Genuine Intel® Pentium® class 133MHz or faster processor
Intel® or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
16MB system RAM (32MB strongly recommended)
Windows® 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT® 4.0*
Open half-length PCI 2.1 compliant slot
Headphones or amplified speakers (available separately)
CD-ROM drive required for software installation
Available 5 1/4” PC drive bay (for Live! Drive)

Live! Drive II Front Panel Connectors

Front Panel:

1 x ¼" stereo jacks to receive Mic In(via ¼"to 3.5mm adapter) or 1 Stereo Line In.
1 x Volume Control knobs with switch for Line/Mic In selection and Mic gain control.
1 x ¼" Stereo jack for headphone Out.
1 x Volume Control knob for headphone Out.
2 x RCA jacks for coaxial SPDIF In and Out.
2 x standard 5-pin female type MIDI connectors for MIDI In and Out
2 x RCA jacks for stereo Aux In 2
2 x Optical connector for Optical SPDIF In and Out.
Wave-Table Synthesis

E-mu® Systems EMU10K1™ music synthesis engine
64-voice polyphony with E-mu's patented 8-point interpolation technology
Uses SoundFont® technology for user-definable wave-table sample sets; includes 2MB, 4MB and 8MB sets
>Load up to 32MB of samples into host memory for professional music reproduction
Scalable PCI wave-table synthesis architecture
Up to 1024-voice polyphony with multi-timbre capability
48 MIDI channels with 128 GM & GS-compatible instruments and 10 drum kits
Effects Engine

E-mu Systems EMU10K1 patented effects processor
Supports real-time digital effects like reverb, chorus, flange, pitch shifter or distortion across any audio source
Capable of processing, mixing and positioning audio streams using up to 131 available hardware channels
Customizable effects architecture allows audio effects and channel control
Full digital mixer maintains all sound mixing in the digital domain, eliminating noise from the signal
Full bass, treble, and effects controls available for all audio sources
Environmental Audio & 3D Audio Technology

User-selectable settings are optimized for headphones and two or four speakers
Upgradable 3D audio architecture allows for improvements over time
Accelerates Microsoft® DirectSound® and DirectSound3D
Accelerates Environmental Audio™ property set extensions
Creative Multi Speaker Surround™ technology places any mono or stereo sound source in a 360° audio space
Creative Environmental Audio - user-selectable DSP modes that simulate acoustic environments
Hollywood-Quality, 32-Bit Digital Audio Engine

Processes bit resolutions from 8- to 16-bit Processes sample rates from 5kHz to 48kHz
All sound sources are handled with 32-bit precision for highest quality output
Analog and Digital I/O modes supported
Hardware full-duplex support enables simultaneous record and playback at 8 standard sample rates
Utilizes AC97 audio codec
MIDI Interface / Joystick Port

Supports MPU-401 UART mode
IBM® compatible 15-pin joystick port with analog support
Support for digital and DirectInput™ game devices
On-Board Connectors

Digital Out (Front & Rear S/PDIF Output)
Line In
Microphone In
Line level out (Front)/Headphone Out
Line level out (Rear)
MIDI/Joystick Port
Telephone Answering Device In
MPC-3 Analog CD Audio In

Works with the Following Standards:

Windows® 95
Windows 98
Windows NT 4.0 ( Some applications do not work with Win NT ) General MIDI
MPC-3
Plug-and-Play
Sound Blaster PCI
Environmental Audio Extensions
Microsoft DirectSound®, DirectSound 3D, and derivatives
PCI 2.1 compliant
AC97 compliant

The system requirements for the Sound Blaster Live! Player 5.1 are as follows:

Genuine Intel. Pentium. class processor: 166 MHz for Windows 95/98 or Windows Millennium Edition,200 MHz for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000
Intel or 100% compatible motherboard chipset Windows 95, 98 or Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000

16 MB ram for Windows 95/98 or Millennium Edition (32 MB ram recommended), 32 MB ram for Windows NT 4.0, 64 MB ram for Windows 2000

160 MB of free hard disk space

Open half-length PCI 2.1 compliant slot

Headphones or amplified speakers (available separately)

