I’ve recently been playing around with my old Athlon XP 1800 box and Windows 7. There is no way Vista would approach usability on that old hardware, but Windows 7, suprisingly, does just fine.
Most hardware was recognized out of the box, even a WiFi card that Windows XP never was able to find on its own. All hardware, that is, except for my poor, old Sound Blaster Live! card. He got completely ignored by Windows 7. Abandoned, actually. Poor guy.
So I went to the Creative Support site, dug around in their archives (note: you have to do a search at the bottom of the product page to see all the downloads), and found some Windows XP Drivers for my old Soundblaster Live.
Although the driver I found was a bit outdated, I thought it was worth a try. When I ran the installer, however, it just flashed a message about not being able to find any Sound Blaster cards on my computer. Darn.
But then, after closing the installer, Windows 7 helpfully suggested that I re-run with some “suggested settings.” That did the trick.
Say what you want about Microsoft, but they’ve always amazed me with what still runs under the latest version of Windows.
Update: Check the comments below for many more tips from the community on getting your old Soundblaster Live! working in Windows 7…
THANKS! This worked great for me too. Only I had to manually adjust the ‘Compatibility Mode’ for the setup app. Windows 7 didn’t auto-prompt me. I chose Windows XP SP2 mode and it worked like a champ!!
This might help instead of f***** about !
http://support.creative.com/Downloads/searchdownloads.aspx?filename=SB24_PCDRV_LB_1_04_0090.exe
Drivers for SB 5.1 Live! Windows 7
[Editor's note: At least one person has reported this link DOES NOT WORK for Windows 7, so proceed with caution!]
Hey guys what you described sounds something outta da bluess. I have this old Compaq (HP 331 Note book) that I kinda have some attachment too and I just installed Windows 7. For weeks now I have been working on how to make the audio work but to no avail. The sound worked perfectly with XP but now it just kept complaining that no sound drivers installed! What do you please suggest I do. Put it in a lay man language. Thanks
you can call me e Posted on The Simple TruthTruth SerumTruth or ConsequencesHonesty or BustIt actually sondus like an interesting blog. I wouldn’t mind checking it out when it is up and running!
Hey thanks a lot. I spent hours trying to find a driver for my old sound blaster live and thought i had to get a new sound card. Thanks.
I too am having problems getting my Live card to work on Win7. I downloaded these drivers and like with you it indicated that no sound blaster cards were installed on my computer and then asked me to reinstall with suggeted settings. I did that and it still came back as no sound blaster cards found.
Any suggestions? I would hate to have to reformat and go back to WinXP
Me too! I think you are gonna get more here for
the drivers. thanks
There was a custom driver some one wrote for Vista – I am running it right now!
Here is the link: http://www.kxproject.com
But I would rather run the original drivers as the Kx drivers are great but you have to do a lot of tweaking to get the sound right.
Thanks, the kx drivers work but not for the system sound. Any program (such as itunes!) that doesn’t give you the option to select your sound source doesn’t work. Any ideas?
I figured it out, thought I would post it. Click on the speaker then click on Mixer. Click on the System Sounds icon. Under playback select Master Mixer and set it as default.
For some reason KX chose channels 6/7 as my output, but in order for it to work I have to set the master mixer as the default device.
Using “Master Mixer” as my default output device was giving me audio glitches in Winamp, but using “SPDIF/AC3 Output” instead seems to work just fine.
Thanks for the help!
These drivers worked on my Creative SB Live 5.1 on Windows 7 x64.
I was about to go out and by a new sound card.
These drivers work!
Thanks!
Thanks for this blog, saved my beehind
Glad to help!
Perfect! I was also working on an old machine for the kids, and the only part left in the dust by Win7 was SB Live! Thanks to Google and your Blog, I now have it working…with sound. Keep it up!
Thanks to you I got my old SB Live! working with W7 but now I have echo with all my sounds! I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers but that hasn’t worked. Any ideas?
Tim, I’ve been struggling with this issue for a while and I just solved it. All my sounds echoed and I couldn’t disable echo because AudioHQ wouldn’t work. Well I found a solution in broken english somewhere that said some file fixed it and so I decided to just go through my creative directory and run everything. Here’s what fixed it.
