Audigy 4 Launched

[Audiophile1980]

http://us.creative.com/product...=311&product=10853

 

[Confused]

Audigy 4?

I didn't even know there was a 3 released

 

[imported_jediknight]

I'm still waiting for my Netscape 5 :->

 

[Paulson]

I still like my audigy platinum card

 

[slpaulson]

It looks like the same card with better DACs.

 

[Audiophile1980]

Looks like all the differences are in the "Audigy 4 processor"
Maybe it's HD Audio compliant rather than AC"97.
See specs here:
http://us.creative.com/product...echnicalSpecifications

 

[Pacinamac23]

Originally posted by: Audiophile1980
It lists EAX 4.0. Did the Audigy 2 ever support that? Maybe this thing is HD audio standard compliant rather than AC'97?
I dunno....

Yes, the audigy 2 supports EAX 4.

 

[Audiophile1980]

Hmm....well it says it has a dynamic range of 120dB and a SnR of 113dB (audigy 2 ZS was 108) on all 13 channels.

The biggest differences I've been able to discern are those above and that it processess audio internally at 32bit which may suggest HD Audio compliance...Although Creative's specs for the Audigy 2 show this, I believe that was only on EAX effects.

Also, it says it has the same number of channels IN as OUT. (13) that would suggest that maybe this card has proper ASIO support which allows for multi-track recording from, say, three channels at once?

If so, that's a huge boost for pro-sumer recording!

Hard to say at this point...

 

[Anubis]

Audigy 4 Pro Processor
- Advanced hardware accelerated digital effects processing
- 32-bit digital processing, which maintains a theoretical 192 dB of dynamic range
- Patented 8-point interpolation that reduces distortion to inaudible levels
- 64-voice hardware wavetable synthesizer
- Professional quality digital mixing and equalization
-
High Definition Audio Quality for Playback and Recording
- Playback of 64 audio channels, each at an arbitrary sample rate
- 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96 kHz sample rate
- 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of digital sources at 96 kHz to analog 7.1 speaker output
- 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192 kHz to stereo output
- 16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz.
- Supports Sony/Philips Digital Interface (SPDIF) format of up to 24-bit/96 kHz quality. Selectable sampling rate of 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz
- Low latency multitrack recording with ASIO 2.0 support at 16-bit, 48 kHz and 24-bit, 96 kHz resolution.
*(Latency performance may vary based on system configuration)

FireWire® (IEEE® 1394) Connectivity
- Compliant with IEEE 1394a specification
- Supports data rates of 100, 200, and 400 Mbps
- Supports up to 63 FireWire (IEEE 1394) compatible devices in a daisy-chain configuration
- Supplies up to 3 Watts to FireWire (IEEE 1394) compatible devices
-
Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro On-Board Connectors
- Line level out (Front / Side / Rear / Center / Subwoofer)
- Digital CD Audio in
- Aux Audio in
- AD_Link 1 and AD_Link 2 connectors to connect with external I/O hub.
- Power connector
-
Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro External I/O Hub Front / Rear Panel Connectors
- Headphone Out (1/4" Stereo Jack)
- Line In 1 (1/4" Stereo Jack , shared with Mic In with Gain Control)
- Line In 2 (1/4" Stereo Jack)
- Line In 3 (2x RCA Jack)
- Optical SPDIF In/Out
- Coaxial SPDIF In/Out
- Digital Out for 5.1 support (6-channel SPDIF Output to Creative digital speakers)
- 2x FireWire® (IEEE® 1394) ports
- MIDI In / Out
- Infra-red Receiver to communicate with Remote Control
- AD_Link 1 and AD_Link 2 connectors to connect with Audigy 4 Pro

 

[Dug]

They added DTS-ES support according to their comparison chart.
Of course if you are outputing optical to your receiver it doesn't make any difference.

 

[CKTurbo128]

My question is, does this new Audigy 4 sound card downsample like the previous iterations of the Audigy series? This was another sound quality issue that plagued the earlier the Audigy sound cards.

I'm hoping that Creative fixed the problem, but considering Creative's reputation, I doubt it.

 

[imported_Bamboozle]

Wonder if they will be releasing a PCI-X version of this? Only shows as "Available PCI 2.1 or higher compliant slot for the audio card" for this.

 

[hytek369]

i wonder if they will have an internal breakout box

 

[JackBurton]

What is up with all the breakout box crap? That's cool for the people that want it, but I just want the card. :|

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Bamboozle
Wonder if they will be releasing a PCI-X version of this? Only shows as "Available PCI 2.1 or higher compliant slot for the audio card" for this.

PCI-E!!! Good god.

