Great sound card for Linux users
Written: Jan 23 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Open source drivers, front panel connectors
Cons: None
|
|
|
| jwb's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
I once owned a Turtle Beach Montego A3D. This was a very nice sound card with one of the best analog sections (headphone and line outputs) that i have ever heard. It had one problem: it didn't work in Linux, my preferred operating system. Since I no longer use Windows at all, I was forced to ditch the Montego and find a better sound card for Linux.
I purchased the SB Live! Platinum at Central Computer in San Francisco for $199. The card has several features that distinguish it from other products. First is the Live! Drive, a box full of input and output connectors that you attach to a 5.25" drive bay on the front of the computer. If you don't have an available 5.25" bay, don't bother buying the Platinum version because this is what sets it apart from the other models. The Live! Drive has a 1/4" headphone output with a volume control pot, a 1/4" line input that doubles as a microphone input (including gain control), RCA S/PDIF input and output, and DIN MIDI input and output.
The Live! card itself has several inputs. It has three analog inputs and one digital input using MPC connectors inside the computer's chassis. The digital input is the first I have seen on a sound card. I hooked it directly to the digital output of my CDROM, and now I can use the DAC on the sound card instead of the rather poor one inside the CDROM drive. I used one other input to attach my TV card to the sound card.
Software installation was straightforward if you are an experienced Linux user, but might be too much for a beginner. The Live! is compatible with ALSA [1] and OSS [2]. I prefer ALSA because it is purely open source, but I also use games like Quake 3 which must have OSS. I chose to install ALSA with OSS emulation. After compiling and loading a few kernel modules, the Live! was working without even a reboot. The ALSA mixer can be used to control each of the Live!'s inputs and outputs, and I was playing Quake 3 in no time.
The quality of the output is top notch, although not quite as good as what I've come to expect from my Turtle Beach. There is some noise in the headphone output stream which corresponds with high CPU or disk activity, but it is not very noticeable when you are playing games. I have no trouble using the Live! for MP3 playback, listening to CDs, and teleconferencing with OpenH323.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jwb
|
|
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.