Audigy 2

[TucsonCard]

Anyone else think they suck ?

*snap*

*crackle*

*pop*


And their annoying PoS software that feels compelled to pop up whenever you start a game or unpack a program.
Oh well, It is creative.... What the hell was I thinking ?

Back to new egg with ya.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Hey, I'll give you a Ti 4200 for it.

[Tactics]

Originally posted by TucsonCard
Anyone else think they suck ?

*snap*

*crackle*

*pop*


And their annoying PoS software that feels compelled to pop up whenever you start a game or unpack a program.
Oh well, It is creative.... What the hell was I thinking ?

Back to new egg with ya.

Dude it's not the card. It's something in your rig that's not jiving. Mine works great - no pops, crackle or anything. Just a regular Audigy but works great.

[budd_wm]

Heh, you should've waited for M-Audio's REVO card...

[LORD-eX-Bu]

So... as it stands I am still looking to trade somebody my Ti 4200 128 meg for a Audigy 2...

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by TucsonCard
Anyone else think they suck ?

*snap*

*crackle*

*pop*


And their annoying PoS software that feels compelled to pop up whenever you start a game or unpack a program.
Oh well, It is creative.... What the hell was I thinking ?

Back to new egg with ya.

older model VIA motherboard?

[Smokey]

Originally posted by TucsonCard
Anyone else think they suck ?

*snap*

*crackle*

*pop*


And their annoying PoS software that feels compelled to pop up whenever you start a game or unpack a program.
Oh well, It is creative.... What the hell was I thinking ?

Back to new egg with ya.

Just a question, but have you gone into the advanced audio settings and disabled everything but play control and wave/MP3 ?

[ReDeeMeR]

Is there any improvement if you turn it all off?

[Smokey]

Originally posted by ReDeeMeR
Is there any improvement if you turn it all off?

Well yes thats why I posted the ss of my audio control panel. I found I was getting noise, noticed it mostly when moving my mouse. It seemed to be from the cd audio and the auxiliary, so I just turned them all off, except the ones that I need ;)

[FastM]

I also just got a Audigy2, very nice clear crisp sound with far more software options than any hercules card has.

[CWB]

This is wierd, but: I had SB Live 5.1 and 5.1 speakers. I just bought Audigy2, used it for 2 days, and today returned it for Audigy. The Audigy 2 was clearer than the Live, high end cleaner, eliminated the crackling in Operation Flashpoint, etc., and all my games were noticeably faster (alot less CPU overhead), BUT:

-Even with sub maxed and same in Surround Mixer, the bass was nowhere near as deep as Live. Not just slight difference, I could easily tell in music, games, even Windows sounds (!).
-High end too "tinny". Over-all sounded like bass turned way down and treble maxed. Playing with Mixer helped but didnt fix.
-Speaker Calibration reported my speakers as wired wrong (neg. on pos. and vice versa, which I know to be untrue), and speakers popped during Windows startup.
-Unlike Live, driver interface seems a mess, with controls that used to all be in one place (AudioHQ) now divided between AHQ and a cheesy "Creative Volume Control", which caused problems if not allowed to load on start. So now to have easy access to all settings, I had to let 2 items load on start, plus there were even more than the usual gaggle of startup items & services that Creative is loathed for to hunt down and turn off.
-Stupid Splash Screen which slows Windows start kept coming back on even when I unchecked "Load on Start". My impression of drivers=cheap and sloppy.

After 2 days use, I was disappointed (especially since it was $129 which is more than Ive ever paid for a soundcard), so today I took it back and got Audigy. It seems to be best of both Aud2 & Live; all games still surprisingly faster than Live, sounds better than Live but retains powerful bass and non-"dog-whistle" high-end, same convenient driver interface with some improvements, fixes all crackling (OpFlash), speakers dont pop at start, and on top of all that it was $30 less. I was disgusted with Audigy2, but Im completely happy with Audigy, and its still a upgrade from my Live.

EDIT: I play games alot more than I listen to music, so your impressions/requirements may be different. All the reviews I read prior to purchase said that Audigy2 was much better than Audigy; I personally dont agree, but thats just my experience.

[budd_wm]

Heh, Audigy 2 also has probs with multithreading/dual CPU setups, just like the original Audigy did. Maybe Creative will fix the problem in two years when it doesn't matter anymore. :p

[CWB]

My problems may have been due to a faulty card I guess? Maybe I just got a bad one? Seems that way after reading all the glowing reviews. But since the Audigy is working fine, I guess I'll just keep it.

[lunix]

The Revolution looks so sweet! Im still in love with my audiophile but it may be bumped down to second fiddle after the revo comes out.