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Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro Sound Blaster PCI Sound Card (09/25/2003)

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro Sound Blaster PCI Sound Card

Entered CNET Catalog: 09/25/2003

SKU: 0054651060708

Manufacturer: Creative Labs

Content [Hide]
  1. Manufacturer's description
  2. Product summary
  3. Editors' review
  4. Users' opinions
  5. Keywords

Manufacturer description

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro delivers the most comprehensive audio capabilities and connectivity for the PC! Featuring 5 stereo Inputs / 6 stereo Outputs, external I/O hub, and superior fidelity 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro supports simultaneous recording of six channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio with low latency ASIO 2.0 support. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro is also the only PC platform to deliver Advanced Resolution 24-bit DVD-Audio playback in pristine 108dB SNR clarity across all channels. With the unique Creative THX Setup Console, you'll be able to create cinematic quality speaker surround with DTS-ES, Dolby Digital EX movies and 3D games!

Product summary

The goodThe good: Supports DTS ES and Dolby Digital EX 6.1 decoding; 7.1-channel output; 24-bit/96KHz output; supports DVD-Audio; extensive external device connectivity.

The badThe bad: No USB 2.0 port; nonintuitive software suite; pricey.

The bottom lineThe bottom line: The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro is Creative's most capable audio-output device to date, perfect for the PC audio enthusiast not yet ready to commit to professional-level audio gear.

Average user rating: from 17 users
3.0 stars

Editors' review

  • Editors' Choice: Yes
  • Reviewed on: 03/17/2004
A $250 sound card should never be an impulse buy, but the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro makes a strong case for itself. The card's highlights include 7.1-channel output, high audio resolution, support for advanced home-audio standards, and an external I/O hub with so many ports that you can send or receive audio from just about any component you can think of. Casual gamers and media enthusiasts will probably find this package overkill, but for the serious PC audiophile, this is the pinnacle of consumer-level sound hardware.

The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro includes an external I/O hub that's chock-full of ports. Its coaxial and optical digital-audio inputs and outputs enable you to connect a variety of home-audio devices to your PC for recording and playing back, while the two FireWire ports let you connect to digital camcorders, audio players, and other devices. One quarter-inch line/guitar input, one quarter-inch line/mike input and a MIDI input/output set make the ZS Platinum Pro a suitable choice for home-recording hobbyists. Up front, a quarter-inch headphone port enables private listening, while around back, there's a digital miniplug output for digital speaker sets. Via two AD Link ports, the I/O hub connects to the PCI sound card itself. The PCI card has three analog miniplug outputs to which you can attach up to 7.1-channel speakers. An optional joystick/MIDI-port bracket lets you plug in older game controllers, as well, though we'd rather have a USB 2.0 port.

In addition to the ports, a playback volume/mute control, a microphone gain control, and a button for Creative Multi Speaker Surround, or CMSS (which is Creative's up-mixing/down-mixing/headphone spatialization technology), round out the I/O hub's front panel. Thanks to the IR remote, you can operate many ZS Platinum Pro features from across the room.

Setting up the ZS Platinum Pro was simple, although not quick in our tests; it took more than 20 minutes to install the large number of included components. Here's the process in a nutshell: We opened up the PC, installed the PCI card and the joystick/MIDI bracket, then connected the I/O hub to the PCI card. After installing the software, we connected our Creative GigaWorks S750 7.1-channel speakers, calibrated the setup with the THX certification utility for maximum movie audio quality, and we were good to go. The driver software lets you optimize settings, although its multiwindow approach is too compartmentalized, making it hard to quickly jump to the exact setting screen you're looking for.

The ZS Platinum Pro adds Digital Theater Systems' DTS-ES standard to the mix. While the Dolby Digital EX 6.1 decoding of last-generation Sound Blasters uses up-mixing to synthesize the sixth channel (rear-center speakers), DTS-ES sources have a discrete sixth channel for better sound localization. When we fired up Gladiator's "Hell Unleashed" scene in DTS-ES mode, the rear speakers created a slightly more convincing soundfield than we heard with Dolby Digital EX 6.1.