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBLive\Program\CTZAPXX.exe
I have no idea what it does but now my audioHQ works and there is no echo.
hey try this..just open your volume control…then click on speaker.then click Tone tab n click on Bass Balance..it’ll help you..
This article is a gold mine of good info. I had the same problem as Tim. thank jeff! that worked a treat, cheers mate
Really TX for the post. Now I have sound in my PC but not when I use the headphone. Do I have to setup something in particular?
Ts again for the help
Wow. That really did the trick! Thank you.
wow thanks a lot of this. was ready to buy a new sound card. couldnt belive they did not include these drivers out of the box, what were they thinking.
well it worked just as you said. Thanx! But one little problem. I have 4 speakers and 1 subwoofer. Only 2 of the speakers seem to be working and I’m not able to configure it anywhere so all 4 are working. Anyone have any ideas? When I click on the speaker icon it the selection for surround speakers is not available. Either way, at least I still have sound.
Cool it worked but i have the same problem as Jules only 2 of the six speakers i have work and i hope there is a fix for this
THanks
hey this is cool, but i tied this and the kx drivers. neither of them work. the sb live driver says there was a problem and to reinstall the drivers. and the kx gives an error upon restart saying audio card could not be started: if system was not restarted upon previous installations completion do so now. or click ok if installatio is in progress.
plz help!
Tried this and I get a bluescreen. Read somewhere that the driver dumps a bluescreen with systems having 4GB of memory installed. It appears folks with 2GB installed experienced no issues.
wow,I just wanted to say thank,u ,,I was down to my last old sound card,,sblive,and thank u soo much,like everyone else say’s,it truly works,,and with windows,,7,,after i disabled,my onboard soundcard in the bios,,thank u soo much.happy guy.
Thanks! Your blog has answered my question!
You deserve your spot at the top of the Google results!
I’ve had the exact same problem, and you solved it for me. Thanks a lot!!
6 months later, this post is still more usefull than creative’s support
yess it is rui, yes it is
unfortunatley – bsod
Unfortunately this does not work for the 64 bit version of Windows. I’ll be glad if someone finds solution for that!
ditto Rui!!
THANKS!
If you look on the driver page for the old SB Live! drivers you should find a driver for XP x64. Try that one and see if it works. I should mention that I found it by drilling down the menu for the SB Live! Value card. Have yet to try this on my 32 bit version of 7 but will probably install in the next week or two.
I have Win 7 64-bit installed. Downloaded and installed the SB Live! Win XP 64-bit driver. I ran it in XP compatibility mode and the installation seemed to go just fine, didn’t give me any errors or anythin like that but no sound came through the speakers.
It seems that the 64-bit drivers do not work but I would be grateful if someone finds a way to get them working.
I have switched to Win7 64-bit and can’t make the SB Live! to output sound. I have readed several sites for the same issue and tried all solutions but none of them works for me. I managed to install the driver and it is recognized correctly by Win7 however I can’t hear sound.
I have another sound card Realtek on the mainboard and it works ok. Also the SB Live! card works ok when I boot in WinXP. The only problematic combination is Win7x64bit.
I am wondering whether to install Win7x32bit.
Did anyone solved the problem in 64bit win7 ?
P.S. I tried one driver package SupportPack1.5 which has known issues when the RAM is more than 2GB and really it constantly crashed the windows in blue screen, but for one second before one of the crashes I heard a sound and it give me some hopes that there can be a solution for me.
Have anyone find a solution for Win 7 x64 bit yet to make sound blaster live work with this OS?
I hope there is a solution for Win 7 64 bit also. Anyone have any ideas how to get sb live working?
Thx. I figured i’d do a search on the net anyway after just finishing installing 7 and couldn’t find any indication there are drivers available.
Low and behold I came across your site so it’s good to hear ya got em working.
I’m dln now to install. I’m sure I can get em in if you got em.
Thx
Many thanks your article saved me hours
Thanks. I now have sound!!! After spending hours searching the net and trying out various drivers that were promised to work the link to http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=nerdfortress.wordpress.com&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.creative.com%2Fdownloads%2Fdownload.aspx%3FnDownloadId%3D1926 was the one that worked. Thanks again, keep up the good work.
