Audigy 2 ZS Notebook or X-Fi Audio Extreme Notebo

Am looking at getting a sound card for the old laptop, and the 2 above have rather tickled my fancy:?http://uk.europe.creative.com/produc...8&product=6642[color="#800080">http://uk.europe.creative.com/produc...5&product=0769
?Have had a look but cant find much of a difference between the 2, can anyone point them out (if any) to me please? After buying the docking module cable which does not come with the X-Fi model, but does with the Audigy 2, the price of the X-Fi will rise to around ?75, ?25 short of the cost of the Audigy. So what else am i getting for the extra ?25?Cheers (would like to know asap as am trying to get this before the christmas post if thats possible!)?

I'll not go into tech details cause you just need to read the specs to see what each card can and can not do... What i will say is this, i have always had creative cards and with each upgrade have found the new card to be better in performance and sound quality. I have just gone from an Audigy 2 Platinum Pro ZS to a new X-Fi Elite Pro and the quality and performance is fantastic. I use this card in my studio for recording/producing music and for playing the latest PC games. Without question it is a far better card ...BUT ... the question you need to ask yourself is this... are these gains worth the additional cost to upgrade based upon what you intend to do with it. I paid ?75 for my Elite Pro ( a very good price i would say )because i use all of it's features**. If you are just going to use it's most basic features to play games and listen to music using a basic set of stereo speakers then what is the point spending money on a card that will never be fully used. If you want better performance and quality then X-fi is a great card but at a cost...
** X-ram is not related to how much on board ram you have in the way you think. X-ram is only of use if the application you are using has been written to use it. It's an extra " wow " feature that at this time only benefits a few games...but new titles should take advantage of this...
As a note... you will see on this forum that many users have various issues with their card ( crackle/pop ) is a common report. This was an issue i had many years ago with my early creative cards and was due to " Bus Hogging " A little tweak of the Bus Latency cured this. None of my Audigy cards ( of which i have had 3 ) or my new x-fi card have this or any other problem.
Bottom line .. For me the X-fi Elite Pro is perfect for what i want it to do and a much better all round card than the Audigy range...Message Edited by Pawpaw on -6-2006:58 AM

Similar Messages

Connecting PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook to Onkyo HT-S580 Recei

Hi
I have PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook audio card with my Thinkpad laptop.
I have bought Onkyo HT- S580 Hometheater system. I was hoping to connect the Line out, Line out2, Line out3 jacks to the receiver's Front, Surround(rear) and Center in jacks.
The color on the Onkyo Recei'ver end are Center - Green , Surround(rear) - Blue , Front - White
The color on the Creative Card end are Center- Orange , rear - Black , Front - Green
There is color difference between these two ends . Is it advisable to connect these two jacks ?
Please recommend the suitable cable type and name for this connection
Thanks

dilip wrote:
Hi I have PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook audio card with my Thinkpad laptop. I have bought Onkyo HT- S580 Hometheater system. I was hoping to connect the Line out, Line out2, Line out3 jacks to the receiver's Front, Surround(rear) and Center in jacks. The color on the Onkyo Recei'ver end are Center - Green , Surround(rear) - Blue , Front - White The color on the Creative Card end are Center- Orange , rear - Black , Front - Green There is color difference between these two ends . Is it advisable to connect these two jacks ? Please recommend the suitable cable type and name for this connection Thanks
Hi
Colours may vary --> just connect by the instructions from both manuals.
There are good explanations for
- Stereo and 4-Pole Jack Diagrams
- Connecting a multichannel home theater receiver
- cabletypes needed on connections
on User's Guide.
NOTE: This User's Guide can be found on your driver CD too.
Also, here is the Onkyo HT-S580 manual.
jutapaMessage Edited by jutapa on 0-0-2006 03:32 AM

HELP! Audigy 2 ZS Notebook used with Vista and can't reco

I just installed my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA card and cannot figure out how to record in both Adobe Audition .5 and Sony Acid 6.0b.
The info I'm missing is:
) Which device to set as the "default" in the Windows Vista "Recording Devices" area.
2) What "Audio Device" to use as well as the "Default Audio Recording Device" in Sony Acid 6.0b.
3) The "Recording Device Order" and the "Wave In Device Properties" for Adobe Audition .5
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm a musician and really need to get recording.
Thank you!

