I almost cried out in joy
Written: Oct 16 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent fidelity
Cons: None
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| ethanT's Full Review: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card |
We've all heard crappy soundcards that hisses and crackles and pops, annoyingly. My old soundcard was one of those combo cards with modem on it too, and I actually put up with it for over a year, depending on my mini-hifi set for my listening pleasure. Later on, digital music HAD to become the fad, and my heart ached for better sounds from my PC.
Thus began a search for a decent card. My search landed me initially with Diamond's Sonic Impact, a 2 speaker sound card. It worked pretty well, but I returned it after a week because in the meantime I was lured by this new SBLive card with the feature appropriately called "Environmental Audio". My desire for better sound eventually made me take the plunge and buy the SBLive value card.
Excitedly, I plugged in the card in my PC and installation went without a hitch. My PC restarted and I was presented with a thunderous startup sound. There was no hiss, no crackle and no more pop. All but the clearest music and sounds from my PC. However, I was still stuck with 2 speakers. There was no way I could know what the sound card can actually do without a 4 speaker setup.
The software included was pretty complete, with a pretty cool looking mixer that lets you adjust all settings including bass/treble balance, L/R balance, Environmental audio effects (concert hall, theatre, arena) which all seemed to work fine. Being a non-gamer, these settings were good enough for me. I am more interested in the audio quality of the card, and whether it can bring life into the music that I normally play.
In the meantime, I kept reading about 4 speaker setups with the SBLive card, and went to hifi.com to buy the DTT2500 (which I also reviewed). Upon setting up the speakers, I finally heard the true power of the card. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I couldn't believe my ears. For the first time, my computer actually sounded better than my hifi! Sounds were impossibly realistic and lifelike! Bass was booming and the highs were crystal clear; midrange tones were accurate. Nothing but hours and hours of excellent quality audio winning over the highest quality (and much more expensive) hifi sets.
Environmental audio suddenly became really environmental. There is nothing like sitting in the middle of the speaker setup, closing your eyes and listening to a classical concert or pop song with the concert hall setting on the SBLive. You actually feel as if you are right there, fully immersed in music.
I would certainly recommend everyone to not just get the card, but also a 4 speaker set to fully realize the potential of the SBLive card!
You won't be disappointed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
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Epinions.com ID:
ethanT
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 4 members
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