CD-ROM drive required for software installation

Note: 3rd Party software may have higher system requirements

Audio Inputs

One line-level analog Line input via stereo jack on rear bracket

One mono Microphone analog input via stereo jack on rear bracket

CD_IN line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector on card

AUX_IN line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector on card

TAD line-level analog input via 4-pin Molex connector on card

CD_SPDIF digital input via 2-pin Molex connector on card, accepting sampling rates of 32,44.1 and 48 kHz

Audio Outputs

ANALOG/DIGITAL OUT via 4-pole 3.5mm minijack on rear bracket

ANALOG OUT: Center and Subwoofer channels

DIGITAL OUT: Front, Rear, Center and Subwoofer SPDIF digital outputs

Three line-level analog outputs via stereo jacks on rear bracket, Line-Outs 1, 2 and 3

Stereo headphone (32-ohm load) support on Front Line-Out

D-Sub MIDI interface for connection to external MIDI devices. Doubles as Joystick port

AUD_EXT 2x20 pin header for connection to Live! Drive

Interfaces

D-Sub MIDI interface for connection to external MIDI devices. Doubles as Joystick port

AUD_EXT 2x20 pin header for connection to Live! Drive

Technical Specifications

Playback and Recording Sources

Sound Blaster 16 Emulation in DOS box and real mode DOS.
Playback of 64 audio channels each at an arbitrary sample rate. Each audio channel can function as a WaveTable Synthesizer voice.
Each audio channel can playback either 8 bit or 16 bit data from host memory.
Pairs of audio channel can be programmed to play 8 or 16 bit interleaved data from host memory.
48kHz recording from AC97 sample rate converted to 8 common rates to host memory.
Playback Recording Sources: CD_IN, AUX_IN, LINE_IN, MIC_IN, TAD, MIDI and Wave, CD-SPDIF IN.
Full duplex recording and playback.
Wave Table Synthesis

E-mu Systems EMU10K1 music synthesis engine.
64-voice hardware polyphony with E-mu’s patented 8-point interpolation algorithm for excellent fidelity
64 hardware and 1024 PCI wave-table synthesis
48 MIDI channels & 128 GM & GS- instruments and 10 drum kits
Uses SoundFont technology for user-definable wave-table sample sets; includes 2MB, 4MB and 8MB sets.
Up to 32MB of samples into host memory for professional music reproduction.
Effects Engine

E-mu Systems EMU10K1 patented effects processor.
Supports real-time digital effects like reverb, chorus, echo, flanger, pitch shifting, vocal morpher, ring modulator, auto-wah or distortion across any audio source.
Capable of processing, mixing and positioning audio streams using up to 131 available hardware channels.
Customizable effects architecture allows audio effects and channel control.
Full digital mixer maintains all sound mixing in the digital domain, eliminating noise from the signal.
Full bass, treble, and effects controls available for all audio.
Bass management functionality for centre & subwoofer channels in 5.1 mode.
Only Bass Management Configuration 0 with Bass (LFE) redirection implemented.
Environmental Audio and 3D Audio Technology

User-selectable settings are optimized for headphones and two or four speakers.,5.1 speakers.
Accelerates Microsoft® DirectSound® and DirectSound3D, EAX.
Creative Multi-Speaker Surround™ (CMSS™) technology allows real time panning and mixing of multiple sound sources using two or more speakers
Creative Environments – user-selectable DSP modes that simulate acoustic environments like concert hall, cave, underwater, and many more environments to any audio source.