To test the ZS Platinum Pro's musical wherewithal, we popped in our DVD-Audio disc of Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi. No complaints here: the disc had a suitably clean and dynamic sound. Testing out CMSS, we fired up some MP3 tracks. With speakers and headphones, CMSS made the Flaming Lips' "Halloween on the Barbary Coast" sound somewhat more full than it is with regular 5.1 or 6.1 output, but the simulated 7.1-channel effect was not as impressive as when we tested PC game audio that can break up the sound to each specific channel. The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro supports Creative's EAX Advanced HD and Microsoft's DirectSound 3D standards, which the vast majority of games use to deliver 3D audio. The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro can render 7.1 discrete channels from games that incorporate DirectSound 3D, while it reaps additional ambient benefits from EAX 4.0 Advanced HD-enabled games. When we played Soldier of Fortune II, the ZS Platinum Pro and our 7.1-channel speaker system created a truly enveloping environment and aided gameplay by making it easy for us to track the positions of our enemies. Later we fired up Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, an EAX 4.0-enabled title. Although we can't say that EAX 4.0 is a revolutionary advancement compared to earlier versions of the standard, we did observe that the ambient environment was among the most complex, immersive, and three-dimensional that we've heard in any game.

The ZS Platinum Pro ships with an easy-to-follow quick-installation poster, supplemented by a Web link to electronic documentation as a part of the software installation.

User opinions

Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

I LOVE THIS CARD! Easy to install and runs very well.by groggyfroggy - September 15, 2008

Pros: - Amazing sound
- Easy to install (my 10yo son installed it)
- Bonus firewire ports after install
- EAX really enhances game play
- Remote control will cause green envy in friends and family
- Backwards compatible with SB Live! progs you want to keep

Cons: - MediaSource Organizer degrades quickly with more than 3,000 entries
- Remote Control functionality degrades with large playlists
- Remote Control distance is not great
- Creative volume and XP volume sliders are not in sync
- Problems with SLI chip

Review: I am quite fortunate in that I have a PC that knows nothing of SLI technology. This means I am free from fear of the "Squeal of Death" phenomenon. I won't go into any detail regarding the "SOD" as other reviewers here have provided plenty of info for that. Suffice to say, if you mix SLI with this card, you're asking for trouble as there are well documented issues and POORLY supported fixes from all parties involved. Avoid this audio card if you own a PC utilizing SLI.

That said, the millions of other PC owners out there who are SLI free should look at this card as a real opportunity to get amazing sound quality and full use of their PC audio capabilities. I just bought a refurb unit from Creative and I cannot adequately describe how happy I am. It's SUCH a nifty device. Sleek, feature rich and FUN to use! It's my new toy and I love it.

The software that comes out of the box is not that great. I installed this audio system on a 3.4Ghz P4 HT machine with 4GB dual channel RAM and half a terabyte of disk space. If Creative had written software to properly utilize such an environment, the apps would run at blazing speed and make me dance. Out of the box, the apps fell over after loading only 10% of my music library. The organizer crashed, the Remote Control got stuck in a "processing" loop and my experience was a fairly miserable one. I downloaded updates to most of the packages and performance improved dramatically, but only if I actively used about 50% of my library (which is large but not nearly as large as some folks I know). So I absolutely cannot recommend any of Creative's in-house software to take advantage of this beasty of a device. In fact I think Creative desperately needs to CLEAN HOUSE and FIRE ALL of their developers and get in some folks who can actually write code and drivers. I'm quite serious. Creative is presently losing money and customers at an alarming rate because they did not remain competitive in the marketplace and did not keep up with consumer demand for updated applications and drivers. Most notably, a private developer fixed their Audigy series drivers so they would work with Vista and Creative chose to sue the individual for IP infringement rather than applaud and hire him so they could retain their customer base. To date, not one of their products works properly with Vista and Creative has provided no indication they intend to pursue the matter stating "The huge task of developing driver updates to accommodate the many changes in the Vista operating system and the extensive testing required, including the lengthy Vista certification requirements for audio, makes it very difficult for Creative to develop updates for all past products." And so the rest of the planet has moved past and passed over Creative in favor of devices and apps which actually work on systems built IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS!! Shameful, truly shameful. Long story short, I removed all software but the drivers and chose to use other, more appropriate applications for a device this sophisticated.

