November 18 1998

Introduction

If you think you've seen everything about audio soundcards you better change your mind immediately because the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live Value has re-invented the term audio soundcard with its countless innovations. A couple of years ago when I first read the description of the EMU10K1 audio chipset I have been totally amazed by all the features of this audio chipset and the only question pointing in my mind at that time was " When will they launch a soundcard using this fantastic audio Chipset?". Finally, when I saw some news lately about the SoundBlaster Live using the EMU10K1 audio chipset, I knew that I had to have this soundcard and check by myself what was capable of this Chipset. So, c'mon, follow the guide and let me introduce this real marvel to you with as many details as I can. This product is another of the numerous products offered by SID Distribution Canada.

Installation

The installation of this soundcard is probably the only thing to be similar with all other soundcard. In other words, there are no specific skills or information required to install this soundcard as it is a straightforward process requiring only to insert the installation CDROM included with the card. Besides, a very detailed installation manual is including all information you can need about this soundcard.

However, as soon as the SoundBlaster Live Value is installed, there are no more possible comparison with any other existing soundcard but the full SoundBlaster Live version which is a bit more expensive and not necessarily essential for most of the peoples.

Specifications

Among the most interesting specifications we can find on the Live Value, there is its EMU10K1 audio processor with its more than 2 million transistors and 1,000 MIPS of audio processing power, its hardware-accelerated digital effects processing, its 32-bit digital processing while maintaining a 192 db of dynamic range, its patented 8-points interpolation to reduce noise/distortion to inaudible levels, its 64-voices hardware wavetable synthesizer, its Creative Multi Speaker Surround to support 4 to 8 speakers and its DynaRam technology to allow download of audio samples more robustly by allocating memory for storing and processing of audio sample without the need of any onboard memory expansion.

The below table is a comparison of the features of the SoundBlaster Live full version and the SoundBlaster Live Value version:

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Comparing:	Sound Blaster Live!	Sound Blaster Live! Value
Audio Processor	EMU10K1
Audio Input & Output	Mic in Line in Line level out (front) Line level out (rear) Capable of four output sources (Left front, left rear, right front, right rear). All on GOLD-PLATED connectors for good connection.	Mic in Line in Line level out (front) Line level out (rear) Capable of four output sources (Left front, left rear, right front, right rear). Connectors are color-coated for easy recognition.
On-board Connectors	MPU-401 MIDI/Game Port Digital CD in MPC-3 CD Audio in Telephone Ans. Device in Aux in I2S input (for Creative's MPEG 2 decoder card) Digital I/O	MPU-401 MIDI/Game Port Digital CD in MPC-3 CD Audio in Telephone Ans. Device in Aux in S/PDIF Digital I/O
Digital I/O Card Connectors	RCA S/PDIF in RCA S/PDIF out Mini MIDI DIN in Mini MIDI DIN out Digital DIN out : supports up to 8 digital speakers	Digital I/O card not included.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-weighted)	Rated Line Ouput : 96dB Full Scales Output : 100dB
Noise Floor	-120dB
Package Contents	Sound Blaster Live! PCI audio card Hands-free microphone Digital I/O card Digital I/O cable Digital CD audio cable Mini to standard MIDI DIN adapter cable Software pack (on CD-ROM only) : Installation CD, Tour & Demo CD, and Applications CD	Sound Blaster Live! Value PCI audio card Digital CD audio cable Software pack (on CD-ROM only) : Installation CD & Application CD (excluding high-end music software)
Price	US$199.99	US$99.99

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