Great work posting this link. It really helped me out! Thanks! Using windows 32 bit and a soundblaster live 5.1.
“Status update” – I switched to Win7 32bit and the situation is the same – none of the drivers works for my SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
(however it works perfectly on Windows XP)
neighter the kx project, neighter the official one for WinXP
I found that there are several models of SoundBlaster Live! and probably my card is the most problematic
At the end I found a solution for my sound – using the sound through the DVI port of my video card with DVI-HDMI adapter – works like a charm.
No more Sound Blaster!
Hi, I just upgraded my Dell dimension 4300 which was running on Windows XP pro to Windows 7. Everything is working fine except my sound. I cannot see my audio driver through system information or anything. So I had to open my CPU tower and found out that my sound card is Sound blaster live model CT4780. Can anyone please tell me how do I use this card with windows 7. I don’t know if it will work with Windows Vista driver and I couldn’t find a driver for it. I went to dell’s website and that driver didn’t work, probably was not compatible with Windows 7. Now in my Device manager setting I see these drivers with question mark
- Ethernet controller
- PCI simple communication controller
- Multimedia audio controller
My bios is A04. Can anyone please help me with that. I searched everywhere possible for a solution, but couldn’t find one. I will really appreciate if someone can save me.
Thank you
To Windows 7 64 bit, Sound blaster Live users:
The KX-Project[1] drivers work.
After installing you need to reboot, then go to the control panel – sound – playback tab, and set the “Master Mixer” device to be the default.
[1]: http://www.kxproject.com/
@anonymous at previous post with Win7 64bit
How much ram do you have 4GB or 2GB.
KX-Project drivers have problems with 4GB RAM
I am using KX-drivers with win7 64-bit and 4gb ram, and it works.
Just a note, if I choose “Master Mixer” as my output device I getting audio glitches (in Winamp), however if I instead set it to use “SPDIF/AC3 Output” the sound seems problem free.
thanks, this is helps me
Just a word of warning,
I downloaded from the creative site – the only SB Live 5.1 drivers I could find, which were in the LiveUniDrv pack or some name like that.
This pack installs the creative mixer – recorder etc in XP – and also contains the drivers themselves.
However on running the program in Win 7 under Compatibility mode SP2 and as Administrator, it crashed my Win 7 and I had to restart in safe mode in order to go back to a system restore point.
And I was only barely able to do it, something messed with System restore and my Graphics card, but luckily I was able to get it back without having to do a complete Win 7 re-install.
At a certain point trying to install the SB LiveUniDrv pack – I got the Blue Screen with addages! data saying serious system error etc.
So – Beware!
Make sure your System restore is functioning properly, and do a manual restore point before attempting any installation.
I’m now going to try the KX-Project drivers.
regards
Aus Raider
Actually – there are a number of other driver packs on the creative website at this address:
http://support.creative.com/downloads/welcome.aspx?nLanguageLocale=1033&nDriverType=1#type_1
I might try one of those later – though the ‘details’ are confusing.
It seems like each one doesn’t contain all the necessary drivers.
Any pointers anyone?
Aus raider
Running Windows 7 32 bit on a dell poweredge 740c with 4 gb or RAM. I’m attempting to use a Sound Blaster Live! Value sound card . . . and this method isn’t working for it. HELP!!!
You might try superuser.com – a lot of smart people over there.
It worked for me after I installed a driver for a Sound Blaster Live! 24bits from the Creative list of drivers for Windows 7.
The list of drivers for Windows 7:
http://support.creative.com/KB/showarticle.aspx?sid=61105&h=13
Choose “Live! 24-Bit (internal)”, download “SB24_PCDRV_LB_1_04_0090.exe”, install and be happy
Yup to confirm this as working. If you run the driver found (http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=1926) without right clicking the file, properties then on the Compatibility tab choose Run this program “Windows XP” and be happy as you now have working Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 drivers in Windows 7.
No thanks to Creative or Microsoft for at least one sentence telling the world how this works!
Ah yes I love typos!
