I LOVE THIS CARD
Written: Feb 17 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 DECODER, awesome EAX, Remote control, front panel connections, EMU10K1 upgradable sound accelerator
Cons: Won't go get the paper, not a cup holder, won't go to prom with you
The Bottom Line: This is the holy grail of PC Audio. It will do everything that you wanted it to do, and more.
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| Spoon's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
Oh man, where do I start? This sound card is the best on the market, and will be for a long time. I bought this card to take advantage of my four point surround speakers, and to get the best quality while doing so. It does that and so much more.
I bought this in conjunction with the Creative Labs OVATION 12X DVD-ROM, and the REALMagic Hollywood PLUS DVD Decoder card, and i have never made a better decision. The SBLP(Sound Blaster Live Platinum)has a variety of features to fully encompass pretty much all audio needs.
1. The build in Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder. I didn't want to waste more money buying a new set of speakers when i already had a great set of speakers. This card makes not only my games come live with DD5.1 and EAX, but it makes my DVD's sound real. Heck, my brother (a.k.a. on epinions LWBoy) was looking around when we were watching "The Lost World", and I got a little carried away with the remote, by adding all these different effects to the movie. Try watching a movie with a powerful sound track, and turning the EAX to cave, that is so great.
2. The front panel connectors. I LOVE THE PANEL! It's what enables me to get my DD5.1 sound. My DVD-Decoder didn't come with the right cables to plug into my SBLP, so I went to the "drawer of many cables" in my house, picked up an RCA cable, and pluged it into my front panel S/P DIF input and my DVD ecoder's S/P DIF output, and I got the best Surround I have ever heard.
I also love the OPTICAL connectors on the front. The Optical conectors go to anything that is totaly digital, so you may get the best sound possable.
The front RCA jacks (left(white) and right(red)) I use to record all my old tapes, or my dads' Reel-to-Reel tapes, to create a CD before they drgrade anymore.
The Midi connectors are a nice touch. I have recommended to my step-father that he buy this card so he can back up all of his music on his computer easily; instead of buying converters, and plugging his keybord into the mic connector in his existing sound card.
Then, finally, there are the headphone, and mic2/line in 2 jacks. The Headphone jack lets you plug in professional level headphones into your computer without a converter. Same story with the mic2/line in 2 jack.
What is really nice though, the remote. I controll my computer from the other side of the room. Do this, stop, shut down/restart, etc etc... It's the best feature to me.
3. The software that comes with it is worth a lot of money. DeusEx, is PCGamers "Game of the YEAR", and a massiveley hardware dependant game. But it's worth it. Unreal Tournament is a multiplayer based first person shooter that has been the only competiotion for QUAKE 3 ARENA (WHICH IS SUPERIOR). MDK2... i havn't played it yet, so I won't say anything about it. Thief 2 The Metal Age, is the follow up to Thief The Dark Age. Both of these games are not the best when it comes to visual flare, but they get the mark by creating origional atmosphere, and gameplay.
I didn't like the Creative Play Center 2.0 for a week, then i finally figured out how to rip CDs with it. Just right click and change the default skin to get it to "RIP-MODE".
4. The EMU10K1 Audio Accelerator is what makes this little thing worth while. Who would pay $200 for something that'll be obselete in 2 months? Not me, every so often, creative releses new "Live! Ware" that updates your sound card to be compatable with all future audio codecs and future upgrades of EAX.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
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Epinions.com ID:
Spoon
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Member: Matt Willis
Location: San Antonio, TX
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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