Creative Labs 70SB049000000 USB SoundBlaster Live 24-Bit External Sound Card

This Creative SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit USB external soundcard rocks! No kidding. I've had a lot of experience with different soundcard/speaker setups, and this is the best "card" yet. The 24-bit is noticible over 16-bit, which is the standard for onboard soundcards. If you have a nice speaker system (I use a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Sound System, which I HIGHLY recommend!), then you want the highest possible quality soundcard to output the best sound.Also, if you're listening to MP3's or WMA's like I use primarily, make sure to encode the music in a high-bitrate for optimum sound quality and clarity to match your kickin' soundcard and speaker system (I use 192kbps WMA Pro 9.2, which is FAR superior to standard 128kbps MP3's you find on the internet).For my computer setup, I have a laptop (no secondary desktop) and a docking station. I couldn't stand the crappy 16-bit onboard audio from my laptop to go with my Klipsch ProMedia's or my Sennheiser HD280Pro headphones (which are amazing!); that is why I HAD to get a nice 24-bit external card for my laptop setup. I don't regret the purchase! Don't settle for anything less than Creative for a new soundcard, but don't go with their speaker systems.... they're overpriced and underpowered compared to the other systems out there.Overall, the card is amazing, the external controls on the box are VERY nice, the gold-plated headphone and microphone jacks keep the signal very clean, and it offers both Digital Optical and SPDIF (coaxial) outputs to connect to a home theater receiver (instead of directly to headphones or PC speakers), and has jacks for a full 5.1 surround sound PC speaker setup (although I only use the "front" jack for my 2.1 speakers). The software is VERY nice and easy to use; it even recognizes automatically what type of output you have plugged in, whether it be headphones, PC speakers, or a digital receiver. The software also contains CMSS to simulate a 5.1 signal from any stereo signal, such as a CD or MP3's, which works decently in my past experience with Creative.The only "con" that I've found is that this sound card is USB 1.1, instead of the modern "standard" USB 2.0, which means that the bandwidth to the soundcard can become restricted. The only problem this causes is if you are trying to monitor the microphone input with the 24-bit 96kHz option enabled; it automatically reduces the bitrate output to 16-bit and gives you a warning that the microphone monitoring has ate-up all the bandwidth and that it is now unable to symultaneously output in 24-bits. This isn't a big deal, as you can switch the output back to 24-bits after you've finished with microphone monitoring. I rarely use a microphone, so it's not too big of a deal.BUY THIS PRODUCT! I'm telling you, you won't find a better external USB 24-bit 96kHz sound card out there, especially for only $50, unless Creative releases a USB 2.0 version.

Quite often Spotify crashes while listening to music using this card or the card generates transient noise at very high volume. This only happens while listening to Spotify and never happened with the in-built card before. Still, the sound is great so I keep the card and occasionally I have to re-plug it.Pro:- very good sound quality (waaay better than the inbuilt card in my Lenovo)Cons:- buggy with SpotifyMachine: Lenovo W500, Win 7 64 bit

Contrary to what many opinions on the net, this USB audio device will work with OS X Tiger WITHOUT additional drivers. To use the device just plug it in and go to System Preferences/Sound and select Sound Blaster Live! External for the input/output devices. That's all that you need to do to get stereo sound and an amplified mic jack to work. If you want to use the 5.1 capability you'll need to configure additional speakers. Open Applications/Utility/Audio MIDI Setup. Select SB Live! for Input and Output. Select SB Live! under the Properties For menu. Under Audio Output, Select 6-16bit or 6-24bit for Format. (note: it is not recommended to connect this device to a USB hub-- if you have to connect it to a hub it may limit your output options) Click Configure Speakers. Click MultiChannel and select 5.1 Surround. You should be able to click on the buttons for the various speakers and hear static tests.I have played back a DVD with 5.1 using VLC without any problems. I was not able to get WoW to work with 5.1 yet though.Problems: The volume/mute controller on the box itself will not work. The mute button will mute the audio but not unmute it (you can still unmute from the keyboard though). Also, if you plug headphones in it will mute the sound (which you can unmute from the keyboard).

Sound was much poorer than the ad let on. The sound was thin and slurred the "s'ss"....If you are using a cheap set of computer speakers where everything sound like ringing a bell in a tin can, then you may like it. If you use a good $1000 sound system, don't waste your money. Also the seller was rude, unprofessional, and I give a poor rating to also.

Only plays at low bit rates, so the integrated audio on the motherboard sounds better. You will get higher volume than your regular notebook sound.

I bought this external card because my newly purchased Grado had just shown me the limits of my onboard sound card with all its hisses and pops which irritated me to no end!!!...anyways now on to the product review...1. The sound improvement was phenomenal with just the 16 bit settings on and these really put my Grado and my Logitech X-230's to the test in terms of quality with a huge explosion in sound all the way from the depths of the low end to the beautiful highs...and the hollowness I had b4 which was probably a lack of midrange was gone and replaced with a full sound...and thats not even at 24 bit ;-)2. The fact that I have an external card is a huge plus because it eliminates all that excess electrical noise that just bothers me to no end with regular internal sound cards!!3. It gave me a performance boost in games which was a very surprising and welcome benefit of the card!!4. The extra jacks for optical out and surround sound components gives me future options which is always nice.5. Alot of people ran into a wall with their bandwith but I haven't had that issue at all seeing as I play music and see videos at the same time(only when changing back and forth) and I can use my internet and operate my computer without any slowdown unlike other unlucky ppl here :)So all in all it's a product thats worth every cent.