Sound Blasting!
Product: Audigy2 Platinum
Review by: Brann Mitchell
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
Date: December 2002
Price: $200USD (159 USD on Guru3D PriceWatch)

Introduction
When last we looked at Creative’s top of the line, the Sound Blaster Audigy1, we came away feeling a little brought down.  One of my rejected headlines was, “Sound Blaster: Oddity.”  The Audigy1 came with lots of features, such as 5.1 channel surround sound, Advanced EAX HD, and a mighty impressive software bundle.  But, it let us down with its mediocre performance, lack of 24bit recording, and so-so sound reproduction, despite its advertised ‘audiophile’ claims.  It came nowhere near its SNR rating on the box.  With the introduction of the Audigy2, Creative aims to fix all the wrongs and even bring in some new and interesting features.   Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes, shall we?

The Audigy 2 in all her glory .. click to enlarge.

There are few differences between the Audigys.  Physically, the Audigy2 PCB is a little bigger.  And then notice all the little capacitors all over the board.  They seem to be in the same spots on the PCB as the Audigy1, just a few more.  Other improvement include the update to 6.1 channel sound, improved sound quality to 24 bit/96KHz, support for DVD-Audio (up to 24 bit/192KHz), and an updated driver software.  Don’t get too excited about the updated software though.