Creative Labs has just posted information to their American website about the Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro. Branded as a "Limited Edition" offering, the Audigy 4 doesn"t really bring anything new to the sound card scene, except a slightly improved SNR (113DB vs 108DB) when compared to the Audigy 2 ZS. Creative has also given the Audigy 4"s break-out box a face lift, adding some silver trim to complement a new black facing.
Why the Audigy 4? Creative doesn"t cite any reasons for their change in product offering arithmetic, but one would think that heading straight for the number 4 will entice buyers into thinking that this card is a quantum leap ahead in the world of computer audio.
Readers might remember Creative"s "sneakiness" in 2002; it turned out the chips on the Live! cards were so similar to the Audigy cards that users could upgrade to the newer version simply via software updates. One would hope more effort went into the Audigy 4 than that revision.