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Creative Labs 70SB035000003 Sound Cards
Customer Reviews for Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
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Review Summary (176 Reviews): Rating + 5
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Reviewer Product Review
Tyler
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
2/6/2007 12:18:13 PM

Rating + 5 Solid Sound Card


Pros: This made a difference in being able to hear where people were in games. The quality is superb and you can hear everything that is meant to be heard.

Cons: It may be somewhat tricky to have both the front and back speaker and mic ports work simultaneously.

Other Thoughts: I am using this with Plantronics Audio 350's and Logitech Z-230's. I can only imagine what 5.1+ would sound like.

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Damacus
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2007 10:05:13 PM

Rating + 4 Great sound card, but don't rely on the firewire..


Pros: Highly configurable. The 5.25" control unit is absolutely wonderful. Remote is handy. Optical audio? Oh yeah... It can drive pretty much any pro speakers you want to use with it.

Cons: Gizmos can compromise its capabilities. I hooked a LaCie firewire HDD to it, which I run torrents to. This would make the sound card eventually stop playing sounds, or emit loud whining when sound was attempted to be played. When I eventually moved the drive to USB2, it returned to being reliable. Use the 1394 for iPods and DV cams only when you have to. Not for constant use.

Other Thoughts: I bought this card in Nov 2004. I still love it.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2007 10:35:30 AM

Rating + 2


Pros: None

Cons: Noisy, terrible s/n, white noise hiss @ 62dB while idle.

Other Thoughts: Purchased to get away from horrible onboard audio. This card is almost as noisy. This is one of the few cards that support x64, hence the purchase. Even with the rebate , this card is over priced from the quality.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/15/2007 12:31:47 PM

Rating + 5 I LOVE IT


Pros: This truly is a great product. I love so many things about it. The 5.25" bay adapter for putting so many ports on the front where they are so accessible is great. I love all the different inputs and outputs that it supports. Installation was a snap and it came with 3 games. I consider it a great buy.

Cons: None at all.

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Carlo
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/13/2007 5:06:00 PM

Rating + 5 Great for MIDI recording


Pros: There are MIDI ports on the front panel and they also included adapters to connect regular MIDI cables to it. Multiple inputs to connect multiple devices at the same time. There's a mic in at the back (mini jack), a mic in on the front panel (big jack), and an auxiliary in at the back (mini jack) aside from the other options like optical and RCA.

ASIO allows for low latency recordings which means that there is virtually no lag between when a soudn is created and when it gets recorded. You'll appreciate this when you're trying to record along with an existing track.

Cons: Cables, cables, cables. And they're the ugly, flat kinds.

Other Thoughts: MIDI cables have to be unplugged for the remote to work.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/12/2007 1:26:26 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: This is an amazing sound card. I have had no trouble with it at all. The software is highly configurable. The front I/O bay is also very handy.

Cons: None that have seen so far.

Other Thoughts: There are a lot of extra cords, but if you have a roomy you should have no problems.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/10/2007 7:25:36 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Lots of fine tuning options..7 band graphic equalizer, sound mixers, THX setup, diagnostics, alotta stuff I havent even looked up yet..Easy install

Cons: Front bay panel..Not a huge fan on it

Other Thoughts: Was having some problems with sound for a week or so..Trying to hook up the sound card to a home theater receiver and wasnt getting good sound out of it, so picked up a pair of 5.1 Creative speakers and am pretty happy with it

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

stpcrepair
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/8/2007 5:18:00 AM

Rating + 5 GREAT PACKAGE!


Pros: EASY to install, great product, never got to hear the sound quality because i built it for someone, but worked great!

Cons: I wish i knew more to take advantage of the sound quality.

Other Thoughts: Great package and easy to install!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

frozenlead
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/7/2007 5:15:29 PM

Rating + 5 incredible.


Pros: upgraded from a live! card. difference is noticable. level of control over every individual setting is very very high on the card. lots and lots of ports.

Cons: remote only works with creative software. card has a lot of extra cables inside my pc..since its got a window its gotta look pretty. got a cable for firewire, live drive, and midi.

Other Thoughts: paired with logitech z-5300e. VERY good.

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Docgreene
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
1/6/2007 7:29:18 PM

Rating + 1 Great Hardware


Pros: Lots of possibilities. When it works, it's got bells and whistles.

Cons: The software is absolutely horrid. Beyond Horrid. On XP Home basic system, you'll do okay. Forget Media Center (The tech support denies the drivers on their site). I can only imagine the nightmare in Vista.

Other Thoughts: New system . . . all Newegg . . . and it's too advanced for Creative's software. If you've got an old system, it'll work. Nwer system . . . stay away!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rcgus
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
1/6/2007 8:53:16 AM

Rating + 2 Cheap Fan


Pros: Good performance for the most part.

Cons: Fan is cheap & died after 18 months. I would not rec this unit.

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DJ-Creepy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/4/2007 10:09:07 PM

Rating + 5 WOW! im in love


Pros: Installed smoothly and sounds amazing great upgrade to my stock audio games are great its orverall amazing thank you Creative

Cons: NONE

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/4/2007 3:49:37 PM

Rating + 5 Audigy


Pros: It works and has firewire (nice add-on to your system) and 7.1 audio, is just great.

Cons: Not X-Fi.

Other Thoughts: I might upgrade to X-Fi for Vista but might not even upgrade to it.

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Ashe0211
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/2/2007 2:11:54 PM

Rating + 4 Nice Card


Pros: It works. Great Sound

Cons: Had To install it twice for it to work. :(

Other Thoughts: None

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Msleather1sangel
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/1/2007 2:50:52 PM

Rating + 5 Wow!


Pros: Beautiful sound with headphones and speakers. Allows for enough speakers and the programs it come with allow me to clean up and fix my old music.

Cons: Some might find the card a little big. Back panel comes with cheap color stickers to label the plugs in back but that is not a big deal.

Other Thoughts: I have the 5.25 drive front panel and I highly recommend this to enhance the sound since it connects directly into the card. If you can use the back panel for headphones...do it to get the full effect of the sound quality.

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fcrx7zoomzoom
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/31/2006 1:36:25 AM

Rating + 5 Great Card....But expensive


Pros: This card is great. High Sample Rate. Opitical ins/outs. Many other connections. Now with a rebate it can be had for XX.XX Which is more then fair.

Cons: Price, ram foot mark of about 6Xmb, ribon connector for card to box, wish it had composite out, didn't include 64 bit drivers on install. Nativily wanted to install AOL (almost installed it)

Other Thoughts: Somepeople have been complaining about noise and sound artifacts. I had this problem when i was playing games with 512mb of ram on my athlon 4400+ but they all disappeared when i upgraded to 2gb of ram(still 4400+). Just beware that it has a larger ram footprint then your onboard audio. It is the price for all the connections and highsampling rates.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/30/2006 7:09:01 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Outstanding card,got it to replace a creative soudblaster live x gamer card a big difference in the quality of sound.Also hook up the creative 5.1 sureround soud speakers.The sound is allsome.