Moving on to hardware performance, there isn't a single claim on Creative's website that I've been able to refute. In fact, this hardware performed much better than expected and I have gotten the most amazing sound from old vinyl records and tapes I ran through it. I've hooked up speakers ranging from lousy $10 yard sale deals to tricked out 7.1 systems requiring a 2nd mortgage on our home and I should have stuck with the $10 ones because they sounded that good hooked up to this device.

Bottom Line, if you're running Vista you probably want to avoid all Creative sound cards until they get their act together. Sadly, in lieu of a "regime change" at Creative Corporate, that is not going to happen and the words "Sound Blaster" will become a footnote on a Wiki article somewhere in cyberspace. Hard to believe that could happen to the company that set the standard for Windows audio hardware, but here we are. For those of you clinging desperately to your XP license and refuse to give into the colossal failure that is Vista, GET THIS CARD!!!! Use it with all your favorite audio apps and you'll love it as much as I do. The refurbs are a steal off of Creative's website right now and once those run out, you'll be paying hundreds to try and get one off of eBay. Don't believe me? Take a look at what the Audigy 2 NX units are selling for now and those things are really cheezy.
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Good soundcardby playmusic9999 - May 28, 2006

Pros: The best soundcard

Cons: price is'n good

Review: Good soundcard for listenning and record
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Audigy 2 zs plantium proby darkofdevil - May 28, 2006

Pros: Audigy 2 zs plantium pro

Cons: Audigy 2 zs plantium pro

Review: This card is good 4 PC
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

This card is awesomeby skyline889 - January 6, 2006

Pros: Reasonably priced, excellent sound quality, many available options via included software

Cons: some background noise at maximum volume, not the best card to use with headphones

Review: The first thing youll notice is that this card is very reasonably priced, for just 250 bucks you get a 108 db snr, 7.1 audio support, external breakout box, digital inputs and outputs for multimedia connectivity, you can hook up receivers, dvd players, vcd players, and even minidisk decks to this thing conveniently through the breakout box. While I was shopping around for a new sound card, I did stumble upon the creative xfi elite pro which does have a much better 116 db snr, but really that is one of the few major differences in the two, the ext boxes both have relatively the same in/outputs so I couldnt justify spending an extra 150 dollars on it and honestly I cant see why anybody else would. Installation took just twenty minutes, including the time to install software, installation is a real breeze with the quick guide, when i fired them up I decided to first try them with my speakers, all be it I dont have an audiophile speaker set up, the sound still sounded crisp without being overly bright and compared with the old sound card made the speakers seem a lot more full bodied. star wars episode three sounded awesome however, I mainly use my headphones as my primary listening means, and to be honest I wasn't impressed, dvd playback sounded great but music, which is primarily what I wanted this for did not, when turned up I could hear a faint hissing through my senns, it was much better than before but I was still dissapointed that they did it at all. It is clear that this was designed primarily with the speaker user in my mind and bearind that in mind it is a really good card I just wish it performed a little better through headphones
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Squeal of Deathby Moment.Of.Truth - November 11, 2005

Pros: Claims a nice featureset.

Cons: Defective in many, many machines.

Review: Do a Google search for "squeal of death" and you'll start to get a sense of how awful this product line is. As in, "in need of a recall." The Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy 2 Value, ZS, and so on, are the targets of countless consumer complaints. And not just because they don't live up to their promise (the first Audigy had a class-action suit against it, which Creative settled on, because of false claims about delivering 24-bit audio).

The real problem: they don't work. On a large number of machines, and a wide variety. They lock up, repeat sound loops, give the dreaded blue error screen, and, worst of all: the now famous "Squeal of Death" that plagues countless users and has had tech articles devoted to it. This SoD occurs when almost any program plays sound for a prolonged period... including the bundled Creative diagnostic software.

Don't just believe this review. Search "squeal of death" and check the following links... and avoid this series like the plague.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=972039&goto=nextnewest

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=21230&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
(24 pages of negative posts)

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,48708,00.asp
(article on the squeal of death)
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Gives Great Soundby koawinter - November 6, 2005

Pros: DVD Audio is Incredible

Cons: Software is not up to par and instructions are somewhat hard to understand

Review: Great for any gamer or audio man not ready to jump on the Proffesional audio boat, but still wonderful to use and great with headphones and the Lotitech Z-5500 5.1 Surround, GREAT SOUND!
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Excellent Sound Cardby ncampbel - October 25, 2005

Pros: DTS-ES Dolby-EX decoding via optical in or decoding from the comptuer's dvd player. Excellent sampling rate. When matched with the S750 pc speaker system, the sound quality is unsurpassed

Cons: No Cons for this Card. Analog pc speakers is a must for this system. Anything else is a waste of time and money.

