great sound from a trusted name
Written: May 05 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sound quality- perfect!; digital; ambiances are fun to use; easy to install
Cons: need good speakers to maximize sound which means added cost
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| drdavec1's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! MP3+ |
Creative's Soundblaster Live Mp3+ is expensive. However, it produces amazing sound sure to please everyone from audiophile to beginner. Stereo quality sound pumped out of my computer once I had this installed...In this review I will take you through a tour through its features and why I think it is unparalleled...
INSTALLATION-
The sound card fits nicely in the PCI port. I actually had never tried to install anything in my life, but this was an absolute breeze. You pop the card in, hook up one cable (clearly explained in the book) and you are good to go
SOUND QUALITY
Unmatched. SoundBlaster Live supports DIGITAL sound!! What this means is that you can buy digital speakers or even hook this up to your Dolby Digital Receiver and appreciate perfect sound. Of course, it also supports analog sound as well... I must admit that if you are going to invest the $100 or so on this sound card, by all means do yourself a favor and buy a top notch PC speaker In a later review I will review some speakers I have tried, but briefly, let me say if you don't want to spend the $$ for digital just yet, try out Cambridge PC Works...
MP3 Playback Device
Soundblaster Live comes with its own version of Music Match's jukebox. For those unfamiliar with this, the jukebox has an amazing "auto-DJ" feature. Here, you can select from a menu, what artist, album, genre, or ambiance of music you want to hear. It makes picking a playlist from a large library very easy and user friendly... You can use either WinAmp or Soundblaster Live for MP3 processing. having been a huge winamp fan, I dumped it for Soundblaster... MP3+ does a great job processing sounds, giving them life and vibrance that sometimes is lacking with other MP3 players...
Soundblaster Sound "Ambiances"
Unreal. Here is where you can set the music to their preset ambiances. THe run of the mill ones include Concert Hall, Stadium, etc. They all do a very good job of accurately representing each of these types... What Soundblaster Live does is it makes music fun! It also has ambiances such as Bathroom, Drain Pipe, Chipmunk Style etc. which somehow simulate what the music would sound like in any of these places. Not only this, but it can transform a Male Voice to a Female Voice and a Female to a Male. This works amazingly well, as I was amazed when I set Madonna's Ray of Light to a man's voice (sounded kind of like Erasure's lead vocalist)
Other Features-
MP3 plus also has a slew of music editors, where you can cut and piece music and mix your own tunes. I played around with this a little but I don't think it would serve a professional very well.. MP3 plus also comes with sample programs such as Via Voice, and a similar program with a Parrot.
Upgradability
Here is where Soundblaster live earns even more stripes. You will never have to buy another soundcard. You can upgrade drivers on Creative's site (for a fee unfortunately) which should take you far into this digital age.
Gaming
Although Sounblaster Live makes separate cards for gaming, you can use this MP3+ card for PC Games. Many game manufacturers are making games that are well suited and optimized even with the various ambiances of Soundblaster Live. This is a nice added bonus to this product and will make your games come alive!
Cost
You can get it for about $80 on the web.
VERDICT
This product is a must if you are into digital music and MP3s...If you are a casual computer user, you may be better off getting a less expensive soundcard. Also, again you need quality speakers with this card...so that is an added cost to you... However, I can attest that this card makes sound jump off your computer, making you feel as if you are in the studio with the band as they are recording. If that interests you, buy this now!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
drdavec1
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Member: dave
Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 96 members
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