Sound blaster live platinum

W

wOrDzBhOt

New member
All you computer pimps out there with pc's listen careful. Yo, I'm bout to have the sound blaster live platinum card (with the live drive). What's your opinion and as of right now, what's it's rating according to us home-body pc standards?

I'm going to get a label to pick me up next year and some distribution (it''s all good baby). Anyways, I'm just trying to put together a nice enough system to drop a demo on somebody's head.

Here's the specs (changing vastly)

466mhz celeron (to 800mhz soon)
16xdvd ide
16xcdrw ide
100mb zip ide
60gb hdd (2, one ten and the other 50) ide
geforce2mx 64mb vid
hauppage tv card....
ethernet etc etc...

Acid pro 3.0 (and various programs that came with it)
Magix studio deluxe 5.0
mixman 3.0

All that to say this...is anybody sleep? Cause a bruva just wants to get crunk up in this joint. Yes I like all them good ole' n ice $400 cards but dag, really, is the platinum card that far behind??

Also, opinions on the sound blaster audigy platinum.

holla
 
well..you're certainly not lacking in confidence! :O)

Alot depends on the kind of music you're doing...

For a demo purpose, the SBLive does fine, as long as you're aware that you can only record one track at a time.

The system my band recorded their last demo CD on was through a computer that was a little more high end than yours, but with the SB Live and Magix Studio 5.0 deluxe...the drums were the only things we didn't record....we had those recorded in a friend's studio, then mixed to a wave and brought in as wave files.

Alot will also depend on the speed of your HD's....if you have 7200's, they should eliminate clicks and pops you might hear with a 5400.


hope this helps
 
Awwww yeeeh. Get out there and r0xx0r the world, boy-eeee. Get reeeeeeal paid y0.

Bomb load boy-eeee, bomb load!
 
as long as you're aware that you can only record one track at a time.
Click to expand...

Actually, since the SB Live has a stereo line in connection, you can record two mono tracks simultaneously - or one stereo track.

If you are going to spend the money for a SB Live Platinum, I would recommend that you think about one of the lower end Delta cards instead (unless you need a midi sequencer). The SB Live is not one of my favorite cards (and I own one). To me, it marginal for audio work, but decent for midi. Unfortunately, most of the higher end cards do not have midi capabilities (except for an input connection to an external midi device).

Alternatively, if you end up deciding on the SB Live, save yourself some money and go with the SB Live Value.
 
wow....things you learn......I didn't even know I could do that......course had the same problem with the Layla until I was told...hey dummy...split the stereo tracks....duh

thanks for that headsup!
 
hmmm

Not real worried about recording more than one track...I did all my beats in acid already... All I really need to do is vocals..I'm just wondering how it relates to recording vocals... If I should do it at all on my sound card...

My college has recording facilities (free of charge) and there is a studio down town. But, I don't have to worry about studio time if I do it at home...

At the same time, I want something that's going to bang it out rreeeeeeeeal nice....Does the sound card factor into the quality of the cd written?? Just a question..
 
Yes the sound card will factor into the quality of your recorded audio - in the quality of the A/D conversion, as well as the bit depth and sample rates it is capable of recording at.

However, ultimately you will have to use 16 bit and 44.1 sample rates to burn to CD. So in theory, any card that will record at those levels should be sufficient. Therefore, it really depends on how much processing of your vocal you plan to do after recording (e.g., reverbs, eq, compression, etc.). The more processing that you plan to do, the more desireable it is to start at higher bit depts (24 bit). To get 24 bit recordings, you need to use a better card.

The quality of your pre-amps and mics will also play a very major role in the quality of the recorded audio. So it doesn't begin and end with just the sound card.
 
Personally, I think the Platinum is overpriced. ALL of the SBLive cards are exactly the same and the only thing you get with the Platinum is a front panel..... buy a $50 SBLive and use the extra $150 for other things.

Always keep in mind that the SBLive is a 16-bit/48kHz board. Do all of your recording at 48kHz or the card will resample on-the-fly (not a good thing.) When you're ready to burn a CD, you can use an audio editor to resample the final mix .wav to 16bit/44.1kHz.

If you consider the Audigy look at the specs really close---- it is also a 16-bit/48kHz card (it will only PLAYBACK 24bit, it still only RECORDS at 16/48!). Some are calling it the FrAudigy!

For the same money, you can start off with a $50 SBLive and then move up to a real $150-$200 24bit card later and use both of them together (that's what I did.) You WILL notice the difference with a real 24bit card; my soundfloor went from -50db on the SBLive to -75db on my 24-bit card.
 
The SB Live Platinum may seem a bit overpriced, because the retail version is. This means you get the mic, the remote and a bunch of added software and games. The price is considerably less for the OEM version. This means all you get is the breakout box (Live Drive), the card and the drivers and manual. This is better if you don't need all the extra games and stuff.
 
for not much more you could have a Delta Audiophile 2496 that will give you alot better quality.....as good of quality as most $400 cards...just cheaper because its only a single input card....
 
Devil's Advocate

my soundfloor went from -50db on the SBLive to -75db on my 24-bit card.
Click to expand...

By Tom's Hardware's measurements, the Sound Blaster Audigy has a noise floor of -95dB.

bruit.jpg
 
If you're gonna worry about getting a phat sound, worry about the mic and the preamp you're gonna use. The SBLive converters are fine, and if you're just recording one track at a time, and playing with Acid, you don't need much else.

Maybe yuor label can buy you a nice mic and preamp.
 
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