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Noteworthy Features
Since the SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 has so much power, it can distort sound-yes, that's right-as it comes with presets for different voices. All you do is plug in the included microphone, punch in the voice you want, and then speak! You can even make yourself sound like Zeus! For those of you experienced in sound distortion, you can even make your own FX and voices by mixing the different FX's that are available!
 It also includes a neat little utility called the Live!Drive IR. Now, you say, what the heck is the Live!Drive IR anyway? Well, ever wanted to plug in headphones, or a minidisk recorder to your computer? Then you know how annoying it is to have to pull your computer out, reach behind and hope you get the right jack! All this changes with the Live!Drive IR. It brings the most commonly accessed jacks, and puts them right on the front of you computer in a 5.25-inch drive bay! This brings Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1's headphone and mic jacks, volume controls, S/PDIF coaxial, Optical In/Out, a few analog input connections, and semi-hidden MIDI In/Out jacks right in the reach of your fingertips.
But wait, there more! The best feature of the SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 I have left out... Wondered what the IR in the title stood for?? Well the IR is a infrared port put on the Live!Drive that allows you to control your computer, movie players, MP3 players and even the Internet on your computer, through the included remote! With video and sound players supported by the remote software, you can use the play/stop controls to control them.
Finally, we have Creative's Live!Ware. Live!Ware is a technology that uses the reprogrammable EMU10K1 Digital Signal Processor chip in conjunction with software updates. This means that with Live!Ware technology, all you have to do is download the software upgrade and boom! You got the latest in sound technology! Never worry about an outdated sound card again!
Software Bundle
Well... If you thought that the hardware was a wonderful package, wait until you see the software! It comes bundled with some hot new software including some full games. The games include:
And that's just the games. There are many sound editing, sound recording, CD burning, DJ mixing, and sound/movie playing software included. There is even KARAOKE software!
Installation and Performance
Well, let me tell you, the SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 isn't exactly the easiest card to install if you have a built-in sound card in your computer. You have to disable your old one on the motherboard-and so forth. It can really take a while to get working. [Ed: These problems will arise with any card, so we shouldn't blame Creative for them.] Creative's tech support is very friendly and very helpful, so if you get stuck along the way, just call them up (after all, you just spent $200 US to buy it!).
After you get everything all set up, it is sort of complex to actually set the settings you want, as there are too many mixer programs, and a bunch of weird settings that ordinary people like me and you would prefer not to be exposed to. Also, there really isn't enough in the actual hard-copy manual to help you out. You will either have to use the online help on CD or just figure it out yourself.
 On to: Conclusion
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