Hardware News

Nuggets: Creative goes Platinum

Justin Pearse ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 11 Oct 1999 12:05 BST

Yeah man, this card really kicks... yeah.

Creative's got a new sound card out and its jam-packed full of features. One of the most innovative features of the new Sound Blaster Live! Platinum is the Live! Drive II.

OK, so it's a stoopid name, but the technology integrates a front panel connection to any audio source, so you don't need to keep reaching to the back of your PC to plug stuff in. The Drive II has got digital (coaxial) SPDIF input and SFDIF output, MIDI input and output, and line or microphone input.

The EMU10K1 signal processor gives 32-bit audio signals and for gamers there's Environmental Audio with reverb, and bumped up 3D positioning with support for two or four-speaker systems. There's even Creative's LAVA! Technology which lets you animate music files -- like MP3 -- with 3D images, very cool if you're into making your own (basic) music videos.

The bundled Digital Audio Centre software lets you encode and decode MP3 files and rip CDs. Other software includes Cubasis VST music recording and editing software, Recycle Lite to sample and capture drum loops, Wavelab Lite for editing audio files, and Mixman Studio to manipulate those files. Finally, Creative is chucking in two games -- Alien versus Predator and Rollcage.

Goodness me, what a mouthful...

The Sound Blaster Live! Platinum is in the shops now for £179.99.

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