Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS

[Yareek]

I already did that.

What I mean is, when I installed the audigy 2 drivers, it actually took away the option of line in.

That's another reason I hate SB cards. I had a few of them, including their premium $200 card (back when there were no prosumer alternatives). You can't get stable drivers off their website. Matter of fact, you can't get ANY drivers off their website that enable more than basic features. You have five different patches to run, and you have to run them in a specific order or else you lock up your system. I got an EMU 1820 and haven't looked back. The sound quality is WAY better; I noticed a huge difference in the amount of noise and distortion immediately. Same thing with recording and with headphones.

If I needed a barebones, I'd look at the M-Audio 2496. If I wanted more stuff, save and get the EMU; it's got TONS of expansion options.

 

[Orchestrator1]

One thing everyone seems to have forgotten about the Audigy is that it can only record Mono which is of no value to anybody. I run the Audigy together with a PreSonus FirePod Interface. The Audigy has good sampled sounds but VSTi can now be used in most top end sequencers so SB sounds are becoming redundant.
One thing I have found handy with the Audigy is it's recorder, player and burning capabilities.

 

[gordone]

??????
What if you are recording a mono track? All my vocals are mono, so being able to record in mono is of great value to me! If I need to record a stereo track (acoustic guitar for example), I usually record to two mono tracks, so I have more control during mixdown.

But hey, to each his own!

One thing everyone seems to have forgotten about the Audigy is that it can only record Mono which is of no value to anybody. <snip>

 

[Miseria_Cantare]

One thing everyone seems to have forgotten about the Audigy is that it can only record Mono which is of no value to anybody

I'm sure it can record in stereo?
Even the card that came with the computer could record in stereo...