[Okkler]

I'm thinking about getting an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum and was wondering how the headphone jack is on the drive. Would it be capable of running my AKG K-501 headphones clearly or would I still need an amplifier?

 

[Mr.Radar]

The AKG 501 requires a very beefy amp, even more so than the Sennheiser HD580/600/650. I'd say that the Audigy's headphone jack wouldn't cut it. If you want to get an Audigy (which isn't reccomended anyways because of it's low sound quality) skip the "Platinum" edition and get the standard one instead.

 

[modi]

Ive got an audigy 2 zs in my pc and I've found that it is ok driving really low impedance headphones like the Sony V6 but can't cope with high impedance cans like my Beyer dt770. And even with the gear it can drive, the sound quality is marginal.

 

[juni0r]

Even a casual listener would be able to tell a huge quality difference between the front 1/4" headphone jack and the rear 1/8" main speaker out (with the rear being much better). Personally I regret purchasing the Platinum now, but it does add a couple extra inputs/outputs over the standard if that is what you prefer. It all depends if you wish to pay the extra $75 or so that the Platinum would cost over the standard. For your reference, I use a HD590 with an Audigy 2 Platinum (non-ZS) plugged into the rear (the front drive is now virtually unused). It drives the headphones fairly well, but I have tested it with amplification and it benefits noticeably from amplification. I don't know about the technical details of the headphones that you are interested in, but hopefully this provides a good reference point.

 

[Okkler]

Sorry for being a noob, but I read the specs on the Audigy 2 and they seem to be great. How could the sound quality be low on a unit that looks so good on paper?

 

[Mr.Radar]

Specs aren't everything in the audiophile world (look at how many people still use LP's/vinyl, even though it has an inferior dynamic range to digital audio and is much more fragile, it still sounds better to many (myself included, even though I've never heard a proper vinyl setup with music I'm familiar with, there is something about vinyl's that when played through my grandparent's 1970-something all-in-one stereo with craptastic speakers in their basement that is much more enjoyable to me than the setup in my sig)). And even if you look at the specs, you can still be an EMU card with better specs for only $20 more than a barebones Audigy 2 ZS.

 

[Hello]

The main advantage in using Creative cards is their support for EAX features in games. But, personally, I don't think EAX is important at all -- even, if you do play games. That is just my opinion.

For music quality, Creative get's pretty low marks. The EMU 0404 or EMU 1212 come higly recommended on these boards, and should be much, much better than the Audigy2.