Poll: Creative's next soundcard: 4th revision SBLive! or something new?

[Noriaki]

Well..

end of '98: SBLive Full and Value
end of '99: SBLive X-Gamer, MP3+, Platinum
end of '00: SBLive 5.1 series

so..what do you think Creative will have for us at the end of 2001?
Yet another revision of the SBLive with different ports, or will they actually have a new sound chip?

Edit: Personnaly I think it will be R4 of SBLive, and I'm looking at Cirrius Logic/Turtle Beach to save us from the madness.

Or maybe nVidia? Why oh why did Aureal have to die...

 

[Dark4ng3l]

the xact same card exept with one useless new feature and priced higher

 

[Stealth1024]

wow, and I actually liked SB cards.

 

[Pariah]

The new Platinum has a nice addition of a remote control, which is a good pickup if you don't already have an SB Live, otherwise it's simply card revisions. CL was supposed to have announced a new chip later this year, not sure if that is still the case, but they do have a completely new design in the works.

 

[Noriaki]

Stealth1024, the SBLive! is not a "bad" card, I quite like them to....but they just aren't releasing anything new....
I chose my SBLive! when Aureal was at the height of it's power, I think it's a great card...but it's not going to be great forever if all they do is revise forever and ever.

Pariah: I hope so...

 

[jpprod]

My guess is that Creative will not release a completely new high-end audio chip unless viable competion enters sound card business. Look it this way: Live only came to be because Aureal was taking the high-end gaming sound crown with their Vortex1. My guess is that if it wouldn't have happened, Creative would've used cheap third party chips for PCI sound cards (ESS-made, as in SB64PCI for example).

Creative is worse innovator than Intel* and 3dfx** combined. Look:

Sound Blaster = Yamaha OPL2 MIDI + DAC
SB Pro = SB with stereo DAC
SB Pro2 = SB Pro with Yamaha OPL3 MIDI
SB16 = Yamaha OPL3 + 16bit stereo DAC
SB AWE32 = SB16 + EMU8000 MIDI chip. This is where Creative's innovation mysteriouslu ceased...
SB 32 = SB AWE32 with PnP support
SB 64 = SB 32 integrated into a single chip + new drivers
SB 16 AudioPCI = unimpressive PCI sound card based on an ESS chip
SB 64 AudioPCI = unimpressive PCI sound card based on an ESS chip
SB 128 = medicore PCI sound card based on an ESS chip
SB 512 = medicore PCI sound card based on an ESS chip
SB Live = EMU10K chip, only real innovation Creative has done recently
...and countless SB Live variations, which are just the same card with slightly different connectors + software package.


* Intel innovates, but very slowly

** 3dfx, not 3Dfx. I consider them different companies. Voodoo1/SST chip by 3Dfx was superb

 

[Kulgan]

Yup this is EXACTLY what happens when competition is eliminated. Creative's only real competitor now is the motherboard makers themselves.

 

[Czar]

I think soundcards have allmost reached its peak. What we need now is better occlusion and whatnot support, and all that 3d sound. Then we need lower cpu usage. But basicly I dont think we will see another brakethrough ever in the soundcard market.

 

[nEoTeChMaN]

Don't forget Nvidia..they have the A3D Engineers.

 

[RagingGuardian]

I disagree. Aureal was heading in the right direction with A3D and anyone lucky enough to hear it would attest to that. The Santa Cruz, in my opinion, is an overall better performing card than the Live series. Do you think that it's a coincidence that Creative released 5.1 Lives or is it because that's the direction the other sound card makers are heading? Bottomline is, if another manufacturer doesn't come up with something new we'd be forced to put up with minor improvements to whatever card creative decides to feed us.

 

[Pariah]

"Do you think that it's a coincidence that Creative released 5.1 Lives or is it because that's the direction the other sound card makers are heading?"

As I recall, Cambridge, who is owned by CL, released the 1st 5.1 speaker set for PC's about 2 years ago that were compatible with SB soundcards. With that in mind, who's copying who?

 

[Soccerman]

"I think soundcards have allmost reached its peak."

absolutely not. we barely have 5.1 out. the way things are going, we won't see quality 3d audio in games for a while again, now that Aureal is dead at least for some time.

3D audio is one of the final things for audio, after that it's just compression acceleration, and things like that. well.. that's all I personally can see, I'm sure there's more.

I won't count on nVidia for releasing a soundcard for a good long while, becuase if they ever DO, Creative will be on their ass so fast, it's not even funny. that and it's most likely that nvidia would only release ONBOARD audio, in the near future, if they ever do.

we need to get ESS to make something good! they've been alive for a while, they should be able to innovate.

 

[Noriaki]

Czar, maybe..but what about A3D 2.0 and Dolby Digital Decoding in hardware?

