Recensione Sound Blaster Creative Audigy 2

Live!5.1 vs. Audigy

If you remember, last year, in the review of the first version of the card, we compared sound quality of the Live!5.1 vs. Audigy using wooden speakers SVEN IHOO 5.1. That time we didn't notice a tangible difference.

This time we repeated the test of Live!5.1 vs. Audigy on Microlab SOLO-1 speakers with higher-quality silk HF loudspeakers. As a reference we used a separate system with a professional sound card Lynx Two and Event 20/20 bas active monitors.

Well, there is some difference. The Live!5.1 (on the Sigmatel STAC9708 codec) has a more aggressive sound with more distortions. The Audigy (on the 6-channel Philips UDA1328 DAC) has a smoother sound, but at the same time it's not so similar to the original: it should have a sharper attack and distinctness at high frequencies. So, both solutions have weak points of a different character, that is why they play on the same level.

Audigy vs. Audigy2

Here we have much more difference. The Audigy2 has a brighter and more detailed sound, the stereo sield is much wider than that of the Audigy. The bass part is deeper and richer. The highs are clearer and more transparent. That's a complete victory of the Audigy2! Moreover, even in the everyday work I clearly feel that the sound is improved. The difference could be perceived even with Microlab SOLO-1 speakers priced at $50.

The difference got stronger when I connected the cards to the Event 20/20 bas monitors. I even decided to collate the Audigy2 with the Lynx Two with its top CS4396 converters from Crystal. But no wonder occurred. The Lynx Two got a notably better sound. Probably, the quality of the acoustic system is a bottleneck here. On the other hand, the converters mounted onto the Audigy2 came very close to the limiting capabilities of the modern mass electronic equipment.