Cons: There are no cons to this card.The cons that some of the others has lets me know that there computer is not built right or have the right componets.And as always Newegg rocks.

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phreakindee
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/28/2006 10:43:23 PM

Rating + 5 Great card for the price


Pros: CLEAR quality of audio, plenty of outputs on the highly useful front panel, it's a Creative product, handy remote

Cons: To use the remote you must install MediaSource, and if you install the latest version from Creative the remote is not supported! Be sure and get the latest drivers, but use MediaSource 3.20.21 with the remote plugin

Other Thoughts: Awesome card for the price, mainly because of the front panel! FireWire, Auxiliary, Line-in, Mic, Optical, so much more! I love it!

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ral
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/28/2006 9:29:19 PM

Rating + 2 Squeel, pops and clicks


Pros: Few good things to say now other than external connections provided with the internal drive. It looks good.

Cons: At first I was impressed over my onboard. Then started hearing annoying screeching, pops and clicks in videos on line and other audio clips on my system. Call of Duty 2 got real annoying with all the obnoxious noise out of this sound card. While the box is ok why use a flat ribbon and one which is way too long for the average case. The inputs are there and look good but not worth the extra effort, dealing with ribbon cable or extra money.Even at discounted price or with rebate not worth it.

Other Thoughts: I got it to replace on board and provide an IEE 1394 connection. Figured with the rebate and reviews it was a no brainer. I was wrong. Those who have the pop, clicks and screeches cannot seem to resolve and Creative is not much help. I have spent days searching the Web for answers and have yet to find one. It obviously does not happen on all systems but, those unlucky enough to find it are spending hours trying to resolve with little success. Hate to lose the IEE 1394 connection and the money but, I may give this one away to someone who does not find the problem.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

pep
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
12/27/2006 7:07:59 PM

Rating + 1 DO NOT BUY THIS


Pros: Beautiful sound

Cons: Installs AOL all over your computer. You have to install the drivers to get the best functions from the card, however even if you do a "custom" installation of the drivers it still installs AOL and all the associated AOL components throughout your OS.

Other Thoughts: I would like to think that the triple digit priced, enthusiast level sound card could come with a concise driver package for pure functionality and no hacker marketing sneaks. Having had to reload windows to fully eliminate the AOL junk, I will return this card. Again, DO NOT BUY THIS!!!

3 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Ctrl/Alt/Delete
Tech Level: somewhat low
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/27/2006 8:27:16 AM

Rating + 3 CONFLICTS/CRASHES/PROBLEMS (CORRECTED?)


Pros: Exceptional sound output. Just about anything can be done with multiple input capabilities. Has all the extras for recording various media and clean-up. Front face plate is a nice feature and convenient. An absolute dream with a 7.1 speaker system. Fairly easy install when following the well written and clear step-by-step directions included. Rebate offer makes it an exceptional value.

Cons: Conflicts/Crashes during on-line gaming - see "Other Thoughts" below for more on this. Some have found the internal flat wire connector between the card and the face plate less than appealing. I agree that the design could have been better and it makes you think of how best to position it inside the cabinet so that air flow is not restricted. It can be done, however. Having to place a tiny jumper on terminals (located on the inside of the panel unit - requiring getting access inside the cabinet and removing the panel) to change microphone types was a really stupid design flaw. No reason this jumper could not have been located on the front panels face plate. The jumper is also so tiny, it can be easily lost (I taped it to the inside of my access panel). Kind of hard to rate this item. When it works properly it's the best thing since sliced bread. When it doesn't, you want to put it in the middle of the road and watch trucks run it over. You will have to load drivers (ONLY!) from website

Other Thoughts: The first week I had it, there were no problems doing anything other than gaming on-line (no problem if not on-line). Into a game and suddenly - Screech! Blue Screen w/error, Crash. Visiting the Creative website and going to their Forums section shows that the problem is not unique. Too many purchasers with same problem seeking a resolve to the demon within. Creative has not provided one. Now the odd thing... about a week after installing this and being thoroughly frustrated, I loaded a Cyberlink Power DVD program disc for use with my DVD burner. It added a lot of commands and made some changes as I watched it progress during install (many had to do with the sound). Thought it might have messed up my Creative output. Don't know why and mabey some techies have the answer, but since then I have had no more problems or crashes - and everything is working properly. I'm no techie and don't have a clue - just happy it is now behaving as it should. THINK THIS PURCHASE CAREFULLY BEFORE BUYING.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

=-)
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/26/2006 4:35:08 PM

Rating + 5 Awesome


Pros: Very crisp, clean audio. Would buy again.

Cons: One time it quit working but had to reinstall drivers, works great since then. Isn't really a con, just thought i'd mention.

Other Thoughts: Got with a $xxx rebate so that was awesome. Fast shipping by Newegg as always

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/21/2006 5:04:59 AM

Rating + 5 Amazing!!!


Pros: Mzing product...great headroom in a small recording environment. Lots of hand features....tedious to install, but no problems. sound quality and included gamse are excellent

Cons: Ridiculously expensive....get it only if there is a $100 rebate (like me)

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

zyphex
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/20/2006 9:50:05 AM

Rating + 4 Conflict, Conflict, Hassle, Hassle


Pros: This card gives crystal sound quality and wonderful hardware rendering. Great device connectivity and a HUGE improvement over onboard sound. Once it is working properly and you can fully enjoy it, it is well worth the hassle to get it to work with some system configurations.

Cons: There is a flat cable which connects the sound card to the front panel. It is not an IDE cable, nor is it a floppy cable. Thats was a drawback personally to me because I have all round, lighted cables. Also, I had many problems with the device conflicting with other hardware. I have an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard and for some odd reason, even after disabling onboard sound and gameport in the BIOS, the computer would intermittently crash. I finally pinpointed it to a resource conflict with the nvidia onboard gigabit ethernet controller, and after tweaking the proper settings the sound card worked fine. The odd thing is the conflict did not show up in device manager.

Other Thoughts: Great buy if you have time to troubleshoot any possible errors you may encounter.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DementedDad
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2006 3:33:54 PM

Rating + 5 Sweet!


Pros: Sounds great - much better than the on-board that it replaces. The front panel extension is nice to have and saved me from having to maually connect the case headphone jack. That's all I have used it for so far and that's all I really need right now, but I can see where it would be really nice for a more sophisticated user. The rebate makes it reasonably priced.

