Rating: 
Summary: Creative still rules the PC audio realm
Review: Creative once again lives up to their name with the Live X-Gamer. The Live cards are all the same physically. The real difference is in the packaged software, save the Platinum version which includes the Live Dock(A very cool feature). I sort of miss the Gold plated RCA jacks from the SoundBlaster Gold days, but I'll deal.The sound quality from this card is what most would expect from the leader in computer audio products. The included software is a great deal by giving you: Descent Three, Need For Speed:High Stakes(my fave), and Thief. The applications for the card sometimes seem a bit much, but they are a joy to audiophiles, and those who like to play around with digital audio. Install was trouble free and with the easy update features I was able to get on-line and update the card without a hassle. The reasonable price and gratuitous software bundle make this a definate consideration for those looking to build a system or upgrade an older sound card.
Rating:
Summary: Best sound card out there!
Review: Don't settle for the SB live! value, it has less features. This is the BEST sound card out, it has the best sound for your games and music. Its really usefull especially if you have a surround sound speaker setup. GET THIS CARD!
Rating: 
Summary: The dirty little secret about sound cards
Review: Granted, Creative makes the de facto standard of sound cards. Anyone remotely familiar with computers knows that. What you may not know is it's almost impossible to tell the difference between this card and a $10 no-name sound card unless you use very expensive speakers (i.e. Klipsch ProMedia) or run a line to a high quality home theater system. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong and I challenge them to prove otherwise. If you don't have or plan to buy at least a 4 or 5 speaker system, there's no reason you should buy this card over a Soundblaster 16. Even the included games are selling at bargain prices now. Save your money. I ran into difficulties installing this card due to limitations of not enough free IRQ spaces. I don't have a lot of extra peripherals, just a CD-ROM, a CDRW, a NIC card and an extra hard drive. (Wasn't Win95 supposed to eliminate this problem anyway?) I was finally able to get the card to work under Win98, however the software-based DOS emulation drivers still won't load correctly. Make sure you have free spaces as the installation software won't point this out to you beforehand and it became a real nightmare to install. The main reason I knocked it down a couple stars is because of the card's unreliability. The old Soundblaster cards used to be rock solid. However, the first Live card I bought started losing one of its speaker channels within the first month. Fortunately I was able to return it for a replacement. The replacement I've owned less than a year, yet again I'm losing the right side. While there is a 1-year warranty, chances are it'll probably be more hassle than it's worth to return it to Creative and I'll probably have to throw it away. It's unfortunate quality control has pretty much gone out the window.
Rating:
Summary: The dirty little secret about sound cards
Review: Granted, Creative makes the de facto standard of sound cards. Anyone remotely familiar with computers knows that. What you may not know is it's almost impossible to tell the difference between this card and a $10 no-name sound card unless you use very expensive speakers (i.e. Klipsch ProMedia) or run a line to a high quality home theater system. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong and I challenge them to prove otherwise. If you don't have or plan to buy at least a 4 or 5 speaker system, there's no reason you should buy this card over a Soundblaster 16. Even the included games are selling at bargain prices now. Save your money. I ran into difficulties installing this card due to limitations of not enough free IRQ spaces. I don't have a lot of extra peripherals, just a CD-ROM, a CDRW, a NIC card and an extra hard drive. (Wasn't Win95 supposed to eliminate this problem anyway?) I was finally able to get the card to work under Win98, however the software-based DOS emulation drivers still won't load correctly. Make sure you have free spaces as the installation software won't point this out to you beforehand and it became a real nightmare to install. The main reason I knocked it down a couple stars is because of the card's unreliability. The old Soundblaster cards used to be rock solid. However, the first Live card I bought started losing one of its speaker channels within the first month. Fortunately I was able to return it for a replacement. The replacement I've owned less than a year, yet again I'm losing the right side. While there is a 1-year warranty, chances are it'll probably be more hassle than it's worth to return it to Creative and I'll probably have to throw it away. It's unfortunate quality control has pretty much gone out the window.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Card, fairly nice bundle as well.
