Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX User manual

How to use this manual
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
Important: This User Manual (On CD) has been designed to provide you with complete product knowledge.
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issues are also found in the same folder.

Contents

iii
Contents
Introduction
High Definition Digital Audio Entertainment.............................ix
What is EAX ADVANCED HD? ................................................ x
Package Contents ................................................................xi
System Requirements..................................................... xii
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card ........................................ xii
SB1394/FireWire applications, games, DVD viewing and DVD-Audio
xii
Internet Multimedia and Entertainment ........................ xiii
Getting More Information.................................................... xiii
More Help ......................................................................... xiii
Technical Support .............................................................. xiii
Document Conventions....................................................... xiii
1 Installing Hardware
What You Need ......................................................................... 1-1
Your Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Card............................................... 1-2
Your Joystick/MIDI Bracket ........................................................ 1-5
Your Audigy 2 Drive .................................................................. 1-6
Connecting Headphones .................................................... 1-8
Connecting Microphones .................................................... 1-9
Adjusting volume-level of Headphones and Microphone ............... 1-10
Using the Audigy 2 Drive control knobs ............................. 1-10
Using Creative Surround Mixer ......................................... 1-11
Using a Remote Control with Your Drive..................................... 1-11
Remote Control Functions ........................................................ 1-12
Installation Steps .................................................................... 1-14
Step 1: Prepare your computer ........................................ 1-14
Step 2: Connect the Audigy 2 Drive cables ........................ 1-16
Step 3: Install the Audigy 2 Drive..................................1-17

iv
Step 4: Install the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card...............1-18
Step 5: Install the Joystick/MIDI bracket ........................... 1-19
Step 6: Connect cables to Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card....... 1-20
Step 7: Connect to power outlet ....................................... 1-22
Connecting Related Peripherals................................................. 1-23
Connecting Speaker Systems ................................................... 1-26
Connecting External Consumer Devices ..................................... 1-27
Positioning Your Speakers ........................................................ 1-29
2 Installing Software
Installing Drivers and Applications............................................... 2-1
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Feature Showcase Demo.......................... 2-2
Uninstalling and Reinstalling the Applications and Device Drivers .... 2-2
Reinstalling all Audio Drivers and Applications ...................... 2-2
Uninstalling all Audio Drivers and Applications ...................... 2-3
Installing/Uninstalling selected Audio Drivers or Applications.. 2-4
Using Creative Software AutoUpdate ........................................... 2-5
Updating Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3) .................................... 2-6
Installing Digital Video Update .................................................... 2-6
3 Using Audigy 2 Software
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Applications ............................... 3-1
Demos..................................................................................... 3-2
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Getting Started Demo ................. 3-2
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Feature Showcase Demo.............. 3-2
Introduction to the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 software suite ............. 3-3
Creative MediaSource Go! ............................................. 3-3
Creative MediaSource Go! Launcher.................................... 3-3
Creative MediaSource Player.......................................... 3-4
“What-You-Hear” multichannel recording..................... 3-4
Creative MediaSource Organizer..................................... 3-5
Finding and organizing songs ..................................... 3-5

v
Keep your music database up to date ......................... 3-5
Transferring songs .................................................... 3-5
Automatically playing multimedia content.................... 3-5
Extracting and converting songs................................. 3-6
Storing music on recordable CD ................................. 3-6
Creative MediaSource DVD-Audio Player.............................. 3-6
Creative EAX Console ........................................................ 3-7
Audio Effects: Environmental Sound Processing ........... 3-7
CMSS 3D: Simulating Surround Sound........................ 3-8
Audio Clean-up: Removing noise and distortion............ 3-8
Time Scaling: Varying the speed of playback ............... 3-8
Creative Surround Mixer ............................................... 3-9
Creative Speaker Settings ............................................. 3-9
Creative Speaker Calibrator ........................................... 3-9
Creative MiniDisc Center.................................................... 3-9
Creative SoundFont Bank Manager ................................... 3-10
Creative Audio Stream Recorder 2.................................3-10
Creative Wave Studio ..................................................3-11
Diagnostic and troubleshooting utilities...................................... 3-11
Creative Diagnostics ....................................................3-11
Creative Speaker Settings ............................................3-12

vi
Appendixes
A General Specifications
Features .................................................................................. A-1
PCI Bus Mastering .................................................... A-1
Audigy 2 Processor ................................................... A-1
High Quality Audio Path............................................. A-1
Professional Digital Audio Processing........................... A-2
Flexible Mixer Control................................................ A-2
THX Certification ...................................................... A-2
Dolby Digital (AC-3) Decoding.................................... A-2
Creative Multi Speaker Surround (CMSS) .................... A-3
SB1394/FireWire Compatibility................................... A-3
Connectivity ............................................................................. A-3
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card .............................................. A-3
Audio Inputs ............................................................ A-3
Audio Outputs...................................................... A-4
SB1394/FireWire Interfaces ....................................... A-4
Interfaces ................................................................ A-4
Audigy 2 Drive............................................................. A-5
Audio/Video Inputs and Outputs On Front Panel ........... A-5
Interfaces ................................................................ A-5
B Troubleshooting and FAQs
Problems Installing Software ...................................................... B-1
Problems with Sound................................................................. B-2
Problems with File Transfers on Some VIA Chipset Motherboards .... B-6
Insufficient SoundFont Cache ..................................................... B-7
Problems with Joystick............................................................... B-8
Problems with Multiple Audio Devices .......................................... B-9
Problems with Sound Blaster Live! Series or Sound Blaster

vii
PCI512 card.......................................................................... B-10
Resolving I/O Conflicts............................................................. B-11
Problems with Encore DVD Player ............................................. B-12
Problems with Software DVD Player .......................................... B-12
Problems with DV driver for Windows 98 SE/2000/Me/XP ............ B-13
Problems in Windows XP .......................................................... B-14
Problems with Digital Audio Devices .......................................... B-15

Introduction

Introduction ix
Introduction
High Definition
Digital Audio
Entertainment
Thank you for purchasing Sound BlasterTM AudigyTM 2 Platinum, the next generation
Creative audio product with exciting new features and enhanced audio processing
architecture.
This User Manual (on CD) guides you through the installation and usage of Sound
Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum consists of the Sound
Blaster Audigy 2 card, Joystick/MIDI bracket, the Audigy 2 Drive and an infrared (IR)
remote control.
Featuring 24-bit/192 kHz audio playback, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum delivers
high-definition sound of astounding quality and 24-bit/96 kHz audio recording
capability from all Line Ins and SPDIF In. Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum supports
surround sound audio on your computer and has output capabilities for 6.1 Dolby®
Digital Surround EX.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 has received the prestigious THX®Multimedia Certification
award, making it the perfect choice for PC audiophiles seeking the very best music
and movie experiences.
The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card, with its Audigy 2 processor, enables awesome
EAX®ADVANCED HDTM technologies for your gaming and music listening
experience. The SB1394TM/FireWire®port provides easy high-speed connectivity to
NOMAD®portable digital audio players, external CD-RW drives, and other IEEE
1394 compatible devices like DV camcorders, printers, scanners, and digital still
cameras.
MLP (Meridian Lossless
Packing), the method of audio
data compression used in
DVD-Audio, reduces file size
without removing any of the
information that was
contained in the original
recording. The listening
audience will hear the audio as
it was intended in the original
recording. Other packing
methodologies that remove
data as part of the
compression are referred to as
'Lossy Compression'