Cons: Nothing really. It's a nice product.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

liquid
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2006 10:18:37 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Received fast(I love newegg), no damage to box. Crisp clear surround sound.

Cons: Tomb Raider ran like poop on my system(which surprised me since graphics were horrible, gameplay was also horrible) the Tom Clancy game didnt work very easily, had to manipulate things to get it to work. Still haven't got the remote control to work yet with the system yet(I am not talking about the games anymore)

Other Thoughts: Great sound, once i mail in the rebate-- great price. I'd recommend to anyone, even if they didn't use the ZS Platinum

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

M477
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/19/2006 7:36:24 AM

Rating + 5 Good stuff


Pros: Ive got to say that i am extramly impressed with the quality and the performance of this card. I've got the Logitech z-5300e 5.1 sound system and it sounds wonderful.

Cons: Not any

Other Thoughts: Im not pleased that my logitech x-530 subwoofer got blow out by his card but i dont really mind it makes for a good excuse to buy a new sound system

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Chris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
12/18/2006 10:32:21 AM

Rating + 5 Amazing


Pros: This is a great product. I have owned it for a little over a year and have had no problems with it.

The card is easy to setup and the software, such as the EAX, is fun to use. EAX includes voice changer effects and other effects that can be applied to any music that is being played.

An Equalizer is included and does work quite nicely.

Cons: The firewire port on this card is slow and bogs down your computer. I have tried to capture video with it and it turns out choppy and pixelated. It would work fine for transfering songs to iPod or something but no video.

Other Thoughts: I would suggest just buying the Audigy2 ZS because it is exactly the same card only the Platnium version includes a 5.25 bay. Which isn't all that usefull and makes you put ugly fat cables through your computer case.

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BIG TIGA
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/17/2006 5:49:31 PM

Rating + 4 NEWEGG IS THE MAN


Pros: THE CARD IS GREAT NO PROBLEMS AT ALL USIN A 7.1 audio is great for surround sound

Cons: THE BIG BLACK MONSTER THAT COMES WITH IT

Other Thoughts: HI

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Azinfellow
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/16/2006 10:17:26 PM

Rating + 5 Great for recording!!


Pros: Great sounds for headset and THX speakers.

Cons: Had to fight with connections but that's due to crowded space.

Other Thoughts: Wish the price/rebate was less. But for the end result still is a great buy! And thanks for the 1 day shipping again from NewEgg!!

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

PH3N0M
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/16/2006 1:48:06 PM

Rating + 5 Same as Audigy2 ZS!!


Pros: The sound on this card is amazing, you won't be disappointed.

Cons: OVER PRICED Audigy2 ZS card. Not worth the increase in price.

Other Thoughts: I replaced an Audigy2 ZS card which you can get for around seventy-five bucks and the ONLY DIFFERENCE in THIS card and the Audigy2 ZS is the 5.25 bay control panel with remote! That's IT! Save yourself the hundred bucks and buy the Audigy2 ZS card for eighty dollars. I'm somewhat peeved that I paid as much as I did for this and only got a front control panel and remote because when you lay the cards side by side...THEY ARE THE SAME!!!

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat low
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/15/2006 4:00:44 PM

Rating + 4 Overheats


Pros: Great sound

Cons: need to put a heatsink w/ fan on the chip...would overheat when gamming...

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

CAP
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/14/2006 7:02:30 PM

Rating + 5 IT'S THE BEST


Pros: The best sound card i have ever owned the suround sound is incredible and i can record anythng i want to this card ROCKS.

Cons: Some of the software is buy to use but the games are great.

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xenonracerx
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/13/2006 5:24:05 PM

Rating + 5 Outstanding Performance


Pros: I first heard this sound card during a repair of a friend's PC. I was blown away by the difference between my on board sound and this sound card.

Cons: The price without the rebate is prohibitive. If I need to use the jumper to switch between dynamic and condenser microphones, then I must disassemble the PC to get to it.

Other Thoughts: It is an amazing difference in the sound that this device helps produce. I have truly been missing out until now. As a former musician I can say that it is worth the money.

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-Bobthearch
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/11/2006 8:59:41 PM

Rating + 4 Great, but conditionally


Pros: The front panel is great - looks good, saves climbing around behind computer cabinet for temp connections. Every plug type I'll ever need. Lots of 'stuff' included. Incredible sound quality.

Cons: Knobs stick out on front panel, so may not work with cases that have front doors. The most common digital plugs (coaxial and optical) are on the front panel only. Price is sky-high, unless there's a rebate program.

Other Thoughts: I bought this a while back and just finally installed. I don't know if I'd buy today because of newer (better?) products on the market.

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Perti
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/11/2006 10:56:49 AM

Rating + 4 Worth $70, but not $170


Pros: I have to disagree with the reviewers below that you must have great speakers to make this worthwhile. I could not believe the difference this card made to my old 2.1 speakers. Front panel is very nice addition.

Cons: More cables to get in the way of airflow--the ribbon cable should be round. Have yet to see my rebate posted on the website after about 20 days. This card is worth $70, but not $170.

Other Thoughts: This is the third SB card I've had. I agree with the review below--do not install all the extras, which are junk, just use the drivers.

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Zero Tolerance
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/3/2006 2:00:03 PM

Rating + 5 Quality Merchandise


Pros: The card will speak for itself once you install it, literally. The front panel makes hooking up other sound devices an ease. The price after rebate.

Cons: The installation is mildly difficult: the card comes with a lot of wires and other stuff to hook up. This can become somewhat problematic if you're running low on space. However, you don't have to hook up everything up. Installing the card itself is a cinch.

Other Thoughts: I upgraded from an 8-bit on board realtek chipset. The difference certainly is measurable, but to most people, probably negligible. Don't get me wrong. You'll hear the difference, but it just may not be worth it. Furthermore, make sure you either have a really nice audio system (like a 300+ watt 5.1 surround sound) or headphones to use with card. If not, you probably don't need a high-end sound card.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

iamkoza
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/29/2006 4:59:30 PM

Rating + 5 Great Buy w/Rebate


Pros: With hundo rebate a very nice buy. Sound quality much higher than onboard. Front panel has every connector you'll need.

Cons: Creative's drivers/software are crummy. Ribbon connector bewteen front panel and sound card is large and gets in the way.

