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Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live 5.1 Digital Soundcard
Creative Labs (
14 August, 2003 )
Electronics |
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£
42.99 |
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This item is not in stock or has been discontinued. |
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Pretty Good.  |
Firstly, the sound card produces fairly high quality sound,
but when linked up to a really high quality 5.1 speaker set it has its drawbacks.
While it appears to put through stereo effect(you can hear things swooshing past from the left and right)the sound supplied to the rear channels is crude and weak.
Only the most blatant surround effects(like a plane roaring overhead) can be heard coming from the rear.
Most of the time it feels as if you have a stereo set when you are running a dvd.The card is now also quite an old model, so it does not support the latest surround formats.
The only surround format it outputs is Dolby Pro Logic.
Having said that, it is good value, but if you have a good surround set and want to get the best out of it, the Creative Labs Audigy 2 is the card to go for.
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Not recommended for VIA chipset users |
If your motherboard uses a VIA chipset then steer clear of Soundblaster cards and choose Hercules or Philips.
There is a major issue with SB and VIA that can cause your PC to lock up either when playing MP3 or especially in games.Yes, Creative make excellent cards, but they dont agree with VIA chipsets. Be warned you MAY have problems, do the research at tech sites and forums and equip yourself with the information before spending out on this product.
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Not good for games |
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I got this card with my computer and although it didnt crash my PC, this sound card was annoying. On almost all the games I played, something was wrong with the sound. It was either choppy, sounded like an Arcade game and more. On all the Support Forums I went to, this card was often the topic for discussion as it just didn;t seem to work well with games.
In the end it was so annoying I went out and bought myself an Audigy 2 card, which I have no problems with.
If youre a hardcore gamer looking for a sound card, look elsewhere as this one will only give you problems.
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