If you do not run the driver EXE downloaded from Creative in the WinXP compatibility mode it won’t work. Also you need to be an administrator, right click the file and choose Run as Admin after setting the WinXP compatibility mode setting!!
You, sir, are a hero!
I found my old Soundblaster and remember how useful it is to switch from Headset to 5.1 speakers and reversed when using two soundcards (onboard and the SB Live) but it didn´t work on Win7. Now it does. Thanks a lot!
Hm, I cheered to early. It did install the drivers but it still doesn´t use the soundcard :-/
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!!!
Pah….tried Win XP compatibility mode, running as administrator…….didn’t work….reporting that no supported soundcard was found in my system. Any suggestions?
I’hve same problem dude…
I’ve tried all the suggestions and nothing is working. I have downloaded the drivers and it says that soundblaster live! coundcard was not found.
I’ve tried all the suggestions and nothing is working. I have downloaded the drivers and it says that soundblaster live! soundcard was not found.
[...] software processes sound isn't as good. Here's one success story about making the card work: http://nerdfortress.com/2009/06/06/n…-to-play-nice/ __________________ Friends Don't Let Friends Use PowerDVD [...]
Sir/Medam
i am zahid from pakistan (Chakwal)
i have a problem with creative sound blaster 5.1,
when ever i install window 7 on my system the speakers does not install properly on my computer.
while:
whenever i install windows xp on my computer the speakers installed on my computer successfully and do work properly.
please tell me a reasonable method for install my speakers on my computer with windows 7
i will be very thanking of you and will be wait for that.
bye
YOU ARE THE LEGACY KING! Would you believe that i spent 3 days looking for a driver for my Ensoniq AudioPCI 16bit card? After finally getting that to work, i decided i wanted another sound board, so i could switch audio sources. I play many MMO games, and i use a voice chat client called Teamspeak. I wanted to set it up so i could have voice come to my headset, and other sounds going to a different source, like music and game sounds. But my nVidia nForce integrated audio output quit working, so i had to get another sound card. I found an old SB Live! card and put it in. I couldn’t get it to work the same way i did for the ensoniq, so i searched and searched and searched. till i found his blog. I owe you one, man. Thanks. a LOT.
Hi !
I´ve all tried what i found on this site. I´ve a 64bit Win7 and 4GB RAM and of my Speaker is coming out horrible scrunchy noise. (sorry i cant explain in german and also not in english)
I have a Live Platinum 10k1 CT4760
When i put out 2gb Ram the card works. ?!
Any help for 4GB RAM ?
Martin
Hey guys im sure nobodys been here in a while but i just installed windows 7 on my older machine and im ussing a Sound Blaster live sound card and i cant get the sound working on my volume control all there is a red x over the speaker icon and windows try to fix it but cant come up with anything.so if anybody fells like helping ill be keeping an eye out for some drivers
Hello!
I tried various solutions but none worked.
So I Downloaded http://files2.europe.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/Others/1926/LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG).exe.
Then I extracted the exe-file (using 7-zip, right click and 7-zip -> extract ).
Using Device Manager, I selected the Audio -> Drivers folder inside the extracted archive folder as the driver folder and it instantly found my sound card.
So now I have working sound, without creative software crap installed.
AWESOME!
Tobbe I tried all sorts of things and your solution was spot on!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! When I started the install W7 asked something like would you like w7 to choose the best installation (or something to that effect) I answered ‘yes’ and it started started right away. Sound works perfectly now.
You sir, are a hero! It worked instantly for me too.
(Win 7, 32 bit)
Win7 64bit
4G RAM
I installed “kX Driver v5.10.0.3550″ and it worked
as “Gaz” explaining
Everything worked, a great post. thanks!!
but then i realize that i had no surround, nor the chance to reach the options, since the Creative Surround Mixer just doesnt want to work… gives always the same error : “An error has occurred while initializing one of the mixer engine. Mixer will now exit”.
Any thoughts/ideas/help?
Please help, im so sick of inferior sound quality from onboard…
Thanks so much! I salvaged my brothers old soundcard from his dell (had to be at least 9 or 10 years old) when my onboard soundcard in my dimension 5100 stopped being supported. I just put windows 7 on it and this worked PERFECTLY!
sb live! windows 7 driver http://czshare.com/1499713/0YVa/driver.zip
Nothing worked for me, but following Tobbe steps did the work !!! Thanks a lot dude !!!
