Audigy 2 ZS - not that impressed

S

Slider19

Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
903
I jumped on the deal a few weeks back from buy.com for the audigy 2 zs for $37 AR. Just got around to installing it and after listening to some music, was somewhat under whelmed.

I'm coming from the analog on-board sound on the Abit NF7-S, which is supposed to be one of the better on-board audio solutions ever. The only real difference to me with the audigy is louder sound on my HD-497.

Was I expecting too much? Would games be a better test?

Should I ebay the audigy?
 
I don't have much knowledge about sound cards. But everyone tells me the quality difference is so minimal that you wouldn't really notice it. It's more for a 5.1 or 7.1 setup configuration convenience.
 
I wouldn't Ebay it... you wouldn't make much money at all.

The Audigy ZS will help in games where it will remove part of the burden of processing sounds from your CPU and speed things up. Also, whether you realize it or not, the fidelity is a bit higher than onboard sound. Not to mention, the signal to noise ratio is much better. It's probably worth it now that you already have it.
 
Use the EAX + Equalizers? I notice a huge difference between my NF7-S Soundstorm and Audigy 2. After listening to the Audigy 2 and then switching back, the Soundstorm came off as annoying to me.
 
Hmm, I'll try it out a little more with the EAX and stuff, though I usually don't like effects in my music. Might be good for games though.

I'll let my ears break in as well.
 
winamp, I wonder how much media players matter in audio quality. I do think winamp is better than WM10 in playing mp3s.
 
its not so much the player itself, but the soundfonts and output style that influence the sound. I myself like foobar2k w/ kernel streaming, but either foobar or winamp w/ asio aren't poor choices either. Give any of those a whirl and I think you'll like it. oh and dick around w/ the sample rate also (start w/ 96k and work your way up imo)
 
*Cough* Foobar2000 *Cough* :D

Download the special version....
Set the output method to Kernal streaming.
In the DSP manager enable the PPHS resampler, then navigate to the PPHS resample panel and set the target sampling rate to 48000.
Now navigate to the Playback page and set the output data format to 16 bit
Click the Dither check box and select strong ATH noise shaping from the list box beside it.
Load file and tell me if it sounds better.
Granted I just barely touched on the vast number of the options but you should notice a difference right off the bat. ;)
 
why only 48k? also can't the zs handle 32 bit fixed point?
<-- total noob to the audigy line (went sblive value to delta1010)
 
audigy 2 zs is absolute crap when listening to music. the cars only good feature is EAX 4 and that helps in games.
 
Mister X said:
*Cough* Foobar2000 *Cough* :D

Download the special version....
Set the output method to Kernal streaming.
In the DSP manager enable the PPHS resampler, then navigate to the PPHS resample panel and set the target sampling rate to 48000.
Now navigate to the Playback page and set the output data format to 16 bit
Click the Dither check box and select strong ATH noise shaping from the list box beside it.
Load file and tell me if it sounds better.
Granted I just barely touched on the vast number of the options but you should notice a difference right off the bat. ;)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, Kernal Streaming will not work with 16 bit. I've tried that once, and it wouldn't work. The only way that Kernal Streaming will work is if the output data format is set to 24-bit padded to 32-bit. (If you don't see that option, click on the checkbox marked "Show all options".)

By the way, although the Audigy2 ZS DSP runs at 48kHz/32-bit, the drivers don't support 32-bit fixed-point playback.
 
Mister X said:
*Cough* Foobar2000 *Cough* :D

Download the special version....
Set the output method to Kernal streaming.
In the DSP manager enable the PPHS resampler, then navigate to the PPHS resample panel and set the target sampling rate to 48000.
Now navigate to the Playback page and set the output data format to 16 bit
Click the Dither check box and select strong ATH noise shaping from the list box beside it.
Load file and tell me if it sounds better.
Granted I just barely touched on the vast number of the options but you should notice a difference right off the bat. ;)
Click to expand...

What is this doing to the original recording? is it processing it and changing the EQ and stuff on it? I also like to listen to my music without any "after effects".

I still use Winamp 2.81Lite base without any add-ins... maybe I am missing out??

(I also bought the Audigy2 ZS from the Buy.com deal, upgraded from TB Santa Cruz, sounds the same to me as well.)
 
Ultra Wide said:
What is this doing to the original recording? is it processing it and changing the EQ and stuff on it? I also like to listen to my music without any "after effects".

I still use Winamp 2.81Lite base without any add-ins... maybe I am missing out??

