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Introduction: Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card User's Guide

Overview • Features and Benefits • System Requirements • Getting More Information

Overview

With the Sound Blaster Live!— the most powerful sound card ever—taking the industry by storm, Creative now introduces Sound Blaster Live! Value for the mainstream market. The casual PC entertainment enthusiasts and even the non-gaming music lovers can now enjoy the wonders of Sound Blaster Live!’s Environmental Audio. Sound Blaster Live! Value offers the same quality and performance of the highly successful Sound Blaster Live!—without the extended Digital I/O card—with features and performances surpassing professional audio equipment. Sound Blaster Live! Value incorporates the superior surround-sound rendering of Environmental Audio^™ to create sound so real it has to be Live! You'll enjoy music productions so dynamic like you're right in the middle of an orchestra. The Sound Blaster Live! Value hardware-accelerated Environmental Audio Extensions^™ (EAX^™), supporting new titles, offers an experience that goes beyond 3D Audio. Add the ability to enhance all your existing games and legacy audio with true digital processing and it will blow your home theater away!

Features and Benefits

The Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card has the following features and benefits:

• Hollywood-Quality Audio Re-creation
  With professional-quality synthesizers and digital I/O, Sound Blaster Live! Value provides audio fidelity that rivals movie theaters with digital sound. Excellent overall audio fidelity is achieved with an average Noise Floor of -120 dB, a level unheard of in the PC industry.

• Powerful Audio Processing Engine
  The EMU10K1^™ audio processor is the most powerful integrated music, audio and effects engine available. Every signal is processed at 32-bit, 192 dB, 48 kHz using 8-point interpolation to smoothen the sound, instantly improving any audio source. Apply real-time effects including Reverb, Chorus, Flanger, Echo, and Pitch Shifter, that rival stand-alone expensive professional effects processors.

• Environmental Audio^™ Enhances Existing Contents
  Experience depth and realism beyond existing 3D audio. Apply preset environments such as hall, cave or underwater that can be applied to your existing games and applications for incredibly true sound. Game environmental settings also make your existing games come "alive" instantaneously.

• Multiple Speaker Output
  Produce surround-sound audio on your PC with built-in support for two or four analog speakers.

• 512-Voice Music Synthesis
  512-voice capability goes beyond the quality and performance available in most professional music equipment. Using host memory, you can choose from E-mu's 2 MB, 4 MB, or 8 MB SoundFont^® professional-quality sample banks for music reproduction. Or use up to 32 MB of memory for amazing SoundFont music fidelity. All these without sacrificing on CPU utilization.

• Sound Blaster PCI Standard
  You can be assured of near-perfect Sound Blaster compatibility on the PCI bus while enjoying all its benefits. It works with the existing MS-DOS^®-based and Windows^®-based titles, completely replacing your existing ISA sound card.

• Environmental Audio Extensions^™ (EAX^™)/Broad Driver Support
  Environment Audio Extensions is an open standard that allows the broadest support from software developers. Supports Microsoft DirectSound^®, DirectSound3D, and derivative technologies. Advanced architecture is ready for the coming generations of WDM, DLS, and IEEE 1394/Firewire devices.

• Sound Blaster Live! Web site - www.sblive.com
  Exciting new applications and developer support will be available on the Sound Blaster Live! Web site. For instant access to the latest applications, enhancements, drivers, and more, visit www.sblive.com.

System Requirements

For Creative software, your card requires at least:

• Pentium^® class 133 MHz or equivalent processor
• Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT 4.0
• 16MB RAM for Windows 95/98 (32 MB RAM recommended),
  32 MB RAM for Windows NT 4.0
• 72 MB of free hard disk space for Windows 95/98;
  55 MB for Windows NT 4.0
• One free PCI bus slot
• Powered speakers or external amplifier

Sound Blaster Live! Value gives you an estimate of the hard disk space required when you select it on the installation screen. Some applications may require a system configuration greater than that listed above. Refer to online documentation (README or HLP files) or specifications on the outer box for details.

NOTE: Dell configured this sound card to operate as shipped. No other modifications are necessary. Your system’s audio drivers were installed by Dell and are operative when you receive the system. No further installation or configuration is necessary. Store the driver CD/diskette that came with your system in a safe place in case you ever need to reinstall the drivers.

Getting More Information

See the online User’s Guide for MIDI specifications and connector pin assignments, as well as instructions on using the various applications in your audio package. To access the online User's Guide, click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Creative, point to Sound Blaster Live! Value and select User's Guide.

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