Sure Tried the Tobbe-version, but Win7 does NOT accept the driver. “The folder you specified doesn’t contain a compatible software driver for your device. If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems.”
Please, any help on this?
(BTW. It’s Win2008R2, the server-version of Win7, but that should definitely not matter.)
Tried the Tobbe way, but with the SBL_PC64DRVBETA_LB_2_03_0005 package instead. Now it installs but the Game Port and the EMU10K1 Audio Processor (WDM) has a yellow triangel. My only real problem is that the game port says the following (in “Properties”):
—————————————————————-
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for this device instance.
To find a driver for this device, click Update Driver.
—————————————————————-
It does not work. I don’t care about sound working on that card or not – I want the game port working. Any help, please?
(Btw. I’m running Win 2008R2 64-bit, which is approx. Win7 64-bit)
Thnx! It works
I’ve been trying to find something that works for a while, so this was very useful
KX driver worked for me. Dell 4400 with Sound Blaster Live 4780 on windows 7
Needed to
- set default to master mixer, as described above
- in the KX config app, clear the ‘toggle swap front and rear mode’ checkbox.
A bit of screwing around with this link but once I got it downloaded it installed fine.
sb live! windows 7 driver http://czshare.com/1499713/0YVa/driver.zip
Thanks to sbps above. This driver.zip file worked like a charm using Windows 7 64 bit and a old soundblaster live pci card.
http://czshare.com/1499713/0YVa/driver.zip
worked for me where others would not.
The Setup
Dell GX260
Pentium 4 2 GHZ
1.25gb of RAM (soon to be 2GB to max out)
nVidia geforce2 MX/MX 400
AGP 4x 64mb
Sound Blaster LIVE! Value
Thanks a lot for the tip on KX drivers, finally got my ole SB Live 5.1 to work on my Win7x64 box 3GB RAM.
Some tweaking to be made, but they work. For some reason, Wave Output 4/5 had to be set to default on my system, so I suggest you just test the available output options and hopefully one will work.
Whew, I have some old SB Live with a midiport – which I use solely for that purpose IE midi keyboard input (I would use it for sound as well if it was routed to the front panel – which it is not) and I’m a bit worried how this will work when I upgrade. As I need the transparence and stability.
As it is now, the sound dialogue in windows is set to the onboard sound, and same in audio apps – as in output -, while the midi input is assigned to the SB live card.
I do wonder how that would work with the kX drivers, reading the FAQ and known issues. Same if I would be able to get the SB drivers to work. Anyone have an idea from my needs and usage? Maybe someone is in the same situation.
I have the same issue with SB Live Value and Windows 7 32bit. The card is not visible in Device Manager, and all attempts at any driver installation of any kind result in the message that no card is detected. Can anyone suggest how to get Win7 to “see” the card? Adding a legacy device through Device Manager did not work either, as the listed legacy devices did not include the SB Live Value card, or even any relative of that card. It sounds like if I can get it to the point where Windows can “see” it in the sense that it is displayed in Device Manager, then I’ll be able to install custom drivers. Right now, nothing works apparently because Windows 7 isn’t seeing the card.
Kurt,
No offence but I really hate the way you write. You sound like a kid acting like an adult, but anyways I’m just giving my personal opinion, thats all.
I honestly couldn’t understand what you did, what do you mean by ‘going clippy’, and I tried installing this XP driver on a Windows Server 2008 machine and I get a Blue Screen of Death. Not good at all, but I think the web drivers may work.
Hey, sorry you didn’t like the article. Rest assured that I am definitely an adult.
Thanks everyone for the extra info!
Great post and really helped me out!!
one thing to note, to get rid of the echo
first I tried to run the previously mentioned
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBLive\Program\CTZAPXX.exe
and it said to restart. I did, but then I had no sound. so I ran the other .exe in the same folder (I dont know the name)
then I ran audio HQ from start button(which errors out)
I think it was the Create Restore Defaults that did the trick. it errored out saying not everything was recovered. but I think that was it.
all of these I ran in compatibility mode for windows XP service pack 2.
also note that after installing CTZAPXX.exe and rebooting, I had to go to control panel -> sounds -> first tab to reset that card as your default sound card.