(I also bought the Audigy2 ZS from the Buy.com deal, upgraded from TB Santa Cruz, sounds the same to me as well.)
Click to expand...

Without any add ins, that Audigy2 ZS does not sound as good as it could have been. Without ASIO or Kernal Streaming, all audio goes to the Windows Kmixer, which is notorious for resampling audio (even the original sampling rate to the same sampling rate as before) whether you like it or not, changing the bits (and thus "mangling" the audio output) in the process. What's worse, the Audigy2 ZS resamples all 44.1kHz audio to 48kHz in hardware no matter what you do, and it too "mangles" the sound output during resampling.

As a result of all that, CD audio and most MP3's get resampled twice -- once by the Audigy2 ZS (from 44.1kHz to 48kHz), once by the Windows Kmixer (from 48kHz back to 44.1kHz).

For that matter, the TB Santa Cruz does not natively support 44.1kHz. It, too, resamples 44.1kHz audio to 48kHz.
 
Yikes, a lot of this stuff is new to me. So, how do I get ASIO or Kernal streaming on winamp and will it work with the audigy?
 
Slider19 said:
Yikes, a lot of this stuff is new to me. So, how do I get ASIO or Kernal streaming on winamp and will it work with the audigy?
Click to expand...

It will work fine with the Audigy. I'm pretty sure kernal streaming comes with the special installer for Foobar. When I still used my A2ZS, I used 24-bit padded to 32-bit, 48kHz resampling, and kernal streaming.
 
Thanks, will to try it out tonight. So I will hear a noticable improvement?

edit: couldn't wait and tried it right now with foobar. Geez, so much better, louder AND defined music.
 
E4g1e said:
Unfortunately, Kernal Streaming will not work with 16 bit. I've tried that once, and it wouldn't work. The only way that Kernal Streaming will work is if the output data format is set to 24-bit padded to 32-bit. (If you don't see that option, click on the checkbox marked "Show all options".)
Click to expand...

Odd because I always ran at 16/48 with kernal streaming when I had a Audigy2 ZS.
You sure it wasn't just the first time pop up warning about kernal streaming being experimental?
 
Thanks again MisterX. BTW, what sound card are you on right now?

I did notice an improvement with 16bit, but more of a pronounced effect with padded 32bit

Honestly, it should be a crime to play your music without these foobar options on.
 
It is really that good?

How bad is foobar in terms of resources and installing files, etc?

I like Winamp b/c it doesn't pollute my system at all and it has a small footprint.

I might give foobar a try. :D
 
Slider19 said:
The only real difference to me with the audigy is louder sound on my HD-497.

Was I expecting too much? Would games be a better test?

Should I ebay the audigy?
Click to expand...
I would say you might have been expecting a little too much. The main diffrence would be in games with better performance and perhaps newer EAX features.

The sound card was not the limiting factor, but rather the headphones in my experience.

Maybe just get better headphones next time if your looking for considerably better sound quality.

~Hope this helps
 
Slider19 said:
Thanks again MisterX. BTW, what sound card are you on right now?
Click to expand...
Terratec DMX6fire 24/96 and a EMU 1212M


Slider19 said:
I did notice an improvement with 16bit, but more of a pronounced effect with padded 32bit
Click to expand...
WOOT!
I like to see people take the ball and run with it like that.
(figuring out what settings you like the best is half the battle with audio stuffs)

Slider19 said:
Honestly, it should be a crime to play your music without these foobar options on.
Click to expand...
lol, you can get similar performance with Winamp but chasing down all of the plugins is a PITA.


BTW if you want to clean up the UI a little bit I would suggest trying one of the "looks"
http://www.barciaonline.com/aural/foobarlooks/foobarlooks.htm
 
Ultra Wide said:
It is really that good?

How bad is foobar in terms of resources and installing files, etc?

I like Winamp b/c it doesn't pollute my system at all and it has a small footprint.

I might give foobar a try. :D
Click to expand...
From what I saw, foobar is one of most "light" music apps I have ever used.
 
Slider19 said:
Ah thanks, I was begining to wonder why foobar looked so...bland.

I have to say, after foobar and all, overall I am happy with the audigy2, especially for the price. I was on a budget to begin with, and I think I did well for the budget.
Click to expand...
Something else to point out is that MP3s are, by nature, VERY lossy. Even at 320kbps, MP3s handle deep bass (Cellos) and some percussion (cymbals) very, VERY badly.

