Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - Fatality Extreme Ga

Hello. This post may seem somewhat technical, however, seems how I'm dodging between bullets here, I'll ask in the simplest way possible:?Is the external I/O bay that comes with the Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum, compatible with the X-Fi Extreme Gamer Professional series card?I currently cannot locate the FPS version of the Soundcard anywhere in local stores, and honestly, I don't have the patience due to certain problems I'm having with the Vista Ultimate OS, in terms of compatibility. I am aware, from past occurances, that Creative will support the more recent hardware to their line of drivers first, before the more ancient forms (Audigy series)?Please, any input would be greatly appreciated.

No you can't, the Gamer doesn't have the AD_EXT connector on it. You would need a Xtreme Music (if you can find one or the XtremeGamer Fatalty Professional to be able to use your Audigy box, without buying a card that comes with one. Actually just had a look on Newegg (if you're in the US) and they have the Xtreme music available,?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=N82E68290288R?it is open box, but I haven't seen to many reports of people having problems with open box stuff from Newegg.

Similar Messages

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum

First of all, Hi this is my first post here. I own an Audigy ZS Platinum Pro, an SB Li've, and have been a loyal Creative customer since the Soundblaster 2.0 6bit I fitted to my 386SX. I've been working in I. T. for 3 years in various roles, from C++ programming to IT Management. I'm currently certified as an eMCPA, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCSA&MCSE+Messaging, and am about to complete a VCP and soon?a Cisco Unified Messaging cert. I'm far from uninformed, I guess that's what I'm trying to get across. Now some other facts:- Windows Vista has been available to corporate customers since November 2006.- Windows Vista has been available to retail customers since January 2007- Windows Vista SDK including Driver SDKs have been readily available since early 2006. Yes you read that right.
Now, I like most people downloaded the Audigy 2 ZS Plat Pro drivers for XP and found they didnt work under Vista. Things like the scale of the volume controls was way off - but Surround sound was strangely enough working. I have a full surround sound system with either SPDIF or just RCA inputs. I use either, I'm not that fussed. I could not use these drivers as there were so many bugs under Vista (the XP drivers) that it wasnt workable. I then waited for well over a month. Eventually, Creative release the first beta drivers for the Audigy 2 ZS Plat Pro under Vista 32bit. I install these drivers, and find to my dismay, everything sounds absolutely terrible (I'm not sure how the quality can be so bad?) and also the rear channels won't work. No SoundBlaster applications are installed. It's like I'm using the worst onboard sound ever invented with the world's worst driver and application support. At this point I'll remind you?I paid over $450 for this card and external box. That is a massi've expense and one I only outlayed due to my previous faith in Creative. I already had my suspicions about the quality of the drivers due to the way the previous XP drivers had been bundled into 3 files then a patch and then that was changed, and it was all very seemingly mismanaged. Anyway the drivers bomb out without warning on January 2th, which I was very much less than impressed with.When I first hit the Creative site that morning, the updated drivers were NOT available. That is absolutely unacceptable. Later that day, the current drivers were posted. With massi've warning labels like "THESE ARE AN UNSUPPORTED BETA DRIVER. DO NOT USE THESE....<continues like this>" I download these and install them, and find to my dismay CMSS might be present but it's implementation is very very poor and I'm getting truly abysmal quality through the rear channel. It's like somebody ripped the DAC out and replaced it with one they bought from a 25cent bargain warehouse. I then change volume settings and attempt to use some of the features of the card and find that practically nothing that is present in the XP drivers is actually working in these drivers. There is no point using these drivers other than to hear Windows sounds. They are buggy, suffer from massi've quality problems, and do not include any of the features that I bought the card FOR and also cripple my home stereo/theater sound reproduction to the point it's not worth bothering with. So thanks, Creative, for because of your drivers alone, I'm now dual booting to XP and having to wait to actually begin using a new operating system, for absolutely no reason other than the incompetence displayed by Creative. Not anyone elses, the Video card has been working fine since Vista Beta , and every single other device in my system including USB sticks and third party disk controllers, all work great under Vista. Every single, and I mean every single, one of these other manufacturers had a software team that was worthy of the hardware. I'm afraid that I can't say the same for Creative Labs. The software is truly terrible now, you need to fix this situation. In closing, let me also remind you that it is now the 2st of February, 2007. These unsupported beta drivers have been my only option for well over a month. Prior to this drivers that were barely alpha release drivers were my only option, and prior to that - I had no option. This is completely unacceptable. Microsoft did not just spring Vista on the market; SDKs were made available 2 months in advance and even futher in advance for hardware vendors. Please stop blaming Microsoft or implying it is their fault for implementing DRM. This was documented, published, warned about in advance, and any software or hardware manufacturers caught behind the 8 ball like this should be truly ashamed, and fully expect to lose the vast majority of their Enterprise level customers, which filters down to the IT Media, which filters very quickly down tos Consumers. Once your products are recommended AGAINST, on major websites and in major IT publications, the retail customer will no longer select Creative. Do not be complacent, it will happen if nothing changes and extremely rapidly. This will take a long time for the user base to forget too, we will be suspicious and never trust Creative for many years. Neither I, nor my businesses, will ever buy a PC with a Creative component in it again, and I have written to local Computer publications stating the same. I am removing my Creative hardware from the systems, and will move to another high end manufacturer that does have current Vista drivers. Believe me people there are cards out there with better SNR and all of the features and more, with driver support. This shows a real lack of commitment to the customer base on behalf of Creative. This post is not intended to start a debate. It is a letter from myself, and my?local I. T. community, to Creative, for comment on by the community. Everyone should realise that the software development lifecycle for a modern I. T. hardware vendor needs to be tracked closely to the operating system vendors' releases and patch levels. Creative, are not behaving with any professionalism. This is not an operating system being delayed, this is a driver, the tools for which have been made readily available to Creative by Microsoft directly for over 2 months, Creative manufacture the hardware, and to add insult to injury Microsoft worked with hundreds of hardware vendors to ensure Vista compatibility. For the Creative Vista drivers to be in this state of disarray on February 2st 2007 is a terrible reflection on Creative, showing a massi've lack of planning. Pardon me for asking, but is everyone at Creative asleep?On behalf of the I. T. Community at large, I hope Creative acknowledges our disgust.?Travis RoeMessage Edited by troe on 02-20-200709:52 PM