Other Thoughts: With the rebate, this is a great pickup. I did have to RMA the card however as it stopped working, one year warranty is nice. Creative's drivers and software are just not very good. I wouldnt just download the lastest drivers off their website and not put the CD anywhere near your CD-ROM reader. Also, if you dont have a 5.1 set of speakers or at least a decent 2.1 set, why even bother trying to improve sound quality... Lets just say combine this lovely card with Logitech's z-5500's 500 watt 5.1 speaker set and you'll be scared to death when the arty barrages from BF2 go off around you!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

M. Paris
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/27/2006 9:34:43 PM

Rating + 5 Simply Amazing


Pros: Dude, I didn't even realise this came with the front mounted hardware, its perfect for me! I mix techno as a hobby and the front mounted stuff makes this worth the money on its own! The whole package is a truely wonderful bundle, and as a wierd plus it came with a game controller port. So now I can even use my old joystick since the mobo didn't come with a proper port.

Cons: The two "free games" that come with this package are lemons. DO NOT INSTALL THEM. The Tomb Raider one runs...but its pretty much a direct to pc port from consoles. the mouse support is spotty at best, and as for the Rainbow 6 game, it errored out 1/2 way through install and killed my cd/dvd rom drives drivers. No idea way. Anyway I just had to remount the drive and everything was fine. But apparently ubisoft games come with anti-piracy software that can kill drives. be careful!

Other Thoughts: Other than the shoddy free games that barely work, or kill ur drives this is the best deal ever! so many components came with it I don't know what to do with them all lol. (they are free so eh no worries)

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Rebo
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/17/2006 9:16:48 AM

Rating + 5 soundz rule


Pros: I listen to music on my pc all the time, cuz its my media center. and i listen to KoRn all the time. ALLL THE TIME, so i know what im hearing. Once i installed this bad mamajama and played my songs. my jaw dropped when i heard the difference in sound. i nearly cried and peed... in fact i did pee a little. i heard more sounds than i ever thought was in the songs i listen to daily for the past 7 years. i was dumfounded... i would actually say its near live concert quality. in concerts u can hear things that digital media just can reproduce. this sound card emphasizes so much and seperates sounds and the crystal clairty is amazing. makes me wanna go get more spekards for 7.1 audio. and with the current rebate... why would u ever hesitate. compare it to others... RAGENOMICS!

Cons: the only single con, is the ribbon that runs from the card to the front plate. it would be nice if it was folded into a cylindar or the ribbon condensed donw in size. becuase it does block some air flow, but there is no change in my temp gauges.
the other con is it comes with the worsh Tomb Raider game to date. but u can hear water driplets and small sound like that as if u were actually there (im only running on to speakers)

Other Thoughts: U will buy this now, or u will chalk this up with other regrets in life.

drivers and software easy to install.

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canon
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/14/2006 8:40:06 PM

Rating + 5 o so nice


Pros: i have had one of these for years and its allsum. onboard sound cant compar buy this card , just as good as xfi and half the price with the rebate wow

Cons: no

Other Thoughts: fruity loops software is cool

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/13/2006 5:23:08 PM

Rating + 5 Simply great


Pros: Great features. Sound quality is exceptional as long as you have high end speaks to get the quality of this sound card.

Cons: None.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Cthulhuspawn
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2006 4:32:40 PM

Rating + 4 Certainly a good deal


Pros: The sound quality is simply gorgeous , especially through my Sony digital headphones. It's rich and deep! Adds all kinds of audio connections!

Cons: The drivers are simply clunky, even the updated ones. It uses up a little too much CPU space frankly. A large flat cable must be run between the front bay and the card.

Other Thoughts: Certainly a good deal considering the rebate. If you need a decent card and don't want to spring for a step up, this is for you!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Lefty
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2006 2:52:19 PM

Rating + 5 Mmmm candy to my ears


Pros: Huge improvement over onboard sound. You can hear stuff that you never knew was there.

Cons: I completely spaced on the rebate. oops!

Other Thoughts: Not sure about the remote. Its kinda like my dog; it doesn't really do much and what it does do really isn't that good. However I will have to investigate this further before calling it worthless.

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DDG
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2006 5:41:54 AM

Rating + 5 Two and half years later I'm still very satisfied with this sound card.


Pros: Clean, crisp high-fidelity audio that cannot be matched by any onboard solution. Excellent EAX support and good OpenAL support too. Free FireWire!!

Cons: Does not support EAX 5.0.

Other Thoughts: If you're looking for an all-in-one sound card for audio mixing, editing, and gaming then look no further. The Audigy2 ZS Platinum is one the best sound cards ever to come from the house called Creative Labs. It's fidelity holds up well next to the slightly brawnier X-Fi series and it's also equipped with FireWire; you can't any better than that.

I've had my card for 2 and half years and plan on running it my current box for as long as possible. This is, without a doubt, one of the best sound cards ever made. Period.

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espii
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/6/2006 11:14:27 AM

Rating + 5 Good work if you can find it


Pros: includes midi in and out and puts them in front. Fire wire works and is also in front of the case.

Cons: Fire wire creates a small audio noise when starting or stopping video recording.I have never found these artifacts after rendering. In a big server case the wires are not quite long enough. In most cases I suspect they would more then suffice.
It is a bit pricey.There are other cards that offer all the same features with out midi in the 60 dollar range

Other Thoughts: This is about the only common product out there that covers all these needs. It is a more then ad

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Claud
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
11/1/2006 6:09:51 AM

Rating + 5 Absolutely Brilliant


Pros: Amazing sound quality! Since I first installed it, it works flawlessly. Very custimizable sound too. on top of that with the feature of the three different sound modes, this sound card is an EXTREMELY powerful tool. I use this card in my home studio and it functions great. The sound is rich, clear and what's even better is the external interface that comes with it.This makes changing cables and instruments a breeze. All the controls you need are right at your finger tips.

Cons: To be honest, I've found none thus far. This is everything that I've come to need and much, much more.

Other Thoughts: If you are like me, you'll want something practical, yet extremely effective. This is the perfect sound card for you. Whether you're a gamer, or a sound engineer, you'll most deffinetly appreciate your investment.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

sentiens
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/31/2006 5:45:36 PM

Rating + 4 eargasm


Pros: Oh, man, does this thing cook. Sound is very rich and full. The 1/4" jack in the I/O drive allows me to use my sennheiser hd-580s to their fullest potential; I hear all instrumental lines in my music with the same clarity as when I plug the headphones into a $5k stereo. Clear instructions, pretty jacks. Nice design on the I/O drive.

Cons: Bundled software slowed my computer. Significantly. It's also pretty invasive; took me a day or two of fiddling to figure out why all of my music sounded so echo-y (eax/thx enhancement is automatic) and how to turn off its volume control (which automatically replaces that of windows).

Other Thoughts: 4-pin power jack on the I/O drive seems delicate. Be careful when you plug it in.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

kloptrop
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/30/2006 10:20:19 AM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Pros: Excellent sounding card. I have it istalled in a dedicated HTPC and it performs better than other far more expensive components I have used.