Hollywood-Quality, 32 bit Digital Audio Engine

User-selectable bit rates from 8-bit to 16-bit.
User-selectable sample rates from 8kHz to 48kHz.
All sound sources are handled with 32-bit precision for highest quality output.
Analog and Digital I/O modes supported.
Hardware full-duplex support enables simultaneous record and playback at 8 standard sample rates.
Utilizes AC97 audio codec.
MIDI Interface and Joystick Port

Supports MPU-401 UART mode.
IBM® compatible 15-pin joystick port with analog support.
Support for digital and DirectInput™ game devices.
Audio Performance ( Typical Values)

Reference signal is set at 1kHz
Frequency Response @ –1dB 10 Hz to 47KHz
Record & Playback Sampling Rates
Recording (8 supported sampling rates); 8.0KHz, 11.025KHz, 16.0KHz, 22.05KHz, 24.0KHz, 32.0KHz, 44.1KHz, 48.0KHz
Playback: Any arbitrary sampling rate <= 48KHz
Line In Full Scale Input 2.0 Vrms
Line Out Full Scale Output 2.0 Vrms
Microphone Full Scale Input 0.2 Vrms (without 20dB boost)
CD Audio Full Scale Input 2.0 Vrms
Microphone Input Impedance 5.0Kohms
Line In Impedance 10k ohms
CD Audio Input Impedance 10k ohms
LINE_IN / LINE_OUT @ 2Vrms, 1kHz (Measured with band limited filter from 22Hz to 22kHz)
Signal To Noise Ratio (SNR) 94 dB. (A-Wtg)
Total Harmonic Distortion 0.006% +Noise (THD+N)
LINE_IN / LINE_OUT Record & Playback @2Vrms, 1kHz (Measured with band limited filter from 22Hz to 22kHz)
Signal To Noise Ratio (SNR) 82 dB (A Wtg)
Total Harmonic Distortion 0.02 %+ Noise (THD+N)
Power Consumption

Vcc, nominal current 400 mA
+12V, nominal current 160 mA
-12V, nominal current 50 mA
Resolution

AC97 Codec 16 bits
Temperature Range

Operating 10 °C to 50 °C
Non-Operating -40 °C to 125 °C

System Requirements

Genuine Intel® Pentium® class 166MHz or faster processor
Intel or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
32MB system RAM (64MB recommended)
Windows® 95, Windows® 98, Windows® NT 4.0, Windows® 2000 or Windows® Millennium Edition
Open half-length PCI 2.1 compliant slot
Headphones or amplified speakers (available separately)
CD-ROM drive required for software installation
Available 5 1/4” PC drive bay (for Live!Drive IR)
Additional System Requirements for Game Titles:

Pentium 200MHz
64MB ram
3D accelerator with a least 4MB of texture ram
4X CD-ROM drive
DirectX 6 or later
60-300MB HD space
Included applications may need higher system requirements or microphone for basic functionalities. Refer to individual applications’ documentation for details.

Usage of this product in Windows® NT 4.0 or Windows® 2000 requires a minimum of 200MHz processor and 64MB system RAM. Functionality may differ from box specifications due to limitation in these Operating Systems.

Viewing DVD movies requires a softDVD player such as Intervideo’s WinDVD 2000 or CyberLink’s PowerDVD 2.55 which in general, runs optimally on Pentium 300 MHz and above with screen resolution of at least 800 x 600 dpi.

Creative PlayCenter 2 requires Windows 95 OSR2, 98, NT4.0 Service Pack 6 (with IE 4.0), 2000 and Millennium Edition.

PCI Card installation

1. Switch off the system and all peripheral devices and unplug the power cord from the wall power outlet.
2. Remove the cover from the system.
3. Remove the metal plate from one unused PCI slot in your system and put the screw (to be used later).
4. Align the Sound Blaster card with the vacant PCI expansion slot. Press the card gently and evenly into the slot. Ensure the card is seated firmly in the expansion slot.
   Secure the card to the expansion slot with the screw.
5. Replace the cover on your system.
6. Plug the power cord into the wall outlet and switch on your system.
7. When the card is first inserted, it will be detected by your system. You will then be prompted to install the drivers.
8. Insert the Sound Blaster installation CD into the CD-ROM drive.
9. The drivers are found in the audio\language\win9xdrv directory on the C - you may need to browse to this directory and select the appropriate driver file.
10. Click OK and the drivers will be installed. If you a message appears informing you that a suitable driver cannot be found, make sure that you have specified the correct path to the driver file.
11. If the installation prompts you to insert the Windows 95/98 CD, then do so.

