Audigy LS

[Auric]

Perusing Creative's latest comparision chart, I noticed something odd. The new Audigy LS appears to be some kind of queer hybrid betwixt the Audigy and Audigy 2. It has the DAC's and SNR of the A1 but the Max. Recording / Sampling Rate of the A2. It also lacks FireWire and instead sports an integrated gameport instead of being on another bracket. But the queer thing is the Hardware Acceleration of EAX &/or EAX ADVANCED HD feature is shown as NA. Do they distribute crippled drivers with it to distinguish it more from the A2? Is the Audigy ES identical but just OEM packed?

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spell check

 

[RagingGuardian]

I was wondering the same thing because newegg has the ls version cheaper.

 

[Brian48]

The CS4382 DAC is one of the biggest improvements of the A2 over the A1. It's also the one that costs the most. From my understanding, this Cirrus Logic chip is a very pricey component. I think it was digit-life.com that mentioned that the CS4382 is approximately 5-6 times better than most DACs used on consumer level sound cards. Not surprising that it's left out of this "budget" card.

 

[Auric]

So does the LS have the better ADC of the A2 but worse DAC of the A1?

Mainly, I wonder about the HWA EAX being NA on the LS. That's crazy. But I assume the regular A1/A2/A2ZS drivers can be installed.

 

[Brian48]

Based on the lower SNR it advertises, I'd say that indicates it has the cheaper DAC used by the A1. Personally, I'd pass on this one.

 

[Auric]

For $40 OEM though it seems like a bargoon.