-
SPDIF monitoring using Creative Labs Soundblaster Extigy RULES!
Well, after LOTS of research, I put in an order for 3 Creative Labs Soundblaster Extigy units so that (hopefully) each of our FCP workstations could easily and economically monitor the SPDIF audio from thier respective Decklink Pro cards.
I received the units yesterday, set them up, and I am happy to report that these little things are the Holy Grail of our new facility’s Blackmagic Decklink workflow! FINALLY, after a year of having to deal with out-of-sync audio/video output with our (former) AJA Io box, we now have audio perfectly synced to the video playing out to our SDI NTSC monitors. Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Each Extigy unit cost us only $60.00 USD (as refurbished units), directly from Creative Labs via thier eBay store. They’re small and can be propped up vertically to save desk space.
The audio line-outs are standard consumer 1/8″ stereo mini-pin jacks, so you’d need to make yourself an adapter and/or use a mixer if you want to feed professional speakers with XLR connectors. But they work great with our goofy little Harmon Kardon soundsticks (the machines we’re using the Extigy with are primarily for offline editing, so consumer computer speakers are good enough.)
While there is no official Mac OS-X support by Creative for this product, our Panther boxes all automatically recognized the Extigy when plugged into the USB port. This means that you should be able to plug a microphone into the Extigy’s front port and record scratch VO tracks in FCP using the Voiceover tool (although I havent tried it yet). But you don’t have to plug the Extigy into the computer in order to simply monitor SPDIF audio. It works great as a standalone unit.
And it even comes with a wireless remote control too (and if you can believe it, Creative included the batteries too!)
I don’t know if I’d recommend the Extigy if you need super high-end audio monitoring, but for everyone else, I can’t think of a more wonderful solution than this unit. If you need simple audio monitoring with your Decklink card, forget about buying big, honking home “hi-fi” receivers, or significantly more expensive (albeit undeniably great) dedicated D/A units like the Flying Cow, because the Extigy seems to fit the bill, quite literally.
https://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=207&product=585
And no, I have absolutely no vested interest in plugging this product. I’m just so ecstatic that our facility’s conversion to Blackmagic’s product line has been so incredibly flawless (over the past 2 weeks, we have switched from being a one-room facility using the AJA Io into being a 3-room online/offline facility using the Decklink Pro cards, Workgroup Videohub and Multibridge)
Aloha,
mel -
1 Reply
-
Good news, Mel.
I have the same needs as you and surely we’ll follow your tip.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Paco, from Mexico.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up