Soundblaster Live Platinum softmod

kof91 · Apr 17, 2006, 12:42 PM

Hi,

I have a soundblaster live platinum but not the platinum 5.1. I wonder if it is possible to softmod this to audigy2/4? I have been googling a little bit and couldn find much answers. most of the answers are pertaining soundblaster live platinum 5.1.

Thanks

Eck · Apr 30, 2006, 08:52 PM

Most of the soft-mod drivers and software support the older 4.1 Live card's as well. Just about all of them support the famous CT4760 (the 2nd generation Live's) as well as the older original Live's.

Where you get into trouble is in the OEM versions of the card's ,the one's that came preinstalled into computer's or were later sold individually with or without working drivers. Dell OEM versions seem to be most troublesome.

RejZoR · May 2, 2006, 04:46 PM

You can't soft mod completelly different chips. EMU10K1 (Live!) is different than EMU10K2 (Audigy 2).
It's physically and theoretically impossible. You can however softmod SB Live! 24bit into Audigy 1 or Audigy 2 ZS into Audigy 4...

Eck · May 2, 2006, 05:16 PM

No, it doesn't change the hardware, of course. But since all Creative drivers have been unified since the Audigy 1/SBLive 244 driver, they all run any of the older cards that the driver's inf includes hardware installation information about.

The "soft-mod's" provided by YouP-PAX enable the Creative drivers and software included in their packages to seamlessly install and work on most Creative soundcards from the original SBLive on up.

These "mod's" do not provide newer hardware technologies such as EAX 3 or 4 for the older SBLive series, but do tweak the audio and enable the newer software to run.

Whether these changes from the official Creative provided packages sound better or worse is in the ears of the user to determine. Personally, I didn't like it. I still use all the Creative provided stuff and whatever updates they officially issue when I use my Creative soundcards.

But it is nice that there are alternatives.

RejZoR · May 3, 2006, 12:03 PM

Well i had more problems than benefit from doing this. A2/X-Fi drivers also haven't fixed EAX problems in Unreal Engine based games (weird eax sound), so this unification hasn't gone any further from official Live! drivers dated back to year 2003. Except it's packed in 1 single installer.

Eck · May 3, 2006, 07:37 PM

Do these problems exist using Audigy 2 cards too? How about other vendor's Sensaura or QSound EAX? If so, that's a problem the game manufacturer needs to fix (but probably won't as they'll just tell you to buy a modern soundcard). If not, then did the problem exist on Windows 98 with the older vxd Liveware 3.0 driver versions? If not, then the problems will probably never get fixed since getting SBLive cards optimized through drivers ended in about the year 2002 with the downloadable mini version of the 252 driver set. (Live Uni-Pack.) Full driver and software versions of this can be manually created through Compaq cd creation, by buying the last retail SBLive 5.1 (not the 24-bit versions), or by purchasing the cd by calling Creative. This was the second set of the Audigy 1/SBLive unified driver/software series. The first were the 244's, the last was the 252's. From then on, all updates are meant for newer soundcards but still mostly work on the SBLive. (I wouldn't go further than the Audigy 2 ZS cd's 402's though. Anything newer included EAX 3 and 4 and messed up SBLive EAX.)

Any newer drivers than 252 are not officially supported on the SBLive. The exception was the patch for the Live Drive digital out which includes elements of the 253 and 254 set. If the newer drivers fix problems, great, but users install these at their own risk and any fixes are not meant for the Live cards. They just may benefit by luck. The newer software doesn't really do anything except look different.

The exception to this is the kXProject drivers. You don't get EAX but games should still give you 3D through normal DirectSound 3D. These drivers continue to be developed, but to optimize music recording and playback, not gameplay.

RejZoR · May 4, 2006, 02:25 PM

Sensaura is now a part of Creative Labs.

