Zardon

cause I do

XP driver support? !!!!!! stabillity!!!!!!!

Mize

Ahh...the trials and tribulations of my *&%! Audigy! Turned out to be bad hardware if you can believe it. Certainly the last Creative product I'll own. Meanwhile my Aureal/Diamond Vortex2 is still chugging away...haven't installed XP on that machine yet, but it runs under both Me and Linux just fine.

Mize

__________________
Chaintech 7NJS (nf2), AthlonXP2400+
2x256 OCZPC3000R2 @ 185cl2 FSB
Radeon 9700 Pro, Audigy, P95F, XPPro

Zardon

well im still running my pci128 SB and its great, but those Live cards, I really do hate creative for making them, the problems they have caused on XP installations isnt even funny !

and on a certain model they wanted to charge customers a price to supply a CD with XP drivers, and not EVEN give the option to let people download them.

customer care???? I think not !!!

Darksider

I hate my Live! card. It is the biggest POS in my computer. The XP drivers are terrible!

Renegade[CSR]

The Audigy is a great card. Its a shame it didn't work out for you Mize

Jeff

I love my Audigy....MMMM....Firewire. I still have a PCI128 too though its good for 2000 and XP.

__________________
Mr. Simpson, don't you worry. I watched Matlock in a bar last night. The sound wasn't on, but I think I got the gist of it. - Lionel Hutz

brc64

I shall point you to two different threads at Rage3D that might make you change your opinion slightly of SB Live cards in XP.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33616388
and
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33616272

I agree they're not perfect, but this new driver/software combo has definitely breathed new life into these sound cards.

[Edit]Apparently "Automatically parse URLs" doesn't work?[/Edit]

- Me

Jeff

Actually it worked for me.

__________________
Mr. Simpson, don't you worry. I watched Matlock in a bar last night. The sound wasn't on, but I think I got the gist of it. - Lionel Hutz

brc64

The URLs? I manually added the tags after previewing my post and seeing that they weren't parsed. It could just be that they don't get parsed until you actually post (and not when you preview), but I don't like editing posts, so I just did it manually.

- Me

peroni

Eh eh, if you check out the creative newsgroup you'll see how many people are completely mad at them.
I also spent hours installing all kind of drivers until I managed to sell my SBlive and buy an Hercules Fortissimo II.
I couldn't be happier now!

SBlive+XP=crapola

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Althornin

Oddly enough, my Audigy and fresh XP install went off without a hitch, zero problems.
I think some problems are PEBCAK errors - others are actual card problems.

I have had no problems with either my SBlive or audigy, and both are running on VIA chipset mobos. There goes that myth...

__________________
Trillian Rules....
Death approaches, FLEE!!!

Mize

Oh it DID work out in the end...had to beg and plead for the RMA, but the replacement card works fine. I suppose I could have killed the first one with a high FSB, but I only ran it up to 145. The replacement is running fine, but I'm using the 1/5 PCI divisor on my XP333-R with the FSB at 185 so it's basically stock clock. I had the original card in my KR7A which had no 1/5.

Mize

__________________
Chaintech 7NJS (nf2), AthlonXP2400+
2x256 OCZPC3000R2 @ 185cl2 FSB
Radeon 9700 Pro, Audigy, P95F, XPPro

Motoki

It will work but may have some issues. Don't download the newer drivers for it on Windows Update (those disable 3d sound in hardware ugh), just keep the ones that come with XP. Also while you can get sound out of four speakers, it's really only 2 channel sound doubled up and not true 4 channel.

That's another thing you can thank Creative Labs for, bankrupting Aureal with their silly lawsuit which they lost and probably had no intention of winning in the first place. They just wanted to drive a small company with a better competing product out of business. So then they go and by them out and just sit on the A3D technology instead continuing to promote their inferior EAX instead. Whatever.

I manage with my Diamond MX 300 for now, but I really want to get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz at some point.

Necrosis

I have a SB Audigy which I am "okay" with..but I would let to get my hands on a SoundSystem DMX 6fire 24/96 by TerraTec.

http://www.terratec.net/ttus/default.htm

drool..

__________________

Vaporizer

jeez, that just sick..... very sick.

Darksider

I got those drivers. After I installed them, I had to turn my speakers to max to even hear anything. I did the driver only installation.

Yeti

Hmm... This is completely off topic.

But since we are on the sound blaster issue:
What the hell is the SB512 ???!!!

I have to admit i am with the PCI128 crowd. I have my sound routed through a stereo...with a good cable and the amplification turned down to zero... you can really get some high quality sound. Although i imagin all the audiophiles in the room are screaming blasphemy....

__________________
--Oh lord not again

michael_saxon

I also had the Audigy Platinum and I never could get it to work with my KG7 RAID. Apparently, something to do with ACPI and the Creative card's firmware.

This was my last straw with Creative. The straw before that was their decision to pull their drivers off of the website and make you "order" them on disc.

Crap... Crap... Crap...

Looks like I'll be sticking with good old Acoustic Edge until someone comes along with something that is better and ISN'T CREATIVE.

curiophile

I had an Audigy for a day, took it back that night

The stupid firewire connection would make a network connection that would conflict with my cable internet. Firewire is a great idea for that card, too bad it conflicted though.

I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz now that runs great

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erg haulage

----» Suggestion #1

1 Tube Epoxy resin
A CDR that is coasterized
& the SB/CL Superior-Quality Audio Featuring Dolby Digital 5.1® PCB card

Attach the above, self explanatory . Works well for holding those 3 or 4 phonebooks up in the shelf

WyreTheWolf

If it says Creative anywhere on it... you know it sucks.

Just for shiznits, and giggles, I wrote creative on the little sticker on my Radeon 7500, and it crashed! I pulled the sticker off, and it ran like a champ ... so

reno

Have any of you actually heard the audigy, performing like it should, full surround 5.1 klipsch speakers, in Morrowind? I think you would all drop on your knees the first time you walked into a tomb and were surrounded by devilish whispers and moans coming at you at varying intensities and distances...not to mention DVD's using powerDVD xp and DTS or Dolby Digital...watch duel of the fates ONCE on the phantom menace DVD, crank it, and enjoy...that is true audio bliss.

Zardon

that card certainly gets alot of attention and praise, and yes it certainly performs well.

Majin Paul

I have an ECS K7S5A and I had nothing but trouble with it when I had a Live! installed, my LAN kept getting messed up. I said screw Creative, I went to a local EB and bought a Santa Cruz for $120 CDN. Not one regret since. Everything is working on my computer flawlessly.

Go Turtle Beach!

ECS K7S5A
Athlon XP 1600+ @ 1400Mhz
512 Mb Micron PC2100 @ CAS 2
Retail Radeon 8500 (275, 550Mhz) 64Mb
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
20Gb Maxtor 7200rpm
Onboard LAN

__________________
SKYNET
MSI RD480 NEO 2
AMD ATHLON 64 3500+@2.4GHZ
2GB OCZ PERFORMACE PC3200
ATI X1800XT 512MB
X-FI FATALITY
OCZ MODSTREAM 520W
ANTEC P160
DELL 2405FPW

Frodo301

I love my Diamond Vortex2 card. Still running strong after all these years in another machine and I have no problems, even with apps or games that claim problems.

__________________
The greatest thing you'll every learn is to love, and be loved in return.

James Crivellone

I posted this at the hardforum and ripped it for here =)

I get this question allot, what kind of soundcard should I get, I will always recommend something non creative, however they always ask me this, Why not the SBLIVE? Why not the Audigy? etc

First off I live and breath soundcards and computer audio, I have seen many soundcards cross my path and normally I am very respective of any issues that can arise, however I am now going to speak my mind about Creative labs, you can agree, you can disagree, I am not here to change your mind, I am here to speak my mind.

First lets look at Compatibility, back when I got the SBLIVE Gold It was the best thing on the market, and made by Creative, a company at the time to which I respected in the computer audio market, a year later I find myself in a very interesting area. My once favorite soundcard company had gone from the top to the gutter with the release of the live.

Of course everybody wanted the live at the time, hell I wanted it so badly I saved every penny to get it, features features features, it was a kickass card. I tossed it into my Celeron 400 on a 440BX platform running Windows 98 and called it a day.

During this time other manufactures such as Aureal were fighting to catch up with Creative, and sadly during this time Aureal Semiconductor, one of the BEST audio chipset manufacturers was bought out my evil Creative.

Now what pisses me off the most about Creative is not only the support, but the company itself, lets look at the SBLIVE, When most people tried to run it on a VIA Platform all hell broke loose. Did Creative do ANYTHING to help? No, they said it was via’s problem, ok fair enough; however a company as big as creative, should have not let the bad word get out about incompatibilities.

During the VIA thing, Driver support took a major shit, drivers were few and far between. The 9X Platform was still the best for the Live, and the 2000 drivers were the worse of their kind. It was amazing what some people had to do to get the cards to work. Now here is my question to you, the user, WHY IS THIS OK? Why do WE the consumer have to change around our computer hardware to make a soundcard work? Why does Creative labs have the most issues with compatibility? And WHY does the LARGEST and most RESPECTED Company such as creative have these problems? They have been in the business longer then anybody else and they have the most compatibility problems that I had ever seen... Hell my SBLIVE Platinum 5.1 took me 2 hours of hardware swapping to get working on an INTEL MOTHERBOARD! Not only did I have to disable ACPI, but I had to fuck around with Latency and other issues that I should not have to work with. WHY IS THIS OK?

Now lets look at the Audigy, OMG, Should be called the SBLIVE Ultra, seeing as it is basically the exact same host controller with a new EAX and a Firewire controller. Well thank god for that. Well since creative knew they had a bad rap on drivers they would fix it… nope, my Audigy has just as hell of a time running on my Intel and Amd boards as my SBLIVE did.

I end this conversation with this.

Why is it that the most respected and most recognized name in the PC audio industry has these problems? They have been doing it long enough.. Why is it ok that we have to change our computers around to make the card work? And the number one question, WHY CAN OTHER MANUFACTURERS MAKE THEIR CARDS WORK FINE? Look at Turtle Beach, OMG, best drivers in the world, why can’t Creative do that?

Plus why do we have to use the original stupid Audigy CD to install drivers fresh? And why did Creative take over a year to update the drivers on the SBLIVE 5.1’s?

This is why I hate creative; the damn company got to big, and decided it was more important to make money then to commit to customer satisfaction.

I would appreciate your comments on this little write-up, you can all me a basher, u can say whatever you want, but you cannot deny that I have very valid points. And a message to Creative, We are not your beta testers, go fix your fucking hardware before you sell it to us.

__________________
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Systems Administrator
Rage3D.com
Soundcardcentral.com
James@rage3d.com

WyreTheWolf

I just have to smile at this... Because I have been in the same boat. I miss Aureal with a passion! One of the BEST sound cards to ever grace a PCI slot... And now they are gone

I used to think a lot of Creative Labs... Back when the AWE64 was the only sound card to have. Now things have changed... gone are the days of tech support, and problem free installations. Now we are all left with a sound card that doesn't work well under 2000, or XP... Yes, before anyone has a chance to say anything, I do understand that the newest drivers are pretty good... But why did it take so long?

I have just three words for you... Philips Acoustic Edge. As far as new hardware goes... this has got to be one of the best sound cards for the money. You get just about every feature that you get with the Audigy, and you get compatability, and a company that is willing to stand behind there product. How much does the Audigy cost? The best one? Probably quite a bit more than the $60.00 usd for the Philips card...

I don't remember ever having a problem with my old Aureal VORTEX2 SQ2500. I don't remember ever having a problem with my old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. and you know what is really sad. So far I have had ZERO problems from my Philips Acoustic Edge. None what so ever. I can not say that for Creative Labs sound cards... I owned a Live!for all of two weeks... I had so many problems with it, I had to get something else.

I agree that companies can turn around... and that they can make a come back... Look at ATi, they are now supplying drivers that are 1000% better than the offerings that came out with the Rage128... Does everyone remember the problems that the Rage128 MAXX had? I do... and I am glad that those days are behind ATi Tech.

Now... you all can call me a flamer, an idiot (not nVidiot ), a moron, a putz, or whatever... but this is the truth!

And to answer some questions that have been posed...

Q. Have any of you actually heard the audigy, performing like it should, full surround 5.1 klipsch speakers, in Morrowind?
A. Yes, right up until I got that really loud squeal that locked up my PC. It seems that my 3COM ethernet, and the soundcard are not going to play nice together.

BTW, 3COM is suposed to have the best bus mastering technology out there. So this just adds to the argument that Creative screwed the pooch, and then blamed it on everyone, and the dog!

Laterz!

JavaFox

Okay, I don't get it. Reading through the posts, it seems that the general consensus is that, indeed, the Good Lord needs to smite Creative. So why, may I ask, are a whole shitload of you all saying things like "Yeah, it sucks. My SBLive is the worst thing in my PC!" or "Yeah, it sucks, it's unstable, but after I updated the drivers, it works most of the time." WHY IS ANYONE SUPPORTING CREATIVE?! WHY DO YOU HAVE A CREATIVE CARD IN YOUR PC? Creative's engineers are a bunch of assclowns -- they can't get anything right! Why would ANYONE put money into a company like that? Or better yet, why would you BITCH AND WHINE when you are absolutely unwilling to do anything about fixing the problem? I don't get it. It just strikes me as being kind of weak-willed. How does the saying go? "Talk the talk and walk the walk?"

If you truly think Creative puts out SHIT and you truly think their customer service sucks, WHY would you support them? There a plenty of alternatives to Creative sound cards. The only way to teach a company something is to stick it to them where it hurts (*ahem*) and by that I mean their wallet! Buy a card with a CMedia, or Cirrus Logic (e.g., Hercules Game Theater XP), or Thunderbird Avenger (e.g., Philips Acoustic Edge) chipset! For goodness' sake.

Half-hearted heathens.

HawK

[COLOR=red] pop crak [/COLOR] anyone [COLOR=red] crak [/COLOR] ever tryed [COLOR=red] fizz [/COLOR] to make an album [COLOR=red] graaak [/COLOR]
in creativplayer ?? [COLOR=red]pieeep [/COLOR] i did, was [COLOR=red] wwrr [/COLOR] busy for hours [COLOR=red] pop crak [/COLOR]
pressed the wrong [COLOR=red] plop [/COLOR] button and it was [COLOR=red] wwrrff [/COLOR] all gone.. [COLOR=red] poeeop [/COLOR]

[kill sound] (w2000)
Ah thats better..

well they shure are creativ, but i wish the software dev. at creativ
would go and look to see how a PC looks like/works these day's..
i really believe they still work on 386's/win 3.1

Halon_X

I don't know why most of you are whinning about the sound Blaster Live Cards. Mine's working like a charm and with a Klipsch ProMedia system, my pals got to take a knee everytime I play Jedi Knight II. The drivers based on the Compaq Soft Pac kicks ass.

I think's more of the element behind the keyboard than the card itself.

Do I smell blood???

__________________
A proud Deus Ex fan since June 2000.