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When Creative Labs launched the Audigy sound card late in 2001, it raised the bar for PC audio--and it aims to do the same with the announcement of the Audigy 2.

Like its forerunner, the Audigy 2 is aimed at true audiophiles and contains some high-end features that might not seem immediate must-haves for everyday users. Not least of these is true 24-bit/96-KHz playback and recording to support true DVD-Audio.

DVD-Audio is a new audio format that might do for the music industry what DVD-Video did for the film business--in other words, replace CDs in the way DVD discs have replaced videotape. Of course, to your average listener the benefits are not quite as evident as they are to a viewer who swaps video for DVD. But as DVD-Audio is easier to protect than CDs, the music industry is keen to foist it upon us, and there are more titles coming out in this format.

But DVD-Audio isn't the only string to the Audigy 2's bow. Creative's European brand manager, Franco De Bonis, heralds this card as "the greatest evolution in audio since the launch of the Sound Blaster Live."

Other firsts it can boast include THX certification, so you can replicate movie-quality sound at home; Dolby Digital EX support, so you can add an extra rear speaker for improve surround sound; and 6.1 surround sound and EAX advanced HD for realistic audio when playing games.

Audio Options

The aim of cramming all these features onto the card is to enable it to stand out from tough competition from less-expensive Taiwanese sound cards, according to the vendor.

"When we launched the Sound Blaster cards, they used to be the best for compatibility, but the introduction of PCI [slots] solved these problems, so now we are moving away from this. We want to make quality synonymous with [the Creative brand]. Cheap Taiwanese cards can't match us for quality," De Bonis says.

The software has also been updated with the introduction of Media Source, which allows you to capture, play, organize, and enhance audio files from a single interface. It allows you to adapt sound quality to mimic different environments--for example, offering better 3D sound effects for online gaming. It also enables users to clean up poor-quality recordings and regulate volume for MP3 files.

Like the original card, the Audigy 2 will be available in three flavors. The Audigy 2, priced starting at $149, and the Audigy 2 Platinum, priced starting at $220, will both be available in October. Pricing of the high-end Audigy 2 Platinum eX will be announced upon its release early next year.

Alongside the Audigy 2, Creative has announced a 6.1 speaker package, the Creative Inspire 6.1 6700, which offers an additional rear satellite speaker, priced at approximately $150. A set of 6.1 MegaWorks speakers is also due out early next year.

New Portable Players

The other part of Creative's range that has come in for a revamp are its audio players. Following up on the launch of the Jukebox 3 and the tiny Muvo player, it has unveiled the Jukebox Zen.

This player offers 20GB of storage and a sleek aluminium body that's just under an inch thick. It reminds of nothing so much as Apple's IPod player. Since the IPod now works with Windows, the Zen could be up against tough competition. Despite being smaller than the Jukebox 3, the Zen is not as compact as its Apple rival. Whether it will win out over IPod will depend on price. Creative says it will be cheaper than the IPod, but no pricing has been released yet.

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