Cons: I have never been able to get the subwoofer to work right in 6ch, but I've worked around it.

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Mustbejunk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/25/2006 10:05:30 PM

Rating + 5 excellent sound card


Pros: Before this sound card, I was using a cheaper sound blaster card. When I finished installing the Audigy2 ZS platinum, I heard a vast improve ment on my music. Sounds in music that i did not heard before.

Cons: None!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

LaNiX
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/19/2006 11:45:36 PM

Rating + 5 Niice


Pros: Awesome card, worth the money

Cons: None really.

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Com-Tek Chris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
10/18/2006 9:48:52 PM

Rating + 5 Mini Pro Studio


Pros: I have been using the little brother card for over 2 years now, Audigy 2 Ex Platinum, these cards are worth every penny and will definately last you years to come. I don't have to upgrade for at least another 2 years, Heck it has Optical inputs and outputs!

Cons: Creative has no competition!

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Steve
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/18/2006 8:06:18 AM

Rating + 5 Brilliance


Pros: wonderful, rich tones that blow onboard audio away. incredible amount of programs, and gadgets to play with. got it with a wonderful price and I admit I would have paid full price for it after hearing it.

Cons: front bay wont sit flush with my case. remote, although a great idea, lacks a few functions.

Other Thoughts: Overall a great product and would highly recommend to anyone who wants to please their ears!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Gen Kill
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/8/2006 8:12:36 PM

Rating + 5 Great Price


Pros: Great price, works like a charm and has more settings than I will ever use.

Cons: Comes with ugly ribbon cable from front panel to card.

Other Thoughts: Can't go wrong for this price with rebate!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

danb25
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
10/8/2006 12:46:17 AM

Rating + 5 You Got To Hear This Card


Pros: Easy to set up and hook up. The sound is outstanding and cristal clear with my creative 7.1 speakers.

Cons: I should have bought the card earlyer. Too many hookups on front panel and no instructions on how to hookup all of my stuff.

Other Thoughts: I had a soundblaster live card in my computer before i bought this card the difference was like nite and day clearer sound and crisper bass

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Cameron
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/30/2006 12:48:13 PM

Rating + 5 This card has everything!


Pros: The card has a front panel that has decent enough quality, and about every port you will ever need. Great card for its xxx$ price after the xxx$ rebate.

Cons: Front ports are lower in quality. Don't know if its the interferance it gets when traveling on a bad wire through the case.

Other Thoughts: Overall a great deal, but I don't think I would have bought it if it wasn't xxx$.

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Blackdog
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/19/2006 3:04:17 PM

Rating + 5 nice Upgrade


Pros: It is a massive upgradefrom nboard sound - didn't realzie what I was missing all these years. Like the remote and front access connections.

Cons: Now I really need to upgrade my speakers.

Other Thoughts: If you never had a soundcard this is really a great investment - I notice very distinct sounds in games I never heard before (echoes in caverns, shell casings clinking on the ground etc)

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SmackyPops
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
9/19/2006 6:21:00 AM

Rating + 5 Impressive


Pros: While my experience with soundcards isn't vast this thing was a great buy for the first time. The sound is impressive and I have yet to have a problem with it. If you are looking for a very capable card with some nice bells and whistles, this is the one for you.

Cons: This thing will take up some space in your case.

Other Thoughts: The I/O console that comes with this thing is fancy and sure to make your PC look like a BAMF. Plus you get more software than you know what to do with.

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miserablePuke
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
9/15/2006 10:25:40 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: sound is great. lots of inputs & outputs. easy to use. software incuded is pretty good.

Cons: $$$
optical spdif input is delayed a bit.

Other Thoughts: i wanted to use the optical spdif input for my xbox 360 in order to game in 5.1
there's a short delay though, and the sound doesn't synch with the game right making it unplayable. i went back and forth with tech support many times before they admitted the thing will not do real time sound.
other than that it seems really nice. i just wouldn't have ever bought the thing if i'd known it wouldn't do what i wanted.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Anticamper
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
9/10/2006 6:26:58 PM

Rating + 5 So many conections, so little stuff!


Pros: you can connect just about anything to this beast. Sound quality is amazing. the drivers are imho a lil messy but it gets the job done. so yea, sounds amazing, looks amazing, what more can you want?

Cons: there was a minor issue with crackling/poping but its an easy fix(on creative's site.) so not realy a con....um i got lucky and paid 50$ but wow its pretty expensive retail.

Other Thoughts: just about any sound card will be an improvement over onboard. this card is rock solid. haven't had the pleasure of conecting half a billion speakers into it as i use a sennheiser pc 155 headset, but i am sure its good. as with any hardware, you should download the updated drivers from creative's site. enjoy this bad boy XD

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

van
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/24/2006 7:36:38 AM

Rating + 5 Audigy2 ZS Platinum


Pros: Incredible quality soundcard with inputs to allow connection of headphones, optical connections in and out, coax connections in and out. I was able to connect cable TV with coax in and optical out to a 5.1 amplifier receiver. I love the great sound quality.

Cons: none

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murraythetrout
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/12/2006 2:33:07 PM

Rating + 5 Highly Recomended


Pros: This product is amazing. Great sound, 7.1 support, EAX 4.0 HD (wow.), tons of inputs for audio junkies, nice suite of software for beggining music writers and samplers. And of course the trusted legacy of Creative. Purchased this card with the Creative Inspire P7800, and i can honestly say this it is one of the best audio setups I've experienced.

Cons: Takes up a bit of space, but MIDI controllers can be ommited. Ribbon cable can harm air circulation if not routed with finnese and care.

Other Thoughts: I honestly feel that sound is the most neglected part of PC gamers, so much emphasis has been put on graphics cards. If you are someone considering upgrading your graphics, but you're not quite outdated try upgrading your sound to something like this baby, Quake 4 and CoD 2 are extremely intense in 7.1, EAX.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

t
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
8/7/2006 11:44:19 PM

Rating + 5 WOOOAH!!!


Pros: Sounds really really really awsome...looks cool, i get compliments on the front thing.

Cons: Umm...expensive, unless you get it for 1/4 the normal price like i did!!! GO REBATES!!!

Other Thoughts: I never really cared for sound cards, i had an old Sound Blaster Live 5.1, i lost the driver software and it wouldnt auto install or ne thing so i just got this for really cheap :D GO NEW EGG!!! SOUND MATTERS!!

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Jagox
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/5/2006 10:21:05 PM

Rating + 5 Very Nice Card WOW!


Pros: I didnt know they made sounds cards this good. Controls, controls, controls. You could get lost in programs and settings if ya want too. But right out of the box, put in pci slot and run. Sound is gem mint. 1st highend card I have really owned and I'm sure its the last, unless this one goes out. GET THIS CARD. stop lookn.

