Latest Updates

• New VIA 686B southbridge data corruption page
• AC3 passthrough: latest WDM drivers fixed the problem
• Crackling problems solved by the PCI latency patch
• Drivers & Live!Ware: how to compact the registry to eliminate the registry bloat
• Unreal Tournament EAX patches: read the feeedback from gamers!
• New information on how to contact Creative, especially if you want the minijack to Mini-DIN cable for your Cambridge SoundWorks speakers
• Finally our own FAQ has its humble beginnings
• Added a Control Panel Settings page. You can change the speaker & performance options to solve certain clicking & sound quality problems
  

General Information

Sound Blaster Live! Product Information
A list of Sound Blaster Live! Products released. >>

Creative Technical Support Manuals
Creative's web sites has PDF datasheets & manuals for the SBLive! and other products (like speakers & video cards).

Inside the Sound Blaster Live!
This article takes a look at the ins and outs of the SBLive! >>

ALive! Readers' FAQ
Finally, a humble beginning for our FAQ! Dolby Digital Output questions... >>

Installation

Control Panel Settings
A guide to the settings built into windows to change speaker & performance options to solve certain clicking & sound quality problems. >>

Running 2 Soundcards
How to run a SBLive! with another soundcard. >>

Drivers & Live!Ware
Loud volumes, curing the registry bloat, SB16 emulation... >>

Creative Application Tips
AutoEA, removing Live!News, ... >>

Troubleshooting

General Troubleshooting
Check out these tips if you have any problems. >>

Windows 2000 Pro/Server Installation
Problems and tips for installing Live!Ware for Windows 2000, including SMP issues. >>

Crackling, Clicking & Popping
This is perhaps what the SBLive! does best when it is not working correctly. Share your solutions here so that others can give them a try. >>

VIA 686B Data Corruption
Some information on the notorious problem and links to a very useful FAQ at VIAHardware. >>

Hardware

Digital I/O & Mini-DIN
The yellow minijack digital output, and the Mini-DIN output. >>

AC3 Passthrough
Outputting a Dolby Digital signal to an external decoder. >>

Speaker & Positioning Tips
Some tips from our readers on how to position your speakers. >>

Audio / MP3 / MD Recording

MP3 & Recording to MiniDisc
Pointers and tips on how to rip MP3s and record them to MiniDisc. >>

Recording Tracks with Individual Effects
Moni Johnson has a cool guide on how to bypass the dreaded "What U Hear" mixer settings and process tracks with individual effects. >>

Audio Recording & Noise Reduction Tips
A tip to clean up recorded audio with Cool Edit. >>

Guitar Recording & Effects
Many tips and techniques on how to get a good acoustic guitar recording, and how to use the SBLive! as a guitar effects processor. >>

More MIDI tips & information available in the musician section!

Known Issues

Users with AMD machines with VIA MVP3 chipsets on the motherboards have often reported crackling problems.

There is a noise problem with Plextor UltraPlex 32x Drives when connected to the CD audio input of the Sound Blaster. Contact Plextor for more information.

Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q278650 - Windows Hangs During SBLive! Full Duplex Audio Test (fixed in Windows 2000 SP2)

Other Issues

Don't Disable MIDI
May 29, 2001 - Clarence

In my editorial on the data corruption problem with VIA's 686B southbridge, I wrote that this test report mentioned that Pinnacle claims the SBLive! drivers take up 30% of the PCI bus due to the MIDI driver. However, disabling the MIDI in Windows will not solve the problem as it may cause some games to have no sound, or even refuse to load.

Sound Blaster Compatibility in Windows XP
March 30, 2001 - Clarence

The SuperSite for Windows has a Windows XP Hardware & Software compatibility article which mentiones that Microsoft have managed to get Sound Blaster compatibility working in a DOS shell, so you'll be able to play old DOS games like DOOM or Duke Nukem!