1. Insert the install CD into the CD-ROM drive. The autorun feature will bring up the installation menu.

   If the installation CD is not initialized automatically in your PC, the Auto Insert Notification feature in Windows may not be enabled. To Enable auto insert notification: open Device Manager by rightclicking the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties. In your Device Manager tab, doubleclick the entry that represents your CD Rom under CD Rom Controllers.In the Settings window, you will find an option called Auto Insert Notification. This option needs to be checked for the Autorun feature to work.

2. You will notice that there are a number of applications on each of the CDs. For example, the installation menu from the Sound Blaster Live! Value CD contains the following sections:
   Creative Sound Blaster Live! Experience
   Creative Keytar
   Creative Rhythmania
   Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value
   Prody Parrot

3. To install or reinstall any of these, just tick or untick the respective tickbox. The basic menu structure described above, is replicated on all the installation CDs for our entire Sound Blaster Live! range. The core software, which is necessary in order for your card to work, is contained in the section called Creative Sound Blaster Live! The equivalent sections for the other Sound Blaster Live! cards are listed below

For an Sound Blaster Live! Value card - Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value
For the Sound Blaster Live! 1024 (Player) - Creative Sound Blaster Live! Player
For the Sound Blaster Live! Platinum - Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum

If you are experiencing installation lockups, or if the installation is discontinued, we suggest you try to install the listed section one by one, to see which section is causing the problem.

Installing drivers for the SoundBlaster Live! in Windows 2000

Cleansweep/complete un-install of the Sound Blaster Live! in Windows 2000

Verifying the driver version installed for my Sound Blaster Live! card

How to disable the Creative News update (newsupd.exe)?

Converting MIDI files to wave

Configuring Logic Audio Platinum with the Sound Blaster Live!

Maximum soundfont size for the Sound Blaster Live!

To view the pinouts for your Sound Blaster Live! card, please do the following:

1. Click Start and go to Programs - Creative - SoundBlaster Live!. Click Users' Guide.
2. From the Contents tab, choose Hardware Information, and then click Connectors and Pin Assignment.
3. Choose the device for which you wish to view the pin assignment.

Note: If the User's Guide is missing from the Creative programs menu, then re-install the Creative Labs software pack.

If you have an Intel P4 (Pentium 4) motherboard and SMBus temperature monitoring software in your system, along with the Sound Blaster Live! Player 5.1 software, the system may crash intermittently and reboot to a blue screen.

In order to solve this, please try the following:

Update the Intel(R) Active Monitor program to version 1.13 or later

Update the BIOS ( refer to the Intel website for further information)

The above error appears as a result of driver versions 4.06.614 to 4.06.700 for the Sound Blaster Live! being installed on Pentium III systems which have a 'Coppermine' core - primarily the following two types:

Pentium III 600 MHz and higher, SECC2 Package (Slot1)
Pentium III 500 MHz and higher, FC-PGA Package (Socket 370)

To resolve this problem, we recommend you update the Sound Blaster Live! drivers.

In the unlikely event that the driver update does not resolve the problem, please try the following:

NOTE: Before making any changes to the Registry, please remember to make a backup first!!! This can be done by copying the files SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT from the C:\WINDOWS directory to a different location (for example C:\REGBACK). To restore the old registry, just copy these two files back into C:\WINDOWS.

Follow the steps below to add the MMX='1' value:

1. Click Start and then Run. Type Regedit in the field provided. Press Enter.
2. Browse to the following location in the Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Creative\Tech\DeviceInfo\PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0002


Click to enlarge

3. Right-click anywhere in the right windows and from the drop-down list, select New - String Value.
4. Name the value MMX, rightclick it and select Modify from the dropdown menu.
5. Enter the number 1.
6. Click on OK and close down the Regedit window.

