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In this review, we'll take a look at the SBLive! Platinum and why it may be your next sound card. Find out if it deserved our 9/10 rating, and the high marks that other web sites have bestowed upon it.  Updates[19 March 2000] It appears that the evaluation Platinum that I obtained from the launch included these extra items that were not found in the retail package:
Thanks to Sue for the tipoff. [16 February 2000] Added information on the missing features of the bundled Cubasis VST.
See the contents bar on the right side for the pages available in this article.
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This thing is awesome. I've never had anything on my pc that can do the things that the SBLive Platinum 5.1 does. I write a lot of music and right now I'm in the process of starting my first cd. Everyone may see me on MTV and BET pretty soon. Thanks SB. |
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Dude, Creative Labs just rocks! They may seem distant to customers who need support or what have you, but in my experience, so what?! I've never needed their help. They create the most quality computer products I've EVER used; and I've used a lot! Mufasa |
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Well the reason i give this rave product a 10 is because of the bundled software and that it supports 4 speakers just like anyother SBLive product that I know of. the only thing i dontlike about it is its price if your a hardcore gamer get SBLive X-Gamer since the only reason why SBLive Platinum is 100 dollars more is because of the compsing software its bundled with. I intend to either buy X-gamer or platinum though if you whant a good price for exalent souround sound but not with alot of bundled sofftware get Montego II Quadzilla! i am telling you that this is only 54 dollars! the rewason is because it ads a 2nd card to your montego sound card so if you dont have a montego II sound card you will havbe to buy it so you can use the quadzilla and uprgade for the Montego II to the quadzilla is only 34 dollars. The Montego quadzilla is exactly what it says its Quad! meaning 4 it aint just anyother 4 speaker sourond if you are a hardcore gamer its your choice either ! x-gamer or quadzilla if you whant to compose stuff well that a diffrent story sice there is a Montego Home Studio which is i think 320 dollars but you will have to look up on it your self. |
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Creative will soon offer a Live Drive! II upgrade for around $50. The trick is you purchase the II directly from them for aobut $150. Once installed, send in the Drive I for a $100 rebate. I would have been better to inlcude the II. Check their website. |
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In regards to your article on the SB live platinum and the LiveDrive! vs. the LiveDriveII, I experienced the same frustration with creative over the whole issue. I wanted the LDII also, because I have a minidisc which I love and needed the optical connections. I am not sure what your experience was like, but I was relentless with creative in trying to get some dimwit to give me an answer on why the LDII was not being offered in the states. I spent days calling about 16 different people in the Creative ranks (about 15 of the 16 were complete idiots as they weren't sure what a LiveDrive was, but it's not as if Creative is at all know for their superior tech support), and even went as far as to call their european division in Ireland (and you know that wasn't cheap), to see if I couldn't make an overseas purchase, NO DICE! The best I can tell with the various information I gathered, is that the European community has taken to minidiscs and they are quite popular there. Whereas in the states and North America in general, it just has never taken off like Sony would have liked (Sony waited to long to license out and had another North American Beta fiasco). According to Creative, to add an optical converter to the live drive, such as in the LDII, it would have driven up the price to roughly $260 US dollars, and they didn't believe that they would sell near as many units at that price. They did however tell me that the LDII would be offered in the future as an upgrade, but gave me no idea as to when. On another note, to solve my dillema (an this might help you also if you haven't already done it), I went out and bought a Midiman CO2 digital Coaxial to optical converter. I belive the cost is roughly $65 US, and although it is not as convenient as having it right on the Live Drive, it is incredibly easy to hook up between your Live Drive and MD. If you haven't already, give it a try, it works very well. |
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Congratulations, Creative, with the timely release of a much needed addendum to a mostly-awsome-for-the-money sound card. This breakout drive is almost -but not quite- appropriate for the serious musician. It needs optical ports (like the Live!Drive II available in Europe) and more I/Os in general (and not so darn close together on the PCI card itself as it's harder to plug larger cables side by side.) It is safe to say that the casual musical experimentors are now in heaven with your product. Those with any amount of hardware to interface will be looking elsewhere. |
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Optical IN/out! I'd much rather have that and lose some of the bundled software. If only I lived in Europe! |
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The
Sound Blaster Live! Platinum is the latest in Creative's bestselling Sound
Blaster product line. From hardware to software, it offers the most comprehensive
sound card package in the market. The out-of-the-box experience is excellent
for novices and PC audio enthisiasts alike.