Create Boot Disk for SB16 Emulation
28 September 2000 - Clarence

Lars Ahlzen from Live!center sent me news of this article:

A new article was added to Live! center today. The article describes how to create a bootdisk with SB16 emulation, very useful for games that won't run under Windows 95/98, if you're having problems with the SB16 emulation, or if you're running e.g. Windows 2000.

Heatsink on a SBLive!?
20 August 2000 - Clarence

Insane Hardware has an interesting article which describes their experiences when they popped a cheap heatsink over the EMU10K1 found on the SBLive!

Higher Output Level from Live!Ware 3 for Windows 2000
28 September 2000 - Clarence

After I've upgraded to the latest Live!Ware 3 on my Windows 2000 setup, I found out that the sound level was significantly higher. A check with Harvey Fong confirms that this is the volume level that would be used in future drivers. Now recording from the card with higher levels is possible.

Lower Output Power Since Live!Ware 2
15 May 2000 - Clarence

After trying out the Windows 2000 driver, I discovered that the card now outputs at a level that is much louder than the Windows 9x Live!Ware 3 drivers. This may be because the Windows 2000 drivers are based on older versions of Live!Ware.

In fact, here is a mail I got from Claus sometime back regarding the lower output power since Live!Ware 2:

Maybe it's a software bug or hardware, i don't know, but since i've installed the 2.1 drivers i can't give enough output to external devices, such as minidisk, cassette and amplifiers.

It seems to me that the output signal from the card is beeing compressed/limited. How did i come to this? When i have a 0Db signal and i send it via my external mixer trough the soundcard to the amplifiers, ishould have the same 0Db back.

If i add a 15dB bass-boost, the signal still comes out at 0dB or lower.

Asus P3B-F Motherboard

From the Asus tech support page:

Question: When Creative SB Live sound card is installed on P3B-F M/B, the COM port device may show up difficulty during transmission.

Answer: Please update BIOS to rev. 1003 or later to fix this problem. The BIOS can be downloaded from: http://www.asus.com.tw/products/motherboard/bios_slot1.html#p3b-f

Inside the EMU10K1
Live!Center takes an in-depth look at the EMU10K1.

Live! Experiences Review
nV News has an article highliting the different models of the SBLive! Family.

A Gamer's Guide to EAX
3DsoundSurge explains the presets and effects available for SBLive! gamers.

MP3 Support and Your Sound Card
Creative explains what level of support is available for SBLive! users.

Live! to Live! 5.1 Hardware Upgrade
Digit-Life describes a DIY solution to upgrade a Live! to a Live! 5.1.

Here are links to great articles on 3D audio. Check them out!

3D Audio: How It Works
An interesting article from Tweak3D on the ins and outs of 3D audio. >>

3D Audio Primer
A mirror of Aureal's article on 3D audio technology. >>

All you ever wanted to know about 3D audio
If you still don't know how 3D sound is done, then its time to check out this article at Full On 3D. Very simple explanations to make you a 3D audio guru in no time! >>

Behind 3D Sound
A short article about 3D sound at Hardware Avenue. Great for beginners. >>

The Future of 3D Sound
from GameCenter >>

Game Audio Technology 2000
Gamasutra's comprehensive feature on current indsutry trends in gaming audio, and the technologies that we'll be seeing in games for the new millennium. >>

Sensaura 3D Positional Audio
3DnHardware takes a look at the advancement of 3D positional audio. >>

Do You Hear What I Hear? - An Audio Primer
A well-written article from The Adrenaline Vault that takes you through some of the basics. >>

EXHardware: Setting Up A Home Studio

Sound Card and Speakers Tweak Guide
An informative guide on 3D Spotlight on how to set up your gaming audio system. >>

Sound Card Buyer's Guide
Sharky Extreme has an excellent sound card buyer's guide which covers the important APIs and sound card specifications that you should look out for. >>

Sound FAQ
Digit-Life has a FAQ explaining technical terms like "S/N Ratio" and "frequency response" that you often see in technical specifications. >>

Glossary
Creative has a very nice glossary of some sound card terminology. >>