Sound Blaster Live! Value User Guide On-line Version
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SBLIVEFM.book Page 2 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Creative Technology Ltd. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the written permission of Creative Technology Ltd.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 3 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM C re a ti v e End- Us e r So ft wa re Lic e ns e Ag ree m e nt Ve r s i o n 2 . 0 , J u n e 1 9 9 8 PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE. BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT, DO NOT OPEN THE SEALED DISK PACKAGE, INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 4 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 7. Network Version If you have purchased a “network” version of the Software, this Agreement applies to the installation of the Software on a single “file server”. It may not be copied onto multiple systems. Each “node” connected to the “file server” must also have its own license of a “node copy” of the Software, which becomes a license only for that specific “node”. 8.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 5 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Safety Information CAUTION: This device is intended to be installed by the user in a CSA/TUV/UL certified/listed IBM AT or compatible personal computers in the manufacturer’s defined operator access area. Check the equipment operating/installation manual and/or with the equipment manufacturer to verify/confirm if your equipment is suitable for user-installed application cards.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 6 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Notice for Canada This apparatus complies with the Class “B” limits for radio interference as specified in the Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference Regulations. Cet appareil est conforme aux normes de CLASSE “B” d’interference radio tel que spe’cifie’ par le Ministère Canadien des Communications dans les règlements d’interfe’rence radio.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 7 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Declaration of Conformity According to the FCC96 208 and ET95-19 Name: Creative Labs Inc. Address: 1901 McCarthy Boulevard Milpitas, CA. 95035 United States Tel: (408) 428-6600 declares under its sole responsibility that the product Trade Name: Creative Labs Model Number: CT4670 has been tested according to the FCC / CISPR22/85 requirement for Class B devices and found compliant with the following standards: EMI/EMC: ANSI C63.
SBLIVEFM.book Page v Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Contents Introduction ......................................................................................... xi System Requirements ............................................................................................................................... xii Before You Begin ......................................................................................................................... xii Getting More Information.......................
SBLIVEFM.book Page vi Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM SoundFont Caching...........................................................................................................20 SoundFont Device.............................................................................................................20 Device Controls .............................................................................................................................20 Playback Sessions .......................................
SBLIVEFM.book Page vii Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 3 Troubleshooting ..................................................................................41 Installing Software .....................................................................................................................................41 Sound..........................................................................................................................................................41 SoundFonts.......................
SBLIVEFM.book Page xi Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Introduction Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of Sound Blaster™ Live!™ Value—the ultimate platform for the Environmental Audio experience. At the heart of Sound Blaster Live! Value is EMU10K1™, a new processor from E-mu Systems based on E-mu’s highly acclaimed Emulator IV sound module and Darwin hard disk recorder.
SBLIVEFM.book Page xii Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM System Requirements For Creative software, your cards require at least: ❐ Pentium® class 133 MHz or equivalent processor ❐ Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT 4.0 ❐ 16 MB RAM for Windows 95/98 (32 MB RAM recommended), 32 MB RAM for Windows NT 4.0 ❐ 72 MB of free hard disk space for Windows 95/98; 55 MB for Windows NT 4.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 1 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 1 Installing Sound Blaster Live! Value Installing your audio card requires you to perform the following steps: • Install the audio card • Install the Creative audio software • Test the installation. Most of the items you need for installation are included. The following illustration shows the basic components necessary for a complete installation.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 2 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Before you remove the computer cover, touch a grounded metal surface to discharge static electricity. To install the audio card: 1. Turn off your computer, and disconnect the power cable. 