SoundBlaster Live! (EMU10K1) terrible sound?!

[win7]

Hi, i know this is an old card but i just built up another pc from old bits to play some games on and have a serious sound issue with it and windows 7.

The driver i have installed came from windows update called "Creative driver update for Creative EMU10K1 Audio Processor (WDM)".

The problem is the sound quality is terrible! It sounds almost like the bass has been turned up x500. Windows sounds are not so bad but its really apperent when playing games.

Any suggestions?

 

[sam28]

im using windows 7 and a soundblaster live..and im having same problem ...sounds all crackled and like bass is turned up 1000 times more than it should be...help would be very appreciated...thanks in advance

 

[happinessiseasy]

I hate to be one of those guys that doesn't have a solution, just the same problem, but I'm right there with you. I have a Sound Blaster Live! Platinum (with Live! Drive). It's not the 5.1 model, but most people I've encountered have the same problem with the 5.1 version.

I've done a great deal of investigation, mostly into Vista forums (I didn't think the drivers from Vista to 7 would change that much, but apparently they did.), and I found a whole lot of people with similar problems while using Vista. Here is the data I've collected.

I'm running Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 on an AMD K7 Athlon XP 2400+ processor.

1. I get horribly distorted sound (i.e. too much bass, as first poster described) in when I use the drivers that Windows Update provides me for my card (I think it is a generic EMU10K1-based card driver).

2. I get decent quality sound, but crackly and some pops, when I use a hacked driver by NGO that is supposed to be "fix" for Vista.

3. Another fix I have encountered is to use the latest Vista drivers for the Creative X-Fi card series, except to select the WDM EMU10K1 driver manually (running the setup gives a blue screen). This has the same effect as Scenario 1. above, except for one thing. If you go into the properties, and select 5.1 in speaker configuration, it will sound better. I thought this had fixed it (as people suggested it has in Vista), but it turns out I started getting the crackling and popping again as in Scenario 2.

I did a lot of other things in between, including messing with DMA mode on my drives in my BIOS, updating my motherboard chipset drivers, etc., but nothing gave me any change from the two effects I noticed above.

Anyone have similar/different experiences?

 

[bleeds]

Google Daniel_K driver download..
Fixed my creative sound problems 100%...

SB live
audigy Series..
XFI series..

Bleeds

 

[win7]

Yes i am using the one with the live drive also, i picked it up in a second hand pc so not 100% sure of exact model. i think sounblaster live! value + live drive 2.

Ok am gonna try these daniel k drivers..... googling..

EDIT:

just tried SBL_VTDRV_LB_2_10_0001A.exe and it will not run i get a file error even when using vista compatibility mode to run the installer.

I am now downloading P17X_PCDVT_LB_1_04_0079.exe and hoping this will work... (that didn't work either, went to install but said my device was not supported)

Now downloading P17XFXA_PCDRV_1_04_0080.exe and starting to think about going into town and buying a new card lol!

EDIT2:
NON of the above worked... sigh...

 

[bleeds]

Darn..Sorry it was worth a try...
good luck..
Bleeds

 

[techy65]

Same here

I am using a SB live! value with the live! drive. The mobo sound is probably quantum leaps better than this old SB live!, but I like the live! drive.

The beta driver clearly has issues. I started using the KX project drivers.

I am using kxdrv3541. I installed it and the sound is fine. Expect an error message each time you log on. It will say that the driver hasn't initialized. But it's working fine. Just click on the button to close the dialog.

But you may have to go to the sound applet in control panel to get sound. On the playback tab, you have to have Wave Out 6/7 selected as the default device (not the default communication device) to get the back jacks working. If Master Mixer is the default device, the headphone jack on the live! drive works. (that took some time playing with it to learn).

Hopefully M$ and creative get to fixing their driver eventually.

 

[win7]

I am using a SB live! value with the live! drive. The mobo sound is probably quantum leaps better than this old SB live!, but I like the live! drive.

The beta driver clearly has issues. I started using the KX project drivers.

I am using kxdrv3541. I installed it and the sound is fine. Expect an error message each time you log on. It will say that the driver hasn't initialized. But it's working fine. Just click on the button to close the dialog.

But you may have to go to the sound applet in control panel to get sound. On the playback tab, you have to have Wave Out 6/7 selected as the default device (not the default communication device) to get the back jacks working. If Master Mixer is the default device, the headphone jack on the live! drive works. (that took some time playing with it to learn).

Hopefully M$ and creative get to fixing their driver eventually.

This sounds good apart from that dialog on logon would really grate on me... i have resorted to dual booting xp/7 now so i can play games with decent sound, agreed the onboard sound on my mobo would also be fine but i also like the live drive and it works in xp so i wish to make it work in 7 also. I know its only a small amount of cash for a newer card but still.....

 

[Bellerophon]

Technet Fixed

Just come across this on the TechNet forum, it sounds (oops sorry for the pun - sounds) very similar to your problems and it is down as a fixed thread. Meaning it sorted the problems.

 

[techy65]

Fixed that

This sounds good apart from that dialog on logon would really grate on me... i have resorted to dual booting xp/7 now so i can play games with decent sound, agreed the onboard sound on my mobo would also be fine but i also like the live drive and it works in xp so i wish to make it work in 7 also. I know its only a small amount of cash for a newer card but still.....

I did some more tinklering. The dialog at startup wasn't from the driver. It was the mixer. The Kx mixer doesn't work in Win 7. Just use MSConfig to disable the mixer at startup.

 

[win7]

Thanks for both the posts above, am gonna look into the topic and the drivers mentioned. Thanks

EDIT:

I did some more tinklering. The dialog at startup wasn't from the driver. It was the mixer. The Kx mixer doesn't work in Win 7. Just use MSConfig to disable the mixer at startup.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Works perfectly now... ah i can finally ditch xp....