Well so far this only Issue Im having with my my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro drivers , it's the sound is Crappy, but to be honest, it look like a performance Issue , cause if im not in a game the sound is quite better, but as soon I've let my music play during a game, the Sound Goes to So So to BullS**T. Im in IT since a long time, I won't tell all my degree and so but..! Im a pro..!?While Running Game my Sound card decrease my performance. And sometime I need to restart cause Cracking noise get over the game. I can be 2 Weeks without restart Needed...!If there any Beta Drivers Available I would like to be on trials...!BTW IM not just blaming Creative for Drivers and Issues, developing Drivers under Vista is Really new,Hardware layer are really not the same as all windows OS..! So keep up the good Work Guys..!We can blame Bill and is friend to have create a New Layer :P but I won't cause in year, everything will be Perfect..! now it's just too new ?Thanks,?here is my Spec. AM2?DualCore 4800 +4 gig Ram DDR2 800 Mhz OCzAsus CrossHair MotherBoard.5Tera in SATA RAID WDAsus 7800 GTX GeforceAudigy 2 ZS Platinum ProRunning under Vista Ultimate ( Registered with Real Info, Im a MSDN Subscriber + MCP )??

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum S/PDIF input is "dead" on Windows 7 x64

My experience with the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum edition soundcard?pretty bad, after I bought a new machine with the following specs:
OS: Windows 7 x64 ultimate
CPU: Intel I7 920 3.7 ghz
Memory: 6 gb
Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme
Dual NVIDIA GPUs: 2X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 in SLI
Sound: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
Everything has been updated to the newest drivers.
The soundcard works fine in games and for general use. But I didn't buy this expensi've (back then) soundcard just for that. I want to use it for recording music on it through the optical digital input especially. Just like I did when I used it on Windows XP with no problems at all.
First and biggest problem:
S/PDIF as input in WaveStudio 7 (7.2.00) most often generates this message:
"The specified audio device is already in use."
and thus nothing is being recorded.
Maybe it should tell me what exactly is using it, for nothing else to my knowledge is using any audio?
Worst part is that sometimes (just on a rare occasion) it actually works. Until I reboot the system that is.
But a system that only works after a lot of struggle and only out of maybe 25 times is useless.
Second problem:
"What u hear" feature is more or less unreliable and therefore useless (most often no sound at all)
Third problem:
The volume mixer is awful compared to the one in Windows XP (most inputs missing and not really working that well if at all)
Driver update?
The soundcard drivers hasn't been updated since june, I think. Maybe it was about time to start fixing all the problems? I've read people having the same type of problems with the X-Fi Platinum card. I would be willing to buy that card?if it would solve the problem, but from what I've read I dare not. I just want a card with decent digital and analogue ports and a headphone jack. All mounted on front or top.
Help please?

**update**
I went and bought a new optical cable to see if the one I was using wasn't good enough and that was just a waste of 20 bucks.. Still nothing, I hope some one around here can tell me if they have the problem I do with any of your sound blaster cards.. I'm starting to think that maybe my card has just poofed on me. I don't think thats the case because everything else works fine.. I read also where the bit stream tab will show up as invalid signal with dolby/dts even though it's working correctly. I was thinking thats the case because like I said, the dolby digital logo pops up when My PS3 sends audio to my audigy card..Message Edited by NeutralGold on 09-8-200708:36 PM

SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum "colors" the sound of music when played back. How to change th