I
The result of the last install: Crashed with blue screen, Two lines are in the messages, that are not part of the explanation, on how to fix the problem:
(I took a photo, but my just missed, so all the text is washed, but readable: The unrecognised letter replaced with ?)
I?Q?_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
(Propably IRQA or IRQE)
Thecnical Information:
*** STOP: 0x0000000A (0x00000000, 0x00000002, 0x0000000, 0x82C6870F)
Source:?? Microsoft-Windows-WER-SystemErrorReporting
D?tum:?? 2009.09.26. :54:43
Event ID:00
Description:
Tells that the action was the code, that I was wrote above, and the report id is 092609-33992-0.
Event in XML:
<Event xmlns="<a rel="nofollow" href="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"]http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event[/url]">
? <System>
? rovider Name="Microsoft-Windows-WER-SystemErrorReporting" Guid="{ABCE23E7-DE45-4366-863-84FA6C525952}" EventSourceName="BugCheck" />
? <EventID Qualifiers="6384">00</EventID>
? <Version>0</Version>
? <Level>2</Level>
? <Task>0</Task>
? <Opcode>0</Opcode>
? <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
? <TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-09-26T09:54:43.000000000Z" />
? <EventRecordID>6322</EventRecordID>
? <Correlation />
? <Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
? <Channel>System</Channel>
? <Computer>XXX</Computer>
? <Security />
? </System>
? <EventData>
? <Data Name="param">0x0000000a (0x00000000, 0x00000002, 0x0000000, 0x82c6870f)</Data>
? <Data Name="param2">C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP</Data>
? <Data Name="param3">092609-33992-0</Data>
? </EventData>
</Event>
After restart, the bios test freezez in the final frazes, and force shutdown and restart, functions well again. The sound card is in while booting.
No driver confilcts.
I've uploaded the dmp file here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://pantonite.extra.hu/bin/MEMORY.DMP"]http://pantonite.extra.hu/bin/MEMORY.DMP[/url]

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook Iss

Hello, I recently purchased a Dell XPS Gen 2 system and with it I received my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card. Upon arrival I opened up the package and installed the card and all the accompanying software and when I started up a game (Battlefield 2 to be exact) I found out that I had no sound. Figuring that it was a dilemma with my sound I turned up the volume to no avail, worked around in the BF2 options with no luck, and then headed to your website.
I have run the card's diagnostic program and I tell the system that it was a 2/2. speaker setting but when running the diagnostic I hear no sound during the speaker test. I went to control panel > Sounds and Audio Devices and set my speakers to a laptop stereo system rather then a desktop stereos system but I still lack sound. Also, I've repeatedly tried removing and putting the card back in yet I lack sound. Know that the default sound card is currently this one and I still have these issues. Please help!

Try this. What i suspect the problem to be is the failure of the "CTAPR.exe" application to start at the same time as the other startup applications.
To rectify this problem, create a shortcut to the below path on your desktop:
"C:\Program Files\Creative\Sound Blaster Audigy 2\Feature Mode Utility\CTAPR.exe"
and then move it into the "startup" folder of your start menu. You may well need to first of all try opening the application manually from the shortcut, and enabling "advanced features mode". You will also be given the opportunity to test the notebook speakers.
Obviously this is only guesswork on my part: if this is to no avail, my apologies for wasting your time!

Audigy 2 ZS notebook sound card compatible with Lenovo X6

I have to admit I probably made a mistake for rushing to?EBAY to get a creative Audigy 2 ZS notebook sound card, which?is intended to be used for my Lenovo X6t tablet pc. The problem is I just did some research and found my PCMCIA driver "RICOH R/RL/5C476(II)" is sitting?on their list of incompatibility.
Do anyone have any experience on this matter? It is true it really will not work?
Please help.

mpbojangles wrote:
Simple problem... The soundcard is playing a sound appx. second after the sound is actually supposed to play. When I take out the card, everything is fine. Anyone know the fix? Thanks.
Do you mean you can hear the sound even Audigy is not connected? --> if yes, then just disable the onboard sound (from BIOS or/and device manager).
If you're playing some external instrument (etc.) or from some audio/media player then, it's latency question --> try w/ ASIO (you need to cahnge to the advanced mode) latency set around 0ms or decrease buffer size on playback software.
jutapa

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook MIDI playback problem

Hi guys, I have a following problem. I recently obtained PCMCIA SB Audigy 2 ZS Notebook. I'm running it on an older DELL Inspiron 5160, Win XP (latest possible service pack and drivers), P4 3.0GHz, 2 Gigs of RAM (max). Onboard audio SigmaTel is disabled.
I had no problem installing driver from Creative CD, playback and recording works fine. I can even play midi files in Windows Media Player. I knew I had to install drivers from CD in order to be able to use soundfonts, latest drivers do not support that.
There is the only problem - when I try to use the software keyboard in the Bank Manager, where I loaded up my sf2 banks, it does not make a sound. For writing midi songs, I used to use old MidiSession program. I can't hear anything there either. Strange thing is, when I play any midi file in the Widows Media Player - at the exact same time, both things mentioned above work, keyboard or MidiSession. I have no idea why that is. I tried to uninstall and reinstall Creative drivers and software, nothing. Since I can't update to a newer driver, I'm at loss here.
I used to have the same setup on my desktop (except the PCMCIA version) and all worked just fine.
Does anyone has any idea what could be causing this? Thanks.

