if you dont have an sb live.. buy one NOW!!! its the most awesome sound card ever

[Noriaki]

Any PCI card vs integrated audio is going to be a HUGE difference.

I've never heard a Santa Cruz, but I think the AE sounds better than the SBLive! (just better quality) and I think that the AE has more interesting features.

But I'm also not overly fond of the Creative FPS 2000 speakers...If you are happy with the quality of your system then that's all that really matters.

As a sidenote, the miniDIN that you use to connect them digital is creative only. You have to have a creative sound card and creative/CSW speaekrs to use that.

I like the Philips accoustic edge better myself, and I would much prefer the BA4800 or even ACS56 to the FPS2000, but that's *my* opinion. There are hugely varying degrees of personal taste, and where we draw the line as "good" some people wouldn't notice a difference between $600 Video Logic Sirocco Crossfires and the $100 FPS2000. It just depends on the person. If you're happy with your sound setup that's great.

There are alot of snobs in the audio market (myself included)

 

[sharkeeper]

LMAO!!!

The Live! has only been out since August of 1998. What rock have you been hiding under?

This post reminded my when Lloyd Christmas [Dumb and Dumber] walked out of the bar seeing the framed newspaper headline from 1969. He was happy that we just landed on the moon!

Cheers!

 

[Techno]

You keep your SBlive+FPS2000s and i'll keep my:

Santa Cruz w/ 2 Altech lansing 2.1 speakers
Acoustic Edge w/ Boston Acoustics BA7500

Enough said!

 

[Howard]

Remedy

You forgot the SoundBlaster Live! Value II

 

[Madcowz]

you don't get any better then this:

audiophile 24/96
Delta 1010

nuff said

 

[Viperoni]

If I felt like dragging my comp to my home theatre setup, then I'd hear some nice sound.
I'm still running off my fps1000's!

 

[Leo V]

hans007 my friend, I'm sorry to say but my "analog" ProMedia2.1 + Midiman Audiophile2496 setup blows the Live! into the stone ages. Live!'s sound quality is mediocre and its noise levels unacceptable for the price (esp. Platinum). My AP2496 soundcard cost me $165 shipped, comparable to Creative, but it uses a pro-quality DAC/ADC which makes a huge difference. A crappy DAC inside "digital" consumer speakers isn't much better than one inside an "analog" consumer soundcard.

"Digital" sound is a consumer gimmick; the Live! actually degrades digital quality by force-upsampling to 48KHz via crappy hardware. Using my "analog" setup, I cannot hear the faintest hiss when holding my ears to the speakers. Of course when it comes to analog, Creative's 96dB advertised noise floor is a blatant lie, people measured it at ~70dB (the AP2496 measures an actual 96dB.) So you might get less hiss if your speakers' DAC isn't as crappy. But "Digital" helps only when you spend >$200 on an external D/A converter alone, and your other components are of the same caliber.

Always be careful around hype!

 

[Remedy]

Leo throw up a link i never even heard of that card you got i wanna check it.:Q

 

[Leo V]

Sure thing:
http://headwize.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000165.html?LastLogin=2451945.1756

Audio enthusiast review with link to product page. Enjoy! Too bad that 99% of the people don't even realize these things exist!

 

[Remedy]

WHOA!:Q That card looks to be awesome. How does it sound in games? If you can convince me with some good points then i am on my way to that card.

 

[chuckieland]

well, my sb live value serve me well
that is why i see no reason for me the change it

 

[Remedy]

With all do respect chuck, me, Leo and others who don't have suckblaaster Lives! did not want to be on the same bandwagon as everyone else. Were going based on a product that meets the demand. Such as Gaming, then you have Audiophiles, then Desktop entertainment. Here is how it is listed when i go by 3rd party companies;

Gaming-Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

Semi pro Audiostation-Audiophile 2496

Desktop Home theratre-Phillips AE

In this day and time there no reason to limit yourself to just 1 company in the computer world.

