Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PCI Sound Card

Manufacturer:	Creative Labs
List price:	~~$49.99~~
Our price:	that is 100% off!

Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PCI Sound Card

Average rating: Stars

An effective basic soundcard

I keep a lot of computer equipment at home, due to the fact that I am an A+ technician working to complete my MCSE (microsoft certified systems engineer) credentials. I bought a pre-owned computer from ebay last month in order to practice setting up computer networks at home. This particular computer is a business-class desktop, designed more for the office environment rather than the typical entertainment PC that we would normally have at home. I decided to add DVD capability to this system, in order to enjoy a movie at my work desk whenever the mood strikes me to take a break from work (which happens quite frequently). I added a Sony DVD player, this particular Soundblaster soundcard, and a pair of Cambridge Soundworks speakers. Within thirty minutes, I was watching The Lord of Rings.

Now, about the Soundblaster. This is a very good Soundcard for its intended purpose. Which is to provide basic sound functionality to a desktop computer. The sound quality is good enough to enjoy listening to stereo sounds from music CDs and DVDs. But please, do not expect this card to provide you with theatre-like surround sound quality. This is definitely the wrong price range if you need that kind of quality.

I compared the sound quality of this office system to my primary home system. My home system is a Dell Dimension 8200, with a Turtle Beach Soundcard and the Altec Lansing surround system. I switched the mode of operation of the Altec Lansings from surround to stereo for comparison purposes between the two systems. Subjectively, you can definitely tell the difference between the two.

I can recommend this Soundblaster to anyone who is simply looking to add stereo sound to his or her desktop computer. It is inexpensive and easy to install. It will require the use of one of your PCI slots. For your information, I installed this card on an IBM 300PL desktop PC. The system has a Pentium III processor and 128 MB of RAM. It is running an evaluation copy of Windows 2000 Advanced Server. The DVD player is a Sony DDU1621 and the Monitor is a KDS 17 inch flat screen CRT. If you are interested, I wrote reviews on the KDS monitor and the Sony DVD player, here at Amazon.

Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PCI Sound Card - Creative Labs

Drivers are unreliable

I installed this card in a new home built computer. When I got Windows XP installed the sound came on and sounded fine with the generic drivers provided by Windows XP. I then proceeded to install the drivers that came with the sound card. After installing the Creative drivers I discovered the sound on some of my games was distorted. I rolled back the drivers to the generic XP drivers and the sounds returned to normal. The only problem is I have no access to the advanced features in the audio control panel. I can adjust volume control but I have no way to adjust the treble or bass or other effects. If I reinstall the Creative drivers those functions return but then so does the distortion.

Creative Labs - Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PCI Sound Card

Be careful what is written on the box

I purchased the Creative Sound Blaster 16 PCI card to replace my built in sound engine. The installation was simple, typical of a pci card. The inclosed directions to install the card were ample to do the job. They sell these items at Walmart so I took a look at the box before coming back to Amazon and buying at a better price. It does say on the box this card is Windows XP compatible. It will work but the drivers on the installation disk are not Microsoft "signed" which means you must force the driver installation. Again, not a big thing, Windows XP took the drivers and the card worked fine. Typical of using any software or hardware in Windows XP, it is a good idea to go online immediately for an XP compatable/updated driver. That I did, found one from Creative's website; downloaded and installed it. Here is where you must be very careful. My very latest version of Windows XP/SP1 loaded this latest driver and then the sound system promptly shutdown. No sound at all came from the speakers. I rebooted a couple of times thinking the reset would correct the problem. It didn't nor did XP indicate a problem with the hardware or driver in the system/hardware file. Fortunately XP allowed me to go back to the earlier driver and the sound was back on. So if you have Windows XP and this card, be sure not to destroy the installation cd because Creative's new driver does not work on XP, at least not on mine.

The sound from the card is just fine. I don't really see much of a difference between this card and my original onboard AC97 engine but I spent the money so I'll keep it. Maybe a new set of speaks will help.

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