Creative Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor review

The Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor is an external box that plugs into your PC via its USB 2 port. On it are mounted all the sockets you could possibly need to capture video from an analogue or digital source.

We tested the device by capturing video over a composite and an S-Video connection. Both worked fine. The Ulead Video Studio software that comes bundled with the Audigy is decent for a video editing program, but not as precise as our current Best Buy, Adobe Premiere Elements 1.

It also offers all the features you'd expect of a decent sound card. Setup is very easy. All you do is plug the device in and install the driver software. One of the Audigy's biggest selling points is that it supports 24bit/96KHz audio sampling. This level of sound quality is very useful if you want to capture samples from old LPs or other non-digital sources. It means there's more chance of getting what you want, at a decent volume, even once you've stripped out hissing, crackling and so on.

If you're interested in creating your own music, the Audigy comes bundled with plenty of software to get you started. SoundMixer and WaveStudio enable you to edit your own compositions. It also supports the ASIO standard, designed to eliminate the momentary delay that can occur when using MIDI instruments.

As well as its conventional playback and editing functions, the Audigy also comes with software that behaves a lot like Windows Media Center, except it can't record TV. Using the remote control you can play your PC's music and video files from the comfort of the couch.

The Audigy 2 works well, does everything it should and comes with lots of useful software. For £40 less, however, you could buy the Pyro A/V Link video capture box that we reviewed last month. It doesn't have all the sound card functions, but it has all the inputs and outputs you need - and it comes bundled with Adobe Premiere Elements 1.

Author: Karl Wright