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Sound difference btw SB PCI128 vs SB Live!

ugh

Platinum Member
Hi all,

Can someone tell me the sound difference btw the aforementioned sound cards with the cheapy Altec Lansing ACS33 (hope I got this correct) speakers or any speakers for that matter?

I'm mainly using the comp for games and leisure MP3 listening.

Thanks.
 


<< The SB PCI-128 is a decent soundcard; it's performance is nearly as good as the SB live value.

here's a review


here's another good review

The PCI-128 was originally by Ensoniq, then the company was taken over by creative and their cards were adapted by creative
>>



Thanks for the links. I guess there's no need for me to move to the Live series 😀
 
if you are using a set of computer speakers or headphones, you prolly won't be able to tell much difference. i have both of these sound cards. i am running the sound through a harmon kardon receiver and paradigm speakers. i had the pci128, but got a great deal on the sb live 5.1. i can tell ALOT of difference. the best way to discribe it is, with the pci128 you could tell i was playing the music through my computer, but with the sb live, it sounds just as good as playing a cd in my dvd player that's hooked up to the reciever. but, like i said, with games, it's hard to tell much of a difference. hope this helps.
 
When I first upgraded from PCI-128 to SBLive I could hear the difference in sound quality even in gaming(4 speaker mode) anyway I now also own a SB Audigy and that is the best sounding card made by Creative Labs so far.


BTW the SBLive will have lower cpu usage then the PCI-128 card as well.
 
Better yet, get yourself a LIVE 5.1, if you can still find them at a cheap price. They rock in sound, even over a regular LIVE! value.
 


<< Better yet, get yourself a LIVE 5.1, if you can still find them at a cheap price. They rock in sound, even over a regular LIVE! value. >>



Thanks for the input everyone. What's the diff if I'm using the LIVE 5.1 and the LIVE value? I suppose the LIVE value doesn't come with dolby digital decoder?
 
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