SB live ,, worth it?

[nf4hc]

I have seen many problems associated with the SBlive ,, is the sound quality so much better that its worth the headache ,, or does the TB santa cruz sound just as good ? TIA

 

[Nagorak]

nf4hc (Jun 25, 2001 11:33 p.m.):
I have seen many problems associated with the SBlive ,, is the sound quality so much better that its worth the headache ,, or does the TB santa cruz sound just as good ? TIA

Well the joke is: pretty much every other sound card on the market sounds better, has more features and has fewer problems.

So I guess the answer is: NO

 

[supraway]

I have, never in my life, had a problem with a SB Live!. I work at a computer store, nearly every computer has one in it, and I have installed them on dozens of different types of motherboards. If you have a problem, just move PCI slots.

 

[Sith88]

For video games, EAX does make a subtle difference, especially when you get used of it. Turning EAX off in a game, you can notice it really does help create the realistic environment.

But as for the computer life changing experience that the advertisments claim, I would say the Live is neither an experience or a must. If you do go for the Live, don't get suckered into their Packages... just go for the Live Value, and I would say you got your moneys worth.

As for problems, there was a problem with Live and coppermine CPU's, but this was addressed over a year ago in driver releases. I have complaints about the whole Liveware thing. Too bulky, I perfer my drivers and software seperate. I have had some issues with Direct Sound too. The sounds would distort in my games. I wasn't able to resolve this issue by anymeans of reinstalling drivers, removing drivers, until I did a format and reinstall.

Final verdict: Nice card, but nothing special. Don't fall for Creative flashy advertising.

 

[Pinky]

I have had few issues with my Live card, though windows 2000 requires a separate software bundle (the Liveware 3.0) in order to eq, etc. I happen to like their mixer and other features, and I do music composition so these are critical features for me... one day the midi features will be great to have too, and in gaming I can see the difference... there are a lot of benefits, but probably not everyone sees them.

I agree that the Live value card would suffice, and you can always get your hands on their software if need be.

 

[flaming gerbil]

hey pinky check out the turlte beach santa cruz card. I do a lot of hard disk recording and this card is a great bang for the buck. (75.00) I also have a mark of the unicorn sound card as my primary card, but it costs more than most computers. turtle beach has a midi jack and midi sequenecing software (digital orchestrator), software mixing, 6 speaker support with 20-bit conversion. (sb is 16 bit) a mic jack with phantom power (for condensor mics). internal and external spdif. tad, cd, and aux internal jacks. a daughterboard riser for an optional synth card and another riser for future upgrade support. and there is also a headphone jack. mp3 software, a dsp chip which takes most of the processing away from the cpu. it also has 3-d sound encoding software. p.s. i do like soundblaster but right now i think turtle beach is the best dollar vs. performance value.

 

[Pinky]

flaming gerbil (Jun 26, 2001 12:54 p.m.):
hey pinky check out the turlte beach santa cruz card. I do a lot of hard disk recording and this card is a great bang for the buck. (75.00) I also have a mark of the unicorn sound card as my primary card, but it costs more than most computers. turtle beach has a midi jack and midi sequenecing software (digital orchestrator), software mixing, 6 speaker support with 20-bit conversion. (sb is 16 bit) a mic jack with phantom power (for condensor mics). internal and external spdif. tad, cd, and aux internal jacks. a daughterboard riser for an optional synth card and another riser for future upgrade support. and there is also a headphone jack. mp3 software, a dsp chip which takes most of the processing away from the cpu. it also has 3-d sound encoding software. p.s. i do like soundblaster but right now i think turtle beach is the best dollar vs. performance value.

Thanks!!!! I will look into this asap -- and so long as it is support via drivers in windows 2000, I think this is my next upgrade. Cool, i was thinking about making an upgrade soon for all the reasons you've listed above.

**Update: It is W2K compatible, I'm all there man.

 

[CSaddict]

I have had a SB live value and the Platinum 5.1 im running now and they both had no problems with any application I have run yet.