CreativeLabs SB LIVE 24BIT PCI SC ( 70SB041000000 )

I noticed a lack of positive reviews for this product, based on its rather exclusive compatibility: it only works for Windows. And that doesn't help much, but if you are a Windows user (including XP; that was apparently a problem with older SB Live! cards) who uses the common Intel chipset and would like better sound without spending a lot of money, I would recommend this.

Even basic sounds like the click you hear when you click your mouse with Windows sound better. I noticed much better stereo separation, for example. A faster sampling rate, up to 96 KHz, also helps a lot. Various 3D effects are available, including reverb, EQ, sound cleanup and other enhancements, are also available. Surround Sound is supported, up to 7.1.

I've read other reviews on SoundBlaster products saying the tech support is bad. I haven't had to call them yet (I found installation was pretty easy, but I'm fairly experienced with installing hardware and software), so hopefully you...Read more

I was very pleased with the quality of the bundled software and the performance of the card. However, I needed to make several hardware and software modifications to realize its full potential.This card is capable of 96kHz/24bit. However, the default settings are 48kHz/16bit. Don't ask me why. You have to go to "Control Panel -> Device Control" to change this. "Device Control" is such a generic name, it's easy to miss.Also, I noticed that this card has a low quality resampling algorithm, so if you are playing 44.1kHz files, you might want to get a software resampler to convert 44.1kHz to 48.0kHz before sending a wav output to the sound card. HQSoftProc for winamp worked great for me.I did notice some Sigma/Delta DAC modulation noise when using sensitive headphones. (Shure E5C) The problem was that I was forced to turn the volume almost all the way down to get a reasonable volume. Normal headphones should be less of a problem. But I was able to easily modify the output...Read more

Even though this is a more 'cost efficient' card compared to the Audigy series, the 'Live!' is still a great card, outputting great sound. It's a solid addition to my system (where other sound solutions have caused system crashing).

The software included is good as well. I'm not very interested in the extra media programs (which are nice) as I am with 'tweaking' the actual card. And the driver/configuration program that is provided does this very well!