Sound Blaster Live deals?

[The Wiggen Boy]

I just got 3 of them for free from work. Talk about a great deal. well I definately need two of them for myself, and I had a friend in mind for the 3rd one, but if we get any more PC's in with SB Lives I will grab some and post them here (cost will be equal to shipping only)

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When I become King of the World, I will do away with TCP/IP and install a global network of talk pipes. There will also be jeffries tubes in which ferrets will run message envelopes.

[coleslaw]

oh oh oh, hook me up man!!! http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[gecko]

I am thinking about upgrading my sound card to Soundblaster live. Does anyone know any good deals? Also, does it really make a difference to have a better sound card for mp3's? I have pretty good speakers.

[OremuS]

Staples has it for $190.99. Buy.com has it for $155.95. Call staples and tell them to pricematch it to $155.95, then use the $40 off $100 or more coupon bringing the total to $115.95. This includes free shipping. You can also combine the free inkjet paper or vivitar camera coupons with this and get more stuff for free.

oh yeah, you can also upgrade the LiveDrive I the sound card comes with to the LiveDrive II by ordering it for 150, sending in your live drive I, and they send you back 100 dollars in two weeks. net cost for live drive is just 50 dollars

[pjh12]

Anyone know any good deals for the Soundblaster Live Value?

[mrtomac]

Computergeeks.com has the Soundblaster card for 40 something dollars and it includes the Live technology..Don't spend your money on the Soundblaster X gamer or Mp3 Live because all they have are useless programs and games that you do not need. The Soundblaster Live Platinum is an awesome set but you'll pay for it big time. However, if you just want an all around good sound card for playing games and music, go for the soundblaster live regular version/card.

[MaStAYoDA1]

You can always go to your local computer store... they always are selling the sound blaster live value edition which is just as good as the other ones except it doesn't have much software with it when you buy it (but their not that great anyways).

[coleslaw]

avlogic.com has the sound blaster live! value card for $41.75 + $7.95 shipping. www.avlogic.com/cgi-bin/catalog/20170887 (http://www.avlogic.com/cgi-bin/catalog/20170887)

i have this card in my system and am very pleased with the output.

[Grizybaer]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by OremuS:
oh yeah, you can also upgrade the LiveDrive I the sound card comes with to the LiveDrive II by ordering it for 150, sending in your live drive I, and they send you back 100 dollars in two weeks. net cost for live drive is just 50 dollars <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Whats this about getting 100 bux back?

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~Grizy
Great, so how much is shipping?

[Realrammstein]

MrTomac, is wrong. I picked up an SBLive X-gamer b/c I wanted the extras on it(not software). Very few stores sell you the newer version(SBLive value). They have the digital I/O port(that only SBLive value version 2 has). One of the few places wanted it for $65+tax...damn Cali company). It also has an extra drive port(on the side). A lot od people may not need those features(like if you will never be hooking it up to digtal stereo). I use my comp as a DVD player(connect to TV S-video port). and sound card to digtal stereo. So it seems important, to point that out. Now if you are just going to use your comp for gaming...stick with the SBLive value.

[pop-eye-]

i got my Sblive value with the digital on it from compgeeks a day or two after it was posted here it rocks...
those thinking the xgamer or mp3 are not newer cards are wrong the value has a cpu usage of approx 30% the xgamer/mp3 approx
25% it's a better design and works better
but the live value is still an incredible soundcard http://www.gotapex.com/ubb/smile.gif


"pardon me whilst i go read some more informative crap"

[i6s1]

Is the Live value 2 (W/digitals) the same card as the x-gamer and the MP3+?

[Realrammstein]

From What I understand...not quite(although similar design(the Value2 is closer to the xgamer than value 1). But the xgamer/mp3 are more like platinums without the live drive.

[Sloop]

I work for a computer company, and I do all the testing on our multimedia platforms, which includes sound cards. The Sound Blaster Live! comes in two flavors, the Retail and the Value. The three retail boxes, the Live! MP3+, the Live! X-Gamer, and the Live! Platinum, all use the exact same card. This card has the gold plated jacks and an internal CD-SPDIF connection(model no. CT4760).

The Value card is used mainly by OEMs, and normally comes as a white box option. It has the standard plastic coated jacks, and it does not have the CD-SPDIF connection (model no. CT4832). Other than those two items, the cards are identical. They both use the EMU10K1 chipset, which is the core of the EAX sound.

The MP3+ and the X-Gamer retail boxes have different software, while the Platinum contains ALL software plus the Live! drive. So, if you're not interested in software, and if you aren't doing any large amounts of MIDI composing, then go with the Value card. It's the better "Value" (pun intended).

Hope this helps.

[CarpeDiem]

Deal on SoundBlaster Live X-Gamer (http://www.techdeals.net/cgi-bin/NewsGenie.cgi?t=template.html&a=626) for $56.99 shipped.

[TI Master]

Creative has this tendency to make a zillion cards based on one chipset (As I recall, there were something like 40 versions of the SB16), and many of the SB Live cards are identical at heart, some are not, but the core chipset (and therefore drivers and functionality) is the same. The only notable exception to the rule is the SB PCI512, which is based on the EMU10K1 and theoretically hardware equivalent, but Creative's software checks to see if the card is an SB PCI512 and won't let certain features work.

As long as the card is called an SB Live you should be fine. Therefore go for whatever mix of functions and software you want.

TI Master


[This message has been edited by TI Master (edited 07-24-2000).]

[CarpeDiem]

Deal found at Techdeals (http://www.techdeals.net)

The Computer Geeks is offering the Creative Labs Soundblaster Live Sound Card for only $34+S/H! This is just the card, no manual or drivers (you can download those).

SB Live! (http://www.compgeeks.com/cgi-bin/details.asp?cat=MultiMedia&sku=205-4620C)

[This message has been edited by CarpeDiem (edited 07-25-2000).]

[gecko]

Does Soundblaster live take the burden off your cpu for playing mp3's?

[Sloop]

Good deal Carpe! However, be careful since this is an older Live! card. It does have the SPDIF internal connector for digitally recording straight from the CD drive, but it does NOT have an external digital out port. So, you are SOL if you want to connect to a set of digital speakers. Though, you still can use the analog front and rear connections which all computer speakers will handle.

And, to answer your question gecko, no, this card will not take the burden off of CPU usage for playing MP3s. Unfortunately, I don't know of any sound cards that will. The CPU still has to decode the MP3 format and send the signal to the sound card. However, the Live! card does do a better and faster job at processing the digital signal to analog, which in turn will take a lot of the burden off the CPU.

I'm planning on buying the one from Computer Geeks.