Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 any good?

[Guest]

is Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 any good?

 

[ycs46241]

i have the sblive5.1 xgammer its great but here's a review for you to read
<font color=red> Top Scoring Sound Cards
1)Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX
Score:9.0
2) Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer
Score:9.0
3)Acoustic Edge
Score:8.6
4)Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1
Score:8.4
5) Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II
Score:8.4
6)Hercules Game Theater XP
Score:7.3 <font color=red>

at gamespot<A HREF="http://gamespot.com/gshw/filters/0,12822,6018751,00.html" target="_new">http://gamespot.com/gshw/filters/0,12822,6018751,00.html</A>

 

[AMD_Man]

It's ok but I'd get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz because it's less buggy.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[PCHardstuff]

Its good, but if you can, spend a few $ extra and get the audigy. Its better.

 

[FatBurger]

ycs, don't even think about pulling that review out again. In there, they clearly state the GTXP has more features than the Audigy, but in the "Features" category, they give it a lower score than the Audigy?

Read some reviews from people who know what they're doing, you'll see Creative Labs' cards getting slammed.

<font color=orange>Quarter</font color=orange> <font color=blue>Pounder</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Inside</font color=orange>

 

[Crashman]

It sucks. I owned both a Live Platinum 5.1 and an old Aureal Vortex2 SQ2500. Guess which one I sold?

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

ok you sold the Aureal. hahhahah

 

[Crashman]

Your just wishing I was that foolish so you could replace me.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[blah]

<font color=green>FatBuger</font color=green> is right! hehe

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

 

[silverpig]

If it's your only option, then it's fine. I have one and it's not a BAD card at all. There are some better options right now though, and I think I'm going to go with a non-Creative labs card next time.

Lyrics. Wasted time between solos.

 

[nichomach]

I have one, and am looking to replace it. It's a good enough card, but it HATES anything with a Via 686B southbridge (so any mobo based upon an AMD761 set for a start); I've had to disable ACPI on my machine to get it to work in Windows 2000, and uninstall just about all the software, aside from the drivers, that Creative provided. As an aside, Creative now want you to pay to have updates shipped to you on CD, as opposed to making them available as downloads. Frankly, I think there's better cards out there; I'm looking at the Philips Acoustic Edge as a possible replacement, and I've also heard good things about the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz/Videologic SonicFury.
The card itself may be OK (outside the Via Southbridge issues), but the support and drivers/software really do need work. As always, this is only my opinion, and YMMV.

Nick

 

[silverpig]

Actually, you do bring up a good point. I just installed XP and went to the creative site for drivers and an updated version of their software, and could only find a driver update. Then I noticed that they don't want to give out the software via download anymore. I believe the software is free, but you have to pay shipping for the CD.

Their support used to be good, but it's been lacking as of late. Another reason why I'm probably going to switch next time.

I have to give credit though; I've never had a problem with my creative card. It even gets detected and set up perfectly under linux.

Lyrics. Wasted time between solos.

 

[novice]

how about the Acoustic Edge? do they already have the update driver for WinXP? i heard that this is a great card...

I try to smile everyday but I can't...

 

[arsend]

No, If you plan on using XP, The Philips Accoustic line of cards do not have any drivers, nor are they supported for Windows XP. If you already have the OS, get a Creative card, as they are one of the few companies that have XP drivers working for them (I do believe that the Santa Cruz has somm but have not heard of it's preformance yet) If you do not have XP, I would stick with Windows 98 SE or ME for now, until everyone can get working drivers for XP.

If it works for you then don't fix it.

 

[silverpig]

Heh, I'd say stick with win98SE, but if you have ME, then definitely upgrade to XP if you can. Face it, having half your stuff working all the time is better than all your stuff working half the time, if you know that support will eventually come for the things that currently never work. With winME you're just screwed. :lol:

Lyrics. Wasted time between solos.

 

[Novakain]

I've got a SB Live Audigy, and I'm quite happy with it. Mind you, I've been an SB fanatic since the days of the AWE32, so I'm probably biased. The quality of mine sounds really good. I'll admit that some of the EAX effects used in some games don't sound too good with the older card, but I've found that the Audigy seems to process these better than the older one used to. I've never really had any troubles with installing the card (although I've only installed it in 3 machines - and they're all wintel boxes). I'd like to hear some of the reasons why these other guys hate the SB cards. They've probably got good reason to, but there's none that I've seen yet.

 

[AMD_Man]

do believe that the Santa Cruz has somm but have not heard of it's preformance yet

I've been running my Santa Cruz under Windows XP for a couple of weeks now without any problems.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[FatBurger]

Remember he's talking about the Live, not the Audigy. Completely different animal.

<font color=orange>Quarter</font color=orange> <font color=blue>Pounder</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Inside</font color=orange>

 

[AMD_Man]

SB Live Audigy

huh? So is it a Live or is it an Audigy?

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Novakain]

Sorry, Audigy. To be honest, I have owned both. The Sound Blaster Live Platinum and the Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX. I've never had any problems with either, but like I said in the previous post, the EAX stuff in the older one doesn't sound so good. Found it was better to keep it switched off in some games. The Live card is the one I've installed in 3 machines.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by NovaKain on 11/26/01 11:27 PM.</EM></FONT></P>