I recently purchased a Line 6 POD X3 for recording guitar tracks, and when connected using USB it can function as my computer's sound device. Now here is what I observed:
In all cases described below, the "reference" case is that of the guitar played through the POD X3 with headphones connected directly to the POD (no computer sound device involved).
) When I record guitar tracks using either the POD X3 or the SB Audigy 2 as the computer's recording device, and then play the recorded tracks back using the POD as the computer's playback device (headphones plugged into the POD), the sound is exactly the same as the reference case.
2) When I record guitar tracks using either the POD X3 or the SB Audigy 2 as the computer's recording device, and then play the recorded tracks back using the SB Audigy 2 as the computer's playback device (headphones plugged into the SB Audigy 2), the sound is MUCH different than the reference case.
To put it simply, the Sound Blaster card is "coloring" the tone of the recorded guitar (regardless of recording device) during playback. I realize that the Sound Blaster drivers are probably designed to "enhance" sound for gaming and such, but the way it shapes the sound of recorded music during playback is extremely undesireable for home recording projects.
Here is another clue that leads me to believe that the Sound Blaster drivers are responsible for this tone shaping: If I am playing my guitar through the SB Audigy 2 and monitoring the sound through computer speakers or headphones (hooked up to the SB Audigy, of course) WHILE Windows is booting up, I can hear a very distinct change in the sound when the SB Audigy 2 drivers are loaded. It seems to me that when Windows is booting up, the Audigy 2 card allows transparent playthrough before the drivers are loaded, but the drivers then take over and shape the sound.
So, if you've understood my observations, my question is how can I avoid any sort of tone shaping during playback by the SB Audigy 2 drivers? I want completely transparent playback such that what I hear during playback is exactly what it sounds like going in, i.e. the reference case described above.
Message Edited by killrbuckeye on 08-8-2008 02:08 PMMessage Edited by killrbuckeye on 08-8-2008 02:0 PM

Just for kicks, I decided to install this card on a Dell that I happen to have around.. the specs are above and beyond the configuration of my regular computer (whose specs are above and beyond the specs listed for the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum).. and I am unhappy to report that the same freezing problems occur. I am still unable to use any web update features for ANY of my software, and I am still unable to record in 24 bit audio.

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum & ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe SATA controller prob

Recently I have been in the process of reinstalling my rig onto a new 50GB Raptor since my current installation has seen better days. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the problems has not gone away with the new install. Maybe the updated drivers are a case of the cure being worse than the disease but whatever the reason, the problem is extremely irritating.
Whenever I try to do any of the following, and any SATA dri've is "thinking", I seem to get fizzing or popping noises in sync with the HDD activity light on my case, only when an SATA dri've is "thinking" or being accessed. ?
Using any EAX Advanced HD effects like Environments<
Using CMSS 2<
Invoking the onboard Dolby Digital or DTS Decoder (i.e. using SPDIF setting in Power DVD so DD or DTS signals get upmixed to 6. rather than rely on the software decoder)<
Playing a DVD Audio Disc at full 24/96 setting<
Playing any Fruity Loops mix using the ASIO 24/96 setting with lowest latency<
or any combination of the above at a time.
This problem is even more blatant when invoking a virus or spyware scanner like Windows Defender. When I previoulsy had my IDE 60GB Hard disk connected and I am currently using a USB 2.0 WD MyBook ES Edition and whenever these dri'ves are being accessed or written to, no noise is apparent. When I used this sound card on my really old rig with IDE hard disk I had no popping or fizzing noises unless the system was under an incredible amount of strain! ?
This problem didnt seem to occur so much when using the drivers supplied with the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. However this problem worsened once I went on Creatives Auto Update and got the latest drivers that they suggested, along with the Audio Console and stuff. ?
It sounds to me like my SATA controller (some brand called Silicon, its built into the Asus Motherboard) is interferring with my sound card and/or the drivers.
Can anyone shed light on the situation please!!
My PC spec is as follows:
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe ?
2GB DDR RAM PC3200
Radeon X600 PRO 52MB
320GB WD SATA Hard Disk & 500GB WD MyBook ES

Fabrizziov,
Is the sound muffled and distorted when you plug headphones into the headphone out on the platinum dri've? If not, plug the headphones into the sound card's front output and run a speaker test to see if it is muffled and distorted from there. If it is then it is most likely a problem with the card's hardware. If this is the case I would suggest exchanging it for another through your retailer. You can also contact support for a repair if needed. Their contact information is at http://us.creative.com/support/custsup.
Jeremy

Analog inputs no longer working on Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro's external dr