Cons: NO REAL CONS! Should give a 2hr lesson so I would know every setting this thing has got, hehe :)

Other Thoughts: Been Running onboard sound for a long time on Asus boards, not to bad, but I upgraded to good speaker system and though a good card to boot would be nice. Glad I got this one and Glad Newegg ships Fast as well. Thanks newegg for hookn me up. :)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

michael
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/4/2006 2:55:48 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: , its awesome

Cons: the front L & R signals use the regular 3.5mm jack but both sides, both rear, the center and sub are all crammed into 2 jacks. so you have side L & R & center on one jack and rear L & R & sub on another jack. for those two jacks, if you don't have a 7.1 speaker setup to go with it, you have to buy camcorder cables from radio shack, they have 4 sections on the 3.5mm and 3 rca outs. 3 signal sections and one ground. then you have to test to figure out which signal is which and run those to the inputs of your stereo. its a pain, but do-able. i'm too cheap to buy 7.1 speakers, i use a 5.1 sony stereo and 2 desktop speakers as my sides to make my 7.1, but still sounds GREAT!!!!! and its not 10.4 surround

Other Thoughts: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ OCed to 2.85, 1GB OCZ platinum rev.2 at 2-2-2-5, 2X MSI 6800GS in SLI mem OCed to 1200mhz and clock to 455mhz, ASUS A8N-SLI premium, This card, enermax 500watt modular power supply, 2X WD 120gb 7200rpm, sony 19" silver

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Josh
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
8/2/2006 6:18:08 PM

Rating + 4 SoundBlaster


Pros: This sound Card has amazing clarity compared to my old sound card.Highs are crisper, low are alot better as well as mids. Overall a good tone for sound.

Cons: !) The SOFTWARE IS HORRIBLE, the worst programs ive ever seen. 2)The remote control works off of a horrible infared beam, have to point strait at it or it wont pick up the signal. 3)The sound card was a pain to install, for instance the JP1/shunt piece for use of condenser mics to record with was so small and tedious to install. Also all the wires i had to route thourgh my PC. Anyhow it only took 20-30 minutes to complete with installing the software.

Other Thoughts: Overall the sound is amazing, its just that the software is horrible. If soundblaster could just work on the software/media center, it would be a 100% soundcard in my book.

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ElBoricua77
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/29/2006 8:35:34 AM

Rating + 5 Power Stuffed Sound Card


Pros: The card has plenty of features to keep you going in many ways. The remote control lets you shut off your computer among other things. Adds Firewire support if you originally did not have any ports. Installation is easy enough for most people.

Cons: If you already have lots of cables inside your system, expect to add 2 more. The Firewire is not bad, but the link cable between the card and the front control panel is an old school flat ribon cable that would require some work to fit inside without blocking airflow of possible existing fans you might have. The software included is only useful if you are into music creation or are a DJ, otherwise don't bother installing them and waist HD space. Worth mentioing, but not severe enough to lower the score.

Other Thoughts: The Creative website has an awesome utility for keeping your drivers up to date. Behaves a lot like Windows Update, which tells you what you must, might, or want to download to install. Wish Turtle Beach would do something similiar, since their way of updating drivers is to simply to replace the sound card all together. I am never going to another brand but Creative. Did I mention that Newegg rules? Well it does!

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tennispear
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/28/2006 4:49:16 PM

Rating + 5 Good Stuff


Pros: Great sound for gaming and music. Love the sound card and all of it's qualities.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Great Buy!!!!!

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/25/2006 11:59:32 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: the sound of this card is high

Cons: have to spend $$$ on speakers to get full advatage and it makes the speakers crack if you go to high. You have to know what you are doing to set this set up. Had to look and think for a minute.

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Some Guy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/25/2006 10:49:19 PM

Rating + 5 Awsome


Pros: Were do I start.
-First off it totaly blows onbaord out of the water. No ifs ands or buts.
-The front panel has plenty of little gadgets that are sure to come in handy.
-I have gone from 0 firewire ports to 2 fire wire ports which is a nice plus

Cons: -Runs a few to many background programs for my liking (went from 26 processes to 32)
-You have to run an IDE cable from the front panel to the card itself which is one more large cable that needs to be routed.

Other Thoughts: Even with those negatives (which in my book are very minor) this card is definitely worth the money, especially with the rebate.

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Mystic
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
7/23/2006 8:37:50 PM

Rating + 4 Nicer than I realize


Pros: Well, I thought it would just be a good card for recording, which it was and still is. But when I talk to my friends about games we play, and about sounds I hear, they have no clue what I'm talking about. This card gives such clarity I hear things others can't!

Cons: Only problem I have...this card conflicts so much with my onboard...I had to go into BIOS and turn onboard off. And still if too many sound progs are running, the comp will crackle, beep, and freeze, sometimes though, it just restarts. Quite a pain

Other Thoughts: Great card, but the onboard audio confliction gets annoying.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

q91807b
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/20/2006 3:09:04 PM

Rating + 4 could be better


Pros: it blows onboard out of the water

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: this is decent card there are way betterones out there...but for a tennager just wanted to upgrade sound quality in games and music it was a great choice..works amazing with my z-5500

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

wesmsl
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/20/2006 7:06:00 AM

Rating + 4 Good 5.1 sound card for the price and rebate


Pros: Produces very high quality sound when paired with Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers. Fairly easy to install. Alot of options with the drive bay added. $xxx rebate!!! This card is worth the money.

Cons: Drivers. When I first installed the card and installed the drivers from the CD, I only got sound out of the front right and left and the sub-woofer. When I went to the support website I downloaded and installed the updated driver package install and everything is working fine now. I would suggest going to the support website and downloading and installing this set of drivers if you purchase this product.

Other Thoughts: Minus the driver hassle, it works like it is suppossed to.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

JCDenton513
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
7/1/2006 10:45:08 PM

Rating + 5 No problem with Linux


Pros: I bought it to accompany my new Beyer DT770/80s that I got and it works great. Had no problem getting the sound card to work with Linux.

Cons: With the Platinum Drive it comes with ribbon cables so you'll want to do some creative cable management if you want your case to look nice and for proper air flow.

Other Thoughts: I only got the Platinum because I could get it for the same price as the Audigy2 ZS with MIR. I haven't tried using the remote so I don't know how that works with linux.

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Tony
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
6/27/2006 1:56:04 PM

Rating + 4 great at the tim


Pros: Supports 7.1
Possibly on sale
Settings are easy
Connects directly to DVD drive for digital audio with DVD's (if supported)

Cons: Included software takes up abit of memory.
After losing the installation CD, they wanted to charge me for a replacement. You can't download drivers at the website, you can only update.

