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SBLive!?, or not

S

Schmekelhoff

Member
I'm looking for an audio card and wanted to know if I should go with the SB Live! Value or the XGamer? I want a decent card that will provide good, all-around sound. I am also looking to play DivX movies on my TV through the TV-out on my vid card. Would Divx movies benefit from a 5.1 card? Would 5.1 supplement my gaming? Are there any other audio cards that you guys recommend for under $100?

Thanks!
 
Being a former SB Live! owner I suggest a Santa Cruz as well.It's a better card than the SB Live! series IMHO.
 
After hearing how an SB Live plays movies...it sucks...but i'm after frame rates so...oh well. i have a SQ2500 waiting in the wings...since Windows XP supports it.
 
If you plan on using win2000 anytime in the future do NOT by a sound blaster live. I have one and have major problems with win2000. I've heard countless stories of others who have as well. I suggest that you get the santa cruz or the hurcules GTXP if you want an external rack sort of like the sound blaster live platinum.
 
Yeah ever since i got the SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1, i've never had so much trouble with a sound card. occasionaly i'll turn on my machine and only 2 of the 4 speakers work, so i have to reinstall the drivers 😛
 
Yeah ever since i got the SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1, i've never had so much trouble with a sound card. occasionaly i'll turn on my machine and only 2 of the 4 speakers work, so i have to reinstall the drivers 😛
 
Any of these other cards support EAX or does it not matter? I'm thinking that games use either EAX or A3D for 4 speaker support. Is Direct Sound different? I'm confused.

Anyways, I have a SBLive that likes to cause sound lockups and loops in W2K. Which card would be best for mp3s, games, & movies in that order?

Oh yeah, I currently have the Klipsch 4.1s but am inching towards getting the new 5.1s so I would prefer a sound card that supports a 5.1 setup.
 
SB Live Value on a P2B-F and hooked up to my pioneer surround receiver... it keeps the neighbours awake anyway 🙂
 
Any card you can get that is NOT a SB Live! will be just fine.

I have had a SB AWE64 Gold, an original SB Live!, a Live! 5.1 MP3 , a Turtle Beach Daytona PCI and the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. The only cards that weren't a POS were the Turtle Beach cards. They always work wonderfully.

I wouldn't use another Creative Labs product if I got it for free. It just wouldn't be worth the trouble. I would NEVER recommend them to anyone, unless I wanted them to get screwed! 🙂

Get the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz... you won't ever regret it.
 
I've been using an SB Live! Platinum ever since it first came out, and I've had absolutely no trouble with it. It sounds like the people who are complaining about the Live! cards are having trouble with the 5.1 versions, which have built-in Dolby 5.1 decoding. This is not necessary unless you're watching DVDs and using 5.1 speakers that don't already have Dolby decoding, which is a rare scenario.

As for the differences between the Value and the X-Gamer, the only difference lies in the software bundle. There does happen to be a SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1, but again, unless you have a 5.1 set of speakers that doesn't already have built-in Dolby 5.1 decoding, you'll want the regular version of the card, not the 5.1 version. The Value is usually cheaper than the X-Gamer, and the only difference is that the X-Gamer comes with some games. The Value doesn't have much of a software bundle to speak of. Physically, they're the exact same card.
 
I've been using Creative Labs sound cards since their original Sound Blaster. Come to think of it, they have probably seen close to a grand of my money for their crap. I've been disappointed with a couple of their cards, but since upgrading to Win2k, I won't buy another one. They've had their day in the sun, perched nicely at the number one spot for sound cards long enough...

There are a number of companies that are actively working to evolve the sound quality on the pc, and Creative Labs isn't one of them.

I'm looking forward to the built-in sound capabilities on the nForce boards. As long as it's stable and reliable, that will be my next chipset.

Can't recommend a card to get aside from recommending you don't go with a Creative Labs card.
 
I would go for the SBLive!, if you know how to setup a computer "properly" that is, if not then I would go with something like the Santa Cruz.

I have owned 4 SBLive cards, and never did any of them pose a problem in Linux, Windows9X/me, and Win2K. Flawless cards at least for me.

I have 4 computer tech friends that use the SBive! no problems for them either.

Sometimes I wonder if people double and tripple + post in here as in more than 1 screenname.... just to state how bad a product is because they were unable to get it working, or because they happened to get a "bad" card.


If you have a VIA chipset, more importantly 686B southbridge POS, then maybe you might want to stay away, even though I have a computer that uses 686B and the Live works wonderfully with it.


From a gamers perspective, the SBLive! is best by far. Make good CPU use.


Creative makes good cards.
 
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