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Digital AudioThe promotional material for the Audigy basically scream "24-bit 96 kHz." However, the Audigy Processor is not a straight 24-bit 96 kHz sound card like the semi-pro and professional sound cards used by many musicians and digital audio folks. Still the Audigy finally rectifies some nagging issues with the Live! Digital Output The Audigy solves these issues with the changeable sampling rate of 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz, so the card will work with most of the digital audio stuff out there. One small misstep is that the drivers default to 96 kHz so unsuspecting users who connect the digital output to external decoders or use speakers with Digital DIN support, will find that there is no sound, or the sound will stop abruptly after some time. Early leaks of the Audigy information suggested that the Audigy had a ContentPass DRM protection scheme, which aimed to prevent copyrighted music from being played. It caused some waves in the newsgroups and luckily none of that ever made it to the Audigy. Trust me, nobody wants this feature. Imagine the Audigy muting the speakers when you are playing MP3s with Winamp! However, if you are playing a Microsoft DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected file (probably purchased online), the Audigy will mute the digital output to prevent copying. Hmm... like it would prevent the smart folks from using a simple workaround (which I'm not going to explain here obviously <g>).
For most uses, 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz should suffice as it is supported by most digital audio equipment. With the Audigy, the option to go up to 96 kHz is always there for that extra bandwidth when you know that your equipment supports 96 kHz, like some of the new Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks speakers. Digital Mixing Like the Live!, the Audigy Processor does audio calculations at 32-bits, theoretically maintaining a maximum 192 dB dynamic range so that audio is processed and mixed without undue loss of precision that may lead to audio artifacts. This does not mean that the Audigy supports 32-bit wave audio, since upon output, the extra bits are discarded to the number of bits that the DACs accept. The patented 8-point interpolation used with the Live! is retained in the Audigy to give wave audio, especially those of lower bit rates less hiss and noise (that is characteristic of lower quality audio files). Digital Recording Digital to Analog Conversion (DAC) 24-bit 96 kHz However, Creative has not been very clear in this respect of what this 24-bit 96 kHz provides. Maybe they are doing the "if you repeat it enough times, people will believe it" thing, and believe me, I have heard this thing repeated enough times during the Extigy launch in Singapore that the less knowledgeable journalists would probably start printing that it is "a high-end 24-bit 96 kHz sound card that surpasses many consumer audio equipment" in their publications. Suffice to say, the Audigy seems more like a consumer 16-bit 48 kHz sound card with 24-bit 96 kHz support on the digital inputs and outputs only, which right now doesn't provide any major benefit. 64 Audio Channels Verdict Forget about the 24-bit 96 kHz hype. What is important is the improved audio path with analog sources converted using higher sample sizes, the better DACs that drive the analog line outputs, and the ability for the Audigy to output at different sample rates for better compatibility with certain digital audio equipment.
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As you have seen from the above, much of the Audigy does not run at 24-bit 96 kHz. However, support for this high sample size and sample rate is built into the S/PDIF input and outputs, allowing the Audigy to accept and output digital audio inputs at such rates.