Review: I bought this card because I had already had a Vortex-2 based card in my other computer (xitel Storm Plantinum) Needless to say, it was a good buy. Comes w/ an excellent software bundle, and the 'Audio HQ' (one of the many configuration utils included) allows you to create your own sound 'environments' to alter any sounds played back on your system. Quite fun to see how those mp3s sound under certain effects, or 'reverb'. But it does lose its novelty in some time. You can adjust bass, treble, and other settings using the extensive software package. There are presets for Headphone/2 Speaker/4 speaker setups, as on most soundcard configs, and all of the software is really easy to use. One downside, is that if you config their software to startup on boot, it'll popup w/ this nasty icon in the systray which flashes, in some vain attempt to get you to register your software. Not as bad as FORCING you to... but just as annoying. Comes w/ 2 stereo outs (for 4 channel sound) a line-in, mic-in, and of course, Creative's proprietary digital out for connection to Cambridge Soundworks line of speakers. (Which Creative bought out some time ago.) Comes w/ 3 games... Thief, NSF:HS, and Descent 3. Don't buy the card for the games... buy it for the Card! Its awesome!
Rating: 
Summary: not bad
Review: i bought this card two months ago and im very impressed with it. installation is easy.its much affordable than other top of the line sound cards with almost the same performance. this is the most value per dollar u can get out there. i really like the enviromental control. i set the enviroment sound as a stone corridor and played "legacy of kain:soul reaver" and it was amazing. it can pick up echos and errie sounds.its kinda scary cause i have a soround sound system and its like something is behind u making these strange noises and i usually play this game at night.it works well with my voodoo3 card
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Sound Card, Especially for Today's Games
Review: I bought this sound card about 2 weeks ago and it is working excellently. No problem with it and whenever I play a game like Final Fantasy VII or Homeworld, the sound is awesome. It is crisp and clear and kind of cool. The environmental audio is spectacular. You could set it on a bunch of features to help your gaming experience become more lively or creepier. It is up to you. The software bundle is cool, but not all the software is necessary. A microphone comes with it and you can speak through it with a VERY deep voice or a chipmunk voice. They are hilarious. Anyway, I would recommend this product over any sound card if you like games. If you want plain music, then get the MP3+, but if you want both get this one because MP3's mork well on this too.
Rating:
Summary: Wow A great sound card!
Review: I just purchased the Sound Blaster Live X-gamer and I must say I was impressed. The card had every thing I wanted and more! This card comes with more that enough software, a microphone, and with 3 full games! I put the SB X-gamer in and could here a giant leap in overall sound quality. I even noticed that my games were running faster than before and the sound experience was great. The enviromental audio makes the games come alive. You can hear that guard walking around the corner. You can hear the diffrence between walking in a stone halway and a carpeted floor in the game Thief: The Dark Project (One of the games that comes with the SB X-Gamer). Not only can you listen to great sounding music you can have you music sound like it's being played in a Concert Hall, Your Living Room, and even a Bathroom just to name a fuw of the over 100 enviromental setting to choose from. This sound card is the best for a great price. Now if you are more into watching DVD movies or a hardcore gamer I would suggest the speaker system made for the SB X-Gamer called the Creative Labs FPS200. This is a 4 speaker 1 subwoffer stero sourround sound experience that is hard to beat. I have a FPS2000 system and I must say it makes the sound ten times better. You can actualy hear when monster's sneek up behind you in Thief it is Awsome! I would recomend this sound card to anyone who wants a truly great audio experience!
Rating:
Summary: This is the product for the home pc
Review: I purchased this product along with the voodoo3 3500 TV And they are meant for each other wow what a system this makes with a pentiumIII it dont get any better than this After 4 months of tweaking my system it is now a lean mean running machine useing windows 98SE. If you have money and want a pc buy this product. What ever anyone tells you about other products saying that they are better belive me they are not! If your anticapateing buying a pc waiting for new technology DONT ITS HERE! NO ONE WILL BEABLE TO TOP THIS FOR YEARS TO COME!
Rating:
Summary: This is the one you want!
Review: I shopped around for a variety of different soundcards before buying the SoundBlaster Live X Gamer. The sound is incredible and the features alone are worth the money. If you're looking for some serious sound,I recommend this product.
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