Agent Mulder... : ) (hehe)
I found a few notes about the live that talks about some good stuff.
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3DsoundSurge Goes To The UK Creative Party: Creatives 8 3Dstreams And Possibly 16? - 9:02am EST - Simon
Hot from the UK launch of the SB Live! I've got some very interesting news for you all. These questions were posed to all the right people, including Franco de Bonis (European brand manager for MM kits) and Jan Hauer (European brand manager for audio). So here we go.
1) The UK official RRP is œ149 inc VAT
2) The 'official' launch date is Sep 1st, but stock is VERY limited
Right, now onto the 3dss exclusives. Dolby Digital/AC-3. The Live! DOES have the power to decode AC-3 in the chip - Creative are working on it at the moment. In this case, you can either use your four speakers OR buy the proposed 'break-out box' for the Digital DIN connector, that will give you a set of Analogue line out's that you can do with as you wish. This break out box is PROPOSED. For definite will be the Desktop Theatre system, which we all know about. Desktop Theatre will do Dolby Prologic as well as AC-3. No other surround options are being considered at this time, but Creative constantly stress the power of the 10K1. Apparently, nearly 1/2 of the power is unharnessed. Future driver updates (I am assured) WILL bring new functionality.
8 3D sound streams. Creative AGAIN say the Live! can handle 16 - it's just *they* don't see a need for 16 at the moment. This is a point moot - but it's a case of public demand - future driver updates and all that jazz. Public demand is all important.
With regards to the rumours of the Live! Pro that have been circulating, this was a planned product, to fit somewhere between the Live! and the EMU APS. However, Creative did not see a market for it, and dropped it. There is *another* version of the SB Live! in the works - a 'Value' version. Creative have no plans to bring out a 'Gold' version of the card.
The SP/DIF output is NOT locked to 48Khz in hardware, Jan Hauer assures me. This can be changed.
The 'Volume Control' connector on the card is currently under consideration i.e. Creative have got bigger fish to fry at the moment.
A 'Soundworks' version of the '4-point surround' is currently being played around with. Franco de Bonis says the reason they went with PC Works for the 4-point was purely one of cost. They even have an internal only 'Movieworks', with 4 big speakers, a nice centre channel and a whopping great sub. This is currently an internal product only and is probably one of the many Live! internal prototypes that won't make it to the market. Franco says it wouldn't be cheap.
Right, those are my notes. I've got the ear of a few people at Creative Europe now, and my Live! card should be here sometime in September. Rest assured, 3DSS will keep on the case for future software upgrades for the LIie!
Note that on the train ON THE WAY BACK I bought PCW. It seems that if you buy a Live (102+vat) and 4-point surround (65+vat) from Dabs Direct, they will give you œ15 cashback. Don't know if this is a Creative deal or not. Keep it 3D, Simon
3dss.vup3d.com
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