[raif]

I know its probably not good to admit to owning a SB live on these boards but I bought it a long time ago, I was young.
Anyways excuses aside, I hate the horrible hiss that comes through my headphones anytime I turn them up above a whisper. Well I found a way around it.
Plug in the headphone into the 2nd speaker jack on the back. It is the black colored one on the back, nearest the joystick port. Then, change the speaker setup to quadraphonic speakers. This makes the card think that there are a new set of speakers in the back and will send the same signal to the jack the headphone is plugged into. Either the card does not amp the signal as much or its shielded better or who knows but the annoying hiss is almost completely eliminated from the signal. I can actually stand to listen to music on my computer again.
I have not tested it on any games just music(mp3s and stuff) but if this helps anyone else let me know.

 

[xerx]

I have tried it before but the result still no where as good as Santa Cruz. I read the Extigy reviews on the Digit-Life and here's what they said about the front channel output quality of recent creative cards.

"The Audigy has a powerful operational amplifier to maintain the load when low-resistance headphones are connected. That is why quality of a front channel is traditionally lower than of a rear one. There are even special unnoficial KX drivers (which, unfortunately, do not support DirectSound) where the channels are interchanged by default."

"The Audigy's front channel shows more distortions, the signal parameters of the codec are almost identical to those of the Extigy. However, for headphones on the Live!5.1/Audigy it's possible to use a rear-out by switching the card into the "4 speakers" mode when the front and rear are duplicated. "

 

[disturbed]

A LOT of the hiss can be eliminated by Muting all the unneeded inputs like spdif In, Aux In, ESPECIALLY Mic In, Line In...

 

[Mr.PD]

Quote:

Plug in the headphone into the 2nd speaker jack on the back. It is the black colored one on the back, nearest the joystick port. Then, change the speaker setup to quadraphonic speakers.

I also have SBLive. Came on PC when I got it 2 years ago.

I just started using that jack to connect to reciever. Sounds better that using the main speaker jack and a Y. I bought a better cable for this and while hooking it up I got the idea to use the other speaker jack. I thought the cable was why things sounded better. I didn't know the jack was better.

 

[jodokast]

Get a new sound card.

I'm sure a few members here *cough* like Audio&M would be more than happy to recommend a few models.

The Hercules Fortissimo II along with the xitel model and stereo-link 1200 all work great. (My personal experience /w them).


Still, ask around.......SB Live! are infamous for their "buzzing" noises......

 

[Mr.PD]

Quote:

Get a new sound card.

Yea I know I should. I keep thinking about a whole new 'puter, so I put off spending money on this one.

I did check into some cards recomended by Audio&Me.

 

[flashbak]

Mr.PD,
User disturbed is right on the money with his post about muting unused inputs. Have you double checked to make sure that is the case?

 

[disturbed]

Quote:

Originally posted by flashbak Mr.PD, User disturbed

User Disturbed? First time someone called me a user

I would prefer old balls disturbed

 

[raif]

I don't know about mr pd but I had everything muted in my system, and it still buzzed really bad. Even scrolling the mouse wheel would get the hiss to become worse. The opposite jack thing is still the best way to deal with a bad situation.(IMHO)

 

[wasifazim]

Another way to reduce hiss is to remove the analogue CD/DVDROM -> sound card internal cable and connect the SB Live's internal SPDIF to the CD/DVDROM's digital out. Don't know if you've already done that..

- Wasif.

 

[Audio-Me]

These are all good suggestions. Mute all functions except for main and wave out. If you listen/use midi, you can leave that on. I believe that the front and rear speaker outs are both amplified line-outs. But the front most likely is amplified a lot more. And oh god do not use that pos analog cable to hook up to yer cd-rom drive!

A new sound card would make a big difference, sound blasters are notorious for fuzzy noise. If you seriously cannot afford to go above a $100 sound card, many people swear by the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. Yes, I think it's quite decent for a value card. If you are interested in any mid level high quality sound cards, let me know, and I'll gladly help you along the way.

The only creative labs product that I respect is the AWE64 Gold (comes with good rca analog output), and even that had its flaws, had really good midi though.

 

[xerx]

The analog output for Live is bad regardless the inputs are muted or not. Creative save a few bucks and opted for cheaper codec which explained the buzzing sound.

 

[Mr. Thompson]

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend a pro type sound card. For an audiophile, the improvement compared to a Creative or Turtle Beach type card is well worth the money. They are not even in the same league. Perhaps the budget pro type card is the M-Audio Audiophile 2496. At $149 from the Guitar Center, it’s dirt cheap for the sound quality. Be warned, it can be a real PITA to get working properly with Via chipsets.

 

[andrzejpw]

I love my fortII. . .

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

The audiophile doesn't work with games does it?

Biggie.