Specifications

Specifications

Here are the specifications for the Audigy Platinum eX, which contains everything all the other packages have and more.

Specifications of GameTheater XP, SB Live! Platinum 5.1m SB Audigy Platinum eX
	GameTheater XP	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1	Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
MSRP	$149	$199	$249
Audio DSP	Cirrus Logic CS4630	EMU 10K1	Audigy
Max HW 2D streams	32	64	64
Max HW 3D streams	32	32	32
Audio Channels	8 channels (5.1 + headphones/mic)	6 channels (5.1)	Full 131 Native Channels
Digital Mixer Resolution	16-bit	16-bit	32-bit
Hardware MIDI Voices	64	64	64
Max Recording Depth	18-bit	16-bit	16-bit
Max Recording Rate	48kHz	48kHz	48kHz
Max Playback Depth	20-bit	16-bit	24-bit
Max. Playback Rate	48kHz	48kHz	96kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio	>96 dB	>96 dB	100 dB
Wave Instrument support	DLS – GM	SoundFont	SoundFont 1.x/2.1
Built-in Amplifier	Yes	No	No
4-Speaker HRTF?	Yes, Sensaura MultiDrive for DS3D and EAX 2.0	Yes, Creative proprietary, EAX 2.0	EAX Advanced HD
Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoding?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sound Fields for audio playback	No	Yes, EAX	Yes, EAX Advanced HD

External Connectors on PCI Board
	GameTheater XP	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1	Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
1/8” Line-In?	Yes	Yes	Yes
1/8" Stereo-Out (Front)?	No	Yes	Yes
1/8" Stereo-Out (Rear)?	No	Yes	Yes
1/8" Center/Sub-Out?	No	Yes	Yes
Microphone Input?	No	Yes	Yes
Game port?	No	Yes	No
Other?	No	S/PDIF out shared with Center/Sub out	S/PDIF out shared with Center/Sub out IEEE-1394 (FireWire/SB-1394)
Max Recording Rate?	48kHz	48kHz	48kHz

Internal Connectors on PCI Board
	GameTheater XP	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1	Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
Analog CD-Input	Yes	Yes	Yes
Digital CD-Input	No	Yes	Yes
Aux-In	Yes	Yes	Yes
TAD-In	No	Yes	Yes
Support for 4-speaker S/PDIF out	No	Yes, with aftermarket upgrade from Hoontech	Yes, with aftermarket upgrade from Hoontech
CD S/PDIF in	No	Yes	Yes
Others	No	No	Internal SB-1394

External Rack/Drive bay Connectors
	GameTheater XP	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1	Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
1/8" Stereo Out (Front)	Yes	No	Yes
1/8" Stereo Out (Rear)	Yes	No	Yes
Line-Out RCA connectors for all 5.1 channels	Yes, gold plated	No	Yes, gold plated
Coaxial S/PDIF In	Yes	Yes	Yes
Coaxial S/PDIF Out	Yes	Yes	Yes
Optical S/PDIF In	Yes	Yes	Yes
Optical S/PDIF Out	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dedicated 1/4" Headphone Jack	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shared ¼" Line-In/Mic Input with Mic Gain Control	Yes	Yes	Yes, dynamic and condenser types supported
Stereo RCA Input	Yes	Yes	Yes
MIDI I/O	Yes, standard DIN	Yes	Yes, mini DIN
Game Port	Yes	No	SoundFont 1.x/2.1
USB Port	4, two in front and two in rear	0	0
Infrared Port	No	Yes	Yes
Others	No	No	SB1394 (2 watts max for non self powered devices)

Operating Support and Hardware Support
	GameTheater XP	Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1	Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
Windows 95	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows 98/98SE	Yes	Yes	SoundFont 1.x/2.1
Windows ME	Yes	Yes	No
Windows 2000	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows XP	No (End of 2001)	Yes	SB1394
SMP (Dual Processor) compatible?	Not Fully Compatible	Not Fully Compatible	Yes

Notes

This time around, Creative has released two different Platinum flavors to choose from. The vanilla Platinum includes the AudigyDrive, a panel that fits into a standard 5.25" drive bay in your system case, similar to the Live!Drive that Creative bundled with its Sound Blaster Live! Platinum. While this approach gives you more features, it also has the questionable benefit of having a number of cables hanging out the front of your computer. Also, the accessibility of the internal Audigy!Drive depends on the placement of the computer chassis. For this reason, a Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX with external AudigyDrive breakout box is also available.

The SB-1394 internal and external connectors are available on every Sound Blaster Audigy card, whether it's in the MP3+ or Platinum eX bundle. It's also important note that the SB-1394 supports non-Creative Labs devices as well as Creative's own. This means that a FireWire CD-RW, hard drive, DV camera or anything else can be used (but more on this later).