Creative to come back with a bang?

[Scootin159]

What it will take for me to buy another sound card:

1) Great company support - A company willing to work out 686B bugs & support ALL OS'es FULLY
2) NO SDMI security (wouldn't surprise me if creative would implement it)
3) Must be affordable ($300 for a sound card is a bit much)
4) Must have up-front jacks (either in a breakout box or a 5 1/4" drive bay)
5) A seperate channel for mp3's would be AWESOME!!!! (is this doable?)

 

[Bellweather]

Creative has lulled me to sleep. I'm going swimming at turtle beach. Besides, they give you a cool sticker.

 

[Scootin159]

Another funny thing I just realized...

Isn't it ironic that a company named CREATIVE has some of the worst innovation?

 

[DeeK]

Creative's encryption BS explained...

Basically, there are two methods that will be used to prevent copying:

1) Trusted clients. The original audio file, which is in a proprietary format (let's call it .RIA), is encrypted. These .RIA files require special approved players that pass the decoded and decrypted audio to a special path implemented into the OS. The OS will only then pass the audio to a sound card whose drivers have been specially signed by the OS vendor and don't allow people to simply record the audio from the Wave output digitally - in essence, the digital audio stream is fenced off all the way to the sound card's output. This is Secure Audio Path - and it's a "feature" of Windows ME and Windows XP.

2) End-to-end encryption. This also includes a part of the first method, namely the trusted sound card. In this method, though, the .RIA file decodes to an encrypted audio stream. Instead of fencing off the audio, the sound card will have to know how to decrypt the audio before playing it back - and the drivers will have to deny recording the audio after the decryption point. Recording the audio before decryption will just result in noise. This is what the Audigy enables.

Personally, I won't be a party to either.

 

[Piano Man]

<< We've reached the end in terms of sound quality... All that's left is to provide features their cards >>



I disagree. Although I've never heard a true 24bit/96kHz system, I'm still not sure if it could compete with the warmth of a good record player. I know for a fact that a regular CD isn't as good as a mint record, however 24/96 might make it close, but I'm not sure about the warmth you get with analog.





<< Check out this pic from HardOCP, there's no way I'd spend this much on a sound card >>



I'd gladly pay that much for a great sound card. You don't understand, 24/96 is great for an audiophile card, not to mention the firewire, and the EAX for gamers. This card has it all. Plus you are looking at the platinum that has an external breakout box. I'd get the one with the internal, which is $199 retail. I'd bet you could find it for $160-170, which would make that card an absolute steal.



P.S. You can see that Creative is really pushing the 24bit/96kHz thing, but that is only for digital out. The analog in and out is 24bit/48kHz, which is still pretty damn sweet.

 

[Wag]

Too bad they didn't go all the way with the right bitrate for DVD-A. Audiophile 24/96 cards are $150. I seriously doubt the Audigy will come close in soundquality. We'll see...

 

[Piano Man]

Yea but does the Midiman Audiophile do 3d for games, or have firewire connections for netork, or has a breakout box? Nope. I have never been a fan of Creative, but this card smells good to me.

 

[KrispyKremer]

Give Creative 6 months, they'll be out with newer new cards. It will be the revised version of the Audigy - Audigy 2!

Introducing the Audigy Prodigy Plus XP!

It will do all the things that were promised with the Audigy and have all the features requested like the ones in this thread.

 

[Wag]

But I don't need all those other things. I already have a perfectly good soundcard that does 3d for games, it's called a VORTEX 2, and they cost like $20 now.

Sure 96k would be nice, but seriously, if I wanted firewire I would buy a controller for $20. All I want is a gaming card with 3d quality like the Vortex2, SPDIF output, and 96k. I find it hard to believe they can't offer this for under $100.

 

[Piano Man]

<< But I don't need all those other things. I already have a perfectly good soundcard that does 3d for games, it's called a VORTEX 2, and they cost like $20 now. >>




Well, that is all fine and dandy, but the new EAX advanced looks just as good as A3D 2 . Plus the vortex drivers for W2k suck (I own the MX300). The two lower-end Audigy cards have digital out and are $99 retail, which means $80 real world. That sounds good to me. Don't fight me on this one, turn to the dark side.

 

[Double Trouble]

Thanks for that informative post Deek. That pretty much seals the deal, Creative will never see one single penny from me for any of their crappy products. :|

 

[Piano Man]

Yea, I too am worried about the SDMI thing. Hopefully when a good audio reviewer gets around to the card, they can tell us exactly what we will be looking at when it comes the SDMI integration. (fingers crossed)

 

[Scootin159]

But...only mp3's that are BOUGHT will have SDMI encoding right? Ones that your friend made won't...so I don't see it as that big a deal. Only down side would be that it would be supporting SDMI in a way.

 

[Pariah]

"1) Trusted clients. The original audio file, which is in a proprietary format (let's call it .RIA), is encrypted. These .RIA files require special approved players that pass the decoded and decrypted audio to a special path implemented into the OS. "

This is the crux right here, nothing currently available falls in to this proprietary format, including mp3's. The scheme doesn't even make any sense. The proprietary files will have to backwards compatable or 98% of computer users won't be able to hear them, in order for that to happen the files would have to work on hardware that supports none for the encryption features. From that point of view, it would be a fatal marketing blunder to implement something like this if it means you can't play files that everyone else can. For that reason alone, either I am completely misunderstanding how this whole thing is going to be implemented, or Creative is not going to implement this form of what is being described as it would kill them off as quickly as Napster. No matter how much you hate Creative, you have to assume they are not that stupid.

