Sound Blaster PCI 128, great sound card for under $50
Written: Mar 04 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, Nice clarity, Works in Real DOS Mode, Good Software
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This card is a great buy. It's inexpensive, great sound and easy to use.
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| bricks's Full Review: Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI |
When I upgraded my computer with a new motherboard and processor I discovered after I put it in that my Soundblaster AWE 64 ISA card would not fit because it only supported PCI cards. So I had to quickly find an acceptable sound card at an inexpensive price.
I went onto a bargain basement PC Hardware site and picked up the Sound Blaster PCI 128 for about $30 + shipping and handling. Installation was a piece of cake. I just opened up the computer, put the card in.. booted it up and Windows 98 recognized the card right away.
As soon as I started up Winamp and began playing songs, I noticed the vast clarity difference between the two cards. There was virtually no noise created by the sound card compared to the AWE 64. The card also picks up lower frequencies much better. I also discovered when a waveset is using to enhance your MIDI listening, the card puts that in your System's RAM instead of onboard RAM which benefits most users with a large amount of RAM.
The software which was included came with a Creative Mixer which is basically a graphical volume control for all of the multimedia controls such as Wave, MIDI, Microphone, etc. A Creative Disc Detector, which is a program where you can control if and what programs the computer will load when a specific type of CD is inserted (example: When an Audio CD is inserted you can tell the program to open Winamp). The card almost came with a wave editor, a Creative player which will play almost any multimedia file and a Minidisc Center program.
All and all, in my opinion if you don't want to spend $100+ on a sound card, this is the card to get. The PCI 128 is the ideal solution for the all-around computer user.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 40.00
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Epinions.com ID:
bricks
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Member: Jason
Location: Elkton. MD
Reviews written: 72
Trusted by: 10 members
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