Hi all,
I've seen a number of people looking at getting a new sound card lately,
usually picking between the Diamond MX300 and the Sound Blaster Live. And a
number of people complaining of sound problems in Nascar Racing 1999 Edition
ever since release, usually with some sort of PCI soundcard.
Well, the solution may be just as simple as spending $60 on a Sound Blaster
Live Value (mail order or OEM version at local computer shops) - or $100 on
one at Best Buy, CompUSA etc. Works GREAT for me. My previous card was a
Turtle Beach Montego A3D card (based on the Vortex 1 chipset), which worked
better than the SB PCI64 that was on my P2-400's motherboard, but had it's
own problems. First off, NR99 had really horrid sound, unless you played
with the volume levels a lot and even then was not up to N2 on my old AWE
64. In GPL, it sounded good, but I had the shaking arms syndrome pretty
bad - and a jumpy brake in calibration. The gameport had a "digital" mode
to smooth out stuff like this, and when that was enabled it was better but
still there. Last, but not least, was the fact that this card seemed to
require a LOT of CPU usage, especially when using it's A3D sound in games
like Half-Life, Tribes etc.
The last area is what made me consider a new card - my thinking is the sound
card, video card, etc. should be taking a load OFF the CPU, not adding to
it. And I'd get the bonus of rear speaker support. The MX300 is based on
the newer Vortex 2 chipset, which should speed things up vs. the Vortex 1,
and add more 3D sound power, but I was somewhat wary based on my Vortex 1
problems. The SB Live seemed to barely use the CPU at all in most tests
I've seen, and has been praised here a number of times for increasing GPL
framerates. It's weakness is that the 3D sound is supposedly not as good as
the MX300, but not by that much. Not that many games that support it now
anyway so not that big of a concern for me.
So I got the SB Live, popped it into the 400 with no problems. To see if it
helped things, I fired up NR99 - worked perfect. Put the sound levels on
default, and it sounded just like N2 - also seemed the bass was more
prominent using the Live. No spotter distortions or weird engine sounds
like before.
Ok, then to GPL. Just a few laps around Kyalami in a qualifying session,
but WOW. First off, I go into calibration, everything is smooth - no jumpy
brake here. Get into the car in the pits, NO shaking. NONE. Rock solid.
I had thought previously that my TM NASCAR Pro was just getting flaky in old
age, but it was my old sound card. Now maybe I can master this sim (AS IF -
LOL) This is terrific in and of itself, but the sounds knocked me off my
chair. Using the sound patches, my Coventry was sounding very, very nice,
and the cars around me were terrific. It just did NOT sound like this on
the old card, and it's not just because I have some speakers behind me
either. From what I've read it should boost framerates a bit too, haven't
really checked into that yet.
If you're having any problems soundcard-wise, this may be the cure - works
for me!!
--
Ken
"If I went 'round claiming I was Emperor because some
moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away" - anonymous
peasant
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
snip
Your right Ken, I have been very pleased with my LiveValue. It sounds
awesome with N99 and GPL, and the gameport is sooo smooth. I've had mine for
a couple months now, and have been very pleased. This is definitely the next
generation of sound cards.
--
Don Burnette
Palmetto Racing
Dburn on Ten
Is there any big differences between the OEM and retail boxed version?
Sounds like I need one of these for GPL!
Kevin Caldwell
Retail version is $54 at buycomp.com, + shipping.
Brian Fox
http://www.geocities.com/~foxman
If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
>Is there any big differences between the OEM and retail boxed version?
>Sounds like I need one of these for GPL!
>Is there any big differences between the OEM and retail boxed version?
>Sounds like I need one of these for GPL!
>Kevin Caldwell
Not that I could tell, other than software bundle. My OEM version only had
the driver CD, so you don't get the games, but other than that is the same
hardware. Can't remember what comes with the boxed version, but looking at
it in the store I didn't see anything I couldn't live without to save $40.
I think it was like demos of Half-Life and Unreal and some other stuff.
If you want a few more FPS, and especially if you have any sound and / or
joystick problems, this card does seem to be the ticket for GPL, etc.
--
Ken
"If I went 'round claiming I was Emperor because some
moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away" - anonymous
peasant
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
I'm kicking myself for not buying one sooner (and not waiting on it to come
out before I bought my Montego in the first place). That's the funny thing,
I kept reading where the Montego had a great gameport, due to it being
"accelerated" much like a PDPI gamecard, and that was one reason I got it.
But with the NASCAR Pro it works MUCH better on the Live.
--
Ken
"If I went 'round claiming I was Emperor because some
moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away" - anonymous
peasant
Go #43 and #44!
volksy (at) geocities (dot) com
volksy (at) yahoo (dot) com
>> Hi all,
>> I've seen a number of people looking at getting a new sound card lately,
>> usually picking between the Diamond MX300 and the Sound Blaster Live.
And
>a
>> number of people complaining of sound problems in Nascar Racing 1999
>Edition
>> ever since release, usually with some sort of PCI soundcard.
>> Well, the solution may be just as simple as spending $60 on a Sound
>Blaster
>> Live Value (mail order or OEM version at local computer shops) - or $100
>on
>> one at Best Buy, CompUSA etc. Works GREAT for me
>snip
>Your right Ken, I have been very pleased with my LiveValue. It sounds
>awesome with N99 and GPL, and the gameport is sooo smooth. I've had mine
for
>a couple months now, and have been very pleased. This is definitely the
next
>generation of sound cards.
>--
>Don Burnette
>Palmetto Racing
>Dburn on Ten
There are differences. Check out Creative's web site. It would seem
that if you are not a musician or die hard audio fan, the value will
fit the bill nicely. I have just purchased one and it does make
sound...this is all I needed :).
Mike
Hey Kevin...
I got an OEM one and it's awesome! Especially Patrick's *real* engine
sounds... they sound really great. Like the other posts here, I don't
think I need the PDPI now, because the gameport seems to be better than
my old SB16, too.
-_Dave
--
Dave Schwabe
The Aussie Toad -- Grand Prix Legends & Brabham site
http://users.wi.net/~schwabe
