Building a new system, I had a tough time deciding which sound blaster card to buy. For me, it was a toss up between the mp3 5.1 and the platinum 5.1. The deciding factor came down to this.

the platinum offers a different software bundle; somewhat more software packages and it offers the infamous livedrive; a device which lets you have a set of audio connectors in the front of your computer. The livedrive takes up one 5 1/4 drive bay.

the mp3 is exactly the same as the platinum in terms of hardware except that it doesn't come with a livedrive. The software package is different in that it is more focused around the creation of mp3s and audio editing of mp3s.

for reference, the x-gamer is supposedly the same as the mp3 and platinum versions in terms of the soundcard itself, but it also doesn't come with a livedrive and it offers a different software package from the mp3 version (namely the X-gamer offers full versions of popular games: unreal tournament, etc.).

Anyway, it was a toss up between whether i wanted to pay an extra 60 or so dollars just for the livedrive and the remote controller offered with the platinum. The difference in price may vary depending on where you shop.
It was a very hard and excruitiatingly painful process which eventually boiled down to the fact that i didn't need the luxury of a remote nor did i absolutely NEED the connectors in the front. I decided to keep my 60 dollars and just invest in the mp3 5.1.

I haven't regretted that decision nor have i regretted the fact that i chose to buy a soundblaster live card. When soundblaster was making a name for themselves years ago, I had one of their sound cards and was very impressed. As they grew however, their soundcards became more expensive and i instead invested in a aureal vortex A3D card. Although that card was decent, i had numerous problems getting drivers to work as well as noticing big performance hits in games due to processor consumption by that sound card. When i finally decided to build a new computer this year, I made a unwavering decision to go back to a Soundblaster card.

I can honestly say that for those users that want a good, quality sound experience, there is nothing better than a soundblaster live card. Although it is true that you can spend 10 dollars for a cheapo sound card, the soundblaster live card will make you extremely happy when running various multimedia, games and applications. There is a reason why soundblaster is what they are today and that is: quality.

My qualms with the soundblaster cards are none since they have fixed former compatibility problems with operating systems and applications with new driver updates. Being a big company, you can count on soundblaster to come out with fixes and patches for incompatibilities.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 99