Audigy2 ZS Platinum... Why NOT?

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BillyBo

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well, the title is my question. why do so many people hate the SB series sound cards for recording?? i mean, i know the older versions arent that great for the sample rates and such, but the Audigy2 ZS Platinum (the one i use) and the new X-Fi series cards have the same sample rates as the "studio" sound cards that everyone likes from M-Audio and the likes.

so, honestly, because i really would like to know, if i have a good microphone pre, a decent mixer, and Adobe Audition to record with (right, super-basic setup), than what am i losing by not getting one of these other soundcards?? maybe multi-track recording, but i dont need that right now.

i also use my computer for my entertainment system. i have the audio/video outs to my surround sound system and my tv/vcr.

so, again, i'm looking for real reasons why the Audigy2 ZS Plat isnt as good as these other cards. i'm NOT looking for "cuz SB sucks" or "you're a retard for even asking".... i've done my research, i've searched this forum, and i have the Audigy now which works perfectly fine for what i use it for. am i missing something? or are the others so popular because "that's what everyone else uses"??

thanks.



Bless.
 
BillyBo said:
maybe multi-track recording, but i dont need that right now.
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If you don't need multi track recording then you and your Audigy2 soundcard will be very happy together.
 
okay, one more question... even if i wanted multi-track recording, but wanted to go the route of firewire, would there be any difference then?
 
A FW card or port would bypass the SB on the way in, you'd only use it for playback. I believe that even the SB cards that claim 24 bit operation actually convert to 16 bits, and then upsample to 24 bits (pretty useless), but that may be academic for playback. The converter itself is still going to be bush-league, compared to a decent prosumer card.
 
i'm not trying to be rude, but do you have any documentation that proves SB upsamples?? specifiacally w/ the Audigy2 ZS? cuz i've never heard that before.

this is what it states on Creative's site:
SPECIFICATIONS

High Definition Audio Quality for Playback and Recording

* 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion during playback with sampling rates of 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz in 7.1 mode and up to 192kHz in stereo mode
* 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion during recording in 8, 16 or 24-bit at sampling rates of 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz
* SPDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) input at up to 24-bit/96kHz quality
* SPDIF output up to 24-bit at 48 or 96kHz
* ASIO drivers for low latency(≤2ms) multi-track playback and recording at 16-bit/48kHz
 
From TECH SPOT review;

"The Audigy 2 ZS doesn’t differ from the Audigy 2 with regard to higher resolution audio support. So that raises the question, can it playback/record at 24-Bit/96kHz without resampling? The answer is, sort of. ASIO recording is limited to 16-Bit/48kHz, while the effects engine resamples to 48 kHz if in use (So forget about enabling EAX effects or using CMSS for example).

Does it still resample 44.1 kHz sources (example: CDs) to 48 kHz? Yes.
Does the effects engine still resample sources to 48 kHz? Again, yes.

As before, there’s little mention of these resampling issues anywhere, beyond the Speaker Calibrator’s vague mention of ensuring highest quality output by using Basic Calibration.


Hopefully this will be the last Creative soundcard to have such limitations now that there’s an increasing number of competitors available that have moved past these, e.g. M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 and Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 can playback 44.1 kHz audio without resampling."

The deal breaker here should be the line I put in Bold type.
 
interesting. thanks for the article. although budget issues (as usual) will keep me from upgrading anytime soon. i think i'll definately get a new card if/when i need multi-track and if i ever upgrade my other equipment. no sense it getting a higher quality signal when the signal is crap to begin with. (right??)
 
BillyBo said:
interesting. thanks for the article. although budget issues (as usual) will keep me from upgrading anytime soon. i think i'll definately get a new card if/when i need multi-track and if i ever upgrade my other equipment. no sense it getting a higher quality signal when the signal is crap to begin with. (right??)
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I'm sure you can do some decent recording with it in the mean time. I'm with you on the upgrade/budget balancing act. It becomes all the more important to do your homework and find out where every dollar is going to do the most good in your setup, and how to get the most out of the gear you have, not the gear you wish you had. Decent mics and pres may be more beneficial to you right now than a soundcard upgrade, or monitors, or ...........

good luck, and have fun.
 
Robert D said:
I'm sure you can do some decent recording with it in the mean time.....good luck, and have fun.
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i always do. i'm a hiphop artist and have been recording for 5-6 years. it wasnt until about 3 years ago that i got serious and wanted to make albums, and it wasnt until last year that i actually thought about upgrading my card. i obviously ended up w/ the Audigy b/c it fit what all i wanted to use it for.

at least i know now that i didnt waste my money completely.


now to figure out how/what/why i need a pre-amp instead of my crappy old mixer......
 
If the SB isn't buggin the crap out of you because of its annoying hidden trick features (bass boosts, level controls, spatial enhancement, etc), and you don't need to do multi-track recording, and you don't need zero latency monitoring (I don't think it has that option?), and you aren't bothered by the sound, then don't worry about it.

