Old school Audigy sound card, found in trash

[Beertintedgoggles]

Well, it wasn't exactly the trash but close enough.... we are recycling computers at our work and people are bringing in some of their old PC's from home. Of course I had to do some dumpster diving but even I couldn't find much to scavenge (only a 40GB hard drive and a Sound Blaster Audigy first gen SB0090). I've looked at a few reviews but I haven't been able to find many. I'm wondering if anyone has had this card before and what their experiences with it have been. I have an Audigy 2 NX (external USB model) which I used to share with the girlfriend until she got a laptop from work and doesn't use her desktop anymore. I can't find anything comparing the audio quality of the two generations but I know the first gen card being PCI must use less CPU than the USB card (mostly due to the USB interface). Any input is welcome, even if it's just "put the card back in the trash". Thanks.

 

[MadCow]

Just install it and see for yourself, it doesn't take much time.

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

Yeah I know that's the best way to do it; however, my rig is currently all torn apart so I can cut out some panels in the motherboard tray of my case to allow some more breathing room for the back of my MB. I'm also contemplating putting a fan to blow air across the back through the holes (triangles). The only problem is my case is steel and it eats through cutting discs, also my dremel is cordless and cutting through the steel panel just drains the battery. This will be the third day of the project and I'll finally be putting everything back in the case. So once again, if anyone has any input please share otherwise I'll just suck it up and wait until I can install it and use my own ears to compare the two.

 

[lemonadesoda]

1./ The Audigy 2 is much better than the 1. I have both. The 1 is OK, and should work with standard drivers in XP, so you can just plug it in. However, not for Vista, since there are no drivers, unless you do some hefty hacking. Not worth the effort IMO.

2./ Get the right tool for the job. If the cutting disks are breaking... its because you are trying to force the cut too quickly. If you are getting bored cutting steel with a dremel (wrong tool... will take forever), get an angle grinder to slash through, and use the dremel to tidy up the corner burrs.

 

[Mussels]

there is no need to hack drivers. they were released on TPU's frontpage a short while ago, with modded drivers to let the audigy series work in vista... however, for basic needs thats not neccesary. Creative DID release drivers for the audigy 1/2/4, they merely havent been updated and have no software with them.

The USB model is MASSIVELY inferior - its actually a software only card, while the audigy 1 is hardware. Do not compare the external audigy 2 with the regular audigy 2, as they are VERY different cards. fire up the PCI card and you'll be surprised!

 

[lemonadesoda]

Is that true? USB version is software? And inferior? Thanks for the warning.

 

[Mussels]

Is that true? USB version is software? And inferior? Thanks for the warning.

basically, the SB live, live24, audigy 1/2/2ZS/4/4pro are the only real hardware models. Many of the other extensions (and externals) are often software based - you can usually tell, because they need different drivers to the others. A good example is even with the X-fi's, some of the cheaper models only support EAX 2.0 - again, software (compared to 5.0 on the hardware models)

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

According to some reviews, the decompression of MP3 and WMA is done on the card itself (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-2,711-3.html). However, EAX is processed by the CPU instead of the sound card (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-2,711-15.html) This hasn't really affected my gaming experience with the Audigy 2 NX since I've had frames to spare in regards to the games I've been playing. Obviously with the system crippling games this would have a rather large impact. But for now I'm good which is why I'm mostly worried about the quality of sound. Even in this aspect, reviews show the NX to be decent but nothing wonderful so I guess I'm going to install this Audigy and see what my ears think.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I just saw that same review, its a good one and worth reading.

Here is the link:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-2,711.html#

Here is a QUICK SUMMARY:

The USB NX results in 10% performance loss in quake compared to PCI Audigy 2. That's a lot of sound processing being done by the CPU to have such a big impact. :shadedshu

 

[Mussels]

I just saw that same review, its a good one and worth reading.

Here is the link:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-2,711.html#

Here is a QUICK SUMMARY:

The USB NX results in 10% performance loss in quake compared to PCI Audigy 2. That's a lot of sound processing being done by the CPU to have such a big impact. :shadedshu

Yes - and its lacking most of the features that made audigy cards an audigy. Its basically a generic onboard soundcard with an audigy sticker on top.

 

[lemonadesoda]

"Creative" marketing at its worse, again. Groan.

 

[spud107]

give these drivers a try if you want, good sound quality and they work in vista
http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/

 

[Mussels]

give these drivers a try if you want, good sound quality and they work in vista
http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/

KX are a good alternative. They offer good sound, but no extra apps that the modded creative drivers have.

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

Thanks, but yeah I know about the modded Creative drivers. I'm still running XP Pro though (correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the modded drivers are Vista only).

 

[Mussels]

Thanks, but yeah I know about the modded Creative drivers. I'm still running XP Pro though (correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the modded drivers are Vista only).

yes, those ones were. there are modded ones for XP under the youP pax name.