High Quality Sound from the Leader in Sound Cards

Author's Rating:

Pros: An excellent bundle for the money; Sound quality is second to none.

Cons: Pricey for the low-end user; MediaSource software a bit buggy.

The Bottom Line: 
Look past the $170 entrance fee and you'll easily see why this card is as good as it gets. Skip the look-a-likes and go for the real thing.

Author's Review
This is the third sound “device” that I’ve been through after all my years with PC gaming and usage (one was onboard sound so I don’t know where you would categorize that), and I have to say that I am very pleased with the latest product that Creative has released to the enthusiast-oriented PC community. My first sound device, an onboard Yamaha OPL-SAX sound mixer, was nothing close to revolutionary in terms of quality and performance. But then again, you shouldn’t expect much from an onboard sound chip, any day of the week. This was in a Sony VAIO computer that I owned back in 1998. My second sound card was a Sound Blaster Audigy that came with my Alienware in 2002. Until then, I had never experienced such beautiful sound coming from a PC before. The card performed flawlessly and had excellent drivers and support from Creative.

The latest iteration from the Sound Blaster series doesn’t take any steps back; instead, I would say this is about 2 steps forward. I purchased my Audigy 2 Plat ZS about 3 months ago, and after having some time to use it in various applications, I will say right off the bat that this sound card is totally worth the $160-180 that it costs on the net. An Audigy card is nice, but an Audigy 2 ZS is just that much better.

Packaging / What’s Inside: Creative has surely created a very sweet package here. You can find the ZA in about 4 different versions. I own the retail Plat version, which comes with 2 games (Raven Shield and Tomb Raider), the card, and a front access panel. There is a Plat Pro version which comes with everything I stated but the games, plus a separate external box for extra connections (READ= music artists, etc.) There is a limited Gamer’s edition that comes with the card, front panel, 2 games that I stated and Halo as well. Then, there is the standalone card for around $70 which comes with no extras just good plain sound goodness. The contents are all nicely packaged and the instructions that are provided are quite organized and easy to follow. For someone who knows their way around the computer, the instructions are more of a “breeze” read than anything else, but for all the other computer users it is highly useful. I wouldn’t say the whole package that I received is great, since I can discredit the Tomb Raider game that comes with the card (read some reviews on Tomb Raider: AOD and you will see why.) Otherwise, it’s worth my dollar vote since the card is of such high quality and the front panel is simply amazing and nifty.

Installation: Since I am very well acquainted with computers, the only time I had to reference the manual was for the installation of the front access panel which is a bit tricky to get installed right since it has a ribbon cable that needs to be attached from the sound card back to it. However, I don’t believe anybody would have a hard time getting this card installed properly in more than about a half hour, including installing drivers and extra software that is included with the card. I have tried this card both on Windows 2000 and XP machines and have encountered zero problems with it using the latest drivers from Creative. This card is a breeze to install and you should only have minimal problems, if any at all.

Connections: There are many connections that can be made with this card, including the ports that are on the physical sound card and the ones that are included on the front panel. The actual card has the usual 3-channel audio connectors, plus a digital connector for SPID, a microphone port, and an auxiliary port for streaming audio from the computer. All of the connectors on this sound card are gold plated which usually allows the highest quality of audio for your computer and speakers/headphones. Since every connector is gold plated, it can be hard to identify which port is for what function even if you refer to the mini pictures next to each port. Creative could have made the markings for connector identification a bit better, but this is a minor gripe that doesn’t at all drop my review of this card.

The front panel is where the great creativity at Creative (no pun intended) truly comes into play. The panel itself fits into any regular 5.25” CD bay in your PC tower, and brings you more connections than you could imagine. The most useful ones that I have noticed are the headphone and microphone jacks, which are used at least 10-20 times a week by me. This also saves me the hassle of having to go behind my computer, unplug my speakers and plug in my headset. Instead, you simply use the front audio jacks for the respective item and the speakers are automatically designated to shut off. A real excellent feature for anyone who uses a headset/headphones/mic.

Some other connectors on the front panel include a midi in and midi out port for those musicians who connect midi keyboards or guitar equipment. 2 Aux RCA audio in and out ports allow you to connect audio from a VCR or a similar device to record audio. It also has SPDIF In and Out ports, as well as optical in and out for those who enjoy super quality audio. Lastly, my next most praised and used port is the FireWire port which allows you to directly connect an MP3/Camcorder or similar device to transfer video and audio. You can be a gamer, a musician, or a video editor; this card and front panel will be a godsend for you.

Performance: This category has to be divided into 2 – gaming and normal music listening. As for music, this card supports every major audio file in the computer world, including WAV, MP3, OGG, VOC, and many others. I have not come into any complications while playing any of my music and the quality of sound produced is extraordinary. The only limitation you should encounter is what type of speakers you use with your system. A poor speaker set will only give you minimal enjoyment and quality, and a high quality set will push this card to its true potential.

Gaming with this card is one area where it excels. I have used this game in all of my major titles that I play, including BF Vietnam Halo, UT 2004, Desert Combat, and others. All the sounds are accurate and there were no problems with compatibility. In fact, most games use the advanced features of Creative’s EAX platform for delivering crisp 3D sound and effects. EAX 4.0 is the latest version of this platform, and it is fully supported by the card. Expect this new version to be implemented in this year’s hottest games including Half Life 2, Tribes 3, and Doom 3. As a tip, I recommend you use the “hardware acceleration” feature that is available in most games in order to take the stress off of your CPU. The Audigy 2 ZS can handle this acceleration with ease and actually provides you with a much smoother gaming experience.

Software / Experience: The drivers that are given to you with the card are more than plenty for most users, but the gamers should definitely go to Creative’s website to download the latest drivers for the card. This allows you to take full advantage of new features that are introduced and fixes bugs with the card’s drivers. The card also comes packaged with the MediaSource application that supposedly links all kinds of mixer and sound options settings together, and even allows you to connect Creative’s Zen MP3 players and stream music between the device and your comp. The software is a bit buggy, as the latest version wouldn’t launch on my Windows XP Pro machine as advised, but this didn’t concern me too much. By the time you read this, I suppose a newer version should be released that fixes these problems. There is no need to install this software, anyhow, as all the sound settings you need are customizable within Windows audio control menus. The only advantage of using this software is the ability to change your EAX settings and optimize your sound card for THX quality specifications.

Who would I recommend this card to? Anyone, really. If you expect the highest fidelity audio from your computer, this card is for you. The gamer that needs the best sound effects and sound quality, again, this card is for you. For the musician who wants an easy way to work with his PC and musical MIDI instrument, this card is definitely for you. It meets the requirements of the utmost computer users (enthusiasts) and yet exceeds the needs of the average computer junkie.

The only aspect of this card that may deter you is its price. I do have to admit it is a bit steep, and the price jump from the bare bones card to the Plat version is a bit of a premium, but since this card is the best on the market in my mind, is there anything wrong with getting what you pay for? Not in this case. An excellent bundle of hardware and software (sans the MediaSource) round out this $170 purchase with extra icing on the cake.

-- TEST COMPUTER –
Pentium IV 2.5GHz
Intel i850E Motherboard
1GB of RD-RAM (PC-800)
Radeon 9700 Pro with Catalyst 4.3 Drivers
Win XP Pro SP2 RC1
DirectX 9.0B
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Drivers with EAX 4.0

Applications Tested: Cool Edit Pro, Nero Wav Editor, Winamp
Games Tested: Halo, UT 2004, BF Vietnam, MOH:AA, Splinter Cell

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