2. Disconnect the monitor and other devices that are connected to the computer. 3. Remove the computer cover. 3 2 ENGLISH Installing the Audio Card 1 Remove or disable any existing audio card and its driver from your computer.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 3 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 5 ENGLISH 5. Align the gold-striped tabs on the bottom of the audio card with the PCI slot, and firmly press the card into place until it fits snugly. 6. Use the screw from the slot cover to secure the audio card to the frame of the computer—securing the card with the screw assures proper grounding. 7 6 CD audio connector You may want to connect the data cable to the audio card before inserting it. 7.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 4 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 8. Connect your speakers, headphones, microphone, joystick, MIDI devices, or other devices to the back panel of the audio card. Stereo, CD player, tape deck, etc. Microphone If you are connecting a single pair of powered speakers (or headphones), you must use the third jack. Use the fourth jack if you are connecting an additional pair of powered speakers. See the next section, “Configuring the Speakers,” for detailed information.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 5 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Configuring the Speakers The best speaker configuration for Sound Blaster Live! Value depends on the type and number of speakers you have connected to the audio card. For the best audio, Creative’s Cambridge SoundWorks PCWorks FourPointSurround speaker system is an excellent complement to Sound Blaster Live! Value After installing the Creative Software, open the Speaker utility from the AudioHQ to select the speaker configuration.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 6 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To achieve the best possible sound when playing DVD titles, connect your PC-DVD drive to Sound Blaster Live! Value with an MPC-to-MPC (4-pin) audio cable; connect Sound Blaster Live! Value to the Encore Dxr2 decoder card with an MPC-to-JST audio cable.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 7 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM With the AUDIO_OUT connector on the Encord Dxr2 decoder card connected to the AUX_IN connector on Sound Blaster Live! Value, you must enable the AUX input on the Mixer as shown below. ENGLISH AUX input icon—click the speaker icon (below) to enable Two Speakers or Headphones If you have a two-speaker system or want to use headphones, connect to Sound Blaster Live! Value through the Line Out jack—third from the top.
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Installing the Creative Software The Sound Blaster Live! Value software contains drivers necessary for operation and utilities to make the most of the audio card. The software installation varies according to your computer’s operating system: ❐ Windows 95 ❐ Windows 98 ❐ Windows NT Windows 95 When you turn on your computer, Windows 95 automatically detects the new hardware, and prompts you for the software installation disk.
Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, right-click your CD-ROM drive icon, and click on AutoPlay to start the Creative audio software install if the CD is in the drive. You must install the Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value software in order to use the audio card effectively. D:\AUDIO\ENGLISH\WIN95DRV (D:\ represents your CD-ROM drive). Click OK to install the Windows 95 drivers. 4. If prompted, install the gameport/joystick drivers from the installation CD.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 11 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 7. Next, the Software License Agreement appears. Read the text and click on the Yes button if you accept the terms of the agreement. The README file follows. Please read the file for any last minute information not included in this manual. Click Next when finished. ENGLISH 7 8. Next, you are asked to accept the default destination directory, or enter a new directory. When the directory is correct, click the Next button. 8 9.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 12 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 10. The Select Program Folder dialog allows you to select the folder to which the audio software is to be installed, or you may confirm the default selection. Click the Next button when the Program Folder is correct. 11. The Installation Information dialog lists the installation selections you have made. To make changes to your selections, click on the Back button until you reach the screen with the option to be changed.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 13 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM ENGLISH 12. The Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value installation screen, similar to that shown to the right, appears to inform you of the progress of the installation. 13. You may be prompted to restart your computer—restart your computer for the drivers to take effect. 14. To install the additional software, insert Sound Blaster Live! Value Disk 1 and Disk 2, each time selecting the software that you want to install.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 14 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Windows 98 The following instructions describe the Sound Blaster Live! Value installation in Windows 98. If no sound is heard, see “Sound” on page 47 in Chapter 3, “Troubleshooting” for tips. Windows NT 1. The Windows 98 Add New Hardware Wizard automatically detects the Sound Blaster Live! Value and attempts to locate the driver media provided by the manufacturer. Insert Disk 1 into your CD-ROM drive and click the Next button. 