CreativeLabs SB Live! mini review
3rd update

This is not a real in-depth-review, I just wanted to say a few words about the card though:

• it's surely one of the most feature-packed directx cards to date, with many tasks done by the card's DSP hardware (EMU10K1), 4 speaker support (not accessable as two separate stereo Wave-Out devices ..) and room + 3D sound sources simulation in DirectX-games called EAX (environmental audio extension), similiar to Aureals A3D, a very nice 8-point sample interpolation, multichannel mixing ...
  
  
• as long as you mute the analog CD IN the signal-to-noise ratio of the output about 85 dB, which is top for a low-cost internal soundcard (can't compete to an external 20 bit AD/DA converter of course). The best SNR of the analog input I achieved was about 73 dB, which is a bit lame, but OK for hobby use.
  
• the quality of the effects is superb for a soundcard of this price range: good reverb, pitchshifter (max. 1 octave up/down), auto-wah, vocal morpher, ring modulator, flanger, typical digital distorsion, a two tap echo - everything is customizable (picture shows reverb properties), the card does not offer different effect settings per WAVE stream
  
  
• 90% SF2 compatible, 90% means that the SB Live!'s native soundbank format is still SF2 and you can use SF2's made for the AWE, but obviously CreativeLabs changed some format internal settings, that means: some SF2's built for the AWE sound totally off (wrong volume and effect settings for instance), and the same problems occur with SF2's built with the 1.x drivers for the SB Live! if you load them under LiveWave 2.0. The SB Live! comes with Vienna 2.3

• no wavetable-RAM onboard, everything done through the "PCI wavetable synthesis" directly from PC memory - up to 32 MB possible to assign as wavetable-RAM, works great - I couldn't imagine this would work - it actually does without timing problems :-)
  
  
• it is *NOT* AWE compatible, none of the native AWE games/players for DOS or Win9x work
  
  
• it offers an "SB16 emulation" but it is *NOT* fully SB16 compatible:
  • only a few programs do actually work with the SB16 emulation, IT and FT2 do work in a win95 dos-window for instance, well, I played around for days in FT2 without problems but Roel (the Utopia-guy) sent an XM to me which crashes FT2 with the SB Live, IT works under pure DOS too, FT2 don't ..... most other DOS players/trackers did not recognize anything or played nothing or crap (AXS, CubicPlayer ...)
  • there's no OPL3 or something similiar on board (uses samples for OPL3 emulation ... sounds off)
  • the SB16 MIDI port emulation (those common adresses 300h or 330h) works in most DOS games, but not in FT2 for instance
  • the SB Live is NO replacement for a true SB16 or AWE if you are interested in DOS stuff
    
    
• all analog INs run through the DSP:
  • advantage: everything can be effected by the DSP effects in realtime
  • disadvantage: the digital output is noisy, it's even noisy if you mute every IN device and everything except WAVE OUT

   

• has SPDIF in+out (SB Live! Value on board, SB Live! on the external expansion board) and another digital-in onboard (for CD players with digital out for instance), but there's a HUGE drawback: digital 1:1 copies are NOT possible, the typical advantage of digital I/O doesn't work with the SB Live! due to two reasons, the first is this permanent noise, the second:
  
• the DSP runs fixed at 48 kHz, means every sound runs through the internal 8 point interpolation with 48 kHz (no serious aliasing problems detected):
  • advantage: poor samples sound incredible, low bitrate RA files for instance
  • big disadvantage: due to the DSP's permanent interpolation digital 1:1 copies are impossible (the 48 kHz SPDIF frequency can't be changed to anything else either)
  • means: the SB Live! is no replacement for a digital-only card or an EWS64 L/XL for instance
    
    
• comes with drivers for DOS, Win9x, NT4 and there are beta drivers available for Linux too
  
• card length is 13.3 cm
  
  
• bottom line: the card is indeed "next generation", top value for the price, it's definitely my personal favourite game card and I can recommend it as a good choice for hobby musicians who don't want to spend too much money. My personal recommendation would be to buy the value edition without the expansion board.