 

[AMDfreak]

I have a SB Live! now, but I'm intrigued by the Philips Acoustic Edge. I dabble around with midi a little bit, mostly listening to other's compositions. I am sure that the digital audio output for games and CD's/MP3's is awesome for this card, but I've not heard mention of midi. Who can convince me to give up my 32MB soundfont?

 

[Muadib]

Leo V,

What problem does it have with games?

 

[Stephen24]

You all suck, the SB Live is awesome. Stop your bitching. I am so sick of you dissing that card.

 

[shiznut123]

I think its cool but I dont have the speakers to go with it

 

[Philly C]

Ok one thing that I'm a bit confused about the initial post is...Why did it take someone so long to realize dedicated PCI soundcards are better than onboard audio? It's like saying "Go get a video card that supports Direct 3D NOW!!!! They're awesome!!!" ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Burn baby burn.

Oh and another thing, count me in on the "aucoustically challenged" group because I can't even the tell the difference between my MX300 and SB Live Value except for the increased reverb. Maybe I'm not just picky or something. I dunno. ???

 

[Wingznut]

Sorry to let you down LXi, but I was up at the mountains for the weekend.

No flamethrowers needed. I have no doubt that hans believes that the SBLive! is the best sound card ever.

The problem is that all he has to compare it to is onboard audio. If the only car I ever drove was a 1972 Pinto, then I purchased a 1990 Hyundai Excel, then I could say that the Excel was the most awesome car ever.

Look at it this way... of all the people who have experience with both the SBLive! and a Santa Cruz or Accoustic Edge, how many would say that the SBLive is the best? I'd be surprised to see very many at all. Those who proclaim the SBLive! is the very best, generally haven't experienced the other two cards.

hans, enjoy your SBLive!, as it's a huge improvement over onboard audio. But it's really not the most awesome sound card ever. But then again, the Excel is not the most awesome car ever.

 

[Remedy]

Wow Nutz, you still pushing a Pinto? Jesus better ask intel for raise as soon as you punch into work!

But Nutz what you just said is what i been trying to explain to ppl in person, and ppl in these forums inlcuding the one who said something about

<< You all suck, the SB Live is awesome. Stop your bitching. I am so sick of you dissing that card. >>

they are the ones who never even heard True3D sound from an aureal card so they are naive and defensive about the pro's and cons of the SB Live!.Those same ppl still belive that that EAX is true APi, NOT. I hope atleast one person looking at this thread will learn something about audio cards.

 

[Vinny N]

AMDfreak:

Unfortunately, no one here seems to care much about MIDI

I doubt the default MIDI capabilities of any of the aforementioned cards can measure up to customizable soundfonts.

If you want a soundcard that should sound cleaner than the Live but also has comparable if not better MIDI, get a Yamaha SW1000XG.

 

[Wingznut]

Stephen24, exactly how is the SBLive! better than the Santa Cruz and Acoustic Edge?

It's not a bad card, on it's own merits. It's just like Andy said... it's a &quot;minimum standard&quot;.

 

[Jgtdragon]

Hans, how is Half-life?

I got ACS 56 with Sound blaster live! Sounds pretty good, but going to build another computer system in a few months. What sound card will rock with my ACS56 speakers set?

 

[oldfart]

I might as well chime in. I had a Live and returned it. It was an Ok card and all, but God did I HATE the EAX. Everything sounded like you were in a giant tin cave. YUK. I exchanged it for an MX300 (still have it). What a difference! A3D totally blows away EAX. No comparison. If CL would dump EAX and use the A3D technology they *ahem* acquired from Aureal, they would have something.

 

[Stephen24]

I spent $150CDN on it, so it's gotta be good!!

 

[Kingofcomputer]

I bought my sb live value retail for under $45 (after tax and shipping) from buycom. If I can buy Philips AE for such price now, I'd say SB Live series sucks.