My Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS

[The_Borg]

Finally I've decided to buy this nice piece of harware :

"The Definitive 24-bit ADVANCED HD™ Audio Solution with 8 Channel 108dB SNR for Unsurpassed Audio Fidelity and External I/O Hub with Remote

Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS delivers 24-bit ADVANCED HD™ audio quality playback with incredible 108dB SNR. It delivers the highest resolution audio playback with support for DVD-Audio at 24-bit/192kHz in stereo or 24-bit/96kHz in 5.1 surround in addition to industry leading standards, like THX®-certification and Windows Media 9: 24-bit multi-channel audio format.

The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS also provides encompassing 7.1 surround sound for Dolby Digital® EX as well as DTS-ES supported DVD movies, any DirectSound 3D games, and CMSS 3D virtualized 7.1 stereo music. Musicians will also enjoy true 24-bit recording and low latency ASIO support for the ultimate audio recording platform."

http://www.theborggaming.planet-multiplayer.de/Temp_Pictures/advancedhd.gif

"Ultra-realistic EAX® 4.0 ADVANCED HD™ Effects*
Multi-Environment™ delivers life-like sound as multiple environments are simultaneously processed in real-time.
Enjoy ultra-realistic effects in today's hottest games including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness™, Enter The Matrix™, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell™ and more!
* Requires online update for EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD support. "

Read here more about EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD (http://www.soundblaster.com/resources/read.asp?articleid=86&cat=3)

Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS official product information (http://www.soundblaster.com/products/Audigy2ZS_platinum_pro/)

http://www.theborggaming.planet-multiplayer.de/Temp_Pictures/audigyzs2_tn.jpg
Click here to enlarge (http://www.theborggaming.planet-multiplayer.de/Temp_Pictures/audigyzs2.jpg) Size: 850 kb

[Malek]

sounds cool, how much that cost?

[Anonymous]

huh, borg, you just posted all the pr garbage, what about your impressions lol, you like it?

[Anonymous]

the above post is brought to you by fomerly known as Az

heh, i notice the pile of papers in the picture, bills?

the games that came with the card, i just have them sitting there, they dont look interesting

[The_Borg]

...heh, i notice the pile of papers in the picture, bills?

the games that came with the card, i just have them sitting there, they dont look interesting

Yeah sure, bills from all the computer stuff :lol: . No more like pizza service, some manuals and so.

The game that comes with the card is Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. Mostly folks don't like it, but I don't care about this. Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness was a very good game with a horrible control. I've finished it and was impressed very much, the graphics are really good, the sound is very nice and the story and ambience were just great. So if you can live with a pure key control this game rocks :) .

For now I'm fighting with the software, nothing runs likes expect, beside that all games are running properly and the sound is awesome. Right now I'm installing drivers only, why software that doesn't works properly. I don't have a clue why, but doesn't matter, drivers only are enough :) .

[The_Borg]

Tomorrow I'll have more time to test the card, for now :
Better EAX effects
Better sound with games that have no 5.1, but surround sound.

I haven't tested Thief 3 for now. Atm it's the only Advanced HD game I have installed, so it should be a good test for my new card.

Totally forget, I've payed 79 Euros for it.

[thatbastard]

hmm sounds good, this is the card im getting in me new machine..... so its good to read that its good :lol:

[Malek]

Tomorrow I'll have more time to test the card, for now :
Better EAX effects
Better sound with games that have no 5.1, but surround sound.

I haven't tested Thief 3 for now. Atm it's the only Advanced HD game I have installed, so it should be a good test for my new card.

Totally forget, I've payed 79 Euros for it.

:bunny:

what's a euro?

[HappyKamper]

79 Euros? That's a good deal, that's about 140 AUD, the price here is 180 AUD. :twisted:

[The_Borg]

what's a euro?

This is something I ask to myself sometimes too. I don't like the Euro anyhow, since the introduction here all is much more expensive, especially food.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess 1 Euro is around 1 US $.

[HappyKamper]

what's a euro?

This is something I ask to myself sometimes too. I don't like the Euro anyhow, since the introduction here all is much more expensive, especially food.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess 1 Euro is around 1 US $.
http://www.xe.com

[The_Borg]

Thx, so 1.00000 Euro is 0.830428 US $ atm. Some weeks ago the Euro was much closer to the US $.

[The_Borg]

Ok all is running fine now, I've found out the optimal settings and I'm using drivers only.

And after testing various games I've to say that this card rocks. The sound quality is very good and especially the EAX effects are fabulous. So one more reason to finish Painkiller (wich sound awesome as well) and play Thief 3 with EAX 4 Advanced HD 8) .

