Sound Blaster Audigy

Sound Blaster Audigy is a product line of sound cards from Creative Technology. The flagship model of the Audigy family used the EMU10K2 audio DSP, an improved version of the SB-Live's EMU10K1, while the value/SE editions were built with a less-expensive audio controller.

The Audigy family is available for PCs with a PCI or PCI Express slot, or a USB port.

The Audigy cards equipped with EMU10K2 (CA0100 chip) could process up to 4 EAX environments simultaneously with its on-chip DSP and native EAX 3.0 ADVANCED HD support, and supported from stereo up to 5.1-channel output. The audio processor could mix up to 64 DirectSound3D sound channels in hardware, up from Live!'s 32 channels.

Creative Labs advertised the Audigy as a 24-bit sound card, a controversial marketing claim for a product that did not support end-to-end playback of 24-bit/96 kHz audio streams. The Audigy and Live shared a similar architectural limitation: the audio transport (DMA engine) was fixed to 16-bit sample precision at 48 kHz. So despite its 24-bit/96 kHz high-resolution DACs, the Audigy's DSP could only process 16-bit/48 kHz audio sources. This fact was not immediately obvious in Creative's literature, and was difficult to ascertain even upon examination of the Audigy's spec sheets. (A resulting class-action settlement with Creative later awarded US customers a 35% discount on Creative products, up to a maximum discount of $65.)

Aside from the lack of an end-end path for 24-bit audio, Dolby Digital (AC-3) and DTS passthrough (to the S/PDIF digital out) had issues that have never been resolved.

Audigy card supports the professional ASIO 1 driver interface natively, making it possible to obtain low latencies from Virtual Studio Technology (VST) instruments. Some versions of Audigy featured an external break out box with connectors for S/PDIF, MIDI, IEEE 1394, analog and optical signals. The ASIO and break out box features were an attempt to tap into the "home studio" market, with a mainstream product.

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