Review: When this card is installed correctly in a computer that can actually handle 7.1 audio, the experience is awesome. People complain that they can't get decoding to work, that experience is due to a lack of knowlege about the product. Yes this sound card does decode DD and DTS via the optical, coax-spdif, or virtual spdif(decoding of dts/dd material that originates from the comptuer. If you have a comptuer with 1 Gig of ram, at least a 2.4 P4 with HT, you should be set. Make sure you get the latest drivers from creative to enjoy the best experience. EAX in games is superb, with realistic environment replication. Pairing this sound card with a home theater system that doesn't have analog 5.1/6.1/7.1 in won't work. The spdif out only encodes for tracks that were originally in dd/dts. Therefore you can't play surround sound games (eax) through a home theater system that doesn't have analog 5.1 in, the digital spdif will only give you 2.0 Creative's S750 system is highly recommended and is necessary in order to experience the full potential of this system. I have had this system for over a year and a half now, and I've been completely satisfied with it. Be smart, if all else fails, update drivers, clean your spyware infested machine, and above all else, follow the directions.
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Go for the real "PRO" gear!by Spencer79 - October 23, 2005

Pros: Connections

Cons: Poor Quality

Review: I thought this would be a happy medium between my on-board sound card and shelling out a few more bucks for the pro equipment, but I was wrong. (By the way don't think the "Pro" in the name, constitutes "professional quality." There are unexplainable issues with the "SB Audigy 2zs Platinum Pro": 1. Pops, crackles, hiss, blurps, electrical/static charge sounds, and all kinds unwanted sound effects. I have checked Creative knowledge base to no resolve. If you read the forums, you will find this phenomenon is not uncommon among Sound Blaster products. I attempted to trouble-shoot, but I just plain give up. 2. The external module is poorly made. The 1/4" jack seems to not be working after a couple months of use. It should be noted that my external module and connections sit quietly on a shelf. I am not continually plugging and un-plugging the jack to possibly create a short. It would seem that I may attempt to use the other 1/4" jack, but it seems when one goes the entire analog side of the module goes out. I have spent many hours of troubleshooting, to find that the only input jack that works anymore is the digital in. For the price of this setup, I would highly suggest going with professional quality gear, Creative attempts to provide an "pro" piece of equipment, but for the audio/video guru, don't think of picking the box up off the shelf.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

great card because there is nothing better for pcby rizzofanatic - July 9, 2005

Pros: definiation details audio, introduction of dvd-audio awesome

Cons: ofcourse little pricy. but there is nothing in market except

Review: well i would say there is some better sound packed with this bunch.. great dvd audio introduction which surely make a difference in pc sound world. remote is also a welcome feauture for pc users.. little bit pricey but thats ok.. so far i have no issue about its software since m using system without hyper threading processor...
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Ok for music...by joshlink01 - April 2, 2005

Pros: The software suite w/ the remote

Cons: pricey, drivers can fail

Review: I have had this product for three months now. It is great with the remote. But I have had to reinstall the drivers two times now. If you unplug the box from the PCI card, that is how the drivers will stop and will not begin on next boot. Will require you to turn in on manually after next boot, it will not even turn back on if you do not boot.
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

cannot decode dolby digital from optical in on live driveby - February 13, 2005

Pros: very expensive and promise of great features

Cons: very expensive, cannot use the features advertised. It cannot decode 5.1 from optical in, well it can but you get terrible lip sync issues whilst using external dvd players and either the optical in or coaxial. Stay clear and get a fisher price sound car

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

mostly good, but multi channel midi failby - January 12, 2005

Pros: Great sounds from Games and easy MP3 from CD tracks.

Cons: MIDI using more than 16 channels crashes in editors like Cakewalk, using P4 with 520MB memory. All these midi played fine with SBLive! and P3 with 256MB memory. Creative on line support file now running 10 pages and problem not solved. Windows error: A d

Review:
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Sounds great, software failsby - September 22, 2004

Pros: Very quiet, clear, crisp, dynamic sound with plenty of volume; separate desk-top console eliminates pain of connecting microphones, headphones, line-in/out cables, etc. to back of CPU.

