Audigy 2 ZS notebook card looks small, sounds big

NOTEBOOKS today are equipped with DVD rewriters, Hi-Res TFT LCD, powerful CPUs, Wireless network adaptors, but almost none have a decent audio bit inside. If you need good audio performance in mobile segment you will find that the notebooks have been neglected in past years. But not anymore. Now, Creative claims it has the answer to satisfy the more demanding audio enthusiasts and professionals.

Audigy ZS Notebook in our hands
Audigy 2 ZS is Portable PC audio card (PCMCIA) which supports 7.1-channel output, output sampling rate of 24bit/192KHz, recording at 24bit/96KHz, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES 6.1 decoding and like it's older and bigger sisters it is THX certified.

It is very small and lightweight, fits into PCMCIA socket and outside of socket is out for just 2cm. It has 3 connectors on it and two of them are mini jacks which are multifunctional. One is for Output (Headphones/Optical out,) and the other is for Input (, Microphone/Line IN/Optical IN). Optionally, you can go for TOS link mini jack adapter to connect your optical multimedia gadgets. In the middle is an analogue out extension cord capable to connect 7.1 speaker systems.

The installation is done with ease, although it takes a lot of time if you choose complete install (like all Creative sound card products do). But, the application list is impressive. You'll find Creative MediaSource with Audio Converter, MediaSource Go!, MediaSource Organizer and Player Applications. You can use it to convert you media files from wav, mp3, wma, organize your library and play using Audigy ZS effects like CMSS, EAX, Time scaling, which are found in other Audigy family members. You can setup your audio system using Speaker Settings applications which has Speaker Calibrator Wizard who will assist you in basic or advanced mode. Other option is to use THX Setup Console where you can setup perfect “hot spot” for optimal sound, without moving your speakers across the room.

After you have plugged in your Audigy ZS, you may need to go to Sound and Audio Devices under Control Panel to select your newly installed card to be default. Plug in card, select your favourite sound clip or DVD, press play and your notebook's speakers will be dead! That's right; Audigy 2 ZS needs external speakers or headphones to play beautiful sounds to your ears. But after all you can not expect for more sound to come from your tiny laptop speakers.

DVD-Video and Audio was our first test. Dolby Digital sounds well but DTS is more punchy and cleaner. Anyway it sounds fantastic, and the amazing thing is that sound is coming from your notebook. After that we tried Audigy in gaming. We plugged our test card and run Codemaster's Colin McRae Rally 04. The game is extensively using benefits from Audigy 2 family EAX 4, as you can see logo “best sounds on Audigy Advanced HD” while loading. Sound was crisp, yet powerful, without any degradation in game performances.

If you consider yourself audio professional or enthusiast, we can say that another worthy feature is that now you can record in professional quality 24 bit/96 KHz. If you compare Audigy 2 ZS notebook to desktop line Audigy family it isn't too much away from them in terms of sound quality.

The other worthy feature for music professionals and alike is ASIO 2.0 support. You will be able to record and playback using your favourite music recording systems (like Steinberg Cubase SX) with very low latency supports up to 2 ms. You can choose from three ASIO driver options: Creative ASIO, SB Audigy 2 ASIO and SB Audigy 2 ASIO 24/96 for ASIO support under 24 bits.

Next one is SoundFont technology support which allows using sound font banks (audio samples) and triggering them trough your MIDI sequencing application.

Speaking on professional audio features, the card performed well under Cubase SX. Test system was HP mobile workstation in8000 with Intel 1,7 GHz Pentium M, 1 GB of RAM, ATI Mobility Fire GL T2 128 MB and GB 5400 rpm HDD.

In this test we used SB Audigy 2 ASIO driver, running several audio tracks with compression, reverb, midi with Sound Font support and MIDI with NI ABsynth 2 and Pro53 VSTi instruments. Cubase SX Performance meter showed at the top no more than 30% of CPU utilization.

For those who are concerned about power consumption, we can say that in our test system shutdown was after 2h and 40 min, after playing numerous video clips, which is almost identical to consumption with notebook's audio card.

So, as you can see mobile audiophiles and professionals can benefit from this tiny card. You got the 24 bit sampling with no need for extra wires or power outlets. Ah, mobility at last. It is small and portable with superb quality and good features at fair price around £80. You don't have hardware controls (knobs), MIDI connector on it but, let's, face it, it is made to be ultra light and portable. So if you forget about this little "essential" thing you will get the perfect mate to replace your laptop's sound chip. µ