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Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Reviewed by
Nathaniel Wilkins
and
Rich Brown
on 03/17/2004

See all products in the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 series
See all Creative products

  • Quick specs
  • Audio output interface type: PCI
  • Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2 Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows ME
  • Sound output mode: 7.1 channel surround
  • See full specifications

Add to my list Product summary

The good: 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 bad: No USB 2.0 port; unintuitive software suite; pricey; complicated installation.

The bottom line: The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum is a great card for the demanding gamer or media enthusiast.

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CNET editors' review

  • Reviewed by:
    Nathaniel Wilkins
    and
    Rich Brown
  • Reviewed on: 03/17/2004
  • Released on: 09/03/2003
The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum isn't quite as versatile as Creative's top-level card, the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro, but it's enough sound card for most. (For more in-depth coverage of the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS line, please see our full review of the aforementioned Platinum Pro.) With 7.1-channel speaker support, high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz output, and a PC-drive-bay accessory that brings almost all of the audio inputs and outputs you could ever want right to the front of your system, the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum is perfect for computer-savvy users who demand high-quality sound in their games and movies and who also desire the convenience of front-panel audio ports.

The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum features the same audio-processing technology as the Platinum Pro; the only differences between them, other than the price (the Platinum card costs $200, the Platinum $250), are their form factors and their selection of inputs and outputs. Where the Platinum Pro includes an external I/O hub that connects to the sound card's FireWire port, the Platinum uses an internal I/O hub that resides in one of your system's 5.25-inch drive bays, involves a more complicated installation process, and serves up fewer connections.

The backplane of the card itself is the same across the Audigy 2 ZS line and features outputs for up to 7.1-channel speakers, coaxial digital-out, line-out, and microphone-in jacks. The Platinum card's internal I/O hub has a 0.25-inch stereo headphone jack with a minijack adapter; only one line-in (that doubles as the 0.25-inch microphone in) with gain control, compared to the Platinum Pro's three line-in jacks; two RCA audio-in jacks; both optical and coaxial digital input and output ports; a 5.1-channel digital-audio out; a single FireWire port (the Platinum Pro has two); MIDI in and out jacks; and an IR receiver for the remote control. While none of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS line is on a par with professional audio production hardware, the more serious hobbyist will prefer the Platinum Pro card to the Platinum version for the more extensive array of ports found on the former.

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Reviews from around the WebPowered by alaTest

  • alaTest.com

    Summary: alaTest collected and analyzed 844 reviews of Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook from international magazines and websites and compared these to 7067 reviews for other Sound Cards. Experts rate this product 84/100 and users 81/100. The amount of rated reviews for this product is too low to calculate a reliable alaScore™.

    Read full review

  • maximumpc.com

    Editors' rating: 95

    Summary: Unlike the other two boards we tested here, the X-Fi continues to use a true DSP with "10,000 MIPS of power." We don't know how true that 10K figure is, but in our tests, the X-Fi remains the boss, especially when compared to the CMI8788, which is ...

    Read full review

  • maxpc.co.uk

    Editors' rating: 83

    Summary: Not as tiny as Hercules' offering last month, but a well-designed card with impressive attributes.

    Read full review

  • laptoplogic.com

    Editors' rating: 80

    Read full review

  • pcplus.co.uk

    Editors' rating: 100

    Summary: It makes your games sound great and that makes us happy

    Read full review

  • pocket-lint.com

    Editors' rating: 80

    Summary: You might only need one when your Live! dies on you but if you're in the market for a new soundcard, the Audigy's hard to ignore.

    Read full review

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum

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