MP3 with full Environmental Audio support is only part of what this card can offer. Gamers will find this card supports most of the popular standards including DirectSound 3D, EAX 1.0 and above, A3D 1.0 (in software) and Sound Blaster. 3D sound positioning is accurate even through headphones and EAX really add that extra realism to games. By using the powerful EMU10K1 digital sound processor to generate the EAX effects, Creative ensures that game play, even with older legacy titles, is smooth and sounds are clear and free of distortion.

Installation of the card is relatively easy provided you load the Windows 9x drivers from the CD install program, rather than letting Windows attempt to plug and play the card. In addition to drivers, the Sound Blaster Live! Player includes an excellent software bundle comprising a full version of Descent and lite versions of four other 3D EAX game titles.

The Live! Player card is also fully supported under Windows NT and 2000. Included in Creatives software bundle are 9x and NT packages for controlling and defining your own EAX environments, operating the card through AudioHQ, downloading new instruments using SoundFonts (with many additional SoundFonts available via download), RIP, processing and playing MP3 music and manipulating WAV audio files.

However the most exciting feature of the Creative Live! sound cards is that all of them can be upgraded to the latest version through software by flashing the EMU10K1 processor to add additional functionality. While software upgradeable sound cards are not new, other cards either downloaded the software onto the sound card or offloaded sound processing onto the computer.

If you are a professional audio producer, you will find that the quality of this card is comparable to cards costing considerably more. The quoted signal to noise ratio is claimed to be 96dB - CD quality - although in practice, on a Pentium II computer, I found it to be 80dB, which is a negligible discrepancy. The card ships with gold connectors and an SPDIF digital output jack that can be used with the optional Digital Output Module for connection to DAT or Minidisc recorders. If you want to go fully digital, the card can be upgraded with the Live! Drive making the card the equivalent of the Live! Platinum card (reviewed issue 33, p92).

Provided that Creative continues to support its Live! range of sound cards, which is likely given its excellent track record for supporting legacy hardware, the Live! Player may well be the last card you ever buy. If you are purchasing a new computer, insist on one of these cards and if you already have a sound card, upgrade it if you can. This card is complete. In fact the only thing you may want to add is a set of Cambridge Digital speakers for the full surround sound experience.