SOLVED Anyone see a difference between the Sound Blaster 64 and LIVE!

[Me]

Currently i have a Soundblaster 64 AWE value in my computer. I bought this card about 3 years ago and it runs off the ISA slot. If i were to go buy a Soundblaster LIVE 5.1 with eax would i see a big difference in sound? Right now i have 2 big floor speakers with 10inch subs hooked up to my sony receiver and amp which is a older model. It dosnt say anything about dolby on my amp. Right now the soundcard i have works great and i think the sound is good in games. Maybe its just my speakers i dont know but i need some oppinions before i run out and buy the live 5.1 soundcard. It would probbly sound even better if i have 2 more speakers beside my computer monitor aaas the other 2 floor speakers are to the left and right of me. I just wanted to tell everyone that reads this that Comp Usa in my area has the Soundblaster 5.1 MP3 or X-gamer on sale for 69.99 instead of $99. I think this is a great deal and a good time to upgrade as the card with "No line Drive bay" dont have a clue what the is; costs $59with shipping on the internet.
Any info is appreciated about the soundblaster LIVE 5.1

 

[jeff_harrison_344]

Well since the 64AWE is an ISA, you may notice some FPS increase in games if you go to a PCI card. As for the quality, yes there will be a difference in the actual sound, but not as much as some may think. Its mainly the features that com with the card, like 4 speaker support, ect. ect. And also you will need a good pair of speakers to see a nice improvement also.

 

[toomnymods]

Sound from the soundblaster live 5.1 is nuthing short of phenominal if you ask me.. but then again I have a 3,000 dollar stereo surround system, Bose speakers all the way.. with a sony reciever and preamp, along with about 600 bucks worth of fiber optic cables from Monster Cable.. I went all out on the Surround sound, this Soundsystem is also connected to my dvd player, my minidisc player.. Games seem way more intense than ever before with the 5.1 I used to own the soundblaster live value.. and using the line out to my reciever I'd get this annoying ground loop hum, so I went out and bought the 5.1 platinum soon as it came out cause I knew it'd work with the rest of my fiber optic cables I currently have routed for my sound system.. Dont hold back on the card, remember the sound can only be as good as the source it's coming from..
Hope this helps ya some..

 

[Macel]

SBlive has support for surround sound, 4 speakers, etc. It also supports EAX which quite a few games are using, makes games sound a bit more "realistic"..I would suggest not going for the platinum though, I don't see the reason for spending so much extra money for minimal improvement over what you get with the sblive value. I picked up a sblive value for 50 bucks, and some altec lansing acs33 speakers w/sub (10 watt speakers and 15 watt sub) for another 30 bucks..With that setup the sound really couldn't get much better unless you like it really really loud...
-Macel

 

[Frost Byte]

I have a SBLive Value and a 5.1....the 5.1 made cracking sounds with the speaker i have now so i put my old Value in...They are both wonderful cards and i wouldn't trade them from nuttin

 

[toomnymods]

Soundblaster 5.1 made crackling ??? What type of connection are you using?? Mine works flawlessly, might wanna try to get better wiring, most speakers come with the worst grade of wiring. if possible swap out the wiring for higher quality wiring for instance get some monster cable products if it's possible.. They in my opinion are the leaders when it comes to speaker interconnects (I'm a huge car audio nut) Same rules apply to Home Stereo equipment though, also make sure you also have a good ground for your computer, not having a good ground can cause many problems with sound cards as well
Hope this helps

 

[Sohryu Asuka Langley]

SBLive Value sounds retarted compared to my AWE64 IMO. Im thinking of getting a Videologic DTS card and Speakers.

 

[Me]

I had the AWE 64 ISA which i bought 3 years ago and i just bought the live 5.1 and it is alot better. I dont know where you are coming from