Creative launches Audigy 4 Pro sound card

[Steve]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Audigy 3 never happened. At least if it did happen, I missed it (although that's not hard, given that I have a Sound Blaster Live.) Anyway, I digress. Audigy 4 is here, and Creative are aiming it at the 'discerning amateur musician' as you can see in this press release:

[The card] features advanced digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) yielding 113dB SNR for superior 24-bit ADVANCED™ HD audio – the highest signal-to-noise ratio of any consumer sound card. Creative’s all-new Entertainment Centre software will allow users to transform their PCs into home entertainment hubs complete with easy navigation via a remote control, with playback for digital music, pictures and movies. Priced at £179.99 inc VAT, the Audigy 4 Pro is available now.

[Press release]

[Butcher]

Seems a bit excessive for a PC tbh.

[The Fishmeister]

Well, thats what I paid for my Delta 44 3 years ago. Now as a muso I wanted a quality card, as I record in guitar and vcl, and not just midi . So if thats aimed at 'discerning amateur muso's', its got to outperform the 44.

And I bet the options on the Delta 44 are better. And its a touch cheaper now...

Hmmm.

[Zak33]

can you imagine the vast array of exciting things Creative can get squeezed into your registry with a £170 sound card.

My mind boggles

[Butcher]

Dunno about musos - lot of babble about home entertainment. Personally I'd rather use my external amp for that than any in comp sound card.

[Kumagoro]

well the audigy 4 with 113 dB snr therefore halves the loudness of noise over the delta 44
but i cant find anything with particular detail of two.

[Lee H]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Audigy 3 never happened.

Yeah - digitimes said that the 3 is like a "bad" number hence they skipped it.

[Thorsson]

Creative's snr figures have been shown to be more about their marketing than their product. The AU4 should more properly have been called a 2.1. Bull**** and Bloatware.

[Steve]

Yeah - digitimes said that the 3 is like a "bad" number hence they skipped it.

So no Audigy 3, no Arctic Silver 4... blimey.

[Defiant]

Well tell me if im wrong.... but

I did here somewhere its nothing but a souped up Audigy 2, not really a new whole card. Which sort of seems pointless to me. Sounds like they may be dropping that name for there cards

[Speedo]

I don't understand why anyone would touch a Creative card with all the rubbish they put with the drivers, add in the fact that there aren't unified drivers are you always need the damn CD with the original drivers as well.. wish they'd take a leaf out of Hercules' book and give a useful unintrusive config menu..

[Stoo]

/me waits patiently for the Soundstorm2 Add-in card

[unrealrocks]

Well, thats what I paid for my Delta 44 3 years ago. Now as a muso I wanted a quality card, as I record in guitar and vcl, and not just midi . So if thats aimed at 'discerning amateur muso's', its got to outperform the 44.

And I bet the options on the Delta 44 are better. And its a touch cheaper now...

Hmmm.

Yup - I've used a 44 and have a 1010. OK so they don't have the headroom the Audigy4 allows but when was the last time you mixed something down to anything but CD - given thats around 90db its pritty pointless

Also where they say multichanel I bet they mean one and two like so many of these cards designed for 'home musicians' which is pritty useless. 4 channels is good to get several different channels (if your recording live or just jamming its enough for Vocal, ambient L+R and Bass seperately).

People will buy it because I'm sure it'll have some great looking front bay, and just because its Creative. I don't really see the point though.

[zaphod]

/me waits patiently for the Soundstorm2 Add-in card

Stoo

Not sure whats happing with Soundstorm 2. I love the real time dolby digital encoding! Here is an alternative to it though "HDA Digital X-Mystique 7.1
GOLD" it is made by a Korean company called HiTec.

Can't find one to by in europe but it looks like a class card! Does real tim DD just like soundstorm.

[SilentDeath]

Wouldnt belive any techinical specs on a creative product myself..
A year or so ago it was proved that the A2 was not 24bit like it was claimed.. cant remember the exact details but one of the chips was rated to 24bit, but the card downsamped before it got to that chip.. so it was all a bit pointless uing a 24bit chip...

[Rythmic]

It's the DSP that isn't 24bit - EAX and other effects will downsample to 16/48.

I'd wait a few months for them to produce a soundcard that doesn't do this...