When I ordered this external sound card, I was skeptical, but when I received this card,hooked it up,it sounded fantastic. I had realtek onboard sound. I disabled it in the device manager tab, before i downloaded the drivers for the sound blaster live card, and without any problems. I'm running windows XP, with service pack 2. There is a big difference, no hiss, or distortion,and you can turn the speakers up louder, without sacraficing clarity. I would not hesitate to buy this card, even though you can't get updated drivers, the ones that come with the CD is just fine, and they are certified by Microsoft. Thank You for reading this. And remember, you can always switch from one sound card to the other.
Like many other musicians, I have been exploring the possibilities of home recording, taking advantage of the huge leaps in technology (hardware, software, editing/mixing) and the accompanying huge drops in recording-related expenses, i.e., studio time. My main PC is the aforementioned Dell. It's a heavy beast with plenty of hardware guts and speed...definitely in the desktop replacement category. As such, outboard USB or PCMCIA are the only options for add-on devices.
Unfortunately, this SoundBlaster product didn't make the grade in the recording arena, at least using Adobe Audition.
The first hurdle was constant 'out of USB bandwidth' error messages. This may not entirely be the fault of the SoundBlaster but it did become a deal-breaker.
The second hurdle was latency. USB 2.0 features respectable transfer rates but doing any overdubbing/multitracking was impossible. The click track lagged behind the guide track, which lagged behind the other existing track(s). In short, it was impossible to synchronize anything and I didn't fancy nudging tracks back and forth in an attempt to synch them up.
To be fair, Creative aims this product at a certain market segment and recommends the Audigy line for recording and more intricate functionality. So...I took their advice and exchanged for the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS which has worked like a champ in all departments: sound quality, speed and of course no USB bother!An outstanding and innovative product. What's cool about this product is that you can place it anywhere near your computer, allowing you to have all your sound ports/jacks and volume controls within quick and easy reach: With its microphone port, in/out line ports, speaker ports, and multiple other ports, you can connect just about any type of audio device directly to the SoundBlaster External Card.
The multiple media software applications that are included free (on one CD) is alone worth the price you pay for the sound card. With the SoundBlaster External hardware and the included recording software, you can record anything (CDs, casettes, old vinyl records, your own live voice and music) and easily convert it to a digital audio file. From there you can use the editing software to clean-up and enhance your recording. Once you have saved your sound file, here are some ideas for you: email the sound file, or convert the file to an mp3 for use on a portable music player, or burn the file onto a CD: All of these you can do with the SoundBlaster External Sound Card. And, oh yes, the SoundBlaster External will make your computer sound absolutely great!
For the very best functionality, be certain to get the updated driver to the SoundBlaster Live External Card at the Creative.com website:
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/Contrary to what many opinions on the net, this USB audio device will work with OS X Tiger WITHOUT additional drivers. To use the device just plug it in and go to System Preferences/Sound and select Sound Blaster Live! External for the input/output devices. That's all that you need to do to get stereo sound and an amplified mic jack to work. If you want to use the 5.1 capability you'll need to configure additional speakers. Open Applications/Utility/Audio MIDI Setup. Select SB Live! for Input and Output. Select SB Live! under the Properties For menu. Under Audio Output, Select 6-16bit or 6-24bit for Format. (note: it is not recommended to connect this device to a USB hub-if you have to connect it to a hub it may limit your output options) Click Configure Speakers. Click MultiChannel and select 5.1 Surround. You should be able to click on the buttons for the various speakers and hear static tests.
I have played back a DVD with 5.1 using VLC without any problems. I was not able to get WoW to work with 5.1 yet though.
Problems: The volume/mute controller on the box itself will not work. The mute button will mute the audio but not unmute it (you can still unmute from the keyboard though). Also, if you plug headphones in it will mute the sound (which you can unmute from the keyboard).I have a Yamaha YMF 753 built into my laptop and it doesn't compare to the SoundBlaster Live! card. I was a little skeptical about the card using USB 1.1 since I figured playing audio required more bandwidth, but I was wrong. Listening to music and watching movies on my laptop is awesome, however, I've yet to test how the 3D positioning sounds in videogames. Once you listen to your music with this card, you'll never want to go back to your laptop's soundcard again! I haven't been able to max out the card's bandwidth with music and videos so I haven't encountered any weird distortions or sounds. Make sure you install the latest drivers from creative's website so you reduce your chances of running into any bugs or errors.
Installing the card is a snap. Connect the USB cable from the soundcard to your computer, install the drivers/software, and you're in business (you have to also plug your speaker cable into the new card).
***Update***
You can get the audio to start skipping and clicking if you listen to music and watch a movie at the same time (who does that?).
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