I have an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. After two years of use without problems, the analog inputs on the external dri've have stopped working. I get no signal from them, not even noise. All 3 inputs are silent, Line in / Mic and Line 2 in the front, and Line 3 in the back. Otherwise the dri've appears to function normally - I get output from the headphone jack, and the volume control knob works. I have not tested digital inputs or outputs, as I currently have no digital devices to connect to them.
I had made no major changes to my computer - software or hardware - when the problems began. I recently added a new SATA hard dri've, but the Audigy dri've did work after that.
I've taken steps suggested in another thread on this forum and uninstalled all Creative software and drivers, used the latest driver package's uninstall program as well as Driver Cleaner, and finally manually deleted everything related to Creative and Audigy from the system registry (and rebooted quite a few times in between). I then installed the original drivers from the CD that came with the sound card (a setup that has worked before), but still the problem persists.
Any ideas on where to even begin looking for a solution? I find it hard to believe that it's a hardware problem, since three inputs suddenly went silent at the same time, and no other connections were affected. Yet I've done as clean a reinstall as possible, and that hasn't solved the problem.
My current computer configuration:
OS: Windows XP Pro (SP2 and all latest updates)
CPU: Athlon XP 500+
RAM: 2x 52 MB
Motherboard: Abit AN7 (integrated sound chip disabled)
Video card: Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro
Network card: D-Link DFE-530TX
Hard dri've : Seagate ST320026A, 20 GB IDE
Hard dri've 2: Maxtor 6L080J4, 80 GB IDE
Hard dri've 3: Seagate ST330083, 300 GB SATA-II

I don't have a Platinum Pro or the dri've, but a general hardware troubleshooting step I would take would be to remove the soundcard and either move it to another slot or re-seat it. Also, I'd disconnnect and reconnect all cables to and from the card and the dri've. If I had another machine I could try the card or dri've in, I'd do that. If I could borrow another dri've or even another card, I'd test those too. (Swapping parts is often the simplest diagnostic.) Yeah, maybe it's not a hardware problem, but I'd take these steps just to rule out some possibilities.
Edit: And if you can remove or disconnect the SATA dri've and restore the system to the condition before you installed it, that's another good test.Message Edited by Katman on 2-8-2005 2:56 AM

Creative Audigy 2 ZS platinum Vista Supp

Guys
i've a Audigy 2 ZS platinum
I bought a New Windows Vista Ultimate 32BIT
I try installing the drivers from the Driver CD its not supporting
I downloaded the vista drivers from web
and its the most lousiest driver pack i ever saw in my life
Is there any way to enable the full audio console(like THX,EAX,Graphic EQ and speaker settings) for Vista?
Why creative is not up to date with the market...
why no Vista support is available for creative.. weird...
any brilliant ideas from anywhere?

Exactly how I feel. It borders on the absurd that 5 months after Vista release Nvidia has nothing but garbage drivers and applications for Audigy2.

Microphone connection problems with SB audigy 2 ZX platinum pro

I am using an old SB audigy 2 ZX platinum pro purchased back in 2004. It is installed on a PC that I stopped using it in 2005. The pc has no problems and I have started using it again.My problem is that I cannot connect the microphone. Everything was working fine at the time I was this pc including the microphone.At that time I had installed win xp pro( no service packs were available). But after I had to move physically in another location(connection and disconnections etc)and a pc format I cannot use the microphone again. I am trying to connect it to the front panel and to the appropriate places as indicated in the user manual but nothing is happening. I have connected properly the sound cart and all other components are working fine. I checked whether the microphone is checked to silent mode and all other software/di'vers nonetheless everything is working fine. I am now using Win xp pro sp3. I have contacted Creative and they told me to check the mic boost option. But there is no mic boost option now. I clearly recall that there was one when I was using this pc in 2004 under win xp pro(again no service packs were available at that time).One solution I could think is to format again and install some old version of win xp pro (say 2003 or so) and then update to current. But I do not want to format again since I do not have that version of windows available(copyright issues may also raise) plus for some other reasons I do not think I should mention them on an Internet forum. I also tried to download the latest drivers ans apps form creative ,clean installation from the orginal cd including Daniel_K pack and everything someone could think without solving the issue.Creative during our last communication in a very polite way told me to stop emailing them and try to solve the issue on my own as this product is no longer supported. One thing I neglected to mention above is that the mic boost option is available in the motherboard sound chipset. I checked it in one of my attempts to solve the problem. But it disappears when installing the SB driver. I know that if I manage to configure mic boost in the driver settings I will solve the problem.But once again there is no such option. Could you please provide with some suggestions and solutions on how to solve this?. Thank you very in advance for any suggestion and help

Anybody?

Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Hacked?

