Rating: - Big Improvement in sound but drivers can be a hassle
Easy installation. Remove all sound drivers from device manager. Open case, insert sound card. Turn on computer. Windows finds it and asks for the install disk. Put in install disk and install. Do a computer restart and I GOT THE BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH. After trying several different work arounds, including a windows repair I had to send my computer to a shop and have the harddrive formatted and Windows reinstalled. We can't prove the software caused the crash but I haven't had any problems until I installed this software. Even with a clean hardrive and fresh operating system I still had to install the software twice to get it to work.
But now that it is installed and working properly the sound is a vast improvement over the motherboard sound. I'm using the Logitec X-540 5.1 speakers and the sound is crisp, clean and clear. If the install would have went smoothly I would have given this 5 stars.
If I had to do it again I would not use the software but go directly to the Creative Sound website and load the updated driver directly from them.
My computer is less than a year old. I'm running windows XP, 2 gig ram on an Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe Motherboard with an AMD 64 X2 Dual Core Processor. I use Spysweeper and keep it up to date.
Rating: - great for games and ASIO support is good too
I needed a gaming card and one with ASIO support for home based recording. All my music hardware is USB based and I've got 7ms or less of latency with all of them. This includes an Axiom 61 midi controller keyboard, Guitar Rig 3 software edition without their Rig Control unit, and Line 6 Toneport UX2. So far I'm totally satisfied and don't expect to have to buy a 'pro quality' soundcard which is BIG bucks. All my games sound great. Highly recommended for at home musicians and gamers.
Rating: - WOW! What Sound!
For the price, you cannot beat the quality of sound this card produces, even with your standard computer speakers. Installation was a breeze and there is an automatic update service that keeps drivers and programs current.
You cannot go wrong with a Creative product! Even if you don't want to spend the extra money, it is well worth it to upgrade your standard sound card to even the lowest price Creative card!
Rating: - Wow! What a difference.
I upgraded from a Sound Blaster Audigy Value. Wow, what a difference in Mass Effect. The sound from this game is now pretty incredible. I did not notice much of a difference with music audio, but if you are a gamer, this is definitely worth the investment.
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