A replacement for integrated audio
Written: Jun 22 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Afforable price and good use of soundfonts
Cons: Low software bundle
The Bottom Line: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 is good for many consumer users, but people who want powerful audio may not find the Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 helpful.
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| ai_musicware's Full Review: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Sound Card |
What's a great soundcard for a budget buy? There are many choices you get, but I prefer Sound Blaster Live 5.1. Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 is the only soundcard you would need to get. It's not too expensive to buy and it's filled with important features such as Positional 3D Audio.
Installation
Installation can be real easy as it is Plug and Play supported. The first thing you have to do is to plug your soundcard into the slot. The next part is the software installalation. Be sure to use WDM and not VXD as WDM (Windows Driver Model) is the latest driver offer.
Installation can really hard with the Sound Blaster Live! 5.1. There has been know IRQ conflicts when you install this soundcard. IRQ conflicts can be very tricky to resolve for people who do not have a lot of knowledge with conputer hardware and microprocessors. If you're lucky, then this won't be a problem.
Soundfonts
When you buy a sound card from Creative, the first thing you may expect is for it to have the capability to support soundfonts. Almost all of soundcards from Creative Labs used soundfonts. What is a soundfont then? Soundfonts are files that carry instrumental samples. Take the word soundfont apart (Sound+Font). Fonts are characters that give your texts a style. Sound is any vibrations you can hear. By combining these two words together, you get soundfont, a character that gives your sounds a style.
EAX Effects
About all Creative Soundcards above the integrated level has EAX effects. EAX effects make most of songs sound more realistic. When you play a vocal piece, you can turn up the reverbration to provide ambience to the singer's voice. With Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 you can go a step further by saving presets. Therefore, you won't need to readjust your settings.
Full Channel Effects
I can't comment on this much because I don't have a full 5.1 channel system. For DVD players and MP3 listeners, you would want to try a full featured system. The Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 gives a lot of bass with from only two minature speakers on a headphone. It should produce more from a powered subwoofer.
Software Bundle
This soundcard has a small software bundle. If does not have enough softwares to support MIDI. You can always download more from the website though, but I would like some of the downloadable softwares to be included with the software bundle.
Sound Blaster in Conclusion
Creative Labs have made a moderate soundcard, but it can be as costly as $70. While it can be more worthy than the Game Theater XP, which is at $150, the Sound Blaster is only attractive to people who want a moderate soundcard.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 70
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Epinions.com ID:
ai_musicware
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Reviews written: 1
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