As Mike said Above, worked fine a bit scratchy with bass high but adjusted to suit, thx kX drivers you work 100%
Hasn’t worked yet for me. I’ve been at it for two days. Even running as administrator and “run with suggested” don’t work. Of course, Creative Labs couldn’t care less, because to it this card is out-of-service and invalid.
Worked fine for me. After installing Windows 7 yesterday, I was ready to run to the shop to buy a new Soundblaster card, compatible with Win7.
But this solution works perfect with my old SBlive. Thanks!
Hi!
Worked fine for me, thanks a lot from Brazil.
hello, I have tried both sound drivers, after each time I install them, I get blue screened while windows 7 is loading, I am running Win 7 Home Basic 32 bit, I’ve got 3 gigs of ram, and a Soundblaster Live! any help would be nice.
(p.s. its not like xbox with the rrod, its just blue screen)
ok, I used the driver that gregb7677 provided, and that got my windows searching for the drivers, thank you Greg =]
[...] [...]
Someone solved the problem with Sounblaster Live 24bit and Win7 64 bit 4gb RAM?
If someone did it, can you explain for me and others that are having the same problem?
plz some one can tellme where i can find drivers for “Sb Live CT4620″ PLZ cause i have win 7 in my CPU an the sound doesn’t work PLZ HELP!!!!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE someone delete one of the first posts under the original from Craig Robertson that says
This might help instead of f***** about !
THAT LINK DOES NOT WORK FOR THIS SITUATION! I made the mistake of going directly to THAT link and it still did not work on Windows 7. Then I went back and used the link from the original post and it works perfectly. Thanks a million Kurt, and thanks a lot CRAIG for wasting more of my time. DELETE THAT POST.
Thanks for the tip – I’ll see what I can do.
Win 7 x64 with 4x2GB RAM
Sound blaster Live! 5.1
Worked for me with KX Audio driver on page http://download.kxproject.lugosoft.com/?file=
Downloaded kX Driver 5.10.0.3550 for x64 systems.
Finally sound (set to master mixer for best result – for the moment)
but… only 2 speakers of 5 work
Partly satisfied.
Anyone a solution for this please?
Thanks in advance
I have same problem with Mr. Anthony,…..
but… only 2 speaker can work in win 7
How to fix the 5.1 function in win 7 ?????
I’m Using;
Win 7 32bit with Sb Live Value 5.1
If all fails you can still download the Kx Audio Driver,
http://downloads.phpnuke.org/nl/download-item-view-g-g-b-l-a/KX%2BPROJECT%2BAUDIO%2BDRIVER.htm
Oujeah. 32 bit W7 and sounds working again. Ran the installer in WXP SP3 compatibility mode and it worked flawlessly without any tricks.
[...] // #split {}#single {}#splitalign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#singlealign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#splittitlebox {text-align: center;}#singletitlebox {text-align: center;}.linkboxtext {line-height: 1.4em;}.linkboxcontainer {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;background-color:#eeeeee;border-color:#000000;border-width:0px; border-style:solid;}.linkboxdisplay {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;}.linkboxdisplay td {text-align: center;}.linkboxdisplay a:link {text-decoration: none;}.linkboxdisplay a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} function opensingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = ''; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = 'none'; } function closesingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = ''; } No Sound? Get Sound Blaster Live! and Windows 7 to Play Nice [...]
kX Audio Driver 5.10.0.3550 x86
Still working for me ;D
Sound Blaster Live! / Windows 7 x32 / P4 HT / 2Gb
it’s ok to using LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG) it works for my Sound Blaster CT4670 but the rear output not works, and i think the sound a bit terrible, so i try Kx Audio Driver 3550-x86 the sounds output it’s ok but i confuse with mixer interface, i can’t get the maximum audio settings.
I like the valuable info you supply to your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and test again here frequently. I’m quite sure I will learn a lot of new stuff proper right here! Best of luck for the next!
Hey guys… just see this link from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=Creative%20Sound%20Blaster%20Live!%205.1%20PCI%20Sound%20Card&v=Creative&uid=sb0220&l=en-US&pf=5&pi=1&c=Graphics%20Cards%20%26%20Components&sc=Sound%20Cards&os=64-bit
If you see they are saying that is compatible with win7 64 and theyhave a link to download the proper driver, i didn´t try but but i will later….
i´l provide as feedback later…
Have tried that driver repeatedly with no success on Win 7 x64. Windows says no audio device installed.
creative sound blaster 5.1 live! digital…..work super on windows 7. Just download SBLive_SupportPack_2_0….
Driver from SBLive SupportPack 2.0 installs and Control Panel says card is working properly, but I get very low and staticky audio output (via headphones) and no input (via microphone). SB Live! Value CT4624 on Win7 x64.
The SBLive SupportPack 2.0 sounds great on Win7 32 here. But, I too also noticed that not everything seems to run such as effects,etc. Overall Im just plain happy it runs!
Many Thanks!
For those of you who are stuck with no sound issue – Google up “Kx audio driver”
For me it worked actually pretty well.. I mean – i got the sound..
If anyone gets this working – please leave me a hint.. THANX
BUT! I could not get the Kh mixer workin and did not catch any other way how to get my Mic working. So now i am stuck with the old problem.. I am using sound blaster 5.1 on Windows 7 x32 i assume, cos x64 drivers just don’ t work and i am a complete noob in windows 7.
Thanks so much. I installed the drivers you linked, and they installed just fine. Amazing to hear sounds coming out of your computer again
.
Works like a charm. Thank you very very very much!
Thanks very very much!! Works perfect!
Awesome awesome! Works great! Thank you
OMG! Thank you to everyone who contributed with their tip/s.
Jeff B’s fix on the echo worked! (It was annoying, lol)
Windows 7′s provided driver for my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 works, but only 2 channels…
Will that KX driver enable my surround sound capability?
Thanks
I want to order this; but there is no way to do it…please do this for me; I have no sound coming from my moniter…will wait to hear how to do this; also want a sound card…thanks..
as soon as possible would be great.. Renee Wallace 57633 RD.225, SP.1, North Fork, CA. 93643
Oh my!!! Thank you Danny for thanking Jeff, which lead me to Jeff’s post for the solution. And thank you Jeff for the solution! Yes it was annoying indeed! Lol!
kX driver works great – Win 7 32-bit in Dell 8200 Pentium 4 – 2.4 GHz – 1GB ram with CT4780 SB Live! Value card. Also chose Master Mixer under “Playback”
Support “SB live Support pack v2.0″ some problem (Memory Dump)
My PC: DG31 (Core 2 du),Ram 3GB.
Anyone succeeded in having a functioning surround system with SB Live 5.1?
driver sb live 5.1 w7 http://www.bitoman.ru/download/133954.html
hey mate stay WELL away and keep your family AWAY from london 2012 olympics … you helped me out in the past so i thought id give you this tip, when you watch it this summer youll remember this comment……. i dont mind if you delete this comment but you will remember what i said…. god bless you. Peace.
Anyone confirm if 4 to 5 channel surround is enabled for this sound card in Windows 7?
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=Creative%20Sound%20Blaster%20Live!%205.1%20PCI%20Sound%20Card&v=Creative&uid=sb0220&l=en-US&pf=5&pi=1&c=Graphics%20Cards%20%26%20Components&sc=Sound%20Cards&os=32-bit
Thanks.
OK, to get 4 or 5 channels to work you have to install kx driver.
To get SB LIve! to work on Windows 7 64 bit – you need kx driver.
To get kx driver to work properly after installation – right click on the Sound icon in system tray and go to Playback Devices. There choose Master Mixer as the default.
Also keep in my, by default rear and front speaker plugs on the back of the card are swapped so plugin your frons into the black-colored mini-jack and rears into the green one. (you can change this in kx mixer)
Now right click on the kx icon and go to Settings -> Setup Buffers amd use the following to remove clicks and pops:
512 KB
9600 bytes (~10.00 ms)
20480 bytes
6 buffers
512 samples
If you still hear clicks and pops then try increasing those values to max.
