Sound Blaster Platinum 5.1 oem for $75

[slimfast]

Sound Blaster Platinum 5.1 oem for $75 at newegg.

notice the value one is $50 and retail version of Platinum 5.1 is $170.
who will try this one out?

Here is the Link

 

[yodayoda]

no line drive, that's why.... that alone costs you $50.

 

[slimfast]

oops, yeah...
and on pricewatch the live value OEM is $36, looks more like a deal.

 

[urameatball]

uh, there's no such thing as platinum 5.1 OEM!

there's only the OEM live! 5.1 which is barebone card and driver!

 

[slimfast]

it is the platinum 5.1, you can call the CSR, i verified that.

 

[Syran]

heh... That's a marketing ploy... All the 5.1 cards are the same, the difference between the cards is the software bundles that come with them, and the inclusion of the live drive with the platinum. All that card is a base live 5.1, doesn't have the software of the x-gamer, mp3+, or platinum 5.1's, just the drivers for it.

I should mention this is one of those places that likes to charge static fees for shipping per item. IE: mb ($10 shipped), memory ($8 shipping), and sb live platinum ($9 shipping) = $27 shipping, instead of boxing it and actually paying the $12-14 shipping it should be.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Not hot.
You can buy a retail x-gamer 5.1 or mp3+ 5.1 for around this price.
Does Creative honor warranty on oem card? I don't think so.

Even newegg describes it as
"Creative Lab sound blaster Live! 5.1 PCI Sound Card OEM Version, Card Only, No Live Drive Bay"
no "Platinum" mentioned as they know it's not Platinum.

 

[RiceDiGiZ]

lol

 

[CarpeDeo]

All the 5.1's are ALMOST the same. I thought they were too, but it's been found that you can't use the live drive IR w/ the x-gamer or mp3+. They're probably the same in everything else, but they're not identical 'cuz of the live drive compatability.

 

[dupe]

What's a Live Platinum without the Live Drive?

 

[Phunktion]

You can use the live drive IR with an XGamer 5.1 and MP3+ 5.1 versions they are compatible with it.. but the original versions without 5.1 are not..

 

[bigpow]

Guys,

What's the *real* (hardware?) difference between SBLive & SBLive 5.1 ??

If it's only the drivers (which connect to the BIOS), then can we 'switch' it so that we can all have 5.1 ?

thanks.

 

[Slaimus]

The 5.1 has a built in AC3/Dolby Digital decoder

 

[Kingofcomputer]

5.1 has NO built-in DD 5.1 decoder, it's just DD 5.1 ready, you need to use the dvd software decoder with built-in software DD 5.1 decoder to get DD 5.1 for playing DVD, or you use a recevier or powered speakers set with built-in DD 5.1 decoder.

The main hardware difference between 5.1 and older one is just 5.1 has one more analog output jack for the 5th and 6th output so that you can use receiver or speakers set that doesn't have built-in DD 5.1 decoder. It still uses the 3 yrs old main processor.

If you want to spend around $80, you could also consider Turtle Beach or Philips 5.1 instead of Live 5.1.

 

[random]

If you want to spend around $80, you could also consider Turtle
Beach or Philips 5.1 instead of Live 5.1.

How good is the linux support on these other cards?

 

[J6007]

Does anyone know where I can buy the live!drive IR I have the x-gamer 5.1 but I want the live!drive so I can get the remote. I tried creative directly, but they dont have the upgrade kits for sale yet.

 

[moolman]

Hi,
I have both the regular and 5.1 sound blaster and reading the creative newsgroup, this is what I picked up. There is a hardware difference between the 5.1 and regular live. The difference is that the digital out on the regular live is now an analog out for the center and subwoofer in the 5.1. I have the midiland 7100 and I use that output for the sub and center. You can't do that with regular live. Also you can decode dolby 5.1 in SOFTWARE with the live 5.1 but you can't with the live. The things is, its pointless to decode 5.1 dolby with the regular Live, how are you going to get the 5.1 out of the card, there's only 2 outputs for the front and rear speakers, no center or sub. And getting it out of the digital out is pointless too cause the only 5.1 speakers that use the digital out is the Cambridge DTT2500 and DTT3500 which both come with a hardware decoder so the software decoding would be worst. So in the freak chance that you can just upgrade the regular live to a 5.1 in software, how can you get the center and subchannel to come out. This is just my thoughts on the subject.

Alex

 

[KevinH]

Yeah I second the motion on the TB card and the Phillips AE. Both better cards than the live (which is using the same technology for the last several years).

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Hoontech makes spdif in/out daughter card for regular Live Value.

Midiland and more manufactuers make 5.1 speakers set with spdif in, Creative's is not the only choice.