Hardware Fusion recently had the opportunity to talk to Creatives Darragh OToole, European Brand Manager for Audio Products. In the interview we talk about Creatives Audigy and Audigy 2 product range, the technological advances in PC audio and what the future for PC audio looks like.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with Hardware Fusion. Can I first start off by asking you for a few details about yourself, including Name, Job title and Job position?

Darragh OToole, European Brand Manager for Audio Products

Q. The Audigy and Audigy 2 sound card range are quite clearly products for the entertainment enthusiast, but how do the products perform for developers who are especially interested in the Midi capabilities of these audio cards?

A. Unlike most other cards, the Audigy 2 range still features a 64-voice hardware synthesizer. The soundfont format taps into the EMU sampling heritage and gives you a fully fledged 16-bit 48kHz sampler with high grade converters, hardware effects and no CPU load. Custom soundfonts can be created relatively easily with the Vienna soundfont editor software and GM/GS banks ship with the product. Combined with a GM/GS software synthesizer and 2 midi I/O ports it is quite a well-specified tool for the Midi user.

Q. What improvements have you made to your MIDI synthesiser with the Audigy 2 which has been particularly beneficial to editors?

A. The addition of modulation destinations in the Soundfont 2.1 format means that you have greatly increased flexibility for routing of controllers to synthesizer parameters, e.g. modulation to filter cutoff. This feature, which is similar to the patch cords feature on EMUs Proteus 2000 range, is available in the latest version of Vienna for the Audigy range.

Q. The Audigy 2 supports 24-bit 192 kHz audio playback but with the current software available how much of an impact has this feature made on the market?

A. Currently, 192kHz content is mainly the reserve of DVD Audio and is very impressive at 24-bit but outside this, its current use is in the pro audio recording field. The provision of converters of this level ensure that we keep pace with market developments and are ready to support content when it is available and more importantly fully supported by current operating systems.

Q. Whats the next step for EAX technology and what improvements do you have set for your next-gen card?

A. Richer reverbs, multi environments with lower CPU overhead and easier integration for games programmers

Q. What has been the key improvements with the Audigy 2 and how as the market received this new product?

A. DVD Audio has raised the bar for music listening and anyone who has experienced this technology will have been extremely impressed by the enriched audio playback. 24-bit/96kHz and 192kHz ties directly into this technology but also offers musicians or content creators the ability to record source material at higher resolutions, and the Platinum eX version allows multiple channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio to be recorded simultaneously via the Asio driver. The higher quality converters obviously contribute to the lower SNR figures and give a quieter output. Apart from the hardware, Creative MediaSource is a radical replacement for PlayCenter and is more in line with our family look, has more features, and is easier to use, being fully compatible with our Digital Audio Product range. The market has reacted very well to this product, realising the multiple benefits offered by the Audigy 2 range.

Q. How has the audio market come along in the recent years and would you say that there is now more of a demand for feature rich audio hardware than there has ever been before?

A. The audio market is now more discerning and educated when it comes to what is available for the PC. Low-end integrated motherboard audio is not enough, especially if you have just purchased a set of high quality speakers or want to hook up your soundcard to your home hi-fi as this quickly reveals the limitations of these onboard solutions. As PC performance reaches a point where it satisfies most domestic uses, component and peripheral selection become ever more critical, and we see the trend as leaning towards using the PC as a media centre for watching DVDs/TV or storing/playing back a digital audio collection. Combine this with people wanting to create music, and the audio components (speakers and soundcards) become critical in ensuring the audio path is of high quality.

Q. How much of an improvement can we expect to see with audio hardware in the new few years or have we pretty much reached a peak point for sound cards?

A. There is an inherent limitation to the capacity of human hearing, so the race for higher sample rates may slow down. Taking over from this is the aim is to use the technology to improve the end users audio experience. This extends from improving the user interface, to the connectivity and feature set, and game and software integration, like Asio features and EAX.

Q. What features can we expect to see in the next generation sound card from Creative?

A. More usability features in both the hardware and software, building on the Extigy and Platinum eX models and bringing connectivity within arms reach. Were also looking at providing feature rich complementary software bundles to take advantage of the cards abilities.