2.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 15 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To test the installation: 1. Click in the task bar; select Programs, Creative, and PlayCenter from the menus. The Creative PlayCenter appears. Alternatively, open the PlayCenter by selecting its icon on the Creative Launcher. 1 2. On the PlayCenter, click the Media icon and select Open Media File. 3. Use the Browse dialog to find Creative, SBLive, and Media.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 15 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Sound Blaster Live! Value is supported by a full-range of applications to help you get the absolute most from the audio card: ❐ SB Live! Tour ❐ Creative Launcher ❐ AudioHQ • SoundFonts • Device Controls • Creative Keyboard • Sound Graph • Creative Mixer • Speaker • Environmental Audio ❐ Soundo’LE ❐ Wave Studio ❐ Creative PlayCenter Other software included with Sound Blaster Live! Value may be on Disk 1 or another CD-ROM disk.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 16 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Creative Launcher allows you to organize your desktop and open Creative applications quickly. The Creative Launcher is installed at the top of your screen. If it does not appear, move your mouse pointer to the top of the screen. As the pointer reaches the top of the screen, it changes to a pointing hand and the Creative Launcher displays as a bar window.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 17 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM AudioHQ can be accessed from the Creative Launcher or by opening the Programs menu from the Windows taskbar—click Start, select Programs, select Creative, and click on AudioHQ. AudioHQ uses the familiar Windows group to display the icon for each utility: ENGLISH AudioHQ The AudioHQ interface has the standard look and feel of the Windows Control Panel.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 18 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM SoundFonts Creative SoundFont Control allows you to configure MIDI banks with SoundFont files and instruments, as well as set the caching algorithm and space. Configure a MIDI Bank To configure a MIDI bank: ENGLISH Setting the maximum amount of cache memory for SoundFont files does not mean setting aside or reserving the space. The space can still be used by your computer or other files, if needed. 1.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 19 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To configure an instrument 1. In the SoundFont dialog, click the Configure Instrument tab. 2. In the Select Bank list, select the bank whose instruments you want to configure. You can select any bank. 3. In the Select Instrument list, select the instrument to configure. In the Instrument Stack, you may see an instrument entry although you did not load an instrument on this page.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 20 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM SoundFont Caching To specify the caching algorithm: 1. On the Options tab page of the SoundFont Control dialog, select an algorithm from the SoundFont Cache list. Set the amount of cache for SoundFont files: ENGLISH 1. On the Options tab page of the SoundFont Control dialog, move the SoundFont Cache slider to the set the amount of cache. SoundFont Device To change the SoundFont device 1.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 21 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Wave Blaster Emulation To enable Wave Blaster emulation (if available): 1. On the MIDI tab page, select the Wave Blaster Emulation check box. All MIDI output to Wave Blaster is redirected to the AWE device. ENGLISH Wave Blaster emulation is required to hear sound from games that do not directly support the AWE device. That is, in the audio devices list of the games, there is no device with the label “AWE.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 22 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Creative Keyboard The Creative Keyboard allows you to play musical notes on various instruments much like a composer would play notes on a piano (or other instrument) while creating or arranging music. To edit the sound, use Vienna SoundFont Studio or another sound editor. MIDI Input To select a MIDI input device: 1. In the Select MIDI In box on the Options dialog, click the correct MIDI port. 2. Click the OK button.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 23 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Creative Sound Graph complements the Record Control view of Creative Mixer by giving a graphical view of the sounds mixed for recording. There are three display modes: ❐ VU Display Mode displays the playback signal levels of the left and right channels. ❐ Scope Display Mode displays the amplitude-to-time relationship between the playback signals.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 24 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM e F C D Au G di SP en o e D ra IF l P I n ur po s ENGLISH SP DI ID I M er xil ia ak Au Sp e ph icr o M PC ut on e D Au -C O Li ne M PC ss Ba Tr eb l e r M as te ry I Te n An lep (T sw ho AD e n ) ring e D W ev av ic e e Creative Mixer allows you to control, combine, and manipulate sound from various audio sources.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 25 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Playback To select a device in Play (or Volume) Control view: 1. Set the mute box for the device to not muted: Muted Balance Sliders Balance sliders are displayed on the bottom of the Mixer. Move the slider left of right to adjust the balance of sound from left or right. Re-center the balance by double-clicking on the slider. Volume Control To adjust the volume of a device: ENGLISH Not muted 1.