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AC97 vs SBLive

A

arkamw

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 5, 2004
Messages
1,391
I'm currently using the AC97 sound onboard my Intel mobo and it's not bad. But today, after digging around in my basement, I came across my old SBLive card. I haven't put it in this machine because I am loathe to install any more Creative software... I just don't appreciate it.

That said, I've heard about the alternative drivers for the EMU-based cards (kX project) and was wondering if anyone had any experience, good or bad, with those drivers and the software it loads.

edited to remove FAQ

 
We get this same question about once a week and the answer is always the same...

How about you try it and then tell us what one sounds better?

Maybe then the search will give the next person an answer to this question. :)
 
Well, as was suggested, I thought that I would post a little feedback.

Using WDM drivers for both the above mentioned cards yielded little real difference. I suppose that's to be expected.

The difference, however, between the kX drivers is subtle. Not really in your face, wow, but more, "how did I miss that before?" I can hear guitar picks in the background, the tremolo (correct word?) of a cello, stage echoes that were there before but now you can tell it's live, highs seem to be a little cleaner. DVD audio seems to be more crisp. I have not yet played any games.

Please take this with a grain of salt though as I'm not able to A/B these cards and what I am hearing may be placebo.

Driver installation was straightforward. Simply run the exe and follow the instructions. In my case, Windows had already installed the WDM drivers for the SBLive. The kX driver uninstalled the WDM's and installed neatly in its place. Upon reboot, kmixer loaded as a process and is currently eating up about 9MB of space. Currently no issues to report.

The mixer itself is fairly straightforward though I think too much effort was put into making it more graphical than it needed to be. I personally prefer the look of the Windows volume control as it delivers all needed info without the graphical mess. The reverb / chorus mixers are a nice touch though I have yet to find a use for them aside from novelty. I would also like to see a graphic equalizer integrated into the mixer, but most apps have them built so I can't complain too much.

kX did say that their drivers are aimed more at the recording / musical artist than casual gamers / listeners such as me. However, they've built a solid software product that provides an excellent (dare I say superior?) product to the kludge that if what I remember from Creative's drivers. All in all, I am impressed with what has been delivered here but it bears more listening and I need to, if possible, A/B this with onboard audio.

 
What is your speaker system thing again (and how is connected)?

We might be able to exploit a few of the features in the KX drivers and give you a little better sound for music. ;)
 
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