If your system can not recover from the blue screen and, as a result, you can not update the drivers, please try the following:

1. Restart the system in Command Prompt mode by pressing F8 at start up
2. Open Windows Explorer.
3. In the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, delete EMU10K1.VXD
4. Restart the system
5. Enter MMX=”1” in the Registry ( as above)
6. Install the updated drivers

1. Boot into Windows NT4 using a boot disk (this disk is normally created when installing Windows NT)
2. At the command prompt type the following:

CD\
CD WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS
DEL EMU10K1.SYS
DEL SFMAN.SYS
DEL CTSYN.SYS

3. Reboot into Windows NT and run the software installation from the Sound Blaster Live! CD.
4. Uncheck all options except for Sound Blaster Live! software, and then continue and select custom installation.
5. Uncheck all options - this will ensure that only AudioHQ and the Windows drivers are installed.
6. Restart the system when prompted.

The Sound Blaster Live! card uses two interrupt requests (IRQ's) - one is IRQ5, which is reserved by the SB 16 emulation by default - the other is reserved by the Sound Blaster Live! card itself, and is usually of the higher range 9,10 or 11.

If a motherboard does not have ISA slots, the BIOS assigns all IRQs to PCI. Therefore, you need to change the BIOS setting in order to assign an ISA IRQ to the card. Please set "IRQ5 Reserved for legacy device" to "Yes" under Advanced -> PCI configuration -> PCI/PNP IRQ Resource Exclusion in BIOS.

This problem is occasionally caused by a DOS driver conflict. Follow these steps to remove the DOS drivers:

1. Restart Windows.
2. When the message 'Starting Windows 9X' appears, press the F8 key.
3. Select 'Step By Step Confirmation'.
4. Say Yes to all entries except C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM. This prevents the DOS driver from loading.
5. Restart your system.

If you do not need support for legacy DOS games, and especially if you need to free up some resources, you can disable your DOS drivers as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and go to System. Click Device Manager. Double-click 'Creative Miscellaneous Devices'.
2. Right-click Creative SB16 Emulation. and then click Properties.
3. In the General tab, tick the option 'Disable in this hardware profile'.
4. Restart the system.

The auxiliary input is muted by default when the drivers for the Sound Blaster Live! card are installed. To enable it:

1. Open the Mixer for the Live! card from Start - (All) Programs - Creative - Sound Blaster Live!.
2. If the Auxiliary volume control is not listed, click Options, Properties, click the Auxiliary check box and click OK.
3. Click to clear the Mute check box for the Auxiliary input.
4. Close the Mixer.

If there is sound only from the digital output on your Sound Blaster Live! card, then please do the following:

1. Click Start and go to Programs - Creative - Sound Blaster Live! , then click Surroundmixer.

2. Click the red plus sign above the Master Volume Control.

3. Un-tick the option 'Digital Output Only'.

The Sound Blaster Live! card uses two Interrupt requests (IRQ's). One for the SB 16 emulation and one for the Sound Blaster Live! card itself.

IRQ 5, 7 or even 9 will usually be reserved for the SB 16 Emulation, whereas the Sound Blaster Live! will normally use IRQ 9, 10 or 11.

Occasionally this allocation may be reversed (for example when runnning Windows' 98 with motherboards based on the VIA MVP3 Chipset which may not have the appropriate IRQ Routing Miniport Driver), or both the Sound Blaster Live! card and its emulation may be allocated the same IRQ.

This can result in stuttering/repeating wave files, or cause the SB 16 Emulation to function incorrectly.

If you are experiencing either of these symptoms, we recommend you do the following:

1. Try the he Sound Blaster Live! in a different PCI slot.
2. Some BIOS's offer the option to change the IRQ priority for specific PCI slots. Please consult your motherboard manufacturer for details.
3. In the BIOS, under PNP/PCI Configuration set PNP Aware OS to No
4. Update the systems BIOS, and install the latest Chipset drivers for your system (specifically the IRQ Routing Miniport Driver when using older VIA Chipsets)
5. Disable IRQ steering in the Device Manager (System Devices - PCI Bus - IRQ Steering - un-tick Use IRQ Steering).
6. For diagnostic purposes, try lowering the hardware acceleration of the Sound Blaster Live! and your Graphics card .

To reduce audio hardware acceleration, click Start and select Run. Type dxdiag. The DirectX diagnostic tool will open. Click Sound and select Hardware Sound Acceleration Level. Set down 1 notch, then restart the system. If necessary, repeat the procedure.