? A soundfont cannot contain alle drumkits, and it is not nessecary at all. I dont know a soundfont bank wich contains a complete set of drumkits, too. There are only some soundfonts like the crysis soundfont (to big for its "bad" quality) wich have some dummy-drumkits/ entrys or slightly modified sounds for each than usual. If all drumnkits would be stored in high-quality, the soundfont would be huge... Every synth i know uses the standard drumkit, if the chosen one is not existent. This is not optimal, but it will guarantee, that the the MIDI file or Program/ game will work. The KXDrivers wont do this. SO they are not useable for General MIDI. Only for MIDIs and soundfonts fitting together. But thats not the point of General MIDI. CMSS isnt working with these drivers, too. Dolby decoding/ encoding isnt possible with them, either. These drivers are not bad, but if you want a completely working card, KXdrivers are worthless.

Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook install probl

Lets start off with the system owned:
Acer Aspire 9920G, Windows Vista Home Premium x86 32bit, Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.2GHz/FSB: 800MHz/4MB L2 cache), 4GB DDR II RAM (2x 2GB), 2x 250GB (5400rpm S-ATA), NVIDIA GeForce 8600M-GT 280MB TC.
With a realtek onboard HD soundcard.
Now here's the problem:
I purchased the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook last monday, went home and read the instructions.
I made sure to disable and uninstall the onboard card before hand and then pushed the card into the PCMCIA slot and press cancel on the automatic driver search vista gives me, afterwards starting the installation of the vista drivers that i downloaded seeing a small sticker on the box notified me that the installation cd would only work on XP.
Mind you, this is on a clean install, i reinstalled the whole system in the weekend and made a full backup that can be put back in less then 40 minutes in case something would go wrong.
Anyway, next thing i know after starting the install the system freezes entirely at the point where the installation says: "Updating windows drivers".
Hard reboot is the following action ofcourse, system freezes up and refuses to boot only giving me all the nifty blue lights and a black screen.
I pull out the zs notebook and reboot, works fine, however the second i push in the zs notebook the whole system freezes and i have to pull the plug yet again to force it to reboot.
Only action left is putting the backup back and everything works fine again and now i can actually push in the zs notebook card again without the system crashing.
I have tried multiple things after that reinstall so far with multiple results:
- Installing the drivers listed for vista in the drivers section: install freezes, have to reset by cutting the power, but i can reboot with the card still in the laptop, however its not installed at all nor are any programs installed.
- Installing with daniel's drivers: install freezes, cut power to reset and laptop refuses to boot with the zs notebook card in the slot and when in windows the card is pushed in the laptop freezes up yet again.
- Installing either of both drivers in safe mode results in a normal correct install: no freezing or crashing however the second i boot up in normal mode the laptop freezes before loading windows and the power has to be cut yet again.
So far every time this is fixed by using the recovery backup i made to have everything to normal again.
Probable cause that i was able to find:
If i install in safe mode the onboard sound card doesnt get loaded at all, then the installation of the zs notebook runs correctly.
However, in normal mode even if i disable and uninstall the drivers for the onboard card when the install runs it triesto install both the "Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)" drivers for the audigy zs notebook, but it also tries to reinstall the realtek onboard, and i have no clue how to get rid of that since there is no option to disable the onboard soundcard through the bios at all.
Either way, the only time the laptop actually freezes is when the "Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)" gets installed.
If that process doesnt manage to install itself the system doesnt crash, but doesnt see the ZS notebook card either.
Any ideas of random throughts that might help me solve this problem
Also, sorry for the long post, but i tried to make everything as complete and detailed as possible because i really want this fixed seeing i own both an older 5. creative sound set and a logitech z5500 with THX and would like to be able to run both on my laptop when i am at home.
Either way if i end up not being able to fix this i might end up swapping in the audigy 2 zs notebook for the x-fi xtreme audio notebook, problem there is though that it does not have THX and that i'll aslo have to seperatly buy the docking cable.
With regards,
Natharneal.
Message Edited by Natharneal on 05-23-2008 07:35 PM