Cons: Most of the bundled software functions don't function with my Dell Dimension 2400, P4, computer. I mean I can't even open the programs! This includes things like the Mediasource functions, the Audio Stream Recorder, the EAX console and others. I've call

Review:
User Rating:
0.5 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Promises so much, delivers so littleby - September 21, 2004

Pros: The external has many connection possibilities and the mic level is adjustable from it.

Cons: you cannot use this card to get proper sound from your computer to your external amplifier. I have tried connecting with an optical cable, coax (rca both ends and mono miniplug-rca ends) no dolby digital signal. The Creative support didn't help at all. Th

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Great Gamer Cardby - September 7, 2004

Pros: This card is great for FPS online gaming. As a gamer and pc builder I didn't find it all difficult to master the included software. However as a previous reviewer stated, disable hyperthreading before installing then enable hyperthreading after installing

Cons: None that I can say. Some may find the price to be high but it is still lower than the previous models on initial release.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Sound Incredibleby - July 13, 2004

Pros: Listen to any type of music with this soundcard just Amazing....(i just changed from Soundblastrer Live Value)I had no problem to install it..I have a P4 3GHZ with Hyperthreading processor. Everything installed fine,(not One problem) but i have not

Cons: PRICE..... $270.61 out on the door.....

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 17 user reviews

Great Performance, questionable softwareby - April 15, 2004

Pros: For anyone who is looking to use thier PC as a media hub in their home, this sound card is a must have. With so many inputs you can easily hook up any number of devices to control through your PC. The external hub is easy to use and looks great next to yo

Cons: Very buggy software. If you're running a P4 with Hyperthreading you WILL run into problems. Recommended that you disable Hyperthreading when installing and then turn it back on when you're done. Also if you're running Norton Antivirus, there are a couple

Review:

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Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro Sound Blaster PCI Sound Card specifications

  • General
  • Device Type Sound card
  • Enclosure Type Plug-in card
  • Interface Type PCI
  • Processor / Memory
  • Signal Processor Creative Audigy 2 ZS
  • Audio Input
  • Type None
  • Audio Output
  • Sound Output Mode 7.1 channel surround
  • Sound Synthesis Method Wavetable
  • DAC Data Width 24-bit
  • Sample Rate 8.0 KHz (min) - 192.0 KHz (max)
  • Voice Polyphony Qty 64.0
  • MIDI Channels Qty 32.0
  • Response Bandwidth -45990.0 Hz
  • Max Speakers Qty 8.0
  • Features Dolby Digital ready , EAX ADVANCED HD , Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio , THX certified , WMA compatible
  • Compliant Standards EAX 4.0 , EAX 1.0 , Digital Theater Systems Digital Surround , OpenAL , THX , Dolby Digital EX , Digital Theater Systems (DTS) , ASIO 2.0 , EAX , DirectSound3D , EAX 2.0 , Digital Theater Systems Extended Surround (DTS-ES) , Dolby Digital 5.1 , EAX 3.0 , DirectSound
  • Expansion / Connectivity
  • Interfaces On external drive : 1.0 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - Line-out (back surround) - 4 pin MPC X 2 , On external drive : 2.0 x Audio - Line-in - Mini-phone 3.5 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x MIDI - Line-in - Phone stereo 6.3 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF output - Phone stereo 6.3 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x MIDI - SPDIF output - 5 pin DIN , On external drive : 1.0 x Headphones - Line-out - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - Line-in - RCA , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - Line-in/microphone - Phone stereo 6.3 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - Generic - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - Output - 5 pin DIN , On external drive : 2.0 x Gameport / MIDI - Output - RCA , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF output - RCA , On external drive : 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF input , 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF output , 1.0 x Infrared - SPDIF input , 1.0 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - Input , 1.0 x Audio , 1.0 x Audio , 1.0 x Audio
  • Compatible Slots 1.0 x PCI
  • Miscellaneous
  • Compliant Standards Plug and Play
  • Software / System Requirements
  • OS Required Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2 , Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows ME , Microsoft Windows XP
  • Min Processor Type Pentium II 350.0 MHz
  • Min RAM Size 128.0 MB
  • Min Hard Drive Space 600.0 MB
  • Peripheral / Interface Devices CD-ROM
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