Super Sound
Written: Dec 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: really good quality sound, inexpensive
Cons: not good for gaming
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| opinionated3's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster PCI128 |
I have been using the Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI 128 sound card for about 10 months, and for the most part I have been happy with its performance. I have always used Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound cards in all of my PC's.
I started way back in the beginning with a Sound Blaster Pro 8 bit sound card and was very happy with the performance. When it was time to upgrade, I stayed with the Creative Labs Sound Blaster line of sound cards and bought the 16 bit version.
The reason I have been so happy with Creative Labs is because all of the software I have been using is fully compatible with their sound cards, and when I have had trouble or questions Creative Labs Tech Support was always helpful.
When my old PC was no longer upgradable, I had to build a new one from scratch. When I was deciding which components to use I found I had to find a good sound card that would be able to handle the new technology. I found that Creative Labs made a new sound card based on the new PCI bus architecture. The Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI 128 is a really good sound card in my opinion, I know it is not the best for high end sound, but for my use it has been more then adequate. I guess because I don't play the sound intensive games and we haven't gotten into the MP3 craze, I haven't found anything wrong with this sound card.
Installation was fairly easy, the software driver and the other software were contained on a CD-ROM disk. Once I installed the sound card and turned the on the PC, the sound card was detected and was configured by Windows98. Next I loaded the software and the driver and the sound card was up and running.
Software that comes with the sound card includes Creative CD, Creative MIDI, Creative Mixer, Creative Wave, Soudo'LE and Wave Studio. It also includes a program called Keytar. Keytar allows you to simulate playing a guitar by using your computer keyboard.
Due to the fact that there is software included there's a set of minimum requirements that you have to have to ensure your sound card will operate correctly.
The system requirements:
Pentium 133 MHz or higher
Win95/98/NT 4.0
16 MB ram
12 MB of free drive space
A set of powered speakers or headphones
List of features:
PCI bus mastering
Yamaha XG 128 Voices Wavetable Synthesizer
Digital Effects- Dynamic 3-D positional audio
Supports 3 types of effects(Reverb,Chorus and Variation)
Digital Audio- Full duplex operation
Amplifier- built in 4w x2
External connections- MIDI & Game 15 pin connectors D-SUB connector
Microphone in, Line in, Line out/speaker out
In conclusion, I think this is a very nice sound card and I would recommend it to people who are looking for a reliable and inexpensive sound card. If you are looking for a sound card for a gaming PC, I would recommend one of the other Creative Labs sound cards.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.00
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