Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

B.I.L · Mar 21, 2001, 06:43 PM

I thought I'd start a thread on the SoundBlaster Live! Mac. MacNN reports it has shipped. Some questions I have and I'm sure others do as well: (Creative's page for it is lacking lots of details)

1. Ports - What ports are on the card? It is my understanding it has MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, headphones OUT, sound IN, digital optical OUT, 4-channel OUT. I would like more specific info, like can I plug a normal mic in the sound in, and what plugs are the 4-channel outs.

2. OS X - Can it do anything at all under OS X? Doubt it.

3. Processor load / games - Does the card take over the sound duties from the processor? Do games run faster with the card?

I don't expect answers right away, I figure as people start getting these over the next few days they could share some knowledge.

Thanks.

G4ME · Mar 21, 2001, 09:37 PM

all of the sounds you hear in a game are created by sound manager which puts a little strain on the CPU so yes the sound card will speed up games a little. For sound in and out I know for shure that it will have four chanle out to use the 3D sound in deus ex wich by the way is bundled wit the card. bonus

------------------
I Have a Super Computer

IFLY2HIGH · Mar 22, 2001, 09:13 AM

Check out there Web Site for more information.

The ports are a bit different from the pc version I used, but there web site tells all.

------------------
- Eric

B.I.L · Mar 22, 2001, 11:15 AM

Ah, they changed their web page. Yesterday it was only one page that listed features and software.

I'm very happy to see both a line level input and a mic level input.

RCA outs would kick a$$ for hooking up to a stereo, but it looks pretty full back there, so it's cool. I can use an adapter. Actually, I hope I can use the out on the card and on the G4 at the same time (one to my stereo, one to my computer speakers).

I assume the kit includes an adpter for the MIDI hook-ups.

Can't wait for EAX Quake III and UT!

But wait, it's all sort of moot until I can use it on X...

TheDoctor · Mar 22, 2001, 12:06 PM

The other day, someone mentioned a "Creative" sub-folder in the OS X folder on their iDisk. I don't think the the release of the SB Live! two days before the release of OS X , along with the appearance of that Creative folder is a coincidence.

davidflas · Mar 22, 2001, 12:08 PM

My question is: Will I be able to buy one at CompUSA this weekend when I go there to pick up my copy of OSX?

------------------
"life is pain, Highness, anyone who tells you different is selling something."--The Man in Black from The Princess Bride

davidflas · Mar 22, 2001, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by TheDoctor:
The other day, someone mentioned a "Creative" sub-folder in the OS X folder on their iDisk. I don't think the the release of the SB Live! two days before the release of OS X , along with the appearance of that Creative folder is a coincidence.

I wonder if the folder was titled "creative" or "Creative". If its lowercase then its a folder for software that falls into the catagory of creative, if its the uppercase then that should be drivers and other stuff for the card. Does anybody else wonder about that?

------------------
"life is pain, Highness, anyone who tells you different is selling something."--The Man in Black from The Princess Bride

TheDoctor · Mar 22, 2001, 01:28 PM

The way it was posted made it seem like it was a "Creative" folder and not a "creative" folder. I would check mine, but the stupid firewall here prevents me from accessing it.

Reportedly, there were also folders with names like "Adobe" and such.

I would take this as a good sign.

B.I.L · Mar 23, 2001, 12:01 PM

I just checked my iDisk.

iDisk > Software > Mac OS X Software > Software Library >

Contains:
Creative, Games, Home, Productivity, Utilities and Web

Seems like catagories, not companies. Creative is empty.

I know that putting together the software bundle is why the SoundBlaster took as long as it did to ship. I'm afraid we'll see another lengthy delay before an X version of everything is ready.

Too bad, I really wanted sound-in and MIDI on the G4 533 I'm getting (and will be installing OS X onto first thing).

davidflas · Mar 23, 2001, 12:26 PM

After checking my iDisk last night, I agree. It looks like the creative folder is a catagory, not the name of a company. It would be nice to think that it will be X compatible right out of the box, but we'll have to see what happens once people get them in their Macs and actually start using them.

------------------
"life is pain, Highness, anyone who tells you different is selling something."--The Man in Black from The Princess Bride

OverclockedHomoSapien · Mar 25, 2001, 02:23 AM

The soundblaster card will not work under OS X, or even under classic in OS X. Creative has no intentions of releasing OS X drivers for the card anytime soon. If you want to use it, then you must boot into OS 9 first. Yes, the wait for this card will result in no OS X support.

I learned all this from the XLR8yourmac audio forum, there are a few guys from Creative Labs that post info about the soundblaster there. Looks like we can expect driver updates for Soundblaster to be about as common as Blue Footed Boobies.

Mar 26, 2001, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by OverclockedHomoSapien:
The soundblaster card will not work under OS X, or even under classic in OS X. Creative has no intentions of releasing OS X drivers for the card anytime soon. If you want to use it, then you must boot into OS 9 first. Yes, the wait for this card will result in no OS X support.

I learned all this from the XLR8yourmac audio forum, there are a few guys from Creative Labs that post info about the soundblaster there. Looks like we can expect driver updates for Soundblaster to be about as common as Blue Footed Boobies.

You forgot to mention that it's because the details for developing PCI audio drivers that work under OS X haven't been made available from Apple. If they'd been available a year ago, we'd be looking at OS X only drivers in the SB Live! box today.

Daishi · Mar 27, 2001, 01:11 AM

Originally posted by Open Al:
You forgot to mention that it's because the details for developing PCI audio drivers that work under OS X haven't been made available from Apple. If they'd been available a year ago, we'd be looking at OS X only drivers in the SB Live! box today.

And they'd only work with the Public Beta....

------------------
not strong - only aggressive
not free - we only licensed
not compassionate - only polite
not good - but well behaved

Mar 31, 2001, 01:40 AM

I'm getting VERY tired of waiting for my SoundBlaster Card. I've had mine pre-ordered for two months from Outpost. They supposedly started shipping a week and a half ago but their own store has them back ordered. No one has recieved a shipment of these cards. Where the heck are they???? How the heck did Creative labs ship them, with a stamp? I know they must have filled the pre-orders from the Mac World Expo Show first but come on Creative, where are they. I'd love to buy one from you if you'd just sell me the stinkin' thing

dylanw · Apr 2, 2001, 09:15 AM

Originally posted by webraider:
I'm getting VERY tired of waiting for my SoundBlaster Card. I've had mine pre-ordered for two months from Outpost. They supposedly started shipping a week and a half ago but their own store has them back ordered. No one has recieved a shipment of these cards. Where the heck are they???? How the heck did Creative labs ship them, with a stamp? I know they must have filled the pre-orders from the Mac World Expo Show first but come on Creative, where are they. I'd love to buy one from you if you'd just sell me the stinkin' thing

If it makes you feel better (and I doubt that it will), I ordered mine at the Expo and I still haven't gotten it yet. I called their customer service line several times last week and got an " any day now" response every time.