Thank you for the reply split0,
as for the informati've post, thank you for the compliment, i tend to not open a thread at all unless i have spent enough time on the problem and searched around enough for solutions, and after that i only post if it has enough info regarding everything in inside the thread.
In regard to the known incompatibility list, unfortunatly this is one of the things i checked beforehand already.
The PCMCIA adapter in my laptop is a Texas Instruments PCI-8x2/7x2/6x2 CardBus-controller.
Which is one of the most common controllers and should normally not cause any troubles at all, also in another thread on this forum i found a differant driver for it, i even tried that with no result sadly.
At the moment personally i am thinking the whole problem lies within not being able to uninstall the onboard sound card to full extent somehow, and while i posted here i also have all this info in a direct message sent to creative, and even acer for that matter.
In hopes of some kind of solution for this so i can keep my hopes up for not having to return the card itself.
What bugs me is that there is option at all to disable the onboard sound through the bios.
Because right now whenever i install the ZS notebook card it checks hardware for the onboard first installing it again, then setting priority for the zs notebook.
This is what seems to result in the crashes through a conflict in drivers in my idea, but thats just a hunch which i cant do anything about currently in regard to testing unless someone has an idea for me to try.
Message Edited by Natharneal on 05-23-2008 0:54 PM

Audigy 2 Z2 Notebook PCMCIA Card cannot install Creative Mediasource 5

. Every time I try and install CMS5 on the Audigy 2 Z2 Notebook PCMCIA Card, I keep getting this ERROR:
[color="#ff0000"]DoInstall Fails to Launch C:\Windows\CRF002\CTXInst\Setup.inx DoInstall return error code is - 2472332
here is the file name of the install: CMS5-BRNR_PCAPP_LB_5_0_44.exe
I have re-installed, all creative drivers, I even clean installed them, and i still get this error, any ideas?
EDIT: I fixed the problem, you have to install the older CMS5 before the latest new driver will work............well duh!
Message Edited by denb45 on 0-8-2009 06:5 [email protected]

Thank you for the reply split0,
as for the informati've post, thank you for the compliment, i tend to not open a thread at all unless i have spent enough time on the problem and searched around enough for solutions, and after that i only post if it has enough info regarding everything in inside the thread.
In regard to the known incompatibility list, unfortunatly this is one of the things i checked beforehand already.
The PCMCIA adapter in my laptop is a Texas Instruments PCI-8x2/7x2/6x2 CardBus-controller.
Which is one of the most common controllers and should normally not cause any troubles at all, also in another thread on this forum i found a differant driver for it, i even tried that with no result sadly.
At the moment personally i am thinking the whole problem lies within not being able to uninstall the onboard sound card to full extent somehow, and while i posted here i also have all this info in a direct message sent to creative, and even acer for that matter.
In hopes of some kind of solution for this so i can keep my hopes up for not having to return the card itself.
What bugs me is that there is option at all to disable the onboard sound through the bios.
Because right now whenever i install the ZS notebook card it checks hardware for the onboard first installing it again, then setting priority for the zs notebook.
This is what seems to result in the crashes through a conflict in drivers in my idea, but thats just a hunch which i cant do anything about currently in regard to testing unless someone has an idea for me to try.
Message Edited by Natharneal on 05-23-2008 0:54 PM

HP Pavilion g6-1201tx Notebook PC video and audio driver for graphics card

i want HP Pavilion g6-1201tx Notebook PC video and audio driver for graphics card (Windows 7)

Hi:
Below is the link to the support and driver page for your notebook.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c03061225&lc=en&product=5163244&quer...
Your model uses the AMD graphics driver only. Don't install the Intel one.

Problems with recording with Audigy 2 ZS Notebook pls pls help????

hi
!!! I am try to fix a record from a dj mixer to my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook...every is set ...from the mixer i am using 3.5 mm strero? 2 st RCA to the Audigy 2 ZS Notebook...but when i click record i donot get any signal in ...i am try to record through line in on the record program. but when i try to record with a anther program" sony" its works ....but not the Audigy 2 ZS record program ...pls help ...
mike

jkeener7 wrote:
Thanks I went ahead and got some Logitech Z5500 speakers.
Hi
Did you not looked "Audigy 2 Zs Notebook's" User's Guide?
jutapa

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook - PCMCIA controller compatibil

