Although Creative's product launch itself was pretty silent in comparison to previous ones, they definitely left us wondering over that numbering scheme... not 3 but 4?! We already knew the Audigy 2 ZS certainly rocks in games, not for nothing it made it into our High-end PC of choice, but we still wanted to know what was up with the new card. ExtremeTech takes a brief look to the new Audigy 4 and almost conclude there's not much to be seen if you've already got a good soundcard.
If our recommendation seems tepid, that's because it is. There's nothing wrong with the Audigy 4 Pro, except that we can't find enough vital new things to recommend it over some of Creative's less expensive offerings. But if you want the most feature-packed, clean-performing sound card going, the Audigy 4 will send you home happy.
Bundled software and new D/A converters seem to be the most significant changes over the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum.