3DsoundSurge: New soundcards from Creative Labs


	Platinum info, box art, etc.

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New soundcards from Creative Labs

Creative introduced several new soundcards this fall that will replace the current Live cards but still use the EMU10K1 chip that the Live and Live!Value currently uses. In North America, Creative will replace the Sound Blaster Live!Value with the Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer and Sound Blaster Live! MP3+ while in Europe the Live!Value will be replaced with the Live!Player 1024. The three card all use the same CT4760 board but have a different software bundle. They are also all available on the retail shelves at many places.

The full Live is expected to be replaced with the Live!Platinum but except for a demonstration in Stockholm (Sweden) by Creative Europe they have not announced this card yet.

X-gamer, MP3+ and Player 1024 hardware.

As mentioned, they all use the same CT4760 board. The CT4760 still uses the same EMU10K1 chip. What's new with the board is that it has gold plated jacks, has the full expansion connection that the current full Live! has and has a new Digital Out Jack. Creative has confirmed that the expansion connection "will work fine with past and future I/O add-ons from Creative" and they also expect it to work with the boards that Hoontech made for the full Live!

The Digital Out Jack is a SPDIF connector but not of standard RCA type but instead a mini-jack. You can use this connection to connect to the DIN of the FPS2000 and DTT2500 by using a mini-jack to DIN cable. The European manual says the mini-jack to DIN cable will be bundled with Cambridge Soundworks digital speakers (e.g. the FPS2000 and DTT2500) but as far as we know that cable is not bundled with the FPS2000 and DTT2500 that are sold in US today (not sure about Europe) so you will have to call tech support and ask for it if you buy any of these cards. No idea what the price will be but it's possible it's free for those that already bought a FPS2000 or DTT2500 that didn't include this cable.

You can also use the Digital Out Jack to connect to a standard SPDIF input of either Coaxial (RCA) or Optical type by using a Digital Output Module. This can be used together with software DVD players to get AC-3 out to an external AC-3 decoder. We are not sure if the Digital Output module will support the minijack to DIN cable but if it doesn't you will have to unplug the Digital Output module every time you want to use the DIN connection. The Digital Output module isn't included and there is no mention of price for it.

X-gamer and MP3+ software

Common software for the cards is LiveWare 3 and in the future other Live!Ware upgrades. At the moment Creative couldn't give answers to what new features are included in LiveWare 3. A limited version (size restrictions mostly) of Live!Ware 3 will be available for download and they will also offer a CD with more software just like they did with LiveWare 2.0. It's uncertain exacly when it will be available.

Where the two cards differ is the software bunde. The new Live! MP3+ will include Creative's Digital Audio Center Software that will allow you to encode, decode and archive MP3 files, as well as convert an unlimited number of CD tracks from personal CD collections and catalog them according to preference. The MP3 software is made by MusicMatch who also sells that software online for $30 including liftime free upgrades. There may be some small customization made to the bundled version. The MP3 decoding and encoding is done by the CPU so the Live doesn't accelerate it in hardware.

The Digital Audio Center software bundle also includes the following software: Mixman, Cakewalk, Sound Forge, and Media Ring Talk ‘99. The MP3 software features a full 320k MP3 encoder. You will also be able to make your own Lava MP3 files.

The X-Gamer will feature a game bundle of the full version of "Descent 3", "Need for Speed 4: High Stakes," and "Thief: The Dark Project." The press release also mentions that future Live!Ware upgrades for the X-Gamer will include MP3 authoring.

Live!Player 1024

The info about the Live!Player comes from manual included in the UK version so it's possible other countries will have a slightly different software bundle.

According to this manual (and Peter who I got it from) the Player 1024 is bundled with with liveware 3, mp3 encoder, dvd player, the full version of alien vs predator, Prody parrot, Text assist, Voice assist, MediaRing Talk 99(internet phone stuff), Soft Karoke and a bunch of Creative apps like Lava, Keytar, Wave Studio and Rhythmania.

The MP3 encoder is called Creative Digital Audio Centre by Music Match and just like Music Match it uses the Xing encoder which is very fast (4X playback). It use just the CPU for this so Live doesn't accelerate the MP3 encoding or decoding. The version that is bundled with Live!Player 1024 is a customized version with support for Environmental Audio and according to Creative Nordic it supports encoding up to only 96kbps which is the same as the one you can download for free from MusicMatch. Peter that bought the card in UK said it supports 160kpbs so not sure if UK sells another version or just some confusion here.

The DVD player will support 4-speaker down mixing and AC-3 pass-thru if you get the additional digital i/o module. It uses InterVideo's DVD engine so I guess it's just a customized version of WinDVD that will support 4-speaker downmixing for the Live. For more details about my impression of WinDVD check out our Outrageous 3D sound review that also bundles this DVD player.

Platinum, Live!Drive and Optical I/O

The full Live will probably be replaced by a product called Live Platinum. It's uncertain what features that product will include in North America, but in Europe Creative we know that it will use the same card as the Live!Player but with the addition of Live!Drive II. Live!Drive II will also be available as an upgrade to the X-Gamer, MP3+ and Player 1024. Creative Europe also says it will be available for current Live! owners.

When it comes to software it will in Europe have a bundle that will be mostly music oriented but also include the full version of Aliens Versus Predator. The European Platinum will also bundle the same MP3 software but now with encoding up to 128kbps.

The Live!Drive II is to be placed in your 5 1/4 Drive Bay so that you can easily access the connections without having to crawl behind your computer. The Live!Drive II will feature (according to European manual) midi in/out, coaxial (RCA) in/out, optcial in/out, headphone out, AUX, line/mic in and with volume control for both. It will also have a connection to a metal bracket that has a DIN connection. Not sure if that will be bundled with the Live!Drive II or be bundled with the FPS2000 and DTT2500. Its important to note that the manual also states that not all versions of the Live!Drive will come with optical in/out and AUX.

The manual also mentions an Optical I/O bracket board that will have line in 2 (analog), digital in/out, digital DIN, midi in/out. The digital in/out is connected to the digital i/o module which then can offer input/output for both optical and SPDIF coaxial/RCA devices. Not 100% sure about optical in since the manual doesn't say so but it has 4 connections where two look like optical connections. In Europe this card will be available as an upgrade for both the new Live! cards and the current ones. Not sure about US. Creative could give any prices yet for the Live!Drive II or the new Optical I/O card.

Sources for above mentioned information

An interview at AGN Hardware
The Live!MP3+ press release
The Live!X-Gamer press release
3dhardware.net's article about the Platinum demonstration.
Creative Labs Europe SB Live Player 1024 page
Talking to Creative directly

A few weeks ago we got the following e-mail from one of our readers

The following pictures is from a random online survey at CL Americas’ homepage; The survey consisted of three parts. In the first one, they asked which of the boxes (box 1a, 1b & 1c) looked more “top of the line". In the second part they asked for the most attractive artwork (box 2a, 2b), and in the third part they asked which box was my favorite (box 3a, 3b, 3c), what were the things that make me pick up a box from the stand (bullets, artwork, brand, price, etc.) and the region where I live (Europe, Americas, Asia, etc.)

File: box1a.jpg File: box1b.jpg File: box1c.jpg

File: box2a .jpg File: box2b.jpg

File: box3c.jpg File: box3b.jpgFile: box3a.jpg