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 26 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Effects settings are not applied to the recording output, so your recording will sound dry (without effects, if any). For wet (effects are included) recordings, select the “What U Hear” device icon. If you record in monaural and only the left channel can be heard during playback, record in “What U Hear” mode—available only if the “What U Hear” device icon is available on your mixer. See “Recording from Multiple Sources” for details.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 27 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM The Speaker (Play or Volume Control) controls affect the sound heard over the desktop speaker that is produced by the audio sources. The Speaker utility allows you to configure your speakers or headphones through the intuitive graphical interface to achieve the balance of effects you want. To configure your speakers: 1. On the Creative Launcher, select AudioHQ and doubleclick the Speaker icon.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 28 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 4. Try placing the sources around you. As you place them further away from you, they sound softer. You can place them anywhere—in front of you, behind you, at either side, diagonally, wherever. 1. In the dialog, click the Options tab. 2. In the Audio Device box, click the device you want to use.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 29 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Using multiple speakers, Sound Blaster Live! Value recreates and produces sounds realistically as you would hear them with the acoustics, such as reverberation, associated with the chosen location, such as a concert hall, room, cave, tunnel, etc. The Environmental Audio utility allows you to specify the elements that make up the sound for an environment.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 30 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM • To remove an effect from the environment: Select the effect and click the Remove button. 3. Repeat Step 2 until you are satisfied with the configuration. Then, save the settings into the current environment or, in the case of a default environment, save the settings as a new environment by typing a new name or the name of an existing custom environment in the Environment box, and click the Save button.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 31 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM In the MIDI tab page, you can map effects for MIDI playback. To set the effect amount, insert the controller command when you are authoring a MIDI file in a MIDI sequencer program such as CakeWalk. 1. In the Environmental Audio Control dialog, click the MIDI tab. 2. To assign a MIDI controller to an effect, click the Controller value in the Effects list and select from the drop-down list displayed.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 32 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM ENGLISH If the Always Save Changes Automatically check box on the Options tab page is selected, your revised settings are saved when you quit the Environmental Audio control utility. You cannot return to a previously saved environment unless you clear this check box. Soundo’LE Creative Soundo'LE plays and records wave (.WAV) data, and supports Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.0. To open a wave file: 1. On the File menu, click Open.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 33 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Embedding a Wave File When you embed a wave file, a copy of the wave file is placed in Soundo'LE and transferred to an application that supports Object Linking and Embedding (OLE). If you edit the wave file in Soundo'LE, the copy of the wave file in the application is not affected. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Linking Open Soundo'LE. Record a new wave file or open an existing wave file you want to embed. On the Edit menu, click Copy Sound As An Object.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 34 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM WaveStudio allows you to perform the following sound editing functions: ❐ Play, edit, and record 8-bit (tape quality) and 16-bit (CD quality) wave data. Enhance your wave data or create unique sounds with various special effects and editing operations such as rap, reverse, echo, mute, pan, cut, copy, and paste. ❐ Open and edit several wave files at the same time. ❐ Import and export raw (.RAW) data files.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 35 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To save a wave file: Playback The Audio menu allows you to control playback of your wave file in four ways: ❐ Selecting Auto Playback automatically plays the selected wave file, or the file from the location of the cursor. ❐ Loop Playback plays to and from the location of the cursor or the selection and back until it is deselected or until the Stop option is pressed. ❐ Play All Files plays all open wave files.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 36 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To record a new wave file: 1. Click the New button in the toolbar or on the File menu to open a new window. 2. From the Audio menu, click Record. The status bar below the file displays the message, “Performing Recording,” followed by the completion percentage. 3. To save the new file, go to the File menu, and click Save As. 4. Enter the new file name and click the OK button.