To adjust the graphics hardware acceleration, right-click My Computer and click Properties. Go to Performance and click Graphics. Set down 1 notch, then restart the system. If necessary, repeat the procedure.

7. Check the IRQ allocation in Device Manager. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and go to System. Click Device Manager, and double-click 'Computer' to view the resource allocation for all sytem devices.
8. In Device Manager, under Creative Miscellaneous Devices, right-click the SB 16 Emulation and click Properties.
9. Click Settings tab and tick the option to allow LPT Interrupt Sharing. This will allow the SB 16 Emulation to use the same interrupt (IRQ) as the Printer Port (Parallel Port, IRQ 7).

Win2000/XP

Windows 2000/XP do not support SB 16 Emulation, and as such, most of the above troubleshooting steps will not be applicable to these operating systems. However, as this problem is usually caused by resource problems or conflicts, we recommend you try the following:

Windows2000:

If your PC configuration is Uniprocessor ACPI PC or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC, try changing this to Standard PC.

Both ACPI configurations can be somewhat problematic, as ACPI Uniprocessor PC uses so called Virtual IRQ's (IRQ's higher than 15) and Advanced Configuration and Power Interface PC tends to put all the PCI devices on the same IRQ (The operating system reshuffles the resource distribution). The latter may cause a problem for some Windows 2000 systems but is usually fine for Windows XP.

The PC configuration may be changed as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and go to System. On the Hardwaretab, click Device Manager

2. Click the "+" sign next to 'Computer'

3. Double-click ACPI Uniprocessor PC/Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC

4. On the Driver tab click Update Driver

5. Select the option to display a list of known drivers for the device.

Tick 'Show all hardware for this device class'

From the list, select Standard PC

Relocating the Sound Blaster Live! to a different PCI slot or changing the IRQ priority of the slot are the only possible ways to enable the card use another IRQ.

Resources are allocated at BIOS level and cannot be changed within Windows.

Windows XP:

If your PC configuration is Uniprocessor ACPI PC, try changing this to Advanced configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC.

Both are ACPI configurations, however, ACPI Uniprocessor PC uses so called Virtual IRQ's (IRQ's higher than 15) which can prove problematic for the Sound Blaster Live! card.
The PC configuration may be changed as follows:

1. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and go to System. On the Hardwaretab, click Device Manager

2. Click the "+" sign next to 'Computer'

3. Double-click ACPI Uniprocessor PC

4. On the Driver tab click Update Driver

5. Select the option to display a list of known drivers for the device.

6. Tick 'Show all hardware for this device class'

7. From the list, select Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC

Relocating the Sound Blaster Live! to a different PCI slot or changing the IRQ priority of the slot are the only possible ways to enable the card use another IRQ. Resources are allocated at BIOS level and cannot be changed within Windows.

The AWE64 card has a built-in amplifier and it works with both active and passive speakers. However, the Sound Blaster Live! does not have a built-in amplifier and, as such, it requires active speakers to obtain an acceptable sound level output.

Note that the AWE64 Gold does not have a built-in amplifier either.

This happens when an effect selected from the Environmental Audio tab, is called upon in another media option.

To remove any Environmental Audio effects try the following:

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Creative. Click Creative Launcher
2. From the taskbar select Playcenter and open Environmental effects
3. Set to 'No Effects'

Alternatively from the Creative Launcher select Audio HQ - Speaker - Effects - Environmental effects, and select 'No Effects'.

If you experience problems when recording from input sources such as the microphone input, we recommend you do the following:

1. Click Start and go to Programs, then Creative. Click Creative Launcher then go to AudioHQ and click Mixer.
2. 2. In the Record 'REC' section select a source (eg. microphone). Check that the volume level of the source is at an audible level. Open the CReative Recorder or Windows Recorder and start the recording.

If you are recording many MIDI tracks you may run out of polyphony. (Polyphony is a term used to define the maximum number of notes an instrument can play at any one time).

Sixteen note polyphony is common, though 28, 32, and 64 are becoming available in many more instruments these days.

