Headphone users also benefit, as CMSS 3D can passably imitate multispeaker surround-sound output with a spatialization effect. If you have fewer speakers than you have audio channels, CMSS 3D can up-mix the output to imitate a 7.1-speaker setup. In addition to the ability to play 6.1- and 7.1-channel audio on your laptop, the Audigy 2 NX's aforementioned CMSS 3D function is handy for both up- and down-mixing multichannel audio. Audio in the reference DVDs that we used sounded suitably clean and powerful, especially the Yes Magnification DVD-audio disc that Creative lent us, which was encoded in Dolby Digital EX 6.1.
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Once the update provided full 24-bit/96KHz support, we connected our set of 7.1 PC speakers and were up and running in short order.īecause Creative designed the Audigy 2 NX to decode DVDs mastered in standard Dolby Digital 5.1 and the new Dolby Digital EX 6.1 audio formats, our first task was to pop in a few movies and crank up the volume.
CREATIVE USB SOUND CARD FOR LAPTOP DRIVERS
We did have to go online for a software update because the shipping drivers supported only 16-bit/48KHz audio over the USB 2.0 connection. Windows XP Pro located the device quickly, and installing the driver and the bundled Creative Media Source software was a breeze.
Setting up the Audigy 2 NX was relatively simple on our test bed laptop. And when you're not sitting in front of your laptop, you can control the action with the included IR remote. Interestingly, the device also features separate ports for optical input and output plus a digital S/PDIF-out connector, which lets you add your home audio/video components to the equation.īuttons for power, mute, and Creative's proprietary multichannel mixing technology, called CMSS 3D (Creative Multi Speaker Surround), sit on top of the Audigy 2 NX, accompanied by dials for microphone input and audio output volume.
Line-in and microphone-in jacks are included, as well. Four minijack audio outputs, one of which doubles as a headphone jack, provide both 5.1- and 7.1-channel PC speaker support. It is also studded with useful connections. Housed in an external box that's a smidge larger than a PDA, the Audigy 2 NX requires a separate power cable and connects via USB 2.0.
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