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Sound Blaster Live! Value delivers the same unparalleled quality and performance of the high-end Sound Blaster Live! Incorporating the same powerful EMU10K1 audio processor, Sound Blaster Live! Value uses Environmental Audio technology to enhance all existing audio content as well as deliver a new level of interactive gaming capability through its widely-supported open API - Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX(TM)).

``With this Value edition offering awesome technology at a 'no-brainer' price, Creative shows that it can execute at lightning speed to meet the needs of the mass market,'' said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and chief executive officer of Creative Technology Ltd. ``Creative aims to rapidly bring the revolutionary Environmental Audio platform to our 60 million Sound Blaster users around the world. PC entertainment will never be the same!''

In order to enable an unparalleled level of quality at this mass market price, Creative has optimized Sound Blaster Live! Value by removing the professional-level Digital I/O card and related high-end software found in Sound Blaster Live! Sound Blaster Live! Value is a ``must have'' upgrade and an ideal solution for PC enthusiasts, audio enthusiasts, gamers and everyone who cares about the quality of audio they listen to from their PC.

Leveraging the effects and audio technologies developed for Hollywood by E-mu(R) Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Creative, the EMU10K1(TM) and Environmental Audio technologies in the Sound Blaster Live! Value produce the most awesome performance and experience on the PC. These technologies have been instrumental in producing some of Hollywood's most popular soundtracks including Titanic, Independence Day, Mission Impossible and The Hunt for Red October. Musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Herbie Hancock, Garth Brooks and the Chemical Brothers have used the EMU10K1 technology to compose unsurpassed CD-quality audio.(a)

    Features of Sound Blaster Live! Value

    *  Hollywood Quality Audio Re-creation: Excellent audio fidelity with a -

       120 dB noise floor - a level unheard of in the PC industry.

    *  Powerful EMU10K1 Audio Processing Engine: Superb signal processing at

       32-bit, 192 dB, 48KHz using 8-point interpolation.  This smoothes the

       sound waveform, instantly improving any audio source including existing

       content, Internet audio, CD audio and WAV files.

    *  Environmental Audio Technology:  Enhances all existing content and

       audio sources in real-time including CD audio, WAV, MIDI, VCD, DVD,

       Internet audio, line-input and microphone.

    *  Multiple Speaker Output: Built-in support for two or four analog

       speakers.

    *  256-Voice Music Synthesis: 256-voice capability that goes beyond the

       quality and performance of professional music equipment.  Professional

       quality sample banks are included in 2MB, 4MB and 8MB configurations

       for music reproduction.  Up to 32MB of memory for amazing SoundFont(TM)

       fidelity can be used to provide fantastic quality music synthesis.

    *  Sound Blaster PCI Standard: Near-perfect Sound Blaster legacy support

       in a single PCI card - no need to keep a separate ISA card.  Not

       available on any competitive audio products, the patented Sound Blaster

       PCI Standard includes support for previously written MS-DOS(R) and

       Windows(R) titles.

    *  Broadest Software Support: The open-standard Environmental Audio API

       assures the broadest software support including games and applications

       written for Microsoft DirectSound(R), DirectSound3D(R) and derivative

       technologies.

    *  Software Bundle:  Sound Blaster Live! Value comes bundled with Epic

       MegaGames' Unreal(TM) Special Edition, Associative Computing's Prody

       Parrot(TM), Creative Keytar(TM), Creative Rhythmania, and a collection

       of useful applications including a Sound Blaster Live! demo, a music

       library of GM banks, SoundFont samples and MIDI clips.

    *  Dedicated Sound Blaster Live! Website:  A continuously updated Website

       providing the latest product news, exciting new environments, feature

       enhancements, software drivers, SoundFont samples, FAQ, newsgroups and

       much more can be found at: http://www.sblive.com.

Complete Systems Approach To Deliver Environmental Audio Platform

To achieve a true Environmental Audio experience, Creative has introduced a complete system to deliver Environmental Audio to its customers. The system is comprised of the following components:

    *  Environmental Audio Hardware - Sound Blaster Live! and Sound Blaster

       Live! Value both utilize the EMU10K1 chip, the most powerful audio

       processor chip ever designed - with 1,000 +MIPS and two million

       transistors.

    *  Environmental Audio Software Technology includes state-of-the-art

       algorithms for sound effects, accurate accoustical rendering of 3D

       objects and its reflections in a real-life environment, as well as

       real-time panning and mixing of multiple sound sources using two or

       more speakers.

    *  Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) API for enhanced interactive

       gaming software.

    *  Environmental Audio Speaker Systems including Cambridge SoundWorks'

       PCWorks(TM) FourPointSurround(TM), a four-channel audio system that is

       the ideal companion to the Sound Blaster Live! family.  The upcoming

       Desktop Theater 5.1(TM) speaker system with built-in Dolby Digital

       (AC3) decoding offers an exciting Environmental Audio experience.  By

       adding Creative's PC-DVD solution, Creative is poised to deliver the

       most compelling interactive gaming and awesome home entertainment on

       the PC.

    *  Live!Ware Continuous Software and Applications Upgrade providing new

       features, functionality and applications that can be down-loaded from

       the dedicated Web site (http://www.sblive.com) on an on-going basis.

       Live!Ware, part of Creative's Living Product program, is the subject of

       a separate announcement also made today.

Game Developers Support Creative's Environmental Audio Platform

To date, more than 100 top developers have signed up to support Creative's Environmental Audio Platform with its open Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) API. The EAX API extends Microsoft's DirectSound(R) and DirectSound 3D(R). EAX allows developers to add and tune effects for immersive acoustic environments including distance cues and reverberation. Creative's EAX API has been adopted by top developers including Electronic Arts, Epic MegaGames, DreamWorks Interactive, Rebellion, Shiny Entertainment, Rage Software and Virgin Interactive, to name a few. Expect to see exciting titles forthcoming from these and other developers in the near future.

Sound Blaster Live! Value will be shipping next week to Creative's extensive network of distributors and resellers worldwide at an estimated street price of US$99.99.

Creative Technology Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets a wide array of advanced multimedia solutions for the PC, entertainment, education, music and productivity tools markets. Creative's products are marketed through the OEM, systems integrator and retail channels under a variety of trademarks, including the ``Blaster'' family name. With the new Sound Blaster(R) PCI standard, Creative has produced a solution that utilizes a combination of hardware and software for near-perfect compatibility with existing DOS and Windows titles. Creative's corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing are based in Singapore, with sales, distribution and research and development being carried out through an extensive, global network of subsidiaries located in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

This announcement relates to products whose launch are in the United States of America. The product names, contents, prices and availability may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements.

Sound Blaster is a registered trademark and Environmental Audio, EMU10K1, Environmental Audio Extensions, EAX and FourPointSurround are trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the U.S. and/or other countries. E-mu Systems and SoundFont are registered trademarks of E-mu Systems, Inc. Cambridge SoundWorks is a registered trademark and PCWorks and Desktop Theater 5.1 are trademarks of Cambridge SoundWorks, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, MS-DOS and DirectSound are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.

    (a) No expressed or implied endorsement of E-mu products is intended and

        should not be inferred from reference herein to individuals, companies

        and/or other entities as users or owners of such E-mu products.  Such

        references only denote the fact of actual use or ownership which has

        come to the company's attention.

SOURCE: Creative Technology Ltd.