I just want to know yes or no can a sound card or video card be hacked. More importantly my old computer was hacked right down to the bios. Can not install windows nothing works. Is it safe to put my Audio Card (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum) into a new computer or could doing so harm my new computer? Should I just by another card? I would love to save the money from not buying another card but not if there is any chance that it will harm my new computer. >Original Message Follows:>------------------------>=======================>>Subject: CLI - Technical Support Request - (Audigy 2 ZS Platinum)>Name: Br Gordon 32>Self Description: Intermediate PC User>Country: United States of America>------------------>Support Inquiry: ID(5) I need help with a third-party software>application>Product: Audigy 2 ZS Platinum>------------------>Operating System: Windows XP>Computer Brand/Model: E Machines>Processor/CPU: pentium 4
2.0 ghz>Memory: 52 mb>>Detailed Problem Description:>I have two questions. One I have Audigy 2 zs>sound card in an old computer that got hacked>bad. I was thinking of using it in my new>computer but my old computer got hacked right>into the bios. I have not been able to get a>tech to fix it because it was hacked so bad. So>my question is this. Is it safe to put this>sound card in my new computer?>> If someone can get into my bios could they do>something to a sound or video card that would>make it dangerous to put in a new computer?>Should I just buy a new sound card from you?
THE QUESTION BELOW CAN BE IGNORED I was just curious about the answer.
My second question has to do with Asio. There is a>website www.asio4all.com that I downloaded from>because one of my VST soft synths said I needed>it. But windows li've care said it was a trojan.>(ASIO4ALL 2.7 ) Are there third party websites>that offer Asio that are safe?>> When I first installed the ASIO Im not sure it>was from that site and it seemed to work like a>regular program but lately I have been cleaning>my computer from a hacker and windows identified>it as a trojan. So my last question is do you>have asio drivers that would work with VSTs>requiring it's>>Would they only be bundled with creative sound>cards or are there third party distributers that>can be trusted. I guess Im asking if windows>li've care could be wrong. I removed it just to>be safe. I hope I did not ask too many>questions. I appreciate your time and efforts in>answering my questions.>Sincerely>Brian G>

No, it can't

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum won't work with Windows XP Pro 64

My system has both normal Windows XP Pro & Windows XP pro 64bit installed.
The problems is that I can't get any sound on WinXp 64. The device manager has given me a "Code 39" on the "Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)" device. This hasen't happened to all the other devices attached to the card. WinXP 32 has no problems in loading the drivers or playing sounds.
My system specs are as follows...
Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe motherboard with 0705 BIOS installed
Pentium 4 EM64T 3.8GHz 670 LGA775 2MB L22x Corsair VSGB667D2 PC-5300 GB x28MBx64 240 DIMM 2x BFG GeForce 7800GTXCreative Labs Audigy 2 ZS PlatinumA Segate 250gig SATA hard dri've, a Segate 300gig SATA hard dri've & a Samsung 40gig SATA hard dri'veLITE-ON SOHW-693S DVD BurnerPioneer DVR-0D DVD Burner
I am using the latest drivers from the CreativeLabs website & pretty much the latest drivers for all my hardware.
Any ideas?

Never mind.
I've just solved the problem. I moved the card to another PCI slot, used Driver Cleaner Pro to remove the driver & reinstalled the driver.
Thank you anyway thou.

Sound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum sound probl

Ok So let me give you the specs on my computer first,?Windows xp home editionAbit IN9 32 MAX Mobo2 Gigs corsair xms ram2 8800ultra sli gpusLogitech?z-5300 SpeakersSound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum sound card2 Samsung 500 gig HD?I dont believe that my problem is the same as is in the crackling sound thread. So here is my dilema. Up untill about 4 days ago everything was working fine with my sound system. I have the Logitech speakershooked up to my audigy 2 zs along with my xbox 360 in the optical in on the front plate. So like i said about 4 days ago i started playing a movie on my computer and i have the ac3 codec installed on my computer with comunity codec pack and i know that you could say that those 2 things could be my problem i know enough to know that that probably isnt. So when i played the movie and when to the ac3 codec and turned on dolby decoding so that i would decode it to all my speakers everything worked fine. Then when i turned on spdif decoding my center speaker?started to crackle so i figured it was just becuase i was useing spdif and dolby decoding at the same time. so i turned that off and then went to go play my xbox 360 in which i have pluged into the optical in part on the front plate. Everything had always worked fine for that i have dolby digital decodeing on for the audigy. So i started to play a game i realized that i center speaker was crackling on there too. So i started to realize that no matter what i did the center speaker was crackling. I even changed out the center and sub stereo jack on the card for the front left and right and then they started to crackle in that spot. So i dont know what the hell is going on. Any help would be greatly appreciated i was thinking of restoring my computer but i dont know whether that is necessary. I also dont want to have to go out and by the x-fi elite pro tomarrow unless I absolutely have to.Message Edited by TasteOfChaos on 0-0-20080:02 PM

I am brand new to this message system but I am so desperate for help I thought I would try it. After reading lots of comments I find that my problem may be more the rule than the exception. I have an Audigy @ Platinum card and all I ever get from it is crackling and popping. I have been around and around with Creative support but nothing they tell me results in a fix. I am so disgusted at this point that I am ready to just trash the whole thing. I have gone through the BIOS and checked so many settings its a shame. Still crackling and popping. I NEED SPECIFIC ANSWERS FROM SOMEBODY...not just the generic flip the wingle wangle to port xyz and move this to that. here has got to be an answer to this maddening problem. The other thing is that now I can't get my MIDI keyboard to play back. I must have turned something off in the set up process but now I have no idea what to do.
If anyone has any solid answers for me PLEASE come forward with them before I kill someone!

