Live! Platinum is an AudioGeek's Dream
Written: Jan 03 '00 (Updated Jan 03 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great sound editing, great sound processing (mp3 and games)
Cons: Live! Drive takes up a drive bay that you may need, price
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| dok_nefarious's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
I recently recieved a SoundBlaster Live! Platinum for Christmas because I needed a new soundcard that could play games well and do fantastic sound editing. The SoundBlaster Live! Platinum more than met that demand.
First of all, the SoundBlaster Live! Platinum comes with the "Live! Drive", a periferal that fits into a drive bay on the front of your computer casing. This drive allows you to easily connect an additional microphone, line in, and MIDI devices. Even though this device eats up a drive bay, I found this very very useful. (i'll explain more later.)
The card also gives great sound performance. My MP3 collection and WAV files never sounded so crisp and clear. This card actually made me glad that I wired my stereo speakers up to my computer.
Game performance was also slick. The games that support Creative Lab's EAX can have some really cool sound effects. GT Interactive's "Driver" has EAX support, and the tire squeals and sirens sound awesome on a full blown stereo system. "Quake III: Arena" also has some awesome effects now that I've installed the card.
I was also pleased with the sound editing abilities of the card. I tested it by taking a analog tape (J. Smooth's "Enter the 37th Chamber: Jungle Style '97), cleaning out the tape hiss, and turning it into an MP3. This task was made VERY easy with the Line In 2 port on the Live! Drive. I didn't have to play in the back of the PC... All I had to do was hook it into the drive, toggle the volume settings and record. It was that simple. I used Adaptec's "CD Spin Doctor" to take the hiss out of the files I made and "Sound Forge 4.5" to tweak the volume settings. Once I was finished I had a version of that tape that was better than what I bought.
And if that wasn't enough, it comes with a great package of games too. It comes with full versions of Thief: The Dark Project, Need For Speed: High Stakes, and Decent 3. That's at least $100 worth of gaming software alone.
If you're a musician, play with music files, or do do any sound editing, this soundcard is DEFINATLY for you. It does games well... but if that's all you want it for you may want to consider purchasing one of Creative's other soundcards due to a major price difference. But it's still the best soundcard on the market and I highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
dok_nefarious
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Location: Kent, Ohio
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 7 members
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