Hello
I have Sound Blasters:
-PCI 128 ( 1998, green board )
-SB LIVE! ( 1998-99 Value, brown board, CT4830 )
-Audigy 1 ( 2001, SB0090 )
If using in a Win98 SE build:
Is the Audigy 2 ZS ( 2003 ) really a night to day difference in sound ?
Is it just overhyped or am I going to miss something if using other cards ?
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/best-sound-c … r-socket-7.html
If you already have Audigy 1, you should be fine.
I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.
Audigy 1: gold plated version.
Live! Value: plain version.
Don't really know how much difference the gold plated version of the card makes ?
People never say in reviews if they have the plain or gold plated version.
Who said "so much better"? The difference between that, an Audigy 1, and a Live! is marginal. It's slightly better in audio quality and speed when using A3D or EAX, but we are talking about differences that you can only measure but not really see (or hear for that matter).
Just don't use that PCI 128 thing.
http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthread.php?21 … gy-and-audigy-2
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/audigy-2 … digy-1.1380799/
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/best-sound-c … r-socket-7.html
"I noticed a huge difference upgrading from the soundblaster 5.1live."
"going from an Audigy 1 to Audigy 2 is a day and night difference in terms of sound quality."
"It sounds absolutely awesome. Better than the Audigy, so I see no need to get the Audigy and would look around and insist on getting the Audigy 2 ZS."
Major benifits of the ZS over the Audigy is they are common, slightly better better audio quality and the final card to support Win9x.
Would I bother upgrading if I already had a Audigy 1? nope.
Benefits over the Live!, bigger difference in audio quality but I'd still be hard pressed to know the difference, Audigy supports EAX4 vs EAX3 of the live but that doesnt matter in Win9x , Optical out if that matters, the big difference IMHO is the Audigy drivers seem less bloated.
Would I bother upgrading? Yes but only casue it makes me feel good knowing I've I sweet card in my retro rig. I've got a Live in another PC and if I'm honest I probably don't really notice the difference.
Sound will always be subjective, some will say they notice night and day difference and someone else (me) won't.
I'd say if you notice a difference between the Live! and the Audigy maybe you'll notice it between the Audigy and Audigy2, maybe
The most noticeable improvement is with headphones. There is hiss with Live and Audigy 1. Their front speaker output is, quite frankly, crap. Audigy 2 is clean. Some AudioPCI based cards (ie SB PCI 128) should be clean too though.
Everything else is indeed subjective. Even whether 64 3D channels and EAX 3/4 are worth anything hehe.
It's pretty annoying to install Audigy 2 on Win9x. Getting the VXD drivers up and running is time consuming. And you need them if you want the card fully functional.
The Audigs 2ZS bogged my Win9X PC considerably compared to the Live. I wound up switching back to the Live and forgetting about the Audigy altogether. I still have it, but I probably wouldn't install it anything older than a 2002-03 vintage system.