 

[Mike Key]

Sound Blaster EMU10K-1

WE use this card and chip in our training systems. We use Linux OS.
This is the only chip set that will work in our system and now they have been discontinued. I have a need for 5 ea of these cards to finish the project we are working on. Then we are going to a different config.
If any one wants to get rid of some cards e-mail me.

Mike Key

 

[laxmanalal]

hi fellas
I have a solution
Yes i had the same problem as you but this is what i did:
0) right click my comp click properties click advanced system settings click hardware tab click device installation settings and choose "no let me choose what to do" and select last option to NOT low windows update to install drivers for u.
1) Uninstalled windows update driver through device manager. Tick remove driver from pc box
2) click scan hardware changes icon at top
3) it should fail
4) Download winrar from WinRAR archiver, a powerful tool to process RAR and ZIP files
4) Make sure you have the old file from a few years ago "LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG).exe"
5) Right click this file and click "extract to folder LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG)"
6) Go to device manager and right click "multimedia controller" which should hav exclamation mark next to it..click update driver. click the 2nd option to "browse computer"..then click browse button and locate your LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG) folderand double click your way to Audio\Drivers\WIN2K_XP..tick "include subfolders"...then click next...play a song in winamp and it should be ok
7) This is a 2002 driver but hey it works! And im sure the morons at microsoft and creative will fix this problem down the track or it will be time to buy a cheap chinese sound card on ebay!

 

[Jaqie]

just a note for people this is actually a hardware problem with the SB cards live and newer.

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=76742

 

[laxmanalal]

yeh i'm sure Creative aren't as good as they seem or should be...but it still does the job..how can it be a hardware issue when the 2002 drivers work perfectly on windows 2007..they obviously have not been dedicated to testing and making better drivers...and generally speaking about drivers, it's very confusing how windows update have different driver dates to those on the manufacturer's website.

Is there a better brand of sound card out there? I know realtek and c-media aren't that great and prob get their stuff from Creative?

 

[Jaqie]

Its called a driver workaround. it's SOP when there is a hardware bug, the problem is this is a bug big enough it should have been recalled or at the very least not put into their newer cards!

Who told you C-Media and realtek got their stuff from creative? realtek makes their own chips basically, and so does C-Media. C-media actually makes some REALLY nice chips, and has been the chip maker of choice for most of the other middle to high end cards out there, including ht omega, turtle beach, asus, and on.

Check out the HT OMEGA sound cards if you are looking for a gamer to audiophile quality sound card.

 

[george360]

Google Daniel_K driver download..
Fixed my creative sound problems 100%...

SB live
audigy Series..
XFI series..

Bleeds

Is the one with 700MB, the right one?

 

[Rizzu]

I recently downloaded the Windows 7 RC from the windows site and i'm having this exact problem. Initially i just didn't have any sound at all, but when i finally got 'something' to come through, it was just the initial error noise telling me,

"You have sound, but this is all wrong. How do you know this? Because I (Windows 7) just played an extremly distorted Airhorn through your house at 2am waking up your family and frightening your dog beyond imagination."

It sounds like my bass is cranked up and there's nothing i can do to correct it, i tried running kxdrv3541 however when i go to instal the drivers, i get the popups as follows:

1. "kX Setup will now install new drivers for your soundcard. Please confirm new device installation and answer 'No' to any reboot requests. Answer 'yes' to proceed with unsigned driver installation if prompted (the kX Audio Driver is not Microsoft certified), Press OK now and follow on-screen instructions..."

2. "Do you wish to install the kX Drivers for the following device? SB0220 10k1 (PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_80671102&REV_0A)"

3. "Yes."

4. "Error selecting device"

5. "kX Setup: Windows will now re-enumerate all the supported devices and will install drivers for them. Please confirm new device installation and answer 'No' to System Reboot requests if any. Press OK now and follow on-screen instructions."

6. "Installing drivers.... Ignore reboot requests, press 'OK' to continue when the Install Wizard has finished installing new drivers for all of your device(s)."

7. Please choose the path to your VST Plugins folder or press 'Cancel' if you do'nt have VST Hosts (such as Cubase VST) installed.


I press No for this because i don't believe i have it unless it's something that's installed and i'm retarded, i can't find it however so i think i'm alright there. Basically says it's finished and to restart, but it doesn't do a thing, i restart and it just continues to rumble my house uncontrollably i am absolutely clueless on how to correct this. I've tried every step in this thread with no prevail, help!

*edited for easier reading.

*RE-EDIT. CORRECTED.

After playing with it for a little while i went into Playback Devices, and changed my default playback device from "Speakers" to "SPDIF Out", corrected it 100%

 

[happinessiseasy]

I had this exact same problem with the Beta. Here's what some people suggested that finally worked for me:

I took the latest drivers from Windows Update for my SoundBlaster Live! Platinum. I installed those, and the sound was overly loud and distorted. Then I went into the device configuration and TOLD IT my card was 5.1, even though it's NOT.

After that, I still had trouble getting it to recognize my Live! Drive, but with the RC, that's fixed too. The card works the same as it did in XP.

 

[adanziger]

Works perfectly

Followed this procedure and it worked like a charm for me. I now have normal sound from my SBLive on a Dell 8200. Thank's Laxmanalal.

1. Download "LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG).exe"
2. Right click this file and click "extract to folder LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG)"
3. Go to device manager and right click "multimedia controller" which should have exclamation mark next to it..click update driver. click the 2nd option to "browse computer"..then click browse button and locate your LiveDrvUni-Pack(ENG) folder and double click your way to Audio\Drivers\WIN2K_XP..tick "include subfolders"...then click next.

Installation then proceeded automatically and it works!