Eck · May 4, 2006, 05:38 PM

Of course, but the card's with Sensaura use Sensaura technologies version of implementing EAX 1 and 2. The latest version's I've seen are used on M-Audio Revolution 5.1 and the last Prodigy driver with Sensaura. I think this was the 3514 on the Revo 5.1 and 3516 on the Prodigy. I just brought them up to illustrate the point of that paragraph, not to suggest you switch to a Sensaura card at this point as they were Creative's competition and will no longer receive Sensaura updates. They also are software accelerated, unlike older card's like the Santa Cruz, so anything Creative beats the pant's off them in gaming. Even the old SBLive.

The latest Creative drivers for the Audigy1 and up implement some of the superior Sensaura technology, such as improved CMSS and headphone audio. Unfortunately for SBLive users not even the latest YouP-PAX Live 2006 package uses these. The latest they could get to work are the Audigy 2 ZS cd's 402 driver. So you can't get the Sensaura improvements on the SBLive.

Anyway, this is getting pointless. The fella wanted info on using newer technologies on his SBLive Platinum. He has several choices. I mentioned them to him but also gave him my opinion that he'll probably be better off sticking to older drivers and software.

And I agreed that you can't turn an SBLive into an Audigy 2, but that using later drivers and software can offer changes to how his card sounds (some like it) and how the GUI software looks.

Apr 17, 2006, 12:42 PM	#1
kof91 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Soundblaster Live Platinum softmod Hi, I have a soundblaster live platinum but not the platinum 5.1. I wonder if it is possible to softmod this to audigy2/4? I have been googling a little bit and couldn find much answers. most of the answers are pertaining soundblaster live platinum 5.1. Thanks

Apr 30, 2006, 08:52 PM	#2
Eck DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 154 Rep Power: 0	Most of the soft-mod drivers and software support the older 4.1 Live card's as well. Just about all of them support the famous CT4760 (the 2nd generation Live's) as well as the older original Live's. Where you get into trouble is in the OEM versions of the card's ,the one's that came preinstalled into computer's or were later sold individually with or without working drivers. Dell OEM versions seem to be most troublesome. __________________ Epox 8KRAIPRO/Asus A7V880 Crucial 3200DDR 512x2 Sempron 3300+/AthlonXP3200 Gigabyte NVidia 6600GT/ATI Radeon x850PRO 250GB Maxtor Sata/250GB Maxtor ATA Audigy 2 ZS Platinum/Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

May 2, 2006, 05:16 PM	#4
Eck DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 154 Rep Power: 0	No, it doesn't change the hardware, of course. But since all Creative drivers have been unified since the Audigy 1/SBLive 244 driver, they all run any of the older cards that the driver's inf includes hardware installation information about. The "soft-mod's" provided by YouP-PAX enable the Creative drivers and software included in their packages to seamlessly install and work on most Creative soundcards from the original SBLive on up. These "mod's" do not provide newer hardware technologies such as EAX 3 or 4 for the older SBLive series, but do tweak the audio and enable the newer software to run. Whether these changes from the official Creative provided packages sound better or worse is in the ears of the user to determine. Personally, I didn't like it. I still use all the Creative provided stuff and whatever updates they officially issue when I use my Creative soundcards. But it is nice that there are alternatives. __________________ Epox 8KRAIPRO/Asus A7V880 Crucial 3200DDR 512x2 Sempron 3300+/AthlonXP3200 Gigabyte NVidia 6600GT/ATI Radeon x850PRO 250GB Maxtor Sata/250GB Maxtor ATA Audigy 2 ZS Platinum/Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

