Free Sound Blaster Live! Upgrade Ready

As part of its Live!Ware program announced earlier this month, Creative Technology Ltd. today released the first set of new features and functions free-of-charge to its Sound Blaster Live! and Sound Blaster Live! Value users worldwide. Registered users can download the software update from the Live!Ware Web site, and immediately after installation, they can begin to enjoy new high-value music and game-related enhancements including 512-voice software MIDI synth, the award-winning Vienna SoundFont Studio software, a versatile import/export tool for creating new audio environments plus the latest driver updates.

The Live!Ware program is part of Creative's on-going efforts to offer the latest developments in Sound Blaster Live! audio technology to its current and future customers. As its R&D team continues to develop and unleash the power and potential of the EMU10K1 processor used on the Sound Blaster Live! family, Creative will continuously offer added features and functions in the coming months on the dedicated Web site at www.sblive.com. The Live!Ware program also highlights Creative's commitment to listen and respond to the needs of its customers. Registered users can be assured that their investment in Sound Blaster Live! is protected - with ever-increasing functionality and performance.

New Features & Functions

• 512 PCI Voice Synthesis: Music professionals and enthusiasts will enjoy the additional palette of 512 voices for music composition. This new capability combined with the 64 hardware voices of the EMU10K1 will provide an unprecedented powerhouse of over 570 voices on a single Sound Blaster Live! audio card, making Sound Blaster Live! the most powerful and efficient MIDI synthesizer on the PC available today.
• Vienna SoundFont® Studio: Now made available for the Sound Blaster Live! series, the Vienna SoundFont Studio is a highly versatile sampling and editing tool providing functions similar to professional music samplers. It allows the user to record or import any audio sample or sound effect and convert it into a SoundFont instrument, thus offering unlimited sound creation possibilities. Combined with the ability of the Sound Blaster Live! to allow up to 32MB of SoundFont banks to be loaded in system RAM, the user has the flexibility and capability to add higher quality and larger instruments including voice tracks in music productions. This makes Sound Blaster Live! a powerful and cost effective sampling solution even for professional musicians.
• Import/Export Feature for Environment & Speaker Setup: This new feature allows the user to easily create new audio environments and customize speaker settings for any application. The import/export function allows users to exchange and share their specially-created environments and settings for favorite games.
• Front/Rear Speakers Balance Control: In response to numerous user requests, Creative created a new slider control that separates the rear speaker controls from the front speakers. This will allow the user to achieve a better balance of the front and rear speakers and therefore improve the 3D Environmental Audio experience.
• Latest Sound Blaster Live! files and drivers for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0