Minimum System Requirements: Pentium® class 133MHz or better 16MB system RAM Windows® 95, Windows® 98, or Windows® NT4.0 Open half length PCI 2.1 compatible slot Headphones or amplified speakers CD-ROM drive for software installation

When Creative Labs launched the Sound Blaster Live card, it soon earned the reputation as one of the best sounds cards available, gaining industry wide recognition. The Sound Blaster Live Value is a slightly cut down version in that it offers the same sound quality without the extended digital I/O card, making it aimed squarely at the mainstream computer enthusiast.

Installation of the card is extremely easy and the package includes a printed manual with reasonably good installation instructions, allowing almost anyone to install this card with confidence. Lets have a look at the Sound Blaster Live Value in a little more detail, shall we.

Lets have a look at the Sound Blaster Live Value in a little more detail, shall we.

The cards power comes from the EMU10K1 audio processor with 1,000+MIPS and two million transistors, which processes signals at 32-bit, 192 db, 48kHz using 8-point interpolation to deliver sound free from any noticeable distortion.

The card offers a staggering 256 voice capability, rivalling and surpassing many professional music systems. The card also uses SoundFont technology to load samples from 2MB to 32MB into  system RAM for music playback.

Support for the Environmental Audio Extensions allows for software developers to easily enhance their software with Environmental Audio effects. EAX has been designed to be a natural extensions to the Microsoft DirectSound 3D API. The Sound Blaster Live comes with a special version of Unreal with the sound enhanced with EAX. For those not familiar with Unreal it's a Doom-type game and although not exactly my cup of tea, it does offer a good introduction into the potential of EAX.

Along with a copy of Unreal, you'll find an amazing assortment of software, from music making programs to some very amazing mixer controls.

One of my favourites was the play centre. This is an extremely versatile program it allows one to play almost any sort of audio file including Midi, Wav, MP3, CDA and Au. However one of the most useful features is its ability to create albums, by this I mean that all you need do is indicate where the sound files are located on your hard drive and the program will create the album. Simply load the album, hit play and your very own album plays one track after another.

I'm not going to detail and review each piece of software included with the Sound Blaster Live Value, as that would make this a rather large article, but needless to say its almost worth the purchase price alone.

In conclusion I would recommend this sound card to everyone, as it combines Sound Blaster's Compatibility with exceptional sound quality.