For less than $200, nearly any modern personal computer can become a home entertainment center with immersive, teeth-rattling sound that rivals high-end stereos and even some real-world theaters.
The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 add-in card from Creative Technology Ltd. is a dream for game players and those who see the PC as the hub of digital entertainment.
The Audigy 2 also adds high-speed FireWire capability to older systems, essentially making it two upgrades in one.
Though some surgery on the PC is required, the card offers an impressive list of features, including better audio than even the compact disc.
PCs with DVD drives can play DVD-Audio, a new high-end format. Regular video DVDs also play with greater audio fidelity, particularly on PCs equipped with surround-sound speakers.
Gamers can take advantage of Audigy 2's ability to channel sound into six satellite speakers and a subwoofer for bass. An enemy sneaking from behind actually sounds like he's approaching from the rear.
But is the sound improvement noticeable to non-audiophiles like myself?
I tested the Audigy 2 in my home system, an older Hewlett-Packard Pavilion with a 788 megahertz Pentium III microprocessor and last year's Audigy sound card.
I added the $200 Audigy 2 Platinum, which includes the sound card and an access panel that fits into an empty drive bay. The panel has several ports for headphones and other connections, including FireWire, and can be controlled with a remote control. The sound card without the panel costs $130.
I immediately noticed a difference when playing music
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