Is creative stupid or something.... everyone like the fact that Soundstorm encoded Real Time in DD 5.1.... why doesn't Creative do that. Also which APU are they using? Is it still an EMU 10KXX

-Kevin

 

[Audiophile1980]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: Bamboozle
Wonder if they will be releasing a PCI-X version of this? Only shows as "Available PCI 2.1 or higher compliant slot for the audio card" for this.

PCI-E!!! Good god.

Is creative stupid or something.... everyone like the fact that Soundstorm encoded Real Time in DD 5.1.... why doesn't Creative do that.

-Kevin

Because soundstorm was crap.
It didn't sell well. No one used it. That's why it's dead.
It used Dolby DICE which sharply rolls off frequencies above 17Khz and represents no frequencies at all above 18Khz. It's easy to notice too with good gear. It doesn't matter how good the receiver/speakers you hook it up to when DICE is a heavily compressed and cropped POS that doesn't represent as much dynamic range as a 128kbps LAME mp3.


""Overall for gaming the DICE output was excellent. On the other hand music, particularly quality source material such as CD audio and well encoded MP3 seemed be not quite as clean and a little lacking in the high frequency detail, something particularly notable on speaker systems with good high frequency response. "

"We discovered that the DICE encoder completely excludes all frequencies above 18 kHz and rolls off very sharply beyond around 17 kHz. This was never noticeable when playing games, even on quality speakers that make use of a dedicated high frequency driver (i.e. tweeter). On the other hand for music this results explains what our ears were telling us about the lack of upper high frequency detail and why it was much more audible on systems with strong high frequency response."

"We asked NVIDIA about the 17+ kHz very sharp roll-off when using the DICE and were informed that this was a decision made by Dolby Laboratories when developing the DICE. The reason was to limit the complexity of the encoding such that quality below that level would not be sacrificed. To put it another way, better quality from 20 Hz to 17+ kHz was a better way to go then 20 Hz to 20 kHz with far more compression. "

"The bottom line is excellent overall gaming performance and while some may like the stereo to 5 or 6 channel output with good quality using DICE I would suggest that anyone looking for optimum stereo music playback disable the DICE encoding when listening to music.""

 

[lazybum131]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
everyone like the fact that Soundstorm encoded Real Time in DD 5.1....

Everyone might have liked the feature, but only a minority ever actually used it. If adding it causes the card to costs more, I say leave it out since even the majority of people with Soundstorm motherboards never even used DICE.

 

[Oyeve]

And $300 bucks to boot. What a rip. I'll stick with my Audigy 2 ZS (or is it now an Audigy 3?).

 

[Gnoad]

The sound card industry needs more competition. I own an audigy because I basically have to...

 

[JeremiahTheGreat]

Well there was one company by the name of aureal.. was swiftly hit by about 10,000 unsubstantiated patent claims and other court actions.. and it died. And we now have the status quo - zero innovation, zero progress (you can mod a SBlive! -> Audigy2), and one player with all the cards.

nForce was an exception.. if only motherboards didn't put such a useless DAC on it..

 

[Looney]

Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro also comes with the all new Entertainment Center software and remote control unit, transforming your PC into a Entertainment Center with easy MP3 and movies playback and navigation.

Sounds like it comes with even more bloated software. You know, i would love to go with Creative, if only their damn software wasn't so bloated.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: JeremiahTheGreat
(you can mod a SBlive! -> Audigy2),

Sorry to be off topic but do you have any sites that show how to do this, I have a soundblaster live and am interested

 

[JeremiahTheGreat]

http://www.driverheaven.net/sh...4&page=1&pp=15

Enjoy!

 

[Audiophile1980]

Originally posted by: JeremiahTheGreat
http://www.driverheaven.net/sh...4&page=1&pp=15

Enjoy!

Ridiculous.
The Audigy and Audigy 2 series have different sets of physical DACs which cannot be acheived in software. Neither can internal 32bit processing or the performance benefits. In other words, this mod does not make a live into even an Audigy 1. All it does is let you use the A2 drivers and software. That's. It.

Anyway, this card that they're showing is described as "Limited Edition."

This suggests to me that perhaps the Audigy 4 is a PCI-express solution (with a limited edition PCI card)

Time will tell.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: JeremiahTheGreat
Well there was one company by the name of aureal.. was swiftly hit by about 10,000 unsubstantiated patent claims and other court actions.. and it died. And we now have the status quo - zero innovation, zero progress (you can mod a SBlive! -> Audigy2), and one player with all the cards.
nForce was an exception.. if only motherboards didn't put such a useless DAC on it..

No, actually Aureal sued Creative, for violating their patents... and eventually won. But it cost them their last corporate dying breath in the process. So much for vindication.