Is the below incompatibility list still accurate? I've got a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen2 that has a Ricoh R5C476 II controller and I'd really like to upgrade to a ZS 2 notebook. I'm hoping it's been fixed!!
[*]ENE Tech CB4 [*]Ricoh R5C476(II) [*]Ricoh R5C475(II) [*]TI PCI-520 [*]Toshiba Tecra2000 [*]Fujitsu Lifebook C230 P M .5GHz. [*]Tohsiba Satelite M30 Notebook. [*]IBM Notebook X2 and X20 [*]Dell Inspiron D400 </LI>

jkeener7 wrote:
Thanks I went ahead and got some Logitech Z5500 speakers.
Hi
Did you not looked "Audigy 2 Zs Notebook's" User's Guide?
jutapa

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook Synthesizer not instal

I've just installed the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Notebook soundsard, into my Fujitsu AMILO PRO V3525 notebook with Windows Vista Home Premium. It caused a little problem to me, with the WiFi network card and modem driver, but I've fixed it.
I have just figured out, that the Synthesizer is not installed properly, and any time I want to install it, the device manager crash, or it say somthing that the extension atribute not maches. I can't even remove the driver, 'cause windows device manager imediatly crashes.
I have already tried to update, but it had no affect on Synthesizer.
I had installed a deviced called unsupported game port driver from Microsoft, wich made it possible, to uninstall the driver. (I think it was not pernament.) What should I do, how can it be fixed

jkeener7 wrote:
Thanks I went ahead and got some Logitech Z5500 speakers.
Hi
Did you not looked "Audigy 2 Zs Notebook's" User's Guide?
jutapa

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA will not give me 6-channel 5.1 with my Creative DTT2500 Speakers!

I have this (Creative DTT2500 5. Speaker system) Amplifier/Decoder Box:
<IMG src="http://www.gdhardware.com/images/rev_graphics/rev_graphics2/control_box_back.jpg">
Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA has these connections:
<IMG src="http://asia.cnet.com/i/r/2004/nb/3997856/sc002.jpg">
How do I get it to work with this to allow me to get 5. Surround Sound?!?!?
I am baffled: So far I can only get line out to work, but only 2 speakers at a time. Rear out does nothing!
Please help me, as I want to make sure I am not an idiot before I am forced to buy a Logitech Z 5500 speakers!!!
<SPAN class=time_text>
Message Edited by jkeener7 on 0-04-2006 08:08 PM

jkeener7 wrote:
Thanks I went ahead and got some Logitech Z5500 speakers.
Hi
Did you not looked "Audigy 2 Zs Notebook's" User's Guide?
jutapa

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook - Will this be Vista compatible?

Hi all, just popping in to ask a quick question. This is not a flame, nor is it meant to be anything other then a sincere question. Will the Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA sound card be Vista compatible at some point?No need to tell me the date it's due or anything like that. Just wondering if, when Creative Labs releases their final Vista drivers, the ZS notebook sound card will be included in the list of supported cards.
Thanks.

ctorres wrote:
Ok it works, but you only get 2.1 instead of 7.1 ..... i hop creative guys hurry up because even the latest version of the drivers for vista doesn t work.
It isn't a driver problem, but your system/configuration! Make sure you have enabled the "CMSS" option in the CMSS-3D tab, if you have 7.1 speakers. Also make sure, you select 7.1 speakers in both AudioConsole and the Windows Sound/Multimedia properties. Microsoft does not allow for these changes to be made by an external program (like in Windows XP). You can also use Windows' built-in mixer to check the individual volumes of each speaker, like you did with Surround Mixer in XP.

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook with DTT3500 Digital

Hi
Sorry my very bad english, but i'm from Switzerland...
I have a problem. How can i use my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook with my DTT3500 Digital? SPDIF works with the optical cable. I want to use the decoder in the Soundcard, but the DTT 3500 has just green and black. But not orange, for center an subwoofer...
Is there a way to use this? With a special cable or something like that?
Thanks a lot, Rumblejack

Rumblejack,
Unfortunately the Audigy 2 ZS Notebook doesn't have a DIN on it which was the only way that the DTT3500 supported 5. outside of DVD passthrough over an optical or RCA connection. This means that to use the decoder on the card you will need a different set of speakers, as the DTT3500 speakers were designed with a different set of cards in mind.
If you decide to replace your speakers you might look at the Inspire T-5400, although they are less expensi've, they are actually more powerful speakers that the DTT3500s. They don't have a decoder (not needed since most of our cards now have built in decoders) so the price on them is much lower.
Jeremy

Audigy 2 ZS Notebook or X-Fi Audio Extreme Notebo

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