 

[Wag]

It appears also that the Audigy's 96k output is only for DVD output. So, this really isn't a true 96k card. No 96k recording or playback.

I hope that's wrong, but if this is the case it's really not worth the money.

 

[Ender]

I'm a newbie at this.. can anyone give me a quick comparison between the Hercules Gametheatre GTXP and the Audigy X-Gamer and maybe the Audigy Platinum? I might buy either if it gives bang for the buck.. especailly if the Audigies include wicked surround sounds for gaming like the Vortex 2 by Aureal or whatever that card is called.

 

[Insane3D]

I have used the SB Live original, SB Live Platnium 5.1, the Hercules GTXP, and the Philips AE. I personally find the AE to be the best of the four with the GTXP following in a close second. The QMSS of the AE is the one feature of the fore mentioned soundcards that I really enjoy. I switched to the GTXP from the AE when I was having problems with their early Win2K drivers, and I liked the GTXP, but I actually missed the AE. Once their newest Win2K drivers came out, I went back to it immediately. I may give the new CL card a try, but I am really hesitant due to the SDMI features, even if they will not be used just yet, but if they are there, you can bet they will be used someday soon.

 

[Ryan]

Here is some pricing information:


<DIV class=blueCBold18lh20>Creative's Audigy Line Brings Pro Sound To PCs</DIV>
<DIV class=black3></DIV>
<DIV class=blackBold15lh17>Newest SoundBlaster cards quadruple the processing power, add 1394 ports and high-quality DACs.</DIV>



<DIV class=blackBold11>Eric Dahl, PCWorld.com</DIV>
<DIV class=black10>Tuesday, August 21, 2001</DIV>



Creative is launching this week a new line of sound cards aimed at bringing professional quality sound to your desktop.
The new family of SoundBlaster sound cards takes its name from the recently-announced Audigy processor, a new audio chip boasting four times the processing power of its predecessors. It mirrors Creative's Live 5.1 line, providing basic boards that are built around a gaming or MP3 bundle, as well as more expensive packages that boost the number of sound connections available.
The fun begins with the Sound Blaster Audigy X-Gamer and MP3+ cards, each priced at $100. Both include the same Audigy-based board with digital and analog outputs supporting six audio channels for full Dolby Digital 5.1 3D sound.
The X-Gamer ships with a gaming-focused software bundle including full versions of Interplay's Giants: Citizen Kabuto, and Deus Ex Game of the Year edition. The MP3+ bundle includes MixMeister Technologies' MixMeister and Beatnik's Mixman Studio Remixer among other audio-focused titles.
All the cards ship with an IEEE 1394 port called SB1394, which Creative is highlighting as a connection for external devices such as DV camcorders. It also serves as a peer-to-peer networking solution for gaming and file sharing among as many as 63 connected PCs.
Moving up the line, a $200 Audigy Platinum package includes the Audigy Drive breakout box. It installs in an open 5.25-inch drive bay and adds optical and coaxial digital I/O connectors, an infrared remote, and MIDI in/out connectors. It's the same concept as the company's older Live Drive product, but with an additional SB1394 connector included. On the software side, the card bundles Platinum Steinberg's Audio Suite and Ulead's VideoStudio 4.0 SE Basic in addition to the titles included with the X-Gamer and MP3+.
A new high-end option, the $250 Platinum EX, ships with an external version of the Audigy Drive. This is a particularly useful option if your system is devoid of drive bays. The Platinum EX drops the games from its software bundle, but adds two music creation programs, Sonic Foundry's ACID DJ 2.0, and Image Line's FruityLoops.
<DIV class=blackBold15lh17>Power Boosts Fidelity</DIV>
All of the new boards are built around Creative's recently announced Audigy chip, which has around four times the power of the EMU10K1 processor used on the SoundBlaster Live series. This enables the chip to calculate more 3D sound effects simultaneously, which translates to more accurate 3D sound in games and other applications.
Audigy drives a set of sound effects and enhancements called EAX Advanced HD, which includes 3D effects that can pan and morph among multiple sound environments. EAX Advanced HD also includes filters for processing digital music such as time scaling, which can speed or slow a song while retaining accurate pitch. Another filter, Audio Clean-Up, removes the pops and hisses found in recordings from LPs in real time.
Creative also improved the overall quality of the Audigy line, incorporating high-quality 24 bit/96 kHz digital-to-analog converters (DACs) capable of decoding DVD audio. Home recording buffs will appreciate the 32-bit digital mixing capability and impressive 100-decibel signal-to-noise ratio

Hmmmmmm, seems pretty good!

 

[pillage2001]

Will it still work with the existing live Drive 2???

 

[Wag]

Ugh. Well that just confirms my suspicions. Why oh why would they release a card with &quot;24 bit/96 kHz digital-to-analog converters (DACs) capable of decoding DVD audio.&quot; and yet not add the ability to sample/record/output 96K? Does it even output 96k DVD audio at 96k or does it downsample it? Not that it matters, there aren't many 96k encoded DVDs anyways.

So the Audiophile cards and others are still better if you're into high-end audio. Shame, shame Creative.