Creative SOUNDCARD SB AUDIGY PLATINUM EX SOUND BLASTER SB0090PE

• Reviewed by: Ndeman

  Strengths: Lots of I/O's. Big hype, big promises. Nice flashy box.

  Weaknesses: Software does not work correctly, even after patches/upgrades.

  Overall: Do yourself a favor and don't buy this package, it is a great idea but has many problems. Running with XP Pro and 2000+ Athlon, media player and Disc Maker don't work; don't even think about using the included Cubasis, seems okay with Cakewalk. If I didn't pay money for the thing I'd rip it out and stomp on it. Nothing but problems and long waits on the tech line. Had to re-format my hard drive because of other included software. Still doesn't work correclty and now won't un-install. I think I'm going to start a company that specializes in: putting something in boxes, making big hype, requiring a minimum of 6 hours of your life waiting on-hold, and charges a $200.00+ entrance fee for the hassle; oh wait, it's already been done. Too bad the research department can't keep-up with the marketing.

• Reviewed by: wolfledge

  Strengths: Very Good Sound, if you only want to play games and get a begginning at A/D conversion with a little MIDI - as a starter only.

  Weaknesses: Music software Synthesizers require a WDM driver. This card does NOT have them.

  Overall: This is NOT a card for anyone looking at this for serious music recording. IF you only need a great Game card and some simple recording it can work.

• Reviewed by: mriev

  Strengths: Pro Studio quality reverb, very powerful DSP, great Midi!

  Weaknesses: Installation difficult on some systems, Drivers still have flaws (especially in Win XP), noise and lock-up problems on a small percentage of systems.

  Overall: Please see my review of the Audigy Gamer also on this site, for further details. I am placing this mini-review here primarily to let potential customers know that the problems addressed by Nando in another review on this site are not occurring in most systems. I too use my system for music production, and though I was able to duplicate Nando's looping problem with his own soundfont, it simply does not occur in any of the soundfonts I use. (I have virtually every large 'font available on the Web, plus several custom 'fonts I've created myself). I also do not have the noise and DC offset problems described by Nando. I did have some difficulty installing my Audigy, but since then it has performed flawlessly except for the 128MB soundfont limit flaw in Win XP. The 128MB limit in Win XP seems to be a universal flaw, but noise and lock up issues only occur in a small percentage of systems. Since I was able to duplicate Nando's looping problem, it too may be a universal issue, but it seems to occur only under limited conditions in a small minority of soundfonts that use long loops. All these issues are currently being addressed by Creative Labs and should be corrected in the next driver release within the next few weeks. If you have doubts about purchasing an Audigy, you may wish to wait until the new drivers are released and see how well they work before you purchase an Audigy. However, in my personal opinion, the Audigy is the best sound card available at anywhere near the price!

• Reviewed by: nandoflorestan

  Strengths: Good for gamers who don't use all the features.

  Weaknesses: Useless for musicians because it is unable to loop samples properly, resulting in loud pops, clicks and artifacts.

  Overall: Unfortunately, in spite of the exciting marketing text, the SB Allegedly (er, sorry, Audigy) fails miserably when soundfont playback is concerned. It is unable to play even a single note correctly, let alone 64 voices. Many looped samples give hideous clicks, pops and artifacts. This soundfont problem (which didn't exist in the Live! series) has been confirmed. Read more and test YOUR Audigy at my homepage: http://nando.hpvip.com.br/essays/0303audigynogood.htm Nando Florestan, composer http://nandoflorestan.cjb.net