I suppose the SBLive! 5.1 series does DD decoding..but it's software not hardware, and I personally love EAX I think it's great, but it does a very different thing than A3D, I think it would be nice to see a soundcard that supported the nifty reverb effects but also had full hardware wavetracing/occulsions/reflections.

I don't think Soundcards are as advanced as they can be.



RagingGuardian, yes I think the SBLive! 5.1 is in response to the Cirrius Logic chipsets, but as Pariah pointed out, the SBlive has had 5.1 for a while. Granted it was through it's propritary mini-DIN, not 6 analog's but it was still there...

 

[AndyHui]

jpprod: The SB PCI512 is an EMU10K1 chip based card that cannot use LiveWare, but uses the standalone SB Live drivers.

 

[Czar]

Maybe not the technology has reached its peak, but before we can advance in that technology we must first get better speakers. I bought the SB-Live value with the 4.1 chambridge speaker set, best upgrade I´v ever bought. Now I´m hearing that the Live can do much more but the speakers are stopping it.

So right now we need better speakers for less price.

 

[Noriaki]

<<
Maybe not the technology has reached its peak, but before we can advance in that technology we must first get better speakers. I bought the SB-Live value with the 4.1 chambridge speaker set, best upgrade I´v ever bought. Now I´m hearing that the Live can do much more but the speakers are stopping it.

So right now we need better speakers for less price.
>>



Ahh I see what you mean, I fully agree with that.
I think soundcards have a ways to go, but you are right speakers for the PC need some work still. There are some nice sets (specifically Video Logic's desktop theatre) but they are kind of expensive and not that terribly awesome...you just need to hook up your PC to a component stereo

 

[Sunner]

Just buy real speakers with a real amp and off you go

 

[superbaby]

What exactly IS the difference between a Live and a Live 5.1?

I have a Live! Value right now but I have a set of Midiland S4 8200's on the way. I know the speakers would work through the stereo jack but what about digital/5.1 sound? My Live! Value doesn't have any ports for those I don't think, nothing digital out at least.

It seems like if the new Live 5.1 cards just add a couple ports, would the Digital I/O 2 card be a better upgrade instead of buying the Live! Platinum? Although that LiveDrive and remote look pretty slick... Is it worth the upgrade?

 

[Noriaki]

superbaby, the Live Platinum 5.1 has analog outputs for all 6 channels, so it can do a crappy job of decoding Dolby Digital in software and output it in 6 separate analog channels.

The Live Platinum (non 5.1) doens't have the 5.1 outputs, if you want 5.1 output with it you have to use mini-DIN or SPDIF, the Plat 5.1 has a 3rd option for outputting 5.1 (oh and I don't think the non-5.1 platinum has the remote)
Wowee!!!

I also have an SBLive! Value, and want to get the Midiland S4/8200s, I just plan to get a Digital/Optical IO 2 for them. It has the connector you need. Infact is has more connectors than the LiveDrive, the LD doesn't have optical (you can upgrade to LD2, but that's another $50 over the price of the platinum).

Hey where did you get the Midiland S4/8200s and how much did they cost? I haven't found a good place to buy them yet...

 

[jpprod]

The SB PCI512 is an EMU10K1 chip based card that cannot use LiveWare, but uses the standalone SB Live drivers.

Whoa, thanks for the correction. In that case SB 512 makes a fine budged sound card then. I should do my research properly and assume less

 

[superbaby]

Cool, so the Digital I/O 2 would give me digital out? Right now I have *the original* optical I/O card that Creative released years ago but then killed production. All I use it for is to connect to MiniDisc... but does that I/O card have the necessary connectors for 5.1 system?

I bought the S4 8200's from buy.com, because I live in Canada and NO ONE up here carries them. I didn't want to order from the states because of all the taxes, shipping, duties and brokerage fees. It adds up to quite a lot!

IMO I think that Digital I/O 2 card is a ripoff. It's just more connectors, but for $70?? Come on! Creative Labs sure knows how to rip people off...

 

[Noriaki]

Oh...I said the Optical/Digital IO/2 would give you the ports you needed, I didn't say it wouldn't bend you over the bedpost while doing it.

The O/D IO2 card when used with an SBLive! Value gives you the creative mini-DIN digital out (proprietary), and SPDIF In and out in both RCA/Coax and TOSLINK/Optical formats. As I recall the S4/8200s have both RCA and Optical inputs, so you have your choice.

(If you use it with an X-Gamer, MP3+, Platinum or Live Full, you also get Midi In/Out, a 2nd analog line in, and something called SPDIF bypass which is damn near useless except in a few very specific circumstances...you don't get that with Live! Value original, but none of that will affect it working with those speakers)

The O/D IO2 card will give you full dobly digital output capabality in either SPDIF format, and they 8200s have a DD decoder, so you'll be rocking...it ain't cheap tho.

I live in Canada to :| That's my problem with the 8200s as well. Buy.com...*shudders* well if that's the only place, then it's the only place...