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum not decoding A

I want to use my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to decode AC-3 signals when I play DVDs. I have done everything the "Digital Connections, SPDIF and Dolby Digital Info" thread. I have verified the SPDIF passthrough is disabled in AudioHQ.. rather.. Use Installed Decoder is enabled. I am using Intervideo WinDVD 5 to play DVDs. In this software I have Digital (S/PDIF) out selected. I'm using the Creative wire harness to connect the analog connections from the audigy to my receiver and I have my receiver setup to use the direct analog inputs. When I play a DVD the dialog is faint and only comes from the front channels. If I tell InterVideo WinDVD 5 to decode instead of using the SPDIF out it sounds exactly like it should. The dialog is very clear and comes from the center channel and the rear channels also produce sound. I don't trust my receiver to decode so that's why I'm not using the digital out instead. It doesn't sound right.. why I bought the Audigy to do the decoding.
Using InterVideo WinDVD 5 to decode isn't an option for me to use for other reasons. It is a good test to make sure the Audigy is doing what it should. For whatever reason, the Audigy is not decoding the AC-3 signal properly. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? It really blows my mind. This isn't a new concept at all. I didn't expect to have problems with it.
Cheers,
Scott

$$$ I keep throwing money at this computer trying to get audio to work right. The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum was throwing more money at it... I'm not going to keep buying more and more stuff to get the computer to decode an AC3 signal properly. I'm going to see what other people do that works.
Is there a solution to get the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to actually decode the AC3 signal?

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Software Issue: Volume Control, Speaker Settings, Equalizer, C

I installed my ZS Platinum back in December, everything worked fine for 2 months, then I started to hit trouble.
First, the driver began hanging when I took my headphones in/out, resulting in no sound from either output. I updated the drivers and this problem went away.
Then, I was gaming and all the sound stopped working. Reboots did nothing, so I tried to reinstall the drivers. This is how the problems began. The first time I uninstalled all my creative stuff, downloaded the newest drivers, and installed that. I didn't realize that I couldn't download all the bells and whistles off the drivers page.
So, I unistalled those drivers, and used my CD to install the drivers and MediaSource. I encountered the PLXcore.plx error during install and every time I booted Windows. Also, none of the extra applications (Volume Control, Speaker Settings, Graphic Equalizer, CMSS) would run. I uninstalled, reinstalled and tried again.
This is where I am now. I chose not to install MediaSource this time. Again, I encountered the PLXcore.plx error during install, but I'm not receiving the error when Windows boots (because I didn't install MediaSource?). But still, most of the little applications don't run. I see the Volume Control icon in my task bar, and if I press the mute button on the keyboard the symbol changes, but when I click on the icon, nothing happens. "Creative Volume Con..." flashes on the taskbar, and a 0px by 0px white box appears above the task bar. If I click anywhere else, they disappear. The Graphic Equalizer, Speaker Settings, and CMSS dialog do the same thing when opened. THX Console does not.
Also, the on screen display for volume no longer pops up. Is this part of MediaSource? Should I install MediaSource even if I don't plan to use it's
Running XP SP2 on an AMD X2 4200+ with the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum.
EDIT: Thought I'd add in another problem I have:
I usally run my DISH reciever's sound through my computer through the Auxillary 2 RCA connections on my front panel. When I boot World of Warcraft or Warcraft III (Both Blizzard games), the sound through this connection becomes very tinny and reverby. If I alt+tab out of the game, adjust the speaker setting (5. -> Headphones -> 5.) the issue goes away. But each time I start one of these games, the problem returns. Any ideas? Known problem?Message Edited by Cuttlefish on 03--200703:9 PM

I'm sorry I can't help but I have the exact same problem. I have no Speaker, EAX or graphic eq settings. No telling what else don't work. I have tryied 0 different ways of removing and loading it back with any and all updats and without and no success. I hope someone here can help us.

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum- Inspire 4.1 don't see each other after computer move

?? Running: Windows XP Pro
Sound Card: SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum? Driver Version 2.8
? Speakers: Creative Inspire 4. 4400
? Software: Creative Media Source 3.30
I moved my computer to another room and started having sound problems. I removed Creative Media Source 5 ( I had it when I used the creative zen mp3 player ) because I thought it was redundant on my system. My sound is now hollow and tinny. But the truth is I don't know what caused the problem to begin with since the Holidays were involved and many people were at my computer. I only want the sound to be as great as it was before.
These are my problems:
. No matter how many times I set the audio properties through the volume control icon on the taskbar, the configuration always resets to desktop stereo speakers instead of surround sound.
2. Using the Creative Speaker Settings results in information showing that there are only 2 speakers attached and they are synchronized with control panel. Under speaker calibrator it reads that there is a generic speaker system.
3. Using the calibrator Wizard, only 2 speakers show up.
4. Normally in the EAX console, the Effects tab shows many settings - but now there is nothing inside the box.
5. On the CMSS3D tab, the slider for the speakers is grayed out
6. The THX setup console on the Speaker selection tab there is nothing under the speaker selection tab - There is an analog output and a digital 48khz under digital sampling.
7. Under calibration there are only left and right front speakers the subwoofer and rear speakers are grayed out
This is what I have done to troubleshoot my problems:
. Used Auto update of card which reads that everything is updated. There are no drivers for the speakers, so that is ok.
2. Through the Creative Organizer I enabled CMSS
3. Through the Creative Audio console on the Decoder tab, I have checked use built in decoder and under speaker mapping for 4./5 using side channels
4. Under Dolby digital settings Dynamic Range is Full - Dolby Pro Logic is ON - Dolby Digital EX is ON --- DTS for Es is ON
5. Made certain all connections are secure and verified the placement of the green and black wires coming from the subwoofer are connected to my computer in the correct place, namely that the black wire is in the second hole from the firewire port and the green wire is in the third hole
Please help me if you can. I'm ready to throw in the towel, I would even buy digital speakers but don't know which way to turn. I don't know if it's the card or the speakers or the fact that I removed the Media source 5 (for which I can't find the disk.)
Thanks in advance for reading this and taking the time to troubleshoot with me.
Jane

