SoundBlaster Live! - Mac Edition

Sound Blaster Live!

No (analog) audio input on new Macs - a step forward or back? As you may know, a number of MKaqcintosh models lack analog audio inputs. This list includes (but is not necessarily limited to) Apple's 533 MHz-and-faster "QuickSilver" Macs, the iBook, G4 Cube, and models of the Titanium PowerBook G4 released prior to May 2002. (Apparently Steve Jobs wants us to go "all digital.") Thus, these models require extra hardware if you want to plug in a microphone, line input, tape deck, and so on.  There are inexpensive USB-to-analog audio adapters selling for about $35, but these gizmos tend to have compatibility problems -- the Griffin iMic converter isn't compatible with some video capture products, for example. Thus, you need to buy a third-party gadget or an optional sound card to get analog audio into a Mac that's being touted as a multimedia powerhouse.

Sound Blaster Live!

It looked as though Creative Labs had come the rescue with its announcement of a Mac-specific version of its market-leading PCI sound card, the SoundBlaster Live!. Originally planned to ship by the end of 2000, the Mac version of the card was previewed at Macworld expo in Jan. 2001 and began shipping in April. However, early buyers note a few audio glitches and compatibility snags. This, they reasoned, simply meant that  the driver needed more work. It would be fixed soon enough, right?

The months rolled by, and it soon became apparent that Creative Labs was dragging its feet, to say the least. Then, in late 2001, came the bad news from a former member of the company's Mac development team: work on the product had been all but shelved due to lacklustre sales. A driver update -- the first since the card's release -- finally appeared in May 2002, but the 1.1 "release candidate" still lacks support for OS X. The card runs under Mac OS 8.x or 9.x. There is, at this writing, no support at all for OS X-- apparently, the one and only development copy of the drivers for OS X disappeared in a major system crash. So, it's a classic chicken-and-egg situation: the company doesn't want to spend money on further development of the product because of poor sales, and sales are poor, because the product's not mature. There's not much Mac users can do but communicate with Creative Labs spokesperson Brian Souder, who posts messages fairly frequently on the forums at The MacGamer, and provide comments about the beta drivers for Mac. (See the IMG Forum: Sound Blunder Live! Drivers? for more comments.)

It's a pity development has been so slow and the problems so significant. The card has many attractive features. Physically, the card resemble the X-Gamer and MP3+ versions for the PC, but with a Mac-specific software bundle. (It does not provide the Dolby 5.1 surround sound capabilities of the 5.1 versions for the PC.)

Things aren't quite so dismal for music fans. Creative Labs has already built in ASIO support for Cubase VST and other leading Mac audio applications as a standard feature. Bundled music apps include Cubasis AV 1.0 and MixMan Studio Mac 1.2.1. (Neither runs if Virtual Memory is turned on, by the way.) Other audio apps include Soundjam MP and a mixer utility that lets you simulate various rooms and other types of ambience. The excellent game Deus ("Day-us") Ex is also included.

Gamers will not experience improved performance from "legacy" games with the card, says the company, but any game specially written to take advantage of the card's 3D positional audio features will provide an enhanced experience. The SB Live/Mac includes both front and read speaker connectors for true four-channel audio.

Also on the card is a MIDI port (the Mac card does not support the use of the port as a joystick connector, as does the PC product), plus mic and line inputs. There is no SP/DIF (Sony/Philips digital interface) pin-connector, but the digital DIN out jack, when combined with an RCA-to-mono 1/8" minijack adapter, allows the system to be connected to SP/DIF compatible stereos and other systems, yielding better quality output (albeit only in 2.1 stereo via the SP/DIF jack) than that obtainable through analog connections. Note that, although the minijack connection uses a mono adapter, the digital signal is transmitted in full stereo, through the magic of digital data!

This digital connection is ideally suited to speakers such as the Cambridge Four Point Surround 2000 digital speakers, with front and rear stereo pairs and a subwoofer for improved bass response. We've got a set of these speakers here at Mac Buyer's Guide and, despite their compact size, they sound great. Cambridge, which is owned by Creative Labs, also sells digital 2.1 (left/right/subwoofer) speakers and a number of other analog and digital models.

The card has an unmarked connector on the board that the company hasn't yet promised to support, but says is there "for future expansion." This could possibly provide support for expansion options such as those currently available for the PC editions. (But don't hold your breath....)

The Mac version of Live! does not support the Live Drive I/O expansion option, as found on the Platinum series or the Digital I/O II card supplied with (or optionally available for) other SB Live! models for the PC. Indeed, the 5.25" Live Drive won't even fit in Apple's chassis, as the second drive bay in G4 systems is designed for 3.5" devices only.

As is the case with the PC version, the SB Live! for the Mac has a fixed clock speed of 48KHz -- great for capturing digital audio from DAT, but not so good when attempting a digital capture from an audio CD (44.1KHz).

The SoundBlaster Live Mac Edition will not support USB speakers. It uses standard 1/8-inch minijack connectors for analog audio speakers, which give better results and lower CPU utilization anyway. (Frankly, we think USB audio is highly overrated, anyway. Have you ever listened closely to the audio track of a DVD playing on a G4 Cube? You can plainly hear pops that aren't in the original recording.)

Speaking of odd noises, some early purchasers are reporting an odd "clanking" noise can sometimes be heard from the card. This seems to be more prevalent with certain sound sets. Some users also report compatibility problems with QuickTime 5 and reports at xlr8yourmac.com suggest that a slight slowdown in overall system performance should be expected after installing the card. (The OpenMusic System software, installed along with a total of nine different system extensions (!), is probably largely to blame here. -- Ed.)

Despite the caveats noted above, the card has some value as an add-on for avid gamers and computer music buffs -- particularly those looking for an inexpensive ASIO compatible card. Overall, though, it's clear this isn't a product with a rosy future on the Mac. See our Technical Analysis of the SB Live for more info on the powerful EMU 10K1 chip at the heart of this product.

Other Options

Mac OS X Jaguar owners have discovered that Apple has added support for some Sound Blaster products directly into the OS. The 24-Bit Sound Blaster Extigy and 16-Bit Sound Blaster MP3+ both work under Jaguar or newer OS releases, at least at a basic level. (These units ship with PC-only software bundles.) At about $59 US, the MP3+ is a good choice for iMac users looking to add digital and analog audio I/O to their systems at a reasonable price.