New Products

October 15, 2001: Sound Blaster 4.1 Digital: Europe

3rd Generation Products

Check out our Coming Soon article for the latest information!

Reviews: Click here for a list of SBLive! 5.1 Reviews

2nd Generation Products

In September 1999, the 2nd generation of cards were unveiled. Most sound cards have produced and marketed with the aim of an all-encompassing product to serve all market segments, like gamers and business users.

The 2nd generation of SBLive! products highlighted a new strategy by Creative to separate the market into 3 groups - the power users, gamers and those who want to work with MP3s.

All of these products have the same CT4760 card, with the exception of the OEM version. The main differences are in the software bundle. In addition, some versions are sold in European countries, while others are only for the non-European market.

Creative also introduced the Live!Drive, which fits into a 5.25" drive bay. It has many sound card connections, like headphone outputs and digital I/O, located right in the front of the PC casing for convenience. The Live!Drive is bundled with the Platinum, but can be added to all 2nd generation cards as an optional purchase.

Sound Blaster Live! Platinum

Among the 2nd generation, the Platinum is the top-of-the-line product. Only the Platinum includes the Live!Drive or Live!Drive II (depending on your country). The software bundle includes those found in both the X-Gamer and MP3+.

[Our Platinum Review | List of Reviews | Product Page]

Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer

The X-Gamer features the same CT4760 card found in the Platinum. It includes several games and utilities ideal for gamers.

You can check out our roundup of these games in our Platinum review.

[List of Reviews | Product Page]

Sound Blaster Live! MP3+

Similar in concept to the X-Gamer, the MP3+ is the same SBLive! card, plus software for music playback, CD audio ripping, and of course, MP3 compression.

It uses a customized version of MusicMatch Jukebox that includes the capability to add Environmental Audio to music tracks.

[List of Reviews | Product Page]

Sound Blaster Live! Player

The Player is meant to replace the 1st generation Sound Blaster Live! Value.

It includes the CT4760 card, that comes with a minijack digital output, making it more affordable to connect to Cambridge SoundWorks digital speakers.

This product is also known as the Sound Blaster Live! Player 1024.

[List of Reviews | Product Page]

OEM Version (CT4830)

This card is similar to the other 2nd generation cards, except that it lacks the digital CD-audio input, and has color audio connectors. The digital output of the card is less powerful, so it may not be able to work with accessories like the Digital Output Module, while the above products using the CT4760 cards can.

As with other OEM products, there is no software bundle, and many people have purchased CT4830 cards without any driver CDs.

Update (21 March 2000): FRiC reports that he has purchased a CT4830 with digital CD-audio input, so if you need this input, physically check the card before you make a purchase.

Availability

1st Generation Products

In September 1998, the first Sound Blaster Live! was announced, and the Value edition followed soon. While earlier 3D sound cards focused on providing 3D sound with 2 speakers, the Sound Blaster Live! was first to promote 4 speaker configurations in the consumer PC audio market.

The Cambridge SoundWorks FourPointSurround speaker system was designed to complement the SBLive! products. It opened a huge market, and now, nearly every other multimedia speaker manufacturer would have a 4-speaker product in their lineup.

The 1st generation products have already been discontinued, and it may be difficult to find it in stores.

Sound Blaster Live!

The Sound Blaster Live! was the first product to incorporate the EMU10K1 DSP, and it was the top-of-the-line product at that time.

It came with a digital I/O card with S/PDIF digital input/output, MIDI input/output and a Mini-DIN digital out for connecting to Cambridge SoundWorks digital speakers.

Sound Blaster Live! Value (CT4670)

The Value is a scaled down version of the SBLive! cards for a majority of the consumer market.

It lacked the digital I/O card, gold-plated outputs were replaced with color minijack sockets, a limited expansion header, and has a more conservative software bundle.

This version is also sold in the OEM channel without any software bundle or accessories.

Accessories

Live!Drive

The Live!Drive connects to the 2nd generation SBLive! cards and fits into a 5.25" drive bay. It is included with the Platinum package, but can work with other cards as well.

You can now trade-in a Live!Drive 1 for a Live!Drive 2.

[Product Page | Review at 3DSS | Trade-In Info]

[Article@Creative: Live!Drive - Simplifying Connections]

Optical Digital I/O 2 Card

The Optical Digital I/O 2 card works with both old and new generations of SBLive! cards. It takes up a slot in the PC casing, and also comes with a optical I/O module. This module is a box that provides coaxial in/out and optical in/out. The card also has connectors for a 2nd line-in, Digital DIN (for Cambridge SoundWorks speakers) and MIDI in/out.

[Product Page | Review at 3DSS]

Digital Output Module

The Digital Output Module provides coaxial and optical in/outs. It connects to the minijack digital output behind the card, and works only with the CT4760 cards.

Update: The digital output module used to be available in Europe but it seems that Creative has stopped selling it.

Special Versions

Sound Blaster Live! for Mac

More information from AccelerateYourMac!
Report from MWSF
Owner Comments

Japanese Versions

Creative has several versions of the Sound Blaster Live! not available elsewhere in the world. Check out our Sound Blaster Live! in Japan feature for more information.

BlasterPC Version

There is a special version of the Sound Blaster Live! used in Creative's BlasterPC. Most of the input and output connections behind the card are not present, because the BlasterPC locates all the connections on the front of the PC casing.