Hello KokChoy-CL.
Many thanks for your support!
I've been reinstalled the drivers and changed the options of your link, now the DTS 5. effects are quite working on my xbox.
Again, thank you!
Lucio.

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - Midi, Soundfonts, Squeal of Death

Hi, I bought the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum to get professional Soundfont playback triggered by an external midi keyboard, Soundfont creation using Vienna, and ideally Cubasis with ASIO.
I'm having major problems: When I try and play Soundfonts from either the SoundFont Bank Manager or Vienna, after a couple of minutes I get a high-pitched tone and the computer locks up. I've heard this is the infamous "squeal of death," but am unsure of the fix on my particular machine:
Gateway V800CSE computer
Windows 98 SE
Intel Celeron 800 MHz processor
Intel Santorini motherboard
Intel 810e chipset
BIOS update to P05
192 MB ram
Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver 620
DirectX 9.0c
2 PCI slots
Power Supply: Astec ATX90-3405 (90 watts)
The computer is generally rock-steady - I can spend hours using applications like Firefox, Wordpad, Acrobat Reader, etc. with no crashes. Audio CDs seem to play fine for hours through the Audigy 2.
I've done the equivalent of a clean sweep: wiped the drive and restored from backup to a pre-Creative state, then reinstalled the Creative stuff. No help.
The squeal/lockup happens whether I use the on-screen keyboard or an external midi keyboard, and regardless of what banks are loaded - even small banks like the default 4MB GM presets. It seems to happen at some random point during Soundfont usage, anywhere from one minute to 30 minutes into a session - but it always happens.
I'm not playing difficult passages with a lot of polyphony. In fact the squeal of death sometimes happens when playing just a simple melodic line. I tried allocating more ram in Soundfont Bank Manager, but this didn't seem to help. Creative Diagnostics shows no problems.
I've heard that turning off ACPI sometimes eliminates lockups with Creative cards. However, Windows 98SE installs ACPI by default, and my BIOS doesn't let me turn it off. I understand that by installing from a command line and using a setup switch I can install Win98SE without ACPI. But although I'm handy with computers and good at following instructions, I don't know command line syntax.
Could someone please walk me through the steps? Let's say I boot from a floppy, activate CD-ROM support, get the A-prompt, and put the Windows 98 SE CD in the drive. (Are those the initial steps?) Now what are the exact command lines I would use to run the setup switch, which is something like setup/pi ?
Please help. The card is of no use to me if I can't get professional Soundfont operation. I will have to return it.
I've tried uninstalling the WDM drivers and installing the VXD drivers using Creative's CTZAPXX. That seemed to stop the squeal of death, but greatly limits midi functionality. For example, the WDM drivers recognized that my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum has two sets of midi inputs/outputs: one on the gameport, and one on the platinum drive. It's the platinum ones you can use out of the box, because the adapters are included. Under the WDM drivers, I could choose the second midi port and my external keyboard would trigger the Soundfonts. But under the VXD drivers only one midi port appears in Control Panel or midi apps, and I guess it's the gameport, because all notes from my external keyboard hooked up to the platinum drive's midi input are now ignored. I reinstalled the VXD drivers, but same result. The platinum drive is definitely hooked up; the audio inputs and outputs are working, and my external midi keyboard is definitely sending midi notes.
Could Creative or anyone please confirm that the VXD drivers don't see the platinum drive's midi port? Is there a workaround? If the WDM drivers are unstable, and Win98SE users have to fall back to the VXD drivers to get reliable operation, then could Creative please include a gameport-to-midi adapter in the box, so platinum customers can still use midi?
Are there any other reports of the squeal of death with the 810e chipset?
I'm using DirectX 9.0c. Is this appropriate, or should I be using an earlier version?
The power supply on my machine may be a bit wimpy. Could that be a problem? The published specs are:
Wattage 90 watt
Input 90 - 135 V, normal 115 V
180 - 265 V, normal 230 V
# Output + 3.3 V (0 A min, 6.0 A max)
# + 5 V (1.0 A min, 10 A max)
# + 12 V (.02 A min, 1.5 A max)
# -12 V (0 A min, 0.2 A max)
# + 5 VSB (0 A min, 1.4 A max)
Finally, how often is the squeal of death solved by simply exchanging the card? (It's only a week old.)
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Best regards.
M_Harrisson

