Platinum just sounds better.
Written: Sep 30 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Makes all sorts of audio come alive.
Cons: Worthless if your speakers aren't any good.
|
|
|
| dokool's Full Review: Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum |
There are a lot of precious metals in society today. The Olympics are finishing up, you've got gold, silver, and bronze there. People make lots of money selling precious metals on the stock market. But, some precious metals are better than others. Back when I was learning TrueBasic, I prefered using TrueBasic Gold edition over Bronze. However, silver looks cooler than gold, in my opinion. Then, you've got platinum. It looks cool. The word itself looks cool. It sounds cool, the way it rolls off your tongue, pla-tin-um. I'm going somewhere, don't worry.
Over the summer, my computer recieved a major overhaul. The harddrive capacity tripled, the video card got upgraded, a dvd player was added, and all was well, except for my sound card. Keeping in the Creative family, I decided that the Soundblaster PCI 128 deserved a new home (right now, somewhere under my bed, I believe.) Going straight to my neighborhood Best Buy, I headed straight for the sound section and browsed the boxes. The Soundblaster Live! Platinum stood out. I do some studio recording, and many friends on the net had recommended it. I play games (Everything from Quake to Diablo). I watch DVDs and TV shows. I needed more.
It just felt so good to open up that box, take out the card, and admire it's purtiness. But, what's this? A Live!Drive? Amazing! Now i can plug my mic and headphones into the front of my machine, no scrounging around the back of my tower! I felt happier already.
Aside from having to pry a metal component out of my case in order to slide the Live!Drive in (I'm 99% sure there was an easier way to remove it, but audio waits for noone), installation was relatively easy. After installing the drivers and Live!Ware, my computer rebooted. The initial sound of thunder (which Live!Ware had made my startup sound) literally gave me chills. I could differenciate left channel from right. The software that came with the Soundblaster Live! Platinum wasn't bad, although I can't see how anyone could use the Karaoke program for anything.
Mp3 playback: Nothing short of amazing.
DVD playback: I was right in the Batcave with Val Kilmer himself (Yes, Batman Forever).
PC Gaming: 3 words: Oh hell yeah.
The only way that the experience could have been better was if my speakers were one of the sets that Creative Labs suggests for use along with the Soundblaster Live! Platinum and the Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore 8x. But, that will be bought in due time, and I'm sure I'll review those soon after.
In conclusion, no computer is complete without these. Not having this sound card is like the Cash Money Millionares (For all you rap followers) owning a platinum car, platinum house, platinum teeth, dying their hair platinum, and coating their ears with SILVER. It just ain't right.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dokool
|
|
Member: Danny Orlowitz
Location: Melrose Park, PA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.