Now to get 5.1 (only 5.1 sources/decoders that output 5.1 are supported, for example if winamp outputs 5.1, it will be played in 5.1, if it outputs 2 channels then driver won’t do any reverb/fill the rear speakers) go to KX –> Effects –> Surrounder and choose
5.1 for speaker setup
Surround: off (on doesn’t work for me/copy just copies Left channel to rear left and right to rear right, if you leave this on copy you will only hear stereo even if the source is 5.1)
Use subwoofer out if you have a sub.
Thats it.
After you can play with DSP, it’s very cool too.
Download the latest driver. It’s only available on the forum and fixes some bugs: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/general-discussion/206609-3551-alpha-released.html
Using “Master Mixer” as my default output device was giving me audio glitches in Winamp, but using “SPDIF/AC3 Output” instead seems to work just fine.
Thanks for the help Idre….Great work
I was glancing over the posts and I couldn’t find if anyone was able to get the software Audio HQ features to work. In particular the ability to pitch shift a song. Installing the SB Live card isn’t any use if I can’t utilize the software.
SOUNDBLASTER LIVE 24bit External: I can download the drivers onto Win7 32bit from the creative site http://support.creative.com/downloads/download.aspx?nDownloadId=11994
but I cannot seem to activate the full software screens. They screens seem very basic. Am I missing something here about executing something that allows me to get the full menu. I also cannot get the Room Equalisation Wizard (REW) to output any sound so obviously the drivers are not fully working. Any help appreciated.
BR
Hi Everyone!
I’ve been having trouble trying to get my Sound Blaster to work with Windows 7 for a few months now. After a bunch of trial and error – including reformatting, reinstalling 7, going back to XP, then reinstalling 7 again, etc., Finally – I found a solution to the echoing bug and compatibility issues with Win7, right from fresh install without having to do the CTZAPXX.exe edit or any playing around with settings, downloading anything else, or using other softwares.
Try this:
Download LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG).exe from creative.com. Run it then let it ‘extract’ without auto-installing. Find the extracted files in your temp folders and what not, then remember that location. Next, manually install your driver through Device Manager, then allow it to search for extracted files.
DONE!
The driver IS compatible with 7, but the other software/utilities/effects/etc. that comes with the auto-install pack are the cause of the bugs and errors. Note that the driver only enables your sound blaster to process sounds for windows. The 4.1, 5.1, effects, etc. options are virtual effects decoded by the softwares, but those softwares are the ones incompatible with 7.
Now you have a choice between dealing with bugged drivers/softwares from untrusted publishers and getting your 5.1 to work perfectly, OR use the driver provided by the maker of Sound blaster and get it working good – just without the effects… If you’re using analog plugs (lime green and light blue) for your speakers, simply disconnect the blue, and you’ll have sounds from all speakers again – of course without the effects and what not.
Good post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject?
I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Many thanks!
Everything is very open with a clear clarification of
the challenges. It was definitely informative. Your website is
very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
This was my first visit to Nerd Fortress, stumbling upon it during a Google search. I must say, I was both entertained and well-informed after reading this post.
I have had a friend’s computer at my feet for two or three weeks now, trying to diagnose his sound card issue after his recent Windows 7 upgrade. Firm on not purchasing a new sound card I have been trying every piece of software available with the same, “Could not find compatible device” message from the Creative packages.
It did not even dawn on me to run the installer in compatibility mode until I read this, and I must say, thank you. Despite my desperate attempts to fix this I was unable to with my own power, and only by reading your article did I get the problem resolved. Thank you!
OK…My SoundBlaster Live!24 stopped working out of the blue the other day after a Win update. I am using Win7 Ultimatex64. Same problems as most others, red X on the speaker icon, card is recognized but having a “problem” (code 52), cannot complete the installation of new drivers because there is “no” sound card to use it on, etc…
My problem was a driver signing issue. Once I disabled driver authentication in the advanced boot options (F8 on my Dell T3400 at startup) the software worked immediately upon startup. Of course this means I will probably have to enter F8 after each startup, or I could simply disable it in the registry through the use of command prompt, easily found with a simple Google search.