Something as simple as an Maudio audiophile or 1010LT is just so much easier to use and you won't hang yourself with any hidden "optimization" features.

now to figure out how/what/why i need a pre-amp instead of my crappy old mixer......
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Sound quality. Simple as that. If you aren't bothered with the sound quality of your old mixer, then once again--don't worry about it.
 
yeah, i after signing up here (a few months ago) i quickly learned that for home recording, it's not so much WHAT you have, but if it works for YOU. i'm satisfied with my recordings, i've learned how to use my recording program, and how to setup my equipment (very little so it's not that hard).... but i just was wondering "is there something better" and if there is, "will i notice it". i just dont wanna drop cash on something that makes a better recording, but i wont notice anyhow because of it being recorded at home, in the closet, with all the other sub-par equipment i have.

i guess i could just go to a studio, record a few tracks, and see if all the hardware makes a difference. that costs more money than i want to put out now too... haha... *sigh* oh well... this poor college kid/husband will just deal with what he's got for now.

thanks for the input guys.... anyone have anything to add?? i guess i'm stearing this to a preamp thread now... i'm looking at a cheap one - the ART Tube MP pre... any comments on that? what would i look for when researching for a mic pre??

i'm stuck between being a noob and just being too darn picky with not enough time to research everything, :P



bless.
 
Well, you can get a decent maudio card for half the price u paid for your SB, so it pays to do your research
 
BillyBo said:
i guess i could just go to a studio, record a few tracks, and see if all the hardware makes a difference. that costs more money than i want to put out now too... haha... *sigh* oh well... this poor college kid/husband will just deal with what he's got for now.
Click to expand...

This might not be so undoable at all. Think about it, you only want to see if the "technical" audio quality is different from yours. You could just book a studio for only 1 hour (that shouldn't cost too much) and do some vocal takes through some different stuff. Take that back home and compare. Most local studios have pretty high end gear (at least something like an Neumann U87 through a decent channel strip, like a Focusrite, SPL, Joemeek, whatnot). Just ask the tech to for a super dry take going in, and then for another dry take with a different mic + preamp, and perhaps a wet take using all the bells and whisles he can think of. This should be easily doable in an hour.
 
The SB cards aren't the best thing for recording.

However, if it works for you...then why not just keep using it?

I will tell you that as time goes on, you will notice it's downfalls and desire something better.
 
i came from a SB Audigy 2 soundacrd about a little over a year ago. Altough i was fine with what i was doing with it........it did work in my daw (Sonar 4) just fine i thought.

then i went for a "used" m-audio delta 66 card which i got dirt cheap from ebay......................

ill tell you this........

BIGGEST improvement ever! When i multi tracked stuff on SB card, i would always have to "nudge" tracks to correct alighnment, and playing along with tracks (monitoring), it never matched up...there was always a delay/echo. With this card......you just couldnt record properly, you couldnt record in 'real time'.............

with the new m-audio card,...there is NO latency, i can record track, upon track, upon track........and they all alighn correctly....and i hear everything in real time, and record in real time. less frustration.................
 
okay, cool... i kinda figured that i would upgrade if/when i ever needed multitrack recording capabilities. thanks to 'bryank' for letting me in on the latency issues w/ the Audigy. i have no problems as of yet (almost a year) with using my card for single-track recordings. but - did you notice a quality difference as well?

okay - again with this mic pre... i was looking for a cheap one, but no matter what i get, i'm more interested (unlike some people i've seen on here)... more interested in actually learning what i'm buying. i can read specs and reviews, but i'm not sure what i'm reading sometimes. what do i look for when researching a preamp (other than the # of ins/outs, lol)



Bless.
 
It will work, but I wil ltell you from personal experience that there is a sound quality hit in using them.

Specs only tell part of the story. Something can have great specs on paper and still suck.

But if you are OK with it, go for it. Upgrade when it becomes an issue for you and when you can justify the expense.
 
You can Multitrack...even with SB Lives!! Sounds ok too.

Hi...yep,I used my 3 SB Value 5.1's as multi track interfaces via my desk for 3 years, with never an isue to speak of..even today those old recordings sound just fine, not perfect, but competitive.
I THINK I NEED THE WORD 'MULTI-TRACK' RE-DEFINED into terms that are more specific....ie.....as I was multitracking live work with 6 channels using my 3 old SB's (SB1 left,SB1 right,...SB2 left,SB2 right....SB3 left,SB3 right)... no problems going thru a desk then into Cool Edit. (and no timing issues).@16bit, 44.1k.
So I was able to multitrack, even with these cards, both in recording and seperate playback....unless that isn't called 'multitracking'?? (giggle)
Today I use 2 Delta 44's going thru my Alto 16 channel desk, and things have improved greatly. (Monitoring was the biggest improvement!!)
Someone mentioned the 'hidden' features of the SB series, yep, that pissed me off a little (the added 'colour', etc...that is..).
So, if on a budget?...use what you've got, and if it works, great!! :)
Superspit.
 
i'll repost this... 'case no one payed attention :p

okay - again with this mic pre... i was looking for a cheap one, but no matter what i get, i'm more interested (unlike some people i've seen on here)... more interested in actually learning what i'm buying. i can read specs and reviews, but i'm not sure what i'm reading sometimes. what do i look for when researching a preamp (other than the # of ins/outs, lol)


Bless.
 
A couple of years ago, Creative were prosecuted for making false claims about the capabilities of their sound cards. They lost the case and were required to provide refunds to thousands of people who bought their cards.

I don't know why anyone would even consider buying anything from a company as untrustworthy as Creative, particularly when companies like M-Audio make better gear and charge less for it
 
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