The Hardware
 How would this brand new concept of a "Sound Blaster outside the PC" turn out? An external device has to look attractive and appeal to buyers, especially since Creative is marketing the Extigy like any other consumer electronics product. The Extigy materializes this concept into an attractive device, loaded with enough controls and connectors at just the right places to make it a great external audio solution.
The Extigy is able to lie flat, or with the included stands, be placed upright in a space-saving position. The molded plastic body is light and makes the Extigy easy to carry around, though the use of a power adapter adds some weight. The size is pretty manageable and making it any smaller would mean that Creative had to remove some of the connectors, or place them by the sides of the Extigy, which can be extremely unsightly especially when a mess of cables are connected to the device.
The front of the Extigy is laid out with the most commonly used connectors and controls that users need in their daily use. From left to right, here are the connectors:
- Optical In
- Optical Out
- Mini-jack Line In
- Mic In
- Headphones
- Mic Volume
- Master Volume
- CMSS
- Power
Audio Inputs and Outputs
The optical input and output provides a convenient way to connect to digital audio equipment like MiniDisc recorders and digital TV receivers. The stereo line input and microhpone input are mainstays in sound cards, and are also present in the Extigy for convenient connections to analog audio devices and microphones.
Headphones and Auto-Muting
When a headphone is inserted into the Extigy, the 5.1 analog speaker outputs and the Digital Out connector at the back of the device are automatically muted - a behavior similar to many consumer audio equipment. Unlike most internal sound cards, the headphone output and the line output do not use the same jack, making it convenient to use headphones without having to disconnect the speaker jack from the sound card.
Knobs and Buttons
Two knobs are provided to control the microhpone gain, and a master volume control that controls the volume of all sound sources from the Extigy. Unlike the microphone gain, the volume control is not an analog knob, but works in a similar way as a jog-dial, in that it does not have a maximum point where it cannot rotate any further. Instead, it is linked to the master volume slider in the mixer and can turn continuously in any direction. When the volume hits the limit of 0% or 100% in the mixer, turning the knob further will not result in any change.
A CMSS knob enables quick access to the CMSS upmixing feature. And last but not least, the power button to turn on and off the Extigy. The Extigy goes into a standby mode when turned off with the power still fed to the device, allowing it to be turned on with the remote control. To the right of the power button is the IR receiver for the remote control.
Lights and LEDs
Across the top right of the Extigy are four LEDs. The Dolby Digital LED lights up when a Dolby Digital signal is detected and the internal decoder is engaged. The CMSS LED to the right turns green when CMSS is turned on either in PlayCenter, with the remote control or the CMSS button. The remote control light flashes red when a button is pressed on the remote control, and lastly the power LED.
The rear connectors are also pretty essential for a device like the Extigy, housing much of the permanent connections that many would use:
- C/Subwoofer
- Rear
- Front
- Digital Out
- S/PDIF In (RCA)
- MIDI Out
- MIDI In
- USB
- 12V DC In
Analog Line Outputs
The C/Subwoofer, Rear and Front mini-jack stereo outputs provide two analog channels each for a total of six channels. These channels are used for a 5.1 surround configuration, and can connect to multimedia speakers and home theater systems with 5.1 discrete analog inputs. Creative recommends the use of the Creative Inspire 5300 speakers with the Extigy. We've tested the Extigy with these affordable US$99 speakers and agree that they make for a very cost-effective audio solution.
To use a standard two-speaker output, the Front output is used. For a 4-speaker configuration, both the Front and Rear outputs are used. The Extigy has an Auto speaker mode that detects the line outputs that are connected and automatically selects the speaker mode. The Auto speaker mode is not found in the Live! or Audigy.
Digital Out
The Digital Out is similar to the yellow mini-jack digital output found on 2nd/3rd generation Live! cards and the Audigy. It provides all 6 (5.1) channels over a single connector, allowing connecting to speakers that support a similar input, or the Digital DIN input provided by speakers like the Cambridge SoundWorks FPS2000, DTT2200/2500/3500 and the Creative Inspire 5700. With a mini-jack to RCA cable, the Digital Out can also double as a S/PDIF coaxial digital output. (Live! 5.1 and Audigy users may also notice that the Digital Out on the Extigy is not shared with the center/subwoofer analog output.)
S/PDIF In
A RCA S/PDIF coaxial input is also provided for connecting to digital audio equipment like DVD players. Also provided are MIDI outputs and inputs for external MIDI hardware like music keyboards, synthesizers and sound modules.
Since the Extigy sits outside the PC, it cannot connect to internal hardware peripherals like CD-ROM drives and telephony cards. Fortunately, there is a way around this since most PCs have CD/DVD-ROM drives or writers and losing support for audio CD playback isn't a good thing.
By using the turning on the digital audio extraction (DAE) feature in Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, users can still play CD audio through the Extigy. PlayCenter also supports DAE playback of music CDs independent of OS support. A CD Audio slider is provided in the mixer for volume control.
|
Back To Top 
Front Panel
