Introduction
Back in November of 2001, OcPrices.com was one of the first websites to take a look at the superb Creative Labs Audigy Platinum sound card, and today we are looking at its successor, the flagship Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX, where the EX denotes that it has an external bay unit. Creative’s internal bay version, the Platinum has been out for some time, but this version is the one the real audio buffs have been waiting for! As usual, we first take a look at the packaging.
Creative’s box is practical in appearance, without the usual demon / scantily clad woman / racing car that seem to litter the boxes of most hardware manufacturers. The Audigy 2 EX is undeniably great looking so Creative didn’t feel the need to use such gimmicks. Customary with Creative soundcards, there are cheaper models available. At the bottom of the range is the Audigy 2 Player which you can get from Creative’s web-shop for around £85.00 ($125), then comes the Audigy 2 Platinum, much like the model reviewed here but with an internal 5.25” bay and fewer I/O options. It retails for £153 ($225). This flagship model costs £170 ($250) and comes with the external I/O box as well as more bundled software.
Inside the box you will find:
- The SoundBlaster Audigy Sound Card
- The External Audigy drive
- A remote control
- A power splitter cable
- Copious amounts of software
- An “Ad Link 1” cable
- An “Ad Link 2” cable
- A Joystick/MIDI bracket + Ribbon cable
- A "quick start" installation guide
- Midi in & out mini-din converter leads
Quite a box full of tricks then! Since the Audigy 2 has so many features, it’s going to take a while to go through them all. First up, let’s take a look at the installation procedure.
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