It's Live!
Written: Mar 11 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound and a lot of software comes with it.
Cons: Need a 5.1 decoder card for true 5.1 sounds and the price.
The Bottom Line: Creative Labs Has some of the "BEST" sound cards for the computer and this is their "BEST".
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
This is the ultimate in great sound for the home PC computer. Not only do you get a great sound, you also get a lot of software to keep you busy for a long time.
This card can be set up for two speakers, four speakers and with the optional 5.1 decoder card it can be set up for 5 speakers and one subwoofer.
With this card you can produce your own Mp3 files with the software included.
Some of the Features
There are plenty of connections for what ever you need, PCM S/PDIF In and out, Optical SPDIF In and Out, Midi in and out, Line In, Microphone In, Headphone Out and Stereo Auxiliary In.
A full 32-bit, 48KHz, EMU10K1 Digital Audio Processor to give you 64 hardware accelerated channels or 1024 voices with 4 Speaker Support, Live! Drive, EAX, Full Duplex built-in.
Live! Drive
The Live! Drive comes with the sound card. You will need a 5¼" bay on the front of your computer case. This will give you easy access in the front of your computer for volume controls, headphone jacks, analogue and digital device connections, microphone line in sockets and MIDI in & out connections.
This makes hookups for things like a musical instrument and the microphone easy to plug in and remove easily.
System Requirements
They recommend a Pentium 133MHz or faster processor, I would recommend at least a Pentium II 400MHz or greater.
They recommend 16MB of system RAM and 32MB is strongly recommended. I would also recommend here with at least 64MB of RAM. (If you use the speech recognition the extra memory will be needed.)
Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 is recommended, I also know it will run with Windows 2000 and ME.
A CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive for the software installation.
A PCI slot
They recommend headphones or amplified speakers, I recommend a 5.1 speaker system to get the full use out of this card. I also recommend the 5.1 decoder card, it comes with their DVD player or you can purchase one separately.
With the DVD player, the decoder card and the 5.1 speaker system, you can watch DVD movies and get the "True" Dolby digital sound like a home theater system.
Installation
Installation is not very hard, first of all take off your old sound card drivers if you can. Then open up you computer and with a Philips screwdriver, you only have to remove one screw and take out your old sound card. If your old sound card was in a PCI slot then just place it in that slot, if not you will need an empty PCI slot to place it in.
When starting up your computer, Windows will recognize the new sound card and then you will need to install the software for it provided. That is the basics for installation.
The manual is very descriptive and will help you on all the speaker hookups that you may want to use.
The Software
Here is a listing of some of the software included to give you an idea of what they offer. There is a lot more than I have listed, all the software included would cost you several hundred dollars if purchased separately. Most of the software is the full retail version.
Creative PlayCenter brings up your player for all your media files from Mp3 to .wav Files. You can also set your volume and your speaker setups.
Creative Recorder is for making your own recordings.
Creative Surround Mixer is for setting up the sounds the way you want them.
Creative Launcher is a task bar that makes it easy to use your applications.
Games
Thief: The Dark Project is a nice game in where you are a thief.
Descent 3 is a sci-fi game with 3D action, it utilizes the sound card to its fullest.
Need For Speed 4 is a racing game where you pick the courses and the cars you wish to race.
Music Software
Creative Digital Audio Center, with this program you can create your own Mp3 files and more. This is an MP3 Ripper and Encoder.
Cakewalk Express Gold 8.0 this will let you do it all from a 4-track digital audio sequencer, you can play, record and edit.
Mixman Technologies Mixman Studio is another program for creating your own music.
Sonic Foundry Sound Forge XP 4.0 is a .wav file-editing program. (You can do some nice sound effects with this one.)
Overall
Creative Labs has done it again, this card sounds Great!!! The only gripe I have is having to buy the 5.1 decoder card to get the True Dolby 5.1 sound, it should be built in. Also they should consider DTS and Dolby 5.1 built in the next generation of sound cards.
Prices have dropped and still very from place to place so shop around. I have found it for as low as $164 and over $200.
This sound card is for the serious gamer and music lover.
I highly recommend the Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 168
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surferdude7
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