Creative sets the standard with the Sound Blaster Live Platinum
Written: Nov 06 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superb sound, good software bundle
Cons: no optical output
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| stevelarrison's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
Last year Creative Labs took a quantum leap in the quality of sounds cards. No, I am not talking about the first generation Aureal PCI soundcards that Alan reviews when he recommends against the Sound Blaster Live Platinum, I am talking about a line of soundcards based around the EMU10K1 chipset that use Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) for 3d sound, and offer superb music playing capability.
The first thing to understand about the Soundblaster product line is the naming convention, and how it relates to what you are purchasing. Origingally, there was a Soundblaster Live and a Sound Blaster Live value. The Live retailed for about 199, and the Value for about 99. The soundcards were identical. The only difference was the bundled software, and more importantly a daughter card. The Soundblaster live included a daughter card that included Midi inputs and outputs as well as digital (SP/DIF) output. This allow musicians and people serious about integrating their computer into their home theater and ideal solution.
Flash forward 1 year and the EMU10K1 is still the most powerful soundchip available. Because creative will not be ready with a succesor to the Soundblaster Live until sometime in the first half of 2000, they got into some serious repackaging to help stimulate sales for the holidays. Instead of having 2 product lines, they now have 3. The Soundblaster Live Platinum, the Soundblaster Live MP3+, and the Soundblaster Live XGamer.
All 3 cards use the same EMU10K1 based soundcard that Creative Labs introduced last year. The Platinum is the high end card with the midi input and outputs as well as digital inputs and outputs. But Creative has done some major repackaging to help move this product over older Soundblaster Lives floating around in warehouses everywhere.
The first difference between the Platinum and the Live is the format of the daughter card. Although both cards have identical inputs and outputs, the packaging is different on the Platinum. The original Soundblaster Live used a daughter card that fit in an expansion slot inside of your PC. All connections were at the back of the PC. Creative has moved this to a daughter card that is front loading and takes up 1 5 1/4 drive bay. This makes changing audio connections much more convenient, while at the same time prevents you from potentially having to block off an expansion slot on your motherboard.
The next difference is in software bundles. Normally I would recommend against letting the software bundle included with a piece of hardware sway your purchasing decision. The reason is simple. You buy a sound or video card for the card itself. Most people will have the worthwhile games well before purchasing a card, so don't look at the package. The story is different with this card. Included are more full versions of software than I have seen in any card. Here is the list:
Sonic Foundry Sound Forge XP 4.0
Viavoice
Cakewalk 8.0 Gold
Mixman Studio
Keytar
Rhythmania
Descent 3
Need for speed 4
Thief the Dark Project
Aliens vs Predator
Roolcage
Again, these are all full versions.
The sound quality of this card is truly superb. The number of inputs and outputs that it supports beats anything on the market. The only real fault is the lack of an optical output. If you already have a Soundblaster Live or Diamond MX300, it is not worth upgrading. If you are in the market for a soundcard and are either a musician, or want to integrate your PC with your hometheater, get this card.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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stevelarrison
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Member: Steve Larrison
Location: Scottsdale, Az. USA
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