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

[hans007]

Ok, i got a free sample of a fps2000 through my dad's company that got a lot for free this xmas and i hooked it up to my gigabyte ga-7zm's onboard integrated COCEC audio. I thought it was awesome. But then i noticed that the bass was kinda muffled sometimes, so i bought an sblive x-gamer on the forsale forum for $50. After hooking it up to a fully digital connection, OH MY GOD! You cant believe the difference. Lows are perfect, bass is so crisp you can feel it course through you. Highs are perfect, and its just insane how good sound can sound on a computer. Everyone dont walk RUN to the nearest sblive store if you dont have one and buy it!!! Its so worth it, such a great upgrade for $50 or so (also you can get it at staples.com for $55 with coupon new)

 

[Muadib]

Heh, I hope you're wearing your flame retardent jammies.....

 

[bacillus]

hmm,hope you're getting a good commission from creative for this advert.
seriously though, nice to hear you're happy with your new hardware.

 

[LXi]

Wingznut PEZ, Insane3D, Techno, Zucchini, where are your flamethrowers?

 

[Taz4158]

Well there certainly are better sound cards. You just need a different point of reference.

 

[madthumbs]

You just need more experience with sound cards. Everything Creative makes is suck. Not saying the SBlive is bad... just that there is better sound cards out there.

 

[hans007]

whats a better sound card? i mean really? i was thinking of getting a mx400 for a while also. but it doesnt have a digital out (do any of the others have digital?) anyways, i like my sblive, i think its a good card.

 

[Shagga]

Interesting. Taz4158 - OK, I'm in the market for a new sound card. (Well, I'm not but because I can't think of anything to upgrade at the moment, the sound card seems like the next best thing). Could you perhaps name a few better sound cards with digital output that will knock spots off my MX300.

Thanks

 

[Taz4158]

Santa Cruz, Philips Acoustic Edge.....

 

[AndyHui]

I wouldn't go so far as to saying Creative sucks, but we should be thankful for them in establishing a minimum standard with the SBLive.

 

[sandorski]

Shaga: If you game a lot, keep your MX300. If it's comparable to the SQ2500 in quality(I don't know if it is), then it's about even in sound quality with anything out there. One exception is with midi and perhaps some of the advanced DVD sound capabilties on some of the newer cards.

 

[Insane3D]

Philips Acoustic Edge...

 

[hans007]

would any of these other card work with the fps2000's digital in port with the mini rca adapter? also why is the acoustic edge better (i saw it at circuit city for $80 and well $80 i was not gonna spend on untested product). Also is there any difference between a non 5.1 xgamer and a non 5.1 platinum besides the live drive?

 

[Mem]

hans007, If you are happy with it then keep it,don`t listen to other Members here,yes there maybe better sounding cards out there,but at the end of the day it`s a decent card, which you`ve paid for & as you`ve said you are happy with & like the sound etc,so keep it.Btw I use one (OEM)& will be keeping mine for quite awhile.At the end of the day it`s not what other people think ,but what you think of it which is important.

 

[hans007]

yea i know, i just want to know WHY they think the others are better. I mean i cant see them being better if they dont support the digital on my speakers. I still dont understand what exactly is better about the acoustic edge except that it supports dolby 5.1, which the new live's support. I guess i did have a compatibility problem with the live, but it was fixable by juggling my slots around (which i had to do since i only have 3 pci slots total all filed). I mean, if i can get this thing to work on a motherboard with every slot filled, i dont see why it wouldn't work on any other board. Also , i was thinking, whoa maybe these arent as good as i though which is why i wanted actualy reasons that weren't "creative labs sucks", especially since i've had nothing but integrated audio and $10 sound cards so far before this, so maybe its just like giving steak to a man who ate mc donalds hamburgers his whole life, and maybe there was a better steak out there...

 

[rigmah]

i purchased a fps2000 and sblive platinum about a year ago, and they arent as great as i expected. My friend has a set of Altec Lansing ADA 880 and they are alot better

rigmah

 

[sitka]

Something for the acoustically challenged.

Update your AC'97 drivers at Soltek if you want GO HERE then English/Downloads/Drivers

 

[airfoil]

The SB live series absolutely rocks! Nothing else comes close enough.



rigmah: Dont blame the sound card if your friend has better speakers.

 

[tjdavis1138]

I just purchased a SBLive after having an ensoniq pci for years. I really like the way it sounds, but the Philips card does intrigue me.

Anybody listened to both? Just wondering if the Philips had better sound quality or just better features for a lower price.

 

[LordSandMan]

<< would any of these other card work with the fps2000's digital in port with the mini rca adapter? also why is the acoustic edge better (i saw it at circuit city for $80 and well $80 i was not gonna spend on untested product). Also is there any difference between a non 5.1 xgamer and a non 5.1 platinum besides the live drive? >>



I'm pretty sure the cards are the same, it's just the software package that's different.

 

[GT2k]

The Acoustic Edge, has better tech support, as in Philips actually attemps to fix problems in their drivers, whereas Creative hasn't updated their drivers for over a year. And the SB Live has problems in Win2k, ie mp3's skipping, and SMP problems.
The Acoustic Edge has been getting good reviews from pretty much every hardware site. It is as good as the SB Live, it does 5.1 Decoding, It also has the discrete channel outputs.
Other good alternatives are the Santa Cruz, Game Theater XP, and Sonic Fury.

 

[Remedy]

As Far as gaming goes My vote is for the Santa Cruz i've been using since the first day it hit the shelves in august. I dunno i might get flamed for what i am about to say but truth is truth. Is it me or is the fact that Creative is FOS? How many times have they released a Soundblaster Live! with a different name and different lame software but no Chip update? Hasn't CL been using the same Chip since 1998 when it came out? Did CL buy Aureal knowing that if Aureal would of released the SuperQuad 3500(Hardware soundprocessing unit,meaning 0 assistance from the cpu freeing the cpu to do other tasks) that it would killed the Suckblaster line for the masses? Take a look at all the Suckblaster Lives!

Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1
Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1
Sound Blaster Live! MP3+ 5.1
Sound Blaster Live! DE 5.1
Sound Blaster Live! Platinum
Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer
Sound Blaster Live! MP3+
Sound Blaster Live! Player 1024
Sound Blaster Live!
Sound Blaster Live! Value

What do all these cards have in common? Same Chip dated back to 98 with no treatment for an upgrade at all. No A3D 2.0 or not even a thought of 3.0, no Sensura 3D api not even a good API in there line at all. I can go on and on about flaming this card as i did with a CL rep last summer at computer convention here in boston. But my thought still stand till they do something really CREATIVE.

 

[Nastimus]

That is soo true there all the same. Anyone who thinks a CL with some fps2000 or any other lame speakers sounds 'awesome' should really just stick with that setup.

 

[CantonMan]

I work at tech support at Creative in Stillwater, OK and I would reccomend the Philips AE card.
The SB Live! cards are ok, but it seems like ever since we bought Ensoniq, the quality has gone down and the prices have gone up, and most that work there agree with me. (We just buy the stuff because of the discount!) I won the FPS2000 and the Xmas party and promptly sold it since I have real audio gear in my rig.And you guys do realize that the differences between the Live! cards is software only, right? (X-Gamer=included games, etc.)

 

[Killbat]

Some nasty people here.

I have a classic SBLive! Value and ACS56 speakers, and I couldn't be happier.
And of course there are always better products out there, but this Live! can handle up to 96khz record and playback, and it costs a trim $30-$40.