When the maximum number of notes is exceeded, the synthesizer will cut one or more notes off in order to sound the new ones.

This gives you a dropped note effect.

MIDI devices use a system of Channel Priorities 1 through to 16 with the Percussion Channel 10 getting the highest.

The channels with the higher priority cause the channels with lower priority to drop notes.

Therefore, it is recommended to allocate the solo instruments to the lower channels and strings and Piano to the higher channels.

Please be aware that Sound Blaster Live! cards support connection to analogue joysticks only. If possible, switch your joystick from digital to analogue mode. The Creative gameport will support either a 2-axis 4-button joystick or a 2-axis 2-button joystick. If you wish to hook up a second joystick, you will need to use a splitter cable.

If the Game Controller (Joystick, Steering-Wheel, Gamepad) is shown as 'not connected' in Control Panel- Game Controllers then please try the following:

1. Click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and go to System. Click Device Manager.
2. Under 'sound video and game controllers', right-click on the Gameport for Sound Blaster Live! and choose properties.
3. On the Resources tab, check that the Creative Gameport Joystick is using I/O range 0200-0207 (see below).



4. Ensure that the latest version of DirectX installed. Updates are available from Microsoft.
5. Ensure that the latest Sound Blaster Live! drivers are installed.

If you have a daughter-card or Live!Drive connected to the Sound Blaster Live! card, ensure there are no MIDI devices connected at the same time as the joystick. If possible, test the gameport by connecting a simple analog joystick and installing it as a 2-button, 2-axis joystick. If this works, then the gameport is functioning properly.

Some motherboards may have an "MPU-401 Setup" option in the BIOS (possibly under Advanced - Peripheral Setup). If this option is present, please update the motherboard's BIOS and set the MPU-401 to enabled.

Please ensure that latest software is installed for the joystick/gamepad from the manufacturer's website.
If you are still experiencing problems, click Start and go to Settings. Click Control Panel and then Add New Hardware. Install a Microsoft Gameport Joystick and configure it to use I/O address 0201-0201. Sometimes steering wheels and gamepads require this but you must still have the Creative Gameport Joystick configured as before using I/O 0200- 0207.

If you are having problems with a Microsoft Sidewinder Game Controller then please check the Microsoft SideWinder Game Controllers Troubleshooter.

Check out these links also (if applicable):

Ensure that the latest version of the Sidewinder Profiler Software is installed. Check the Microsoft website for links to Sidewinder software downloads.

If you have a Sidewinder Gamepad, ptry installing the Microsoft SideWinder Game Pad Configuration Utility. If you have a Sidewinder 3D Pro, Microsoft have released a patch to solve joystick recognition problems.

If you are experiencing problems with your Sound Blaster Live! card in Windows 95/Windows 98 DOS Mode, we recommend you try the following:

1. Update the system BIOS

   Enable 'Non-Maskable Interrupts' in the BIOS. This option is usually found under NMI, Ram Parity, Parity or Parity Checking

   Check in the BIOS for an option called Front Side Bus or FSB. The default setting in most PCs is 100Mhz. Try reducing it to 83, 75 or even 66Mhz.

2. Restart your system in DOS Mode.
3. At the command prompt, type the following:

CD C:\progra~1\creative\sblive\dosdrv and press Enter

There are a number of DOS utilities that you can run:

4. To initialize the card for use in DOS Mode, run SBEINIT.COM
5. To display the current Sound Blaster Live! DOS settings, run SBCFG.EXE.
6. SBEGO.EXE is diagnostic utility which will test the wave, left and right speaker channel and the 8 and 16 bit sections of the card.
7. Try changing the resources for the SB16 Emulation as follows:
• Open the Device Manager.
• Double-click 'Creative Miscellaneous Devices' and select 'Creative Sound Blaster Live! SB 16 Emulation, or Creative SB16 Emulation.
• Click Properties and then go to the Resources tab.
• Un-tick the 'Use Automatic Settings' option. You will now be able to change the resources by selecting the resource type you want to change and then clicking on Change Settings.
8. Verify and edit the system configuration files such as CONFIG.SYS, Autoexec.bat, and DOSstart.bat.