[Gogo]

It was a very good decision to buy this card :wink:
Have fun with this card and tell us your impressions of your next games.
Im pretty sure that this card gives you an awesome sound.

Im a generation behind, with my Audigy2 Platinum.
The price is very good, 79 euros.

Well, its an other story that the euro destroyed us. Its true. I hate that currency :roll:

[The_Borg]

Yeah the good old times *sigh*. Introducing the Euro they had told about this advantage and that advantage and what's now - nothing - damn the Euro :twisted: .

And surely I'll keep you informed. I'll start to play Thief 3 soon and after some trial I know much more how to play this game. So anyway that I'm already in level 3, I'll start the game from the beginning again and will tell you if this Advanced HD is any good ;) .

[Aztlan]

@ gogo, Actually you are not a generation behind

the audigy 2 zs only has a few things new, the difference between yours and the zs is that the zs supports 7.1 speaker channels, and it has a different chip somewhere, but the sound core is still the same, only differnce is those two, so you are not a generation behind, trust me

I saw in the net that you can use audigy2 zs software in an audigy 2
so there is not a big difference

borg has noticed a big difference in audio quality since his old sound chip was a built to the mobo

borg, have you been able to install the software for it

what is your speaker system, 5.1?

if so i suggest trying to install the software controls for the sound card (if you havent already) because when you set up 5.1 in the drivers, a feature is enabled automatically, which makes 5.1 speaker setup sound like crap

the feature is CMSS 3D in your EAX advanced HD control

[The_Borg]

Yes 5.1 and for now drivers only. Sounds bad :( , so I've to install the complete software and have to search for that what you've named, thx.

Edit: What does this CMSS 3D do?

[Eat_Some_LSD]

CMSS creates a virtual surround sound on a 2-speaker setup by widening the sound...so on an actual surround-sound system, it sounds crap. ;)

[The_Borg]

Thx for the info, so it does not makes no sense to me why they've enabled it by default, really stupid :? .

Ha, getting a new piece of hardware to run properly is alway an adventure :boxer: .

[Eat_Some_LSD]

How much did you end up paying for it, Borg? I've been using my MP3+ Audigy, which I've been pretty happy with, but I'm itching to dig into the EAX 4 features of CMR '04. ;)

[The_Borg]

Why can't new hardware run easily *sigh*.

Ok I've found this setting and have disabled it and the sound is awesome now - mostly.

Max Payne 2, Painkiller, Far Cry and some other games are running properly, but for a lot of game only the3 front speakers are working and all the game I mean are EAX games.

So NFS: U only 3 speakers, Thief 3 (*lol* the Advanced HD game) 3 speakers, Dungeon Siege, Blood Rayne and many more games that worked with my Soundblaster Life 5.1 properly.

Please enlighten me what I've done wrong. 5.1 is set in the system control as well as in the Soundblaster settings, surely my 5.1 system is set to 5.1 as well (so all should be fine, nevertheless that some games are running perfect).

I've reinstalled NFS: U already and doing this with Thief right now. For NFS it hasn't changed anything *sigh*.

[blaer]

ingame settings? :?
else dont know. i just had this problem when listening
to ac3 stuff, i had only 1 channel (i dont have no 5.1, only headphones lol)
i finally found the bloody setting in the ffdshow audio filter and now
it all works fine. mind you i got a shaitload of audio and vid codecs/filter
installed, so it can be a hassle hehe

[Aztlan]

have you checked audio settings within the game?

it has happened to me, when only the front three speakers only have sound, than i changed the audio settings within the game to sorround, and now every speakers has its assigned sound

[The_Borg]

Tief 3 works now, but none of the other games. And e.g. NFS:U has no setting to set to 5.1 or whatever :( .

Edit: Still no luck. I've installed all the updates now, have tested different setting, but nothing NFs: U and some other games don't like to use all the speakers.

[Aztlan]

what other games have you tried?

I have played, Mafia, Ut2004, heh starcraft, il2sturmovik, Kotor (which i just gave up on that game :lol: )

thief 3 demo and with these games all speakers work corretly, right away or through setting up the 5.1 setup within the game

oh also farcry works alright

I know you know hardware/software, but did you disbled the onboard chip in the bios, unistall the drivers, clean the mess they leave, and then install the new hardware

[The_Borg]

Yep I've disable it in the BIOS and there was nothing to uninstall (XP has uninstalled the driver automatically). Beside this a lot of games are running properly, only some are making problems, so I guess that the hardware is running fine - hopefully :( .

I'll continue taking care of this prop tomorrow - time to sleep - good night :) .