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Sound, sound, sound we all want good sound for our games, DVD's and windows chime! We take a look at 'high end' products, and tell you just how far they go!
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Audio / Sound >
Creative |
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SoundBlaster Live Platinum and Cambridge Desktop Theatre 2500
Review
Let's pretend that you have $600 CDN ($403 USD) lying
around and primed for a soundcard and speaker upgrade. While most of us consider
$600 to be a lot of money to throw down for a soundcard and speaker upgrade, it
is not really that bad. Speakers and soundcards are typically not
upgraded too often. For the hardcore gamer / performance hungry types, expensive
CPU's and video cards are swapped every 6 months (OR LESS like some psychos that
I know) I have used these two products for at least 4 months
now, and I feel no urge to upgrade them, but the same can't be said for my CPU
or video card J .
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Platinum
Specifications
Live! Drive Front Panel Connectors
- S/PDIF In (RCA/coaxial jack)
- S/PDIF Out (RCA/coaxial jack)
- Headphone Out (1/4" stereo
jack with volume control)
- Line In (1/4" stereo jack with shared
Microphone In)
- Microphone In (1/4" jack with gain
control)
- MIDI In (standard DIN)
- MIDI Out (standard DIN)
Wave-Table
Synthesis
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E-mu Systemsr, Inc. EMU10K1"! music synthesis engine |
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64-voice hardware polyphony with E-mu's patented 8-point interpolation
technology |
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Uses SoundFontr technology for user-definable wave-table sample sets;
includes 2MB, 4MB, and 8MB sets |
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Load up to 32MB of samples into host memory for professional music
reproduction |
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Scalable PCI wave-table synthesis architecture |
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Up 1024-voice polyphony with multi-timbre capability |
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48 MIDI channels with 128 GM & GS-compatible instruments and 10
drum kits |
Effects Engine
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E-mu Systems, Inc. EMU10K1 patented effects processor |
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Support for real-time digital effects like reverb, chorus, flanger,
pitch shifter, or distortion across any audio source |
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Capable of processing, mixing and positioning audio streams using up to
131 available hardware channels |
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Full digital mixer maintains all sound mixing in the digital domain,
eliminating noise from the signal |
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Full bass, treble and effects controls available for all audio sources
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Environmental Audio"! & 3D Audio
Technology
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User-selectable settings are optimized for headphones and two or four
speakers |
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Upgradeable 3D audio architecture allows for improvements over time
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Accelerates Microsoftr DirectSoundr and DirectSound 3D
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Accelerates Environmental Audio"! property set extensions
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Creative Multi-Speaker Surround"! technology places any mono or stereo
sound source in a 360° audio space |
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Creative Environments - user-selectable DSP modes that simulate
acoustic environments like hall, theater, club, etc. on any sound source
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Hollywood-Quality, 32-Bit Digital Audio
Engine
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Processes bit resolutions from 4-bit to 16-bit |
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Processes sample rates from 5kHz to 48kHz |
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All sound sources are handled with 32-bit precision for highest quality
output |
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Analog and digital I/O modes supported |
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Hardware full-duplex support enables simultaneous record and playback
at 8 standard sample rates |
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Utilizes AC 97 audio codec |
MIDI Interface / Joystick
Port
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Supports Sound Blasterr MIDI and MPU-401 modes |
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IBMr compatible 15-pin joystick port with analog support
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Support for digital and DirectInput"! game devices
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On-Board
Connectors
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Digital Out (front & rear S/PDIF output) |
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Line in |
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Microphone in |
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Line level out (front) / Headphone out |
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Line level out (rear) |
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MIDI / Joystick port |
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Telephone Answering Device in |
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MPC-3 Analog CD Audio in |
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Digital CD Audio in |
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Expansion header for Optical Digital I/O card or Live!(tm) Drive
(available separately) |
Included Software
Click here
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