Other Thoughts: Only buy it on sale.

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The Person
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
6/23/2006 10:05:56 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Good quality, good drivers, all around good card.
Got it with 130 dollars off.

Cons: The front panel is not worth 100 more dollars. Get a normal audigy 2 ZS or an X-fi card instead of this.
As this is just your everyday Audigy 2 ZS, with a front bay.

Other Thoughts: Remove all the startup stuff it has when you install drivers. Loads up too much stuff.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
6/22/2006 6:19:42 PM

Rating + 5 Need sound?


Pros: Great soundcard. Has all the options and the price was a steal!

Cons: ZERO.

Other Thoughts: Had three day shipping. Received it overnight. Newegg works miracles.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Fixr
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
5/26/2006 2:19:15 AM

Rating + 5 Everything I needed and then some...


Pros: I bought this card for my DJ business when I converted to digital. I was very glad I did. The software that came with this card is excellent, and the front panel and remote were useful tools for my purposes. People who complain about "useless" hardware that came with the card obviously bought more card than they needed. I've had W2K on my computer from day one and no problems whatsoever. I have since given up the business and now use the computer for my home entertainment center. I would buy this card again without hesitation should the need arise.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I suspect the people who complain about how this card works with XP should look to the OS, not the card. I've had prolems with XP too, which is why I still have W2K. Hopefully, Vista will be better.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Good Day
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
5/18/2006 7:30:04 PM

Rating + 5 AWESOME


Pros: Great sound clarity, great features, great sound calibration software, great software bundle, great remote... great product! The front bezel is a 5.25" and even comes with a firewire port!

Cons: To use the front bezel you need to install a specialized RIBBON cable. Eek... not that much of a problem but it doesn't go well with my other rounded cables...

Other Thoughts: If you are an audiophile or want something to brag about, this could be it! Plug in a guitar for some fun recording or use a full sized mic and use your comp as a karaoke machine. Oh, did I mention that you can use the remote to turn off your computer. Awe...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

The Gecko
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
4/18/2006 2:47:16 AM

Rating + 5 Good gear from Creative


Pros: Great card, no problems. Very reliable- has been in service for a long time, running nearly constantly.

Cons: Poor software support for Windows Server 2003. (Then again, as Creative's site noted, why would you be using this in a server anyway?) I tried to make my server into my music box too. Hardware works perfectly, but small things like the remote don't work outside of XP/ME/2K

Other Thoughts: Still one of the best cards on the market. Rock on Creative Labs!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

bernard
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
1/28/2006 9:49:03 PM

Rating + 5 This is Right


Pros: i dont care who says what..this thing is right.i was being content with my on-board sound,decent speakers till i hooked up this platinum. all i can say is incredible,i had stopped listening to my collection,now i want to hear them all,over and over again..hahaha.

Cons: drivers are a pain and will make you want to throw the thing.

Other Thoughts: i picked up the remote seeing as how it was said it was useless,and found it to be very useful.nobody has a remote like this for a piece of hardware.its also incredible..check it out.

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kruze'a
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/22/2006 8:48:11 PM

Rating + 5 Good buy w/ the rebate it had.


Pros: The sound improved especially when I hooked them up to good speakers [not cheap computer speakers, otherwise you wont notice a difference].

The front ports do come in handy since I make music, so the midi is useful and alot better than going thru usb [no lag]. The only ports that I see useless is the optical, since few devices use it and the quality isnt any better.

Cons: None so far. Had no problems with setup. I followed the manual and everything went well.

Other Thoughts: It is a good buy since I got a rebate from it, otherwise the full price IMO is too pricey.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

LOUISSSSS
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/12/2006 6:16:49 AM

Rating + 5 doubt you'll use the wront ports


Pros: 1. creative is the best (and basically only) sound card manufacturer.
2. quality sound.
3. has front ports with connection to the sound card.
4. has a pretty remote (but you'll never use it)
5. adds 1394 to your system if you dont already have it (if you even use it)
6. interchangable faceplace to match case.

Cons: 1. expensive.
2. you'll never use the other ports on the front panel. besides ear&mic mb firewire
3. you'll never play the games that it comes with
4. remote is useless.
5. expensive

Other Thoughts: overall i regret buying this card. the front ports are useless, i promise you. although it is pretty looking its not oth the price i paid for it a few months ago. software is annoying to use.
dont waste your money on buying this for the front port, its not worth it.

2 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

LOUISSSSS
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/12/2006 6:16:36 AM

Rating + 4 doubt you'll use the wront ports


Pros: 1. creative is the best (and basically only) sound card manufacturer.
2. quality sound.
3. has front ports with connection to the sound card.
4. has a pretty remote (but you'll never use it)
5. adds 1394 to your system if you dont already have it (if you even use it)
6. interchangable faceplace to match case.

Cons: 1. expensive.
2. you'll never use the other ports on the front panel. besides ear&mic mb firewire
3. you'll never play the games that it comes with
4. remote is useless.
5. expensive

Other Thoughts: overall i regret buying this card. the front ports are useless, i promise you. although it is pretty looking its not oth the price i paid for it a few months ago. software is annoying to use.
dont waste your money on buying this for the front port, its not worth it.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Aynjell
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/10/2006 8:59:49 PM

Rating + 5 Great for linux users...


Pros: So far the card performs marvelously, no majour issues and definitely resolves most mixer related issues (ala dmix) without hassle. It's simply a plug it in and go affair.

Cons: So far I can't get voice capture from teh front bay working, otherwise this unit performs perfectly. I wish I had support for EAX in linux, but hey. :)

Other Thoughts: Definitely a good unit, unless you want a remote the faceplate is indeed useless, but the remote works perfectly in linux. :)

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DDG
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/2/2006 4:55:48 PM

Rating + 5 Still excellent two years later.


Pros: Excellent audio fidelity.
Stable drivers and useful remote control.
Measures up well compared to the X-Fi series.

Cons: Driver updates from Creative are slow coming.
Does not support EAX 5.0 like the X-Fi cards.
Remote control response can be a tad sluggish.

Other Thoughts: I've had this card for two years and I still consider it one of the best sound cards available. Although I've been tempted to upgrade to an X-Fi card I have resisted the temptation. The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum is an excellent sound card that continues to have a good deal of life left in it.

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Mulder
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
1/1/2006 1:14:36 AM

Rating + 3 Good for the half off price wouldn't pay more several disappointments


Pros: This card looks good, the front panel look good, the sound is adequate from the front panel and excellent from the card ports itself. The price of half off was worth it.