Try ripping some CDs to your hard disk via EAC configured to compress using FLAC. Foobar2000 supports .FLAC files natively and, although the filesize is much bigger than MP3 (something like 820kbps to 1400kbps - it's variable rate), the quality is UNBELIEVABLY better.

It's truly lossless - you can rip a CD to FLAC files for backup, and latest decompress the FLAC files to burn a new CD, and it'll be a bit-perfect match of the original CD data. (Of course, again, you pay for that - a FLAC rip of a CD average 300mb - 400mb, depending on the type of music...but it's truly a PERFECT copy when paired with EAC!)
 
Cool, what's EAC?

OT: CMSS, at least with the audigy 2 is fairly crappy. I hope the X-Fi is doing better.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
Should I have allow hard ware mixing on?
Click to expand...

That doesn't matter if you are using kernal streaming.
But if you are using direct sound output... yea, enable it.
 
strid3r said:
BTW, here are some more sites that will help you liven up the UI a bit.

The first link uses column_ui:
http://foobar.nub4life.net/columns/pafiledb.php

The second link uses the default interface, just copy and paste the code:
http://pelit.koillismaa.fi/fb2k/gbook.php?page=2
Click to expand...
Eh, I've not really found a UI I liked.

Basically, I've got two issues with all the ones I've seen:
- Fixed columns available, and none seem to include 'Composer'
- Seem to assume that all your music is albums that have a single artist. In fact, I really don't like it grouping the playlist entries by album at ALL - that's why I have a directory structure browser!
 
Mister X said:
*Cough* Foobar2000 *Cough* :D

Download the special version....
Set the output method to Kernal streaming.
In the DSP manager enable the PPHS resampler, then navigate to the PPHS resample panel and set the target sampling rate to 48000.
Now navigate to the Playback page and set the output data format to 16 bit
Click the Dither check box and select strong ATH noise shaping from the list box beside it.
Load file and tell me if it sounds better.
Granted I just barely touched on the vast number of the options but you should notice a difference right off the bat. ;)
Click to expand...

Bump, because even right now, I still reap the benefits of following this advice. Yeah I'm just listening to tunes and continue to marvel at the difference between using foobar with these tweaks compared to winamp. MUST DO for all Audigy2zs owners. Gaming.... check, uncrappified music and vocals.... check... finally.
 
I forgot to ask.... how did that driver CD work out for you?

Eh, I've not really found a UI I liked.
Click to expand...

It's the same for me even though all of music is albums. :p
 
Mister X said:
Odd because I always ran at 16/48 with kernal streaming when I had a Audigy2 ZS.
You sure it wasn't just the first time pop up warning about kernal streaming being experimental?
Click to expand...

I run 16bit/48khz ASIO on my audigy2. Doesn't sound too bad at all and I notice the difference in quality when I turn my music up. Maybe it's me, but it seems like it's a bit less distorted.
 
bboynitrous said:
I run 16bit/48khz ASIO on my audigy2. Doesn't sound too bad at all and I notice the difference in quality when I turn my music up. Maybe it's me, but it seems like it's a bit less distorted.
Click to expand...

That's because most versions of the Audigy2 support only ASIO 1.x, which limits ASIO support to 48/16.
 
E4g1e said:
That's because most versions of the Audigy2 support only ASIO 1.x, which limits ASIO support to 48/16.
Click to expand...

Hmm, didnt' know that. Is it really better quality to go to kernal streaming and 32bit mode or nah? I plan on getting some new athena speakers soon.
 
Wow, I'm really gonna have to try that foobar thing. Have a ZS Plat (not that its a different card if i'm not mistaken) and have always been just a hair disappointed in MP3's on my Klipsh 5.1 Ultras. So just following those directions is all you've gotta do for that tweak?
 
Mister X said:
*Cough* Foobar2000 *Cough* :D

Download the special version....
Set the output method to Kernal streaming.
In the DSP manager enable the PPHS resampler, then navigate to the PPHS resample panel and set the target sampling rate to 48000.
Now navigate to the Playback page and set the output data format to 16 bit
Click the Dither check box and select strong ATH noise shaping from the list box beside it.
Load file and tell me if it sounds better.
Granted I just barely touched on the vast number of the options but you should notice a difference right off the bat. ;)
Click to expand...
My god where do you people learn this stuff? :p
I just play all of my tunes with Sonique, I don't touch anything. Maybe I am missing something by not messing with it. :)
 
Just got around to installing it and after listening to some music, was somewhat under whelmed.
Click to expand...

There's your problem. Creative Audigy line cards are sub par for music. Go with an Emu line, or Via Envy chip card for music.
 
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