M_Harrisson wrote:
- No, my BIOS doesn't have "PCI Config 32 Clock Retry."
I took some time to look back in my archives. The canonical SOD problem was seen on WinXP on certain Dell systems using Intel motherboards incorporating certain new (at the time) Intel chipsets. I have the i815 chipset referenced in my archives, though not the i810. Dell systems, such as the 8100, did not have access to said BIOS setting, and needed a BIOS update enabling the bit to resolve the SOD problem.
The main variant of the problem did not occur with the VxD drivers at the time, because those drivers were able to enable BIOS settings. WDM drivers were not permitted to change BIOS settings, so the problem did surface with them on susceptible chipsets. Unless there has been a change in this area to the VxD drivers, your reporting hangs with them implies implies a different problem.
- My other PCI slot was occupied by a Rockwell 56K modem, but I've done a clean reinstall (WDM) without the modem card. I haven't done enough testing to fully report on results. I did get the squeal of death after an hour, but it could be related to a public domain soundfont that was not well-behaved. (Or maybe the Audigy 2 ZS is not well-behaved!)
I really don't think there's a way a soundfont can cause the PCI bus to seize up. I think it would be a good idea to try moving the soundcard to the slot the modem was in, if you haven't already.
In mentioning my computer's power supply, I was relating this to the squeal of death, not the midi port on the platinum drive failing to appear under the VXD drivers.
So was I, although I was keying on your use of an external keyboard, probably incorrectly. You are describing your system as very stable unless the soundcard is used a specific way, and I didn't get the sense that there would be much difference in power requirements involved in that.
I'm thinking that PCI systems are designed to function within certain tolerances. A 56K modem card might make lighter demands on PCI resources than an Audigy 2 card. The modem's handshaking protocols might make it oblivious to momentary timing errors, while the Audigy 2 card might be less forgiving of a wimpy power supply or a PCI subsystem that's not quite up to par. Just a theory. Anyway, I may try the card in another machine and see if it fares better. Wish it weren't so finicky!
That's not bad thinking, and trying it in another machine is a great idea, though one often not very practical for customers who may only have one machine available.
Last night I was noticing that with my external keyboard driving the platinum drive's midi input, there are random delays. The notes will be tight for a few seconds, but then a couple of notes that were played cleanly on the keyboard will spill over each other like dwarves tumbling out of a silly car. Is this a known issue with the platinum drive's midi port when playing soundfonts, or could this be a symptom of an underlying timing issue with my PCI subsystem? (I know there may not be an easy answer to questions like this.)
Has anyone compared the "tightness" of gameport midi vs. platinum drive midi? Is gameport midi any tighter? (I'm on a budget, and don't want to shell out for a gameport-to-midi adapter only to get more of the same.)
I've not heard of this particular complaint before and I have listened a lot. PCI-level problems tend to be of the nature of snap-crackle-pop symptoms (or hangs). What you describe sounds more like a problem with something like interrupt lockout. Without knowing Windows internals very well, a driver coping with lots of recoverable errors might cause that, or if a device causing lots of interrupts is sharing an IRQ with the soundcard, or sometimes multiprocessing support has weaknesses which lead to interrupt latency issues.
When loading and unloading different soundfonts, is memory fragmentation much of an issue? (either PC memory or the Audigy 2's internal memory?).
It can be an issue with being able to load very large soundfonts, but not really much otherwise. The A2 doesn't really have internal memory.
With the Audigy series you're no longer limited to 32 MB soundfont banks. You can load much larger banks into PC memory, but the PC has to send chunks of sound data to the Audigy as needed. I'm wondering if this has impacted stability. Maybe it requires some intensive bursts of data to be sent from PC memory over the PCI bus to the Audigy 2 card.
That part is done on demand, and is driven by what you are playing at the moment rather than everything in the soundfont. If the system is sufficiently memory-tight, allocating more system memory to soundfont storage might lead to excessive paging activity (which could also be behind erratic sluggishness in the system's response to MIDI keyboard events). (In fact, 192MB of system RAM doesn't sound like a lot, even for Win98, when you need to dedicate MB's of it to soundfont storage.)
Does anybody know if there are things you can do during a long session to defragment memory so that no holes develop?
Problems in that area are far more likely to be expressed as dropped notes that to be behind system hangs.
Vienna reports that the Audigy 2 ZS has 12 MB DRAM in Synth A and 12 MB DRAM in Synth B. Does that mean it has a total of 24 MB onboard RAM?
It probably means that 12MB of PC system memory has been allocated to shared use by the two virtual synths. If you have set soundfont memory larger than that and Vienna still says 12 MB, it's probably simply a bit confused in its assumptions. The soundcard doesn't have onboard RAM, although the soundcards Vienna was written for do.
-Dave
[email protected]

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - Fatality Extreme Ga

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