Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX Transforms the PC Into a Home Recording Studio

Music Creation Platform Enables 24-bit/96kHz Multi-Channel Recording

Creative Technology has announced immediate shipment of its new Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX card/interface/software bundle. The estimated street price is $249 (US).

Creative is touting the new package as an ideal platform for aspiring musicians and home recordists, as well as PC users with a serious interest in sound quality. The company says the Platinum EX is the only THX®-certified consumer sound card capable of DVD-Audio quality 24-bit/96kHz recording in 5.1 channels.

The Platinum eX is now top-of-the-line in the Audigy 2 sound card family. Over the past year, Audigy 2 cards have won numerous awards and consumer enthusiasm for features such as DVD-Audio playback, Dolby Digital EX support for DVD movies, and 6.1-surround sound for games. The new package adds several capabilities and features that enable semi-pro recording and production applications.

6-Channel Low-Latency Recording

The Audigy 2 Platinum eX stands apart from the rest of the Audigy 2 family by offering 24-bit/96kHz recording capability for 6 channels, with a pure recording path and high-performance analog-to-digital converters to accurately capture the full quality and subtle details of any kind of music.

The package includes the Audigy 2 External I/O Module for studio quality connectivity through three analog stereo connections, plus optical and coaxial digital I/O, full-sized MIDI I/O and two SB1394 (FireWire) ports.

The included ASIO 2.0 driver enables direct monitoring and imperceptible audio driver latency values as low as 2 milliseconds.

ASIO provides audio routing between the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and any ASIO-compatible multi-track audio-recording and playback software, such as Cubasis VST CE, which is included in the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 software bundle. It also ensures low-latency operation and provides a straightforward control panel to determine which physical inputs and outputs are used by the software and also how some of the internal signal paths (virtual inputs and outputs) within the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card are routed.

The ASIO 2 driver allows users to record multiple analog and digital streams from any combination of the available sources. You can record several musicians simultaneously, recording each player in one multi-track session as opposed to recording one performer at a time.

Other home-recording-friendly features of the Platinum eX include a powerful effects processing engine powered by EAX ADVANCED HD; and a hardware-accelerated SoundFont synthesizer.

Comprehensive Music Creation Software Bundle

The Platinum eX comes with a compelling bundle of audio and video software, including the following music creation applications:

  • Steinberg – Cubasis™ VST 4.0 Creative Edition + Wavelab Lite 2.0 – the complete music production solution, with low latency multitrack ASIO recording and playback of up to 32 audio and 32 MIDI channels with integrated SoundFont™ support plus VST instruments and effects with mixer automation;
  • Sonic Foundry – ACID™ Style DJ 3.0 – turns the PC into the ultimate dance music production studio, to enable creation of club mixes;
  • Native Instruments – Traktor® DJ Creative Edition – provides dual outputs to cue up tracks in real time to create DJ mixes from MP3 or WAV tracks;
  • Image Line – FruityLoops™ Pro 3.5 Creative Edition – serves as a pattern-based sequencer with built-in software synthesizers and VST instrument support. This application also supports ASIO playback and VST and DirectX effects.Unparalleled Audio Playback Quality

Highest Quality Music Listening Experience

Sound Blaster 24-bit ADVANCED HD audio playback at 106dB SNR delivers up to eight times the clarity of motherboard audio. Its DVD-Audio playback capabilities introduce listeners to details and clarity in recordings that far exceed the limits of vinyl, tape or CD. Anyone with a DVD-ROM drive of 6x or greater can utilize the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 to experience DVD-Audio with full 24-bit/192kHz sound quality in stereo.

For MP3, WMA or CD playback, the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX includes Creative MediaSource™ the most comprehensive player for digital music transfer, library management and enhancements, including up-mix of stereo MP3 music into full 6.1 surround sound.

The Richest Surround Sound for PC Home Theater

The ultimate PC-Based Home Theater experience is created through Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX’s certified support of Dolby® Digital EX. Compared with Dolby® Digital 5.1, this new technology adds a rear center channel, which provides better positioning of audio and effects coming from behind the listener. The additional rear speaker also creates a better overall effect of fly-bys and fly-overs making the audio experience more enveloping and immersive. Coupled with an impressive Signal-to-Noise Ratio of 106dB and lower harmonic distortion, a more balanced, crisper and richer movie audio environment results, thrusting you right into the heart of your favourite movies.

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