5.1 Dolby Digital signal to the correct speakers. We weren't disappointed: In the scene in which Neo first meets Trinity in the techno club, their dialogue was clearly audible at low to medium volume settings despite the thumping ambient music.
Speech and other sounds were also sent to their correct positions on the 5.1 soundstage: There was no ambiguity as to where a speeding car or flying bullet and its reverberations were.
Creative chose not to bundle DVD playback software with the card, a puzzling omission since users may have older software which support only Dolby Surround instead of DTS or 5.1 Digital, formats which the card supports to full advantage.
Games
Using a demo copy of RealMyst, one of a number of games with EAX sound support, brought about the same great atmospherics as DVD playback. In 5.1 speaker mode, rain-lashed scenes sent shivers down your spine; thunder jolted you.
Creative has also announced an upgrade to the EAX gaming sound mode, called EAX Advanced HD, that takes advantage of the more powerful hardware acceleration of the Audigy chip. For now, there are no games that make use of the new mode, but Creative promises a few to come soon.
Conclusion
The Audigy line is now the premier series in the Creative lineup, moving the Live! series to the mid-range. The price adjustments to the Live! line, of course, makes the older series more affordable for those who want need basic 5.1 Dolby and EAX decoding.
But at a street price of around US $80 (S $160, M $345), the SB Audigy DE card offers good value. You not only get more powerful sound processing, 5.1 Dolby decoding and EAX, you also FireWire, an option which costs around US $50 (S $100, M $216) by itself.
| Quick
Facts |
| Product: |
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy DE
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| Compatible OS: |
Windows NT, 2000, 98, ME; XP later |
| Formats supported: |
General MIDI, MPC3, Plug-and-Play, EAX, Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding, four speakers, Creative Environments, Creative MultiSpeaker Surround, Microsoft DirectSound, Microsoft DirectSound 3D & Derivatives, EAX Advanced HD, ASIO
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| Processors: |
Audigy, 24-bit DAC (digital to analog convertor), 24-bit ADC (analog to digital convertor)
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| Rear connectors: |
SB 1394 (FireWire), joystick in, digital/SPDIF out, headphone, MIDI in/out, line in, mic in, analog out (stereo front), rear channel out.
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| Internal connectors |
TAD, CD in, Aux in, CD-SPDIF in
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