May 3, 2006, 07:37 PM	#6
Eck DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 154 Rep Power: 0	Do these problems exist using Audigy 2 cards too? How about other vendor's Sensaura or QSound EAX? If so, that's a problem the game manufacturer needs to fix (but probably won't as they'll just tell you to buy a modern soundcard). If not, then did the problem exist on Windows 98 with the older vxd Liveware 3.0 driver versions? If not, then the problems will probably never get fixed since getting SBLive cards optimized through drivers ended in about the year 2002 with the downloadable mini version of the 252 driver set. (Live Uni-Pack.) Full driver and software versions of this can be manually created through Compaq cd creation, by buying the last retail SBLive 5.1 (not the 24-bit versions), or by purchasing the cd by calling Creative. This was the second set of the Audigy 1/SBLive unified driver/software series. The first were the 244's, the last was the 252's. From then on, all updates are meant for newer soundcards but still mostly work on the SBLive. (I wouldn't go further than the Audigy 2 ZS cd's 402's though. Anything newer included EAX 3 and 4 and messed up SBLive EAX.) Any newer drivers than 252 are not officially supported on the SBLive. The exception was the patch for the Live Drive digital out which includes elements of the 253 and 254 set. If the newer drivers fix problems, great, but users install these at their own risk and any fixes are not meant for the Live cards. They just may benefit by luck. The newer software doesn't really do anything except look different. The exception to this is the kXProject drivers. You don't get EAX but games should still give you 3D through normal DirectSound 3D. These drivers continue to be developed, but to optimize music recording and playback, not gameplay. __________________ Epox 8KRAIPRO/Asus A7V880 Crucial 3200DDR 512x2 Sempron 3300+/AthlonXP3200 Gigabyte NVidia 6600GT/ATI Radeon x850PRO 250GB Maxtor Sata/250GB Maxtor ATA Audigy 2 ZS Platinum/Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

May 4, 2006, 05:38 PM	#8
Eck DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 154 Rep Power: 0	Of course, but the card's with Sensaura use Sensaura technologies version of implementing EAX 1 and 2. The latest version's I've seen are used on M-Audio Revolution 5.1 and the last Prodigy driver with Sensaura. I think this was the 3514 on the Revo 5.1 and 3516 on the Prodigy. I just brought them up to illustrate the point of that paragraph, not to suggest you switch to a Sensaura card at this point as they were Creative's competition and will no longer receive Sensaura updates. They also are software accelerated, unlike older card's like the Santa Cruz, so anything Creative beats the pant's off them in gaming. Even the old SBLive. The latest Creative drivers for the Audigy1 and up implement some of the superior Sensaura technology, such as improved CMSS and headphone audio. Unfortunately for SBLive users not even the latest YouP-PAX Live 2006 package uses these. The latest they could get to work are the Audigy 2 ZS cd's 402 driver. So you can't get the Sensaura improvements on the SBLive. Anyway, this is getting pointless. The fella wanted info on using newer technologies on his SBLive Platinum. He has several choices. I mentioned them to him but also gave him my opinion that he'll probably be better off sticking to older drivers and software. And I agreed that you can't turn an SBLive into an Audigy 2, but that using later drivers and software can offer changes to how his card sounds (some like it) and how the GUI software looks. __________________ Epox 8KRAIPRO/Asus A7V880 Crucial 3200DDR 512x2 Sempron 3300+/AthlonXP3200 Gigabyte NVidia 6600GT/ATI Radeon x850PRO 250GB Maxtor Sata/250GB Maxtor ATA Audigy 2 ZS Platinum/Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

May 2, 2006, 04:46 PM	#3
RejZoR DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Europe/Slovenia/Ljubljana Posts: 153 Rep Power: 0	You can't soft mod completelly different chips. EMU10K1 (Live!) is different than EMU10K2 (Audigy 2). It's physically and theoretically impossible. You can however softmod SB Live! 24bit into Audigy 1 or Audigy 2 ZS into Audigy 4...

May 3, 2006, 12:03 PM	#5
RejZoR DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Europe/Slovenia/Ljubljana Posts: 153 Rep Power: 0	Well i had more problems than benefit from doing this. A2/X-Fi drivers also haven't fixed EAX problems in Unreal Engine based games (weird eax sound), so this unification hasn't gone any further from official Live! drivers dated back to year 2003. Except it's packed in 1 single installer.

May 4, 2006, 02:25 PM	#7
RejZoR DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Europe/Slovenia/Ljubljana Posts: 153 Rep Power: 0	Sensaura is now a part of Creative Labs.