Special Effects Wave Studio allows you to create new sounds by adding one or more of the following special effects from the Special menu: ❐ Adjust Volume: Allows you to change the volume of wave files. ❐ Echo: Modifies sound to produce echoing. ❐ Fade-In/Fade-Out: Creates a fading in (soft to loud) or fading out (loud to soft). ❐ Insert Silence: Inserts a pause between sounds. ❐ Invert Waveform: Turns the wave form over along its horizontal axis.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 38 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM Using Volume Meter The Volume Meter is a three-colored bar with scales and markings located next to the wave file window or windows. The three-colored region represents the different loudness zones. The volume meter shows in decibels the loudness of your playback or recording. When recording, adjust the volume so that the sound level falls within the yellow zone.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 39 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM PlayCenter allows you to play most types of media, such as multimedia files (MIDI, Wave, etc.), audio CDs, Video CDs and DVD-Videos. Just insert or select your media and PlayCenter does the rest. PlayCenter also allows you to organize and arrange your multimedia files and tracks into albums. PlayCenter is usually launched automatically when you insert a disc into your CD-ROM/PC-DVD drive.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 40 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To play a multimedia file: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Launch PlayCenter. On the PlayCenter interface, click the Media button. On the Media menu, click Open Media File. The Open dialog appears. Select the multimedia file you wish to play by exploring the directories. Click the OK button. On the PlayCenter interface, click the Play button. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. ENGLISH To play a disc: Launch PlayCenter. Insert a disc into your CD-ROM/PC-DVD drive.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 41 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM To make PlayCenter the default player for discs: On the PlayCenter interface, click the System Menu icon. On the System menu, click Disc Detector. The Creative Disc Detector dialog appears. Click the Players tab page. Select the disc type in the list box and click the Select Player button. The Player Properties dialog appears. 5.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 41 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM 3 Troubleshooting This appendix provides tips for solving problems you may encounter during installation or normal use. In Windows 95/98, the installation does not start automatically after the CD-ROM is inserted. ENGLISH Installing Software The AutoPlay feature in your Windows 95/98 system may not be enabled. To start the installation program through the My Computer shortcut menu: 1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your Windows desktop. 2.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 42 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM In a 4-speaker configuration, there is no sound from the rear speakers. Check the following: ❑ The rear speakers are connected to the audio card’s Rear Out jack. ❑ In Creative Mixer’s Record Control view: • If a single source (for example, CD Audio, Line In, TAD, Auxiliary or Microphone) is playing, the check box for the source is selected.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 43 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM No audio output when playing CD-Audio. OR No audio output when playing DOS games that require a CD-ROM. To solve this problem: • SoundFonts Check the connections of the CD audio cable between the CD-ROM drive and the audio card. There is insufficient memory to load SoundFonts. ENGLISH This may occur when you a SoundFont-compatible MIDI file is loaded or played and insufficient memory is allocated.
SBLIVEFM.book Page 44 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM I/O Conflicts Conflicts between your audio card and another device may occur if they are set to use the same I/O address. To resolve I/O conflicts, change the resource settings of your audio card or the conflicting device using Device Manager in Windows 95/98. If you still are unable to determine which card is causing the conflict, remove all cards except the audio card and other essential cards (for example, disk controller and graphics cards).
SBLIVEFM.book Page 45 Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:45 AM The Creative PlayCenter is not launched when a DVD is inserted into the drive. To solve this problem: 1. In Creative Launcher, click Settings, and click the Disc Detector icon,. 2. On the General tab page of the Creative Disc Detector dialog, select Enable Disc Detector. 3. Click the Players tab. 4. Select the DVD Disc entry and then click the Select Player button. 5. In the Players Properties dialog, click the Browse button. 6.