Applications
The Platinum comes with many 3rd party applications, which increases the value of the product. Most of these software are scaled down from the retail versions, and many can be upgraded to the full retail version which provides more features.
Sound Forge XP 4.0
Sound Forge XP is based on Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge wave editing software that is used by many multimedia & sound professionals. You can add effects and do all sorts of modifications to the recorded sound. A new version is already available in retail.
[SoundForge XP 4.5 Web Site]
ViaVoice SE
 ViaVoice is based on IBM's voice recognition technology. It is able to recognize continuous speech so you can speak naturally into the PC, instead of having to enunciate word-by-word like a robot.
This version was released back in 1997, and that is a long long time ago. The technology is old, and requires tons of training before it is accurate. It would take most people at least 30 minutes of training. However, newer versions are said to require only about 15 minutes of training, which is a marked improvement. Its a pity that the older version was bundled.
[IBM ViaVoice Web Site]
Cakewalk Express Gold 8.0
This is a MIDI sequencer for composing music which is widely used by PC desktop musicians. It supports up to 256 tracks, and also allows the inclusion of wave audio and effects in the mix. SoundFonts can be easily added to the instrument library.
[Cakewalk Express 8.0 Web Site]
Mixman Studio
This is a fun program allowing you to mix sounds together to create your own original composition. It comes with a library of sounds and you can add your own recorded sounds as well.
[Mixman Studio Web Site | Picture from Creative]
Prody Parrot 2.0
Creative has always included a parrot software in their products. From the very first Sound Blaster product, they had the Talking Parrot. Now another company has developed the Prody Parrot software which listens to your voice commands and assists in everyday PC tasks like web surfing.
[Prody Parrot Web Site]
SoftKaraoke
A simple karaoke application that allows you to sing along with music. But does anybody out there really do that?
[SoftKaraoke Web Site]
Cubasis VST
Cubasis VST is based on the Cubase VST software used by professional musicians. Similar to Cakewalk Express available in the non-European bundle, it allows MIDI sequencing, addition of wave audio tracks, and an effects plug-in architecture.
[16 February 2000] Peter Delve tells us the following:
Warning people who are thinking of buying a SB Live Platinum, one item of
software that comes bundled with in it Europe is Cubasis VST.
This is NOT the FULL Cubasis VST version
It lacks support for VST Instrument Plugins.
It does not allow you to import .TRk (Mixman) or .Rex (recycle) files.
Plus there are other features that are missing. This is not stated anywhere on Creative site or on the box of the Live.
Although the installation of the Cubasis VST (Lite) version informs the
user during installation that it has been specifically designed for the SB
Live (output and inputs fixed @48Khz) to enable low latency.
However When using the full version Cubase VST 3.7 or Cubasis VST you can
set the inputs/outputs to 48Khz yourself and receive the same latency fi
gures.
I have now purchased the full retail version of Cubasis VST @ ?99.00 to
obtain the features missing from the version that was supplied with the SB
Live Platinum.
[Cubasis VST Web Site]
WaveLab Lite
WaveLab is a unique audio processor that does not need you to pre-modfy and save the sound before being able to play it back. It is able to modify the audio in real-time and includes CD burning features.
[Wavelab 2 | WaveLab 3]
Recycle Lite
Recycle allows musicians to process and edit drum loops and grooves and even sync them with the tempo of a MIDI sequence.
[Recycle Web Site]
WinDVD
WinDVD is a software DVD player that does not require any MPEG-2 hardware to work. The software decoder works very well and the quality is excellent.
The plus point of this software is that it is able to downmix Dolby Digital 5.1 sound to 4-channels and output it to the SBLive!, so you will only be missing the center channel. If you wish to connect to a Dolby Digital amp, the software can also output the 5.1 signal thru the S/PDIF output on the Live!Drive or digital I/O card.
[WinDVD Web Site]
The software bundled with the Platinum varies between the European and non-European versions.
Sound Forge XP and CakeWalk Express Gold are not included in the European version of the Platinum.
Cubasis VST, Wavelab Lite, Recycle Lite and WinDVD are not included in the non-European version of the Platinum.
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