PC audiophiles, start your drooling now. Creative Labs moves desktop audio up another octave with its Sound Blaster Audigy 2, the first sound card that lets you listen to DVD-Audio (DVD-A) playback at either 24 bits/192 kHz (for two-channel stereo) or 24 bits/96 kHz (for full six.channel surround sound).
The new card really shines with DVD-A. It can reproduce sound frequencies out to 96 kHz. Standard CD audio (16 bits/44.1 kHz) cuts off at 20 kHz, roughly the uppermost range of human hearing. Although you can't actually hear these higher frequencies, studies have shown that their presence does result in the perception of a deeper and wider sound stage.
I tested a shipping version of the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum package ($199)--the bundle contains the convenient Audigy 2 Drive, which places RCA analog inputs, a FireWire connector, jacks for headphones and microphone, and ports for a DVD player, an AV amplifier, and MIDI devices in a drive bay.
I paired the Platinum package with Creative's new 120-watt Inspire 6.1 6000 speaker system. After playing CD and DVD-A versions of the Eagles' "Hotel California" through a DVD drive and the 6.1 speaker system, I found it was no contest: The DVD-A was more involving, and the soundstage was astonishingly deep.
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