A3D 1.0, EAX, EAX 2.0, EAX 3.0, DirectSound and DirectSound3D are supported fully however, and in talking with various game developers over the past six months it's become clear to Sharky Extreme that A3D 2.0 is the less preferred positional 3D API when it comes to products in development. In fact, with Diamond's upcoming MX400 sound card also not supporting A3D 2.0, we're left wondering just how long that API will continue to be prominent.

The other set of features that stand out on the SB Live! Platinum concerns the newly bundled "Live! Drive" expansion bay. Fitting in one of a case's 5.25" drive bays, the Live! Drive offers a variety of IN and OUT ports that previously were offered via an SB Live! Daughtercard, which needed to occupy another PCI slot within the PC.

Now users can easily connect or disconnect their SPDIF (RCA), MIDI, and Microphone devices via the Live! Drive's front panel access ports. While the Live! Drive is highly practical (it seemed that we grew accustomed to it instantly), we'd like to see the addition of an optical IN and OUT port for MiniDisc and other digital peripheral source hardware. Strangely, the European edition of the Sound Blaster Live Platinum package does indeed include a version of the Live Drive that offers optical IN/OUT ports. Unfortunately this edition is not available to North American customers.

The other features of the SB Live! Platinum fall mainly in the standard areas readers are familiar with, including the 1024-voice multi-timbre GM and GS wave table engine.

One aspect of the Platinum package that users will likely not realize at first glance is the amazing... no, ridiculous, amount of software that comes bundled with the product.

The SB Live! Platinum's staggering bundle includes a good mix of lightweight professional apps as well as entertainment titles. Here's the full breakdown including short descriptions from Creative's website: