Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1

by Creative

Product Details

Product Manual [794kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000059ZZ4
• Item model number: 70SB006003001
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

For the most intense, multidimensional gaming experience with a thunderous home-theater feel, get the Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1. It's powered by the superior EMU10K1 Digital Signal Processor, so you'll experience real-time audio and effects with staggering hardware acceleration that will keep your adrenaline pumping. With the ability to connect to Dolby Digital and multi- channel digital speaker systems or analog audio devices, you can experience true 5.1 surround sound on your games. Track your opponent's every move with the accurate and realistic 3D positional audio effects of EAX--hear enemies creeping up from behind and spaceships ripping through the sky with incredible realism.

Arm yourself with the power and quality of Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 to stay on top of the game.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Soundcard EVER!!, September 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (Personal Computers)

When I first used this soundcard under Win98, it was difficult to install at first, but after downloading the latest driver, it worked fine. I was really impressed with the sound quality of this card and the games packaged with it(especially Unreal Tournament). The sound from playing my DVD movies on my computer is outstanding! This card works great under WINDOWS XP Professional because you do not have to install any drivers for it since XP sets it up automatically and painlessly! Overall, I think this soundcard was a great purchase. Well worth the money spent.

Note: If you are trying to get the Soundblaster Live card to work with a VIA based motherboard or any other non Intel based board, you may need to download the latest driver at soundblaster.com or creative.com to get it to work.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound Blaster does it again!, March 27, 2001

By 

Ed Matuskey "game player" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (Personal Computers)

There are many pretenders to the throne, but for quality sound cards that /everyone/ supports, there can be only one: Sound Blaster. The Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 is an excellent sound card, optimized for 5.1 (6 speakers--4 surround, one center channel, one subwoofer) speaker systems (though I'm using a 2.1 (2 speakers + subwoofer) system myself). Sound quality is excellent, and the card itself comes with plugs for attaching microphones and other devices (such as MP3 recorders) to. Note that this is /not/ the Platinum card, which comes with the front panel port some of the other reviews talk about--hardware-wise, you just get the card (and appropriate cables).

Software-wise, it comes with an amazing bundle--aside from the usual utility programs, the X-Gamer comes with Unreal tournament, Duex Ex, Thief 2 (the Metal Age) and MDK2. Not demos, but full versions of the games. It's almost worth buying the card just to get the bundle, as so many magazine reviews have said!

Note: although I said everything is compatible with Sound Blaster, this isn't entirely true. Windows 2000 is, I believe, not compatible with it (though check the Creative website for further developments), and Windows ME may have some issues (since WinME doesn't use DOS anymore, and SB Live! still uses DOS emulators for some functions). As far as games go, however, you shouldn't have any problems whatsoever!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent but better choices exist. Incompatibility problems!, July 16, 2001

By 

W. Han "DOIWO" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (Personal Computers)

The X-Gamer is a very decent card. Pretty good sound quality. DVD's play okay, games are okay, the only thing that's really great about the card is the sound quality in DOS but not a lot of people have applications in DOS. For the same price, there are many better choices out there currently which have much better sound quality in recording and playback.

Also, the SB Live! cards have problems working on motherboards with VIA southbridge chipsets and many AMD-based motherboards have a VIA southbridge. The IRQ settings get messed up and the only way to get the card working is to upgrade and install the 4-in-1 drivers.