A terrific upgrade. (Creative Soundblaster Live Value)

Member Name: slackjack

Product:	Creative Soundblaster Live Value
Date:	05/07/00 (307 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low price, high quality, easy install.

Disadvantages: None

For quite a while now, I've been using a Creative SoundBlaster 16, which I thought was OK, after all, most soundcards seem to do pretty much the same thing. Then, along came Napster and along with it hundreds of MP3s which I wanted to listen to. Having a decent hi-fi in the same room as my computer meant that there was no way I wanted to listen to music through my tiny 8 year old PC speakers, so I got hold of some cable and connected the soundcard to my amp. The music sounded OK-ish, but what I wasn't so happy with was the terrible hiss that the soundcard attempted to drown all my sounds out with.

Creative having recently released a bargain version of their SB Live card, I decided to get hold of one. It's a PCI card with all the usual minijack inputs and outputs, with the added extra of a connector for an extra set of speakers, and a digital output. Installation went very smoothly indeed. No IRQ problems, even with the number of cards I have in my machine, and the software installed flawlessly.

The output from the card is simply superb - I really didn't expect to hear such an improvement in a card from the same company as my old SB16. Even through my PC speakers, the stereo is rich, with fantastic separation, and a real feeling of depth to the sound. When connected to the hi-fi it sounds fantastic. Crisp with deep bass - a great improvement when watching DVDs from the PC, and wonderful for MP3s. The hiss evident on the SB16 has completely vanished, and playing an MP3 from my PC even through an old think headphone extension cable sounds nicer than it does through my CD player and high quality interconnect cable.

A superb card - you might not think you need one, but the improvement over your old card is sure to impress.

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