   The following lines should appear in the system files. To access these, click Start and go to Run. Type Sysedit in the field provided and click OK.

   CONFIG.SYS:

   DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE

   AUTOEXEC.BAT:

   SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6 SET CTSYN=C:\WINDOWS C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM

   DOSSTART.BAT:

   C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM

   Remove any switches from the EMM386 line in the CONFIG.SYS, such as HIGHSCAN or NOEMS

This error sometimes occurs after the installation of the Creative drivers and software. To resolve this issue we recommend that you try the following:

If you are using Windows 2000

1. On the Desktop, double-click My Computer.
2. Double-click the drive on which the Sound Blaster Live! Program directory is installed, and browse to the file MFC42.DLL, for example, C:/Program files/Creative/SB Live/Playcenter2/MFC42.Dll
3. Rename the file MFC42.DLL to MFC42.old
4. Double-click the drive on which Windows is installed, and browse to the file MFC42.DLL , for example, C:/Winnt/System32/MFC42.Dll
5. Right-click the file and select Copy.
6. Paste the file into the C:/Program files/Creative/SB Live/Playcenter2 directory, by right-clicking and choosing Paste.

If you are using Windows 98/Me

1. On the Desktop, double-click My Computer.
2. Double click the drive on which the Sound Blaster Live! Program directory is installed, and locate the MFC42.DLL file, for example, C:/ Program files/Creative/SB Live/Playcenter2/MFC42.DLL
3. Rename the file MFC42.Dll to MFC42.old
4. Double click the drive on which Windows is installed and locate file MFC42.DLL, for example, C:\Windows\MFC42.Dll
5. Right-click the file and select Copy.
6. Paste the file into the C:/Program files/Creative/SB Live/Playcenter2 directory, by right-clicking and choosing Paste.

Further Suggestions

Extract the file MSVCRT.DLL from the Windows Installation CD as follows:

1. Insert The Windows CD into the CD-ROM drive
2. Click Start and go to Find - Files or Folders.
3. In the 'Named' field, type *.cab.
4. In the 'Containing Text' field, type MSVCRT.DLL , and choose to search on the CD-ROM drive.
5. Copy the file into the C:/Windows/System directory (where C: is the drive on which Windows is installed)
6. As a last step, try installing the Microsoft Libraries Update, SPEU.EXE from the Microsoft website.

This error message can occur when Creative Launcher loads or when restarting Windows, it is usually caused by the presence of non-Creative mixer devices (such as Wave Device for Voice Modems, mixer applications for multi- function video cards such as Hauppauge's WinTV Go card) or ATI's Multimedia Centre software on the system.

You can check to see if you have non Creative Audio mixer devices installed on your system as follows:

1. Click Start, an then Settings. Click Control Panel and go to Multimedia. Click the devices tab and go to Mixer devices.
2. Disable any third party mixer devices to see if this solves the problem.
3. If you have ATI's Multimedia Centre installed on the system, disable the Creative Soundblaster hardware in Device Manager, uninstall and Re-install the ATI Multimedia Centre ( ensure that you have the latest version), and then enable the Soundblaster hardware in Device Manager.
4. Restart the system

Further Suggestions

5. Click Start and then Run. Type ASD and click OK.
6. From the resulting list select 'Starting a Device => Creative Sound Blaster Live! Series' and click on OK, and reboot the computer.

For further information on ASD (Automatic Skip Driver) we recommend you consult the Windows Help utility or the Microsoft website.

If you get this error message after upgrading to Windows 98 SE, we recommend you check the solution provided on the Microsoft Knowledgebase

Should you receive this error message with the Sound Blaster Live!, we recommend that you edit the Autoexec.bat file as follows:

1. Click Start and then Run. Type SYSEDIT in the field provided.
2. Open the Autoexec.bat file. If there is reference to Smartdrive, ensure that this line appears before the SBEINIT reference line. To do this, highlight the line of text then right-click and choose Cut. Then paste the text in above the SBEINIT line.
3. If the system BIOS has the option 'memory hole' , ensure that it is been disabled.