3DsoundSurge Review: Sound Blaster Optical Digital I/O 2


	Mikael Hagén puts Creative Labs' Optical Digital i/o 2 to the test.

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Sound Blaster Optical Digital I/O 2 - Mikael Hagén - Last updated February 12, 2001

Important Info:

Sound Card By : Creative Labs
Price : US: $59. Europe $85/$36 (just output) including shipping and tax

Minimum System Requirements:

The original Live (CT4620), the new retail Live cards(CT4760), the original Live!Value (CT4670) or the new OEM Live boards (CT483x).
The Digital Output Module requires the CT4760 board.

Reviewer PC:

Mikael
- Win98
- Celeron 300a o/c 450
- 128MB PC100 ram
- Creative TNT
- 6.4 GB Quantum SE
- Videologic's Digi Theatre speaker system and for headphones testing I used a set of Sennheiser HD570

Specifications

Optical Digital I/O 2

S/PDIF In (RCA/coaxial jack)

S/PDIF In (Toslink/Optical)

S/PDIF Out (RCA/coaxial jack)

S/PDIF Out (Toslink/Optical)

Line In (1/4" stereo jack)

MIDI In (DIN)

MIDI Out (DIN)
Digital DIN

Introduction:

Update: Just a quick update to let you know that the Optical Digital i/o 2 card will work fine with the new Live 5.1 cards which have the same expansion connection as the CT4760 cards. The Digital output module also covered in this review will NOT work with new Live 5.1 cards and from what I can tell it's not available anymore.

When Creative introduced the very first Live they bundled it with a daughter-card that offered Coaxial in/out connections and a DIN connection, as well as MIDI in and out connections. While many users were happy with these options, some others, especially MiniDisc users, wanted Optical connections. Creative responded by introducing the Optical Digital I/O card and with it Live users got a chance to get Optical connectivity by using the same 2x20 pin header they used to connect the original daughter-card to the Live. The Optical Digital I/O card also allowed Live!Value owners to get digital connectivity using their 2x6 pin header. One thing worth noting here is all the new Live cards introduced subsequent to the original Live!Value come with the 2x20 pin header.

Creative later discontinued the original Optical daughter-card, siting lack of demand and, at the same time, noting that if the demand was there they would put it back into production. Well the demand must be there as they have introduced a new Optical daughter-card that goes by the unsurprising name of Optical Digital I/O 2. This new card, just like the previous Optical i/o card can be used with the 2x20 pin header with full functionality. It can also be used with the original Live!Value’s 2x6 pin header, but with limited functionality.

In this review we will test the Optical Digital I/O 2 card as well as take a look at the new Digital Output module (only available in Europe). The Digital Output module is Creative’s solution for users that require just the digital output capability. The Optical Digital I/O card will be available for $85 incl. tax and shipping in Europe and $59 plus tax and shipping in Canada and the US. The Digital Output module that will be available for $36 in Europe and will only work with the CT4760 boards using the Digital Outjack of mini-jack type and not the CT483x boards since their digital out do not have enough power. The CT4760 board are the ones used in the Live!Player 1024, X-Gamer, MP3+ and Platinum while the CT483x boards are OEM boards. The only other major hardware difference when comparing the CT483x boards to the CT4760 board is most of the CT483x boards lack a CD digital input (at least officially, as its possible to modify the board). There are some CT48x boards that have had the Digital input connection. Creative Labs US has no plans to sell the Digital Output Module.

Technical Overview --->