Soundcard Review: Soundblaster Live X-Gamer and Diamond Monster Sound MX400.

There are essentially two "big name" sound cards geared for the serious gamer: The Soundblaster Live X-Gamer and Diamond Monster Sound MX400. Fortunately I have had the chance to do extensive testing on both of them. The cards are quite different and hopefully this article will help you choose which one is right for you. Just so you know the cards were tested on a Windows 98 machine.

The Sound Blaster Live X-Gamer costs about $90 (U.S). It comes with the full versions of Descent 3, Need for Speed 4, and Thief. These games are versions that use Creative's 3d positional audio and sound really great. The X-Gamer also includes lots of software that allow you to make your system sound the way you want. There are many pre-made "environments" that change the way sounds are played. So if you like some degree of echoing when firing a weapon, there is an environment that will accommodate you. I was really impressed with the way most newer games sounded on the Sblive.

The Diamond Monster MX400 costs around $70. It comes with some shareware games and a host of audio programs. It doesn't seem to have the bells and whistles of the SBlive, but it does have all the basic features one would want in a sound card. While it doesn't have the customizability of the SBlive, it can play 16 more voices in D3D than the X-Gamer. I also found that the installation of the software for the MX400 went smoother than the Sblive. During the installation process, the Sblive software crashed, whereas the Diamond software installed with no problem on the first attempt.

I hear the Hard core Quakeworld players screaming in the background, "We don't care about how the cards sound when playing Descent or Thief! Which sound card is gonna help me lock down DM6 and humiliate my opponent?!?!?!?" Well if laying the smack down in Quakeworld is your primary goal in life then you must buy a Diamond Monster MX 400. I found that while the Sblive did sound much better on the newer games, while playing Quakeworld, I had a hard time distinguishing between the spawn sounds on various levels. For example on DM2 near the nail gun, I had a hard time telling if someone spawned near the water, under the quad, or at the lower YA. For some reason, I could easily tell where someone spawned when I played with the MX400. This was also evident on DM6. With the Sblive, I could tell they spawned somewhere, but with the Diamond Monster if I heard the spawn, I knew exactly where they were. Sure the sound of the rockets was fuller with the Sblive, but if you can't tell where the sounds are coming from you might as well turn the sound completely off. I also noticed that the Sblive had an annoying habit of dropping sounds. This is a very bad thing because in Quakeworld, hearing the sound of a teleporter could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

What's the bottom line? If you play newer games, want lush sound and great customizability, and maybe don't care if you drop a few sounds in Quake, then the Sblive is a good choice for you. The extra software is nice, and I had a great time playing Descent3 and Thief. If you want to play Quake well, if you clan counts on you to do well in teamplay, if you want to know where your opponent is based on the sounds he makes, then there is no choice really: the Diamond Monster MX400 is the choice for you. A word of warning for all you Quakeworld addicts rushing out to buy a MX400: I did notice when I installed the Yamaha Soft Synthesizer Software, sounds in Quake would break apart and crackle. However when I uninstalled this software the problem went away. Outside of that small problem, I am quite happy with the MX400 and highly recommend it to any Quake player.

ZzJohNzZ.