Cons: As noted by someone in a very early review, BEWARE***: The sound quality from the front panel when using headphones in 1/4" jack (required) is MUCH worse than plugging 1/8" headphone jacks directly into the back of the card. This is severely disappointing!! Therefore, the front panel is useless in my opinion. It is also not X-Fi compatible so paying "regular price" is outrageous, all you are paying for is the face plate, which is only useful if you need the extra ports, don't expect good quality from the front ports anyways.

Other Thoughts: I ordered this 3 days before Christmas and got it December 31st, after it was accidently re-routed to Hawaii, Christmas madness I guess. Final Thought: If this isn't on half off sale buy the one w/o the face plate, and even better, buy an X-Fi compatible soundcard for new games like BF2, this does not support "ultra high" or x-fi sound processing. I've also heard drivers are cumbersome with this product as well.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Jay
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/30/2005 12:49:48 PM

Rating + 5 Good Product


Pros: Very good quality of sound. Make sure you have good speakers otherwise the investment is probably a waste. I have the logitech Z something speakers the biggest one they make and it is THX certified. The combination is very good. I have high end home audio equipment and this combination is a very good setup for your study or basement.

Cons: Using the remote at times crashes my XP PC. Don't spend your money on this unless you get it on sale. Buy the other card that is equivalent without the front panel if this is not on sale. I will admit though with the front panel the computer suddenly looks like this high tech entertainment machine :)

Other Thoughts: Used it to replace the sound card that is identical without the panel that goes in front of the computer.

I have had that other card for over 2 years and has worked well. Looks identical to what comes with this one. One interesting note. The old card got busted because I was pulling some wires in the back of my computer and as luck would have it the open end of the output wire from the sound card touched live 110 V and I heard this popping sound and could smell something burning. Amazingly something shorted in the sound card and the electricity did not pass through to the mother board. Gave me a real fright but in essence because of the great design of the card my mother board did not get fried.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
12/23/2005 12:25:59 AM

Rating + 4 takes a while to get working


Pros: Same as what others have said no need to repeat.

Cons: This card can be very unstable.
Running XP PC consistently locked up every few hours while playing music and doing work on the side. ctrl+alt+del did not work under lock up, only hard reset.

Now I run 2k and it seems to be doing alright so far for some reason. I did nothing but chnage OS. Its likely not the effect of fresh install either because XP was also a fresh install after I got the card.
I know this is not an OS issue but just commenting on conditions in which the card CAN be unstable.

CTHelper never loads correctly on start up under 2k - always brings up "generated error" msg. I disabled it in startup with seemingly no adverse side effects so this is no real issue for me.

Driver updates must be installed or else the card is unstable under any condition.
Like a few other people already mentioned, the old drivers on the packaged CD must be installed first before updating.

Other Thoughts: As for music..

Some audio features including the remote only work with creative media player which was disappointing but not something I didn't expect from experience with their other cards.
This player as with many commercial media players is packed with unnecessary eye candy and diverts from simply playing high quality audio.

I use foobar2000 and it supports many of the features including audio effects. Winamp most likely does too but havent tried.

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UpLiNk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/21/2005 7:24:24 PM

Rating + 5 Had it since it came out


Pros: I got it for less that it is now....and its still a great card for how old it is

Cons: None well the drivers can be complicating but drivercleaner helps

Other Thoughts: Im most pleased with this cards performance games and movies make this worth the buy

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/17/2005 9:41:19 AM

Rating + 4 (-) driver problems. (+) rebate came through


Comments: +: Lots of bells and whistles for the price.

+: I'm especially grateful that I received the mail-in rebate check after two months.

-: The driver support for Audigy2 isn't the best. You must start out with the outdated initial release base driver package on CD. Then, if you'd like it updated, there are about a dozen itemized updates for the card published by Creative - unnecessarily complex. Not only that, but there are startup .sys/.dll services that you must actually tinker with through the hidden selection in device manager in order to get working! It’s a well known issue in the Creative KB, but I failed to find the link again for reference in this review. :-(

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MeTaL
Tech Level:
Ownership:
11/14/2005 6:47:40 PM

Rating + 5 Great card


Comments: I got this card as a present a cople years back like 2 end 6th grade when i installed it i touched the main chip with grece on my hands eating kfc atm didnt work kept freezing cop 3 years later about 1 week ago i desided to put it back in and it works fine sounds great and thats what i call a chip and newegg is great the other stuff i ordered here was fast even early love newegg and i am only using newegg for my computer needs and plan to spend alot here on chrismas :) got to love them

0 out of 30 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

linus199
Tech Level:
Ownership:
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/11/2005 9:51:47 AM

Rating + 5 The best soundcard I've worked with so far


Comments: This sound card can do so much, I still haven't used it to it's full potential yet!!! Great price too.

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
11/2/2005 1:12:34 PM

Rating + 5 quite possibly the greatest


Comments: If you want professional audio this is the card. Whether u want 7.1 surround sound for ur games and movies or awesome recording features for your band, this card is the tops.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/25/2005 3:57:37 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Comments: The features and quality are superior. Windows XP x64 support is poor, but at least it works.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/13/2005 1:21:20 PM

Rating + 5


Comments: Great Price. Awesome card combined with and awesome hub in the front. There is so much that can Bo with this card that I haven't even experimented with yet. For case modders, note that you will have to sleeve the cable that connects the card to the front hub.

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Cecil
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/8/2005 3:21:06 PM

Rating + 5


Comments: This card is great. Sound quality is fantastic, I really couldn't be happier. I got a great deal, here at newegg.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

DEACON JERRY
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/7/2005 2:16:53 PM

Rating + 5


Comments: This card is great I HAVE HAD OTHER CARDS BUT THIS ONE IS THE BEST AND I GOT A GREAT REBATE UP FRONT AND SHIPPING WAS 2.50 AND I RECEIVED IT IN 2DAYS YOU CAN'T BE NEWEGG.!!! NEWEGG YOU ARE THE BEST AND THANKS.!!

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level:
Ownership:
10/2/2005 3:01:34 PM

Rating + 4 Excellent performance, not quite future proof


Comments: As of now, this puppy performs like a champ. I'm just a gamer, it works quite well. I wish I would have went with the x-fi for just a little more. newegg did a good job shipping, received in 4 business days. 4/5 stars because of creatives drivers... i've had to upgrade / uninstall / reinstall drivers 4 times now to get 7.1 working properly.

Good product, the front panel with remote comes in handy.

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TRE
Tech Level:
Ownership:
9/30/2005 7:52:22 PM

Rating + 5 Got a good deal at newegg


Comments: I wasn't going to spend a lot on this component for my new build, but I couldn't pass up the deal for $xx mail in rebate. Creative puts out a quality product and having the drive bay